leatha_g

Welcome Lucky!! How is your band journey going?

Congratulations Ryan! Welcome to the rest of your life!

********************************************************** One: You CAN still physically drink milkshakes, but you are correct that it is too calorie dense to be doing it on a regular basis. Otherwise, you're here asking why you're not losing weight like you thought you would. lol. Unfortunately, the band does little to stop soft/liquid foods, so it's up to you to make better choices if you are really serious about losing weight. Two: Your pouch is merely a narrow passage that fluids will still flow through pretty freely. If you have problems with water, then you're probably too tight. The water will flow into the lower stomach with no problem otherwise, which allows you to get in as much as you need. And, yes, it is more filling. Hopefully this will help in keeping you from over-eating. Then, per normal, the water makes it's way pretty quickly through your kidneys and flushed down the drain so as to make room for more. Three: Yes. You can still have milk. In fact, milk is one of the only liquids with calories that you are encouraged to have ONE 8oz cup a day. Any more than that and you're probably sabotaging your weight loss. Once you are past your initial liquids/soft foods phase, you are encouraged to NOT drink any calorie laden liquids/juices etc, due to their high calorie content. Four: Cottage cheese with bananas might be okay in small amounts. Probably no more than 4oz at a time - again once you've past that soft food stage you'll not want to make this a staple of your diet. You'll be focusing more on 'hard' proteins such as fish, chicken, etc. Five: Two Flintstones vitamins a day is perfectly good for your vitamin needs. You'll be perfectly capable of chewing them instead of crushing. You'll also be pretty capable of taking any medications you might need unless you become super restricted. Keep researching. There is lots and lots to learn and be prepared for with banding. The band is great for restricting portion control with the right foods, such as hard proteins, quality veggies, but you can definitely sabatoge your weightloss if you get into what is called the 'soft food syndrome' by eating too many desserts, ice creams, high calorie/high fat/high carb foods. This method of weight loss is one that you must meet halfway. It will not force you to lose weight. It has to be your choice. It will only really help you with portion control. The rest is up to you. Welcome aboard! Please tell us more about yourself and read, read, read, there is so much experience and knowledge here for the taking! Good luck to you!

Hi natalie. I'm sorry to hear you're having problems. Who was your doctor? It sounds as if you've had one close enough to do fills, but how could he/she have missed educating you on what you were supposed to be eating? Firstly, you should be trying to get no less than 48-60grams of Protein per day. Secondly, the only carbs you should be taking in are high quality vegetables. (not potatoes) Thirdly, if you have room after your protein and veggies, then you might have a bit of 'something else' IF you still have room. You might try documenting everything that goes into your mouth with www.fitday.com just to see where your protein/carbs lie. This would give you some clue as to what your diet is providing, nutritent/calorie - wise. Most of us avoid bread, rice, Pasta products, not only because they are glutenous and tend to dough up and stick in our stoma, but also because these are high in starch and basically turn to sugar in our systems which is not really conducive to weight loss (which is why we get our bands). I'm including the link to Inamed's Patient Handbook as it has some great information regarding maintenance of your band and guidelines for eating. Is it possible to ask your doctor to provide you with his particular guidelines for eating also? Besides these highlights, your Water intake is another major point that helps with weightloss. again, you need to try to drink at least 48 oz, but 60 is better, per day. EVERYDAY. That, in addition with at least 30 minutes of exercise - 3 to 5 times per week should help you to get back on track with your band. Please keep us posted how you are doing. http://www.inamed.com/products/obesity/us/patient/lapband/information.html#booklet

hahaha. i love that one.. lol

Hmm. I see the post up there, but sometