takingmeback

I fly a few times a month for work, and have had very little issue since having the band. The only issues I've had were a pressure where the band is when my plane had to quickly climb higher to avoid a storm front, and I've had to stick to a liquid/mushy diet on my first day when I land in a high altitude city (i.e., I live I Boston at 19ft above sea level, but travel to Denver 5280ft above sea level quite a bit). I also have learned to eat far enough in advance of my flight so that most of my meal, if not all, has gone through the band. The pressure is a lot more intense if there is food hanging around. Make sure to drink a lot of Water before during and after the flight since the cabin air will dry you out!

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PBing is productive burping. When you get stuck to the point the food needs to come back up. At first it feels like you need to throw up, but you're really just burping up the food that is stuck. It is the most uncomfortable feeling when it's going to happen, but then you feel a million times better when it's over. At least that's how it has been the couple times it happened to me.

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I live in Boston, banded at BIMDC.

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I travel between Boston and Denver at least twice a month, and typically feel tighter for the first few hours after I land in Denver. My surgeon has told me it is most likely due to the drastic change in altitude between the two cities. I try to have a hot cocoa once I land and that helps a lot.

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I had my first appointment with the nurse and nutrition the end of September and could have had the surgery the last week of November, but needed to wait til February in order to get time off from work. I have extremely low Iron so I spent 4 weeks of that time trying to bring my levels up high enough that they could operate, so if you are fairly healthy I can't see why it would take more than 2 months start to finish.

I haven't been to the support group meetings yet. I keep hoping to get to one, but never remember until it's too late :/ Have you been to any?

I also am extremely anemic, to the point they delayed my surgery in order to bring my levels up a bit. Before surgery I was taking a really great Iron pill - Vitron C - it has 65mg of Iron per pill. I was so excited about this pill cause it didn't make me sick as most iron pills I've been on have. So after surgery when the pill needed to be crushed into my food I was devastated when I started getting sick from it! My nutritionist told me to try a chewable pill by Bariatric Advantage, which has 60mg of iron per pill. The pill is lemon lime flavored and actually tastes like candy! The only downfall is you have to order it online (www.bariatricadvantage.com). I highly recommend looking into it. I can't believe how much better I feel since they got my levels closer to "normal".

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They weigh you every time you go in for any appointment, but it's the weight on that first appointment that they use as your starting weight and for insurance purposes. I never changed into a gown at any appointment, always just stayed in whatever I wore in that day.

During the initial assessment and education meeting, you'll meet with the nurse and Dr H. The nurse will overload you with information on the process from then until surgery and the actual surgery. What to expect, the changes you'll have to make mentally, physically and in what you eat. I remember walking away with y head spinning! Then you'll meet with Dr H who will talk more about the different surgical options in greater detail. He will be the one to perform the "physical", but it was very basic. He'll check your stomach area to see if you have any scars from other surgeries or if he can feel any internal swelling, then he checked my wrists and ankles to make sure my circulation was good. The nurse also did an EKG and checks your vitals. For me that was it, but I am pretty healthy (outside being obese!) but at that point is when they decide if you'll need any additional tests.

If you have a close friend or family member that is "taking" the journey with you, this is a good appointment for them to attend with you if they are able, since they will really learn what is going on, and it's a second set of ears for you.

Good luck!! And feel free to let me know if you have any questions!

I was banded on 2/22, and just had my post-op follow-up this past Thursday. As a result of this appointment, I've been moved to the mushies stage - woo hoo! I've done really well with my lose so far - 42lbs since starting my pre-op diet - and now my fear is gaining with the introduction of foods. I've been walking a lot, and now my doctor has given me the ok to get into more exercises, my question is, what types of exercises are you guys doing outside of walking? I haven't set foot in a gym or done any real exercise in years, so I'm kinda at a lose on where to start!

Thanks!

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Thanks! I clipped the ends off. Hopefully they do their thing in the next few days. I do have my follow up next week, so I guess worst case, they can remove them or tell me to then.

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I am 15 days post op and my steri-strips are probably 90% pulled off my skin. Is it ok for me to "help" them the rest of the way off, or will they eventually wear themselves off? I've never had surgery before so I'm not sure what to expect. I thought the nurse said they fall off around day 7 so I'm not sure. Thanks!!

