faithmd

A kind soul sent me a list of questions, and I've taken them and added a few and tweaked the list, here it is:

Questions to ask during consultation:


2) Research the doctor.
What kind of follow up care is provided? (ie: fills, unfills, endoscopies, fluroscopies, port revisions, removal, etc).
Ask to speak to about 5 or 6 of his patients before you make a decision. Ask those people if they have any complaints or issues with their care before, during and after the procedure.
How many of the procedures has he done?
What types of complications can occur from this procedure and how frequently do they happen? (ie: perforations, etc)
What types of complications has he personally ran into doing this procedure?
What is his policy when a complication occurs during a procedure? (ie: does he discuss options with family or immediately convert to bypass or other WLS).
Is he Inamed approved for the procedure? If not then who qualified him to perform the procedure and can you have literature to verify this?
3) Research the procedure.
How is the procedure performed? Will you use the Pars Flaccida approach?
What type of sutures do you use? Can I request glue and not staples?
Will I have a catheter placed?
If I am on my menses, can I wear a tampon?
What will I need to have prepared when I get home in way of food items?
What are the short term issues?
What are the long term issues?
How will I be able to take my pills?
Will you write today for liquid pain meds?
Do you want me to take antibiotics post-op? If so, will you write for Diflucan?
4) Follow up care.
What is the schedule for fills?
When can I get my first fill?
How is the fill procedure performed? (ie: with or without fluroscopy)
What is the cost for fills? (under fluro and not)
How often will I need to be seen?
Will I have access to a Nutritionist?
How do you handle unfills?
Is there a direct line in case of Emergencies?
Does your doctor have email address?
Should I continue to take Metformin?
What Vitamins should I be taking?
Will I need to crush my pills? If so then for how long? Are there any pills that cannot be crushed? If so then how will I be able to take them?

Thanks for posting this, Wendell. It is GREAT information to have. Maybe it will become a Sticky.

Thanks for posting this, Wendell. It is GREAT information to have. Maybe it will become a Sticky.

A kind soul sent me a list of questions, and I've taken them and added a few and tweaked the list, here it is:

Questions to ask during consultation:


2) Research the doctor.
What kind of follow up care is provided? (ie: fills, unfills, endoscopies, fluroscopies, port revisions, removal, etc).
Ask to speak to about 5 or 6 of his patients before you make a decision. Ask those people if they have any complaints or issues with their care before, during and after the procedure.
How many of the procedures has he done?
What types of complications can occur from this procedure and how frequently do they happen? (ie: perforations, etc)
What types of complications has he personally ran into doing this procedure?
What is his policy when a complication occurs during a procedure? (ie: does he discuss options with family or immediately convert to bypass or other WLS).
Is he Inamed approved for the procedure? If not then who qualified him to perform the procedure and can you have literature to verify this?
3) Research the procedure.
How is the procedure performed? Will you use the Pars Flaccida approach?
What type of sutures do you use? Can I request glue and not staples?
Will I have a catheter placed?
If I am on my menses, can I wear a tampon?
What will I need to have prepared when I get home in way of food items?
What are the short term issues?
What are the long term issues?
How will I be able to take my pills?
Will you write today for liquid pain meds?
Do you want me to take antibiotics post-op? If so, will you write for Diflucan?
4) Follow up care.
What is the schedule for fills?
When can I get my first fill?
How is the fill procedure performed? (ie: with or without fluroscopy)
What is the cost for fills? (under fluro and not)
How often will I need to be seen?
Will I have access to a Nutritionist?
How do you handle unfills?
Is there a direct line in case of Emergencies?
Does your doctor have email address?
Should I continue to take Metformin?
What Vitamins should I be taking?
Will I need to crush my pills? If so then for how long? Are there any pills that cannot be crushed? If so then how will I be able to take them?