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I had my surgery on 2/22/12 with Dr Schneider at Beth Isreal in Boston. He was fabulous! He spent his time answering all my questions before at my appointments pre-op, the morning of my surgery and afterwards. I have my post-op with him on 3/15. All the staff at BIMDC has been great throughout the entire process. I highly recommend BIMDC and Dr Schneider!!

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One thing I wish I would have known was that I would have an incision on my bra line. I had asked about where my port would be, since I had read a lot of people seem to have it very close to their pant or bra line. But I did not think about a regular incision being there - made it a little uncomfortable!

My surgeon kept me out for 3 weeks. I'm at about a week and a half out now (surgery was 2/22) and def feel like I I could go back to work tomorrow. But since my doctor won't clear me until my post op appointment (on 3/15), I'm making the best of this mini vaca - hair, nails, facials, etc!

I love this thread!!

1) hike the inca trail to machu picchu

2) zip line through the Amazon

3) climb the Duomo in florence, and other great bell towers throughout Europe

4) participate in a triathlon

5) buy some True Religion jeans

I'm sure I'll think of other things as I get closer to goal!!

I used Isopure everyday for my 2 week pre-op and am planning on the same for my first 3 weeks post-op. I love the pineapple banana orange one and the grape frost. The artic punch is pretty good as well. They def taste best when they are very cold over ice. To get my Protein in I do one Isopure and one chocolate splendor from Unjury per day.

I'm officially banded now! I had my surgery on Wednesday morning. The worst part was I had 3 toe rings that we couldn't off so the nurse had to cut them off. But the surgery itself was over before I knew it, the last thing I remember was saying this OR looks nothing like they do on Greys Anatomy, the I woke up in recovery. The only pain I had was a slight gassy pain in my left shoulder, which went away within a couple hours. I did wake up with a cough so that hurts quite a bit. My only other issue is getting in and out of my bed and recliner, I've got to figure out a way to do that with less pain! Good luck to everyone with surgeries coming up!!

Tomorrow's the big day! I can't wait, by this time tomorrow it'll be all over! I've spent the last few days completely fine with my decision, no nerves or anything. Then boom I walked out of my office, got in the elevator and had a meltdown:( now I'm wondering around my apartment trying to find something to occupy myself; I just want to go to sleep so I can wake up already!! I love reading everyone's experiences, it's been a huge help!! xx

I'm on my 12th day of pre-op and days 1 and 2 were horrible. I had a mental meltdown on my 2nd day, but after that it's been basically smooth sailing. At this point, I'm not even phased by everyone around me having "real" food. I just keep telling myself, that this is going to be so worth it in the end, and that makes everything better! I've kept Jello on hand, just in case I felt I needed something extra, and have yet to dig in to the bowl.

Good luck!!

I love the Isopure juices. They have 40 grams Protein in 20 oz, only 160 calories. Some of the flavors are horrible, but I've found the pineapple Orange banana, Grape and Alpine Punch ones to be wonderful. Since they are juice based, they aren't as heavy on your stomach as the milk based ones. I get them at GNC, not sure if they are also at costco.< /p>

I'm having Dr Schneider at Beth Isreal do my surgery. While I'm not having single incision done, he did mention that if someone feels strongly about it, he has done it.

I explained to my surgeon that I didn't want to tell my office what I was doing, but that I knew someone would ask. His advice was to just say I had abdominal surgery. After googling it myself (I wanted to make sure lapband wasn't the first thing that came up), I found that there were a number of procedures that came up, so I went with that. No one has questioned it, with the exceptions of people wondering why I'm having so much Protein and not "real" meals.

Thanks everyone for your feedback! I spoke with my program's coordinator today and they confirmed that they only send the starting weight to the insurance company. One less thing to worry about now - although now my family thinks I'm just looking for things to worry about!!

Thanks so much! I did receive approval from insurance already, but there was some wording in the letter that made me think they would be checking in again to make sure the surgery was still medically necessary. This is my first surgery so I'm nervous about following everything to the T.