I am so glad I found this thread. I have read it from start to finish. I just had my surgery last Friday and this has definitely strengthened my resolve to follow the liquid diet 100%. As an older bandster, I realize my healing may take longer than some younger people, so I want to be especially careful not to mess things up.
I do have one comment. Like some others, I went a long way away to have the surgery. I don't feel I received the care I should have there. I never saw or talked to a nutritionist or dietician. I never saw or talked to any kind of counselor or the onsite clinic coordinator. I met the doctor only briefly before the surgery and never saw him thereafter. A resident came in the day after surgery and offered to answer any questions, etc., but everyone else seemed to be off for the weekend.
I feel like I was on an assembly line in many ways. I wouldn't feel comfortable calling the doctor's office - I'm sure they would have to dig out my chart to give me any advice, because no one there really knows me, and I'm sure the surgeon wouldn't even remember me. My coordinator is available by telephone - she is really my only resource.
As it happens, I am a researcher by nature. And I've learned where to go to find the answers to my questions myself (here at LBT, for instance). I am retired,so I have the time to do so. But I want to know if there are others who are in the same boat? So much of the advise here seems to be to "call your surgeon".
Thankfully, I have found a physician locally to do my follow up care. I am looking forward to my initial post-op visit and meeting a doctor I can trust.

Your normal is different, but it does become normal.
You don't go to the buffet you go to regular restaurants and take food home or order small, like an appetizer and a vegetable.
You make spaghetti and meatballs for your family and don't eat the Pasta, just the meat, sauce and veg.
But there are constant reminders that just kind of become part of life. Like your friends want to grab a QUICK bite to eat, you're hungry, but you can't slam down a meal like used to do. The good news a little something will hold you over for a few hours.
It's about adjusting. It's not bad, it's not like it used to be, but it is very doable. And once your hubby sees how you are enjoying life more, losing weight and being more energetic, he'll be happy with your decision too.

Your stomach is not flailing. ;o) You are hearing air, that's all.
Stick to the diet. You are not starving to death, you are hungry. Big difference, hang in there. It is a small price to pay in the long run.

I agree, you need to follow your doctor's orders when it comes to the post-op diet. He knows what is best for you. Why risk doing damage to your band?

I'm staying on plan today because I'm finally losing again (it's been since September) now that I got my head out of my butt and got a fill.
I'll get there, I really will!

Wait, I thought it was decided a few months back that "Rep Power" was not a desired feature to have here. Many felt it was almost like having a popularity contest and it was getting out of hand in the short time we had it.
I see no point to it, I feel it is a very bad thing to have, especially on a site like this where so often people are already often emotional or on an emotional roller coaster with what is happening in their lives.
If I have a higher "rep" is someone more likely to believe me (even if I may be wrong) than someone with low or no rep (who may be correct)?
I'd like to see it go away (again) and this time NEVER come back. I thought it was a buried idea LONG AGO.

Please do not take this wrong, I do not mean it to be rude, but there is no other way to say this:
If you already know your husband should follow his dietitian's or MD's orders, then what does it serve to know what others can do with their diets? What I did with mine, or what another bandster could do means nothing to your husband's recovery.
See there was no way to sugar coat that.
I guess I get a little frustrated when I see the literally SCORES of threads here like this that either ask how soon folks were able to progress through the stages, or asking if they screwed up their band by eating X. What matters is what your MD or dietician said to do. Every MD seems to be different, there are many reasons for it. I think it is just important to follow your office's advice and remember that it is NEVER wrong to go MORE slowly through the stages.
Good luck! This is the worst part, Bandster Hell. Don't have restriction, can't eat, it stinks! But it DOES pass. We haven't gotten fat in six or eight weeks time, surely we can take that long to follow a diet plan for that long to protect the tool that may help us lose the weight once and for all.

Read this thread:
http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f13/how-lap-band-actually-works-fills-refills-41738/
It is a sticky thead in the forum you just posted this question in. It is a very informative thread and tells you most all you could ever think to ask about fills. It is WONDERFUL.

Welcome Ragdoll! This is a great site to come to for information and advice, I've found most of my information here (beyond what the surgeon's office has told me), by that I mean the practical, how to live with it information.
Here's some threads about time off work:
http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=31539
http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=31467
http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=24060
http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=27726
Here's some threads about long term success:
http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=26123
http://lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=16051
There are a few studies that are fairly recent that show the rate of weight loss about five years out is nearly the same between RNY and the band. That tells me that the RNYers are gaining theirs back at that point, and the bandsters are pretty stable. I'd much rather lose a bit slower and not have my intestines cut and parts removed.
Again welcome!

Hello, this is a frequent question and certainly a valid concern. I'm going to list a number of threads that discuss banding versus bypass and hopefully reading what lots of other folks have struggled with will help you in some way. Also, you have to remember the band is not a magic cure-all. The band will not cause you to lose weight like the bypass does. The bypass works because you are starving, actually malnourishing your body. But the body can really only be fooled for so long, it's a smart machine. You ever know anyone who had bypass and then a few years later they are gaining again? The body knows, and it adjusts after a while. The band MUST be worked. You still have to make good food choices. The bypass sort of keeps you honest, for a while, about things like sweets (dumping syndrome). But again, that can fade. The band requires work, it does help with Portion Control. You still need to exercise and do all the things you would normally need to do to lose weight. The band is a tool. But it is REVERSIBLE, it does not require removal of any part of an organ, and if it fails, it can always be converted to bypass or another procedure later.
http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=32584
http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=32616
http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=32079
http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=30997
http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=28724
http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=28690
http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=27483

Mmmmmmm, olives! I love olives, but I think we all know I'm proudly not in my right mind!
I've found the Rapid Blast Tylenol at Target as well.

Awww, thanks. But the last week or so all I've been eating is slimfast low-carb shakes and chopped fresh veggies and salads. So I'm sure to gain a little once I bump from my now nearly 800-900 calories a day back to my approx 1500-1700 a day. I had to make 335 by today, in order to get approved, so I had to do something drastic.

As a woman who works in Neonatology and regularly cares for humans that are born at 22, 23, 24, etc. weeks, I believe that life begins when a fetus can sustain itself with minimal assistance.
22 or 23 weekers RARELY live, 24 weekers have a much higher chance of survival than 22 or 23 weekers, but the question then becomes what type of survival, the complication rate is astronomical at that gestational age. I know, I know, many folks will say they know someone who was born at 24 weeks and is fine. But those really are few and far between.
My point is that in my mind, a fetus is not considered a life until it can be born and actually survive with my intervention. Basically to me, abortion is not murder if there is no chance the fetus could survive outside of the womb, even with medical intervention. Now that doesn't address the whole topic of late-term or partial-birth abortions, for those *I* do not agree with a woman having a late term abortion if the fetus is healthy and she is healthy, but that is not my decision to make. I would prefer to see a woman carry that pregnancy to term and put it up for adoption, but what I want shouldn't mater, it's not my body.
But the question is what does late term mean? If it means 20 weeks, then that isn't late term to me, that fetus would not survive outside of the womb even with intervention. If it means 22 weeks, same thing. Past 24 weeks is where my personal cut-off is.
That having been said, many ultrasounds and amniocentesis tests don't show serious complications until near or after that time. If my fetus was going to have life-threatening conditions or had a defect that would cause a lifelong problem that will significantly impact the quality of life, then I would argue that it is my right to then choose to terminate that pregnancy whenever I found out this information, if that was my decision. Depending on when I found out about any of these possibilities, I may choose to carry to term and then allow comfort care only.
It is such a personal decision, and one that cannot be made lightly. I would never tell another person to terminate their pregnancy if (for example) it was discovered that the fetus had a left hypoplastic heart defect. I would be there to completely support whatever their decision was and I'd gladly take the best possible care of that baby once it arrived. But I know for me, that I would choose not to continue with a pregnancy like that (again, unless I found out VERY late and then I would choose to love and make the most of every moment I had with my child until s/he passed).
I am only one person, and that would be my personal choice. I fully believe that this is a personal choice, not one to be dictated by someone else. It is something to be decided upon between the woman carrying the pregnancy, her partner(depending on the situation) and her doctor.

Thank you for continuing to share your journey through your plastic surgery! You are helping soooo many of us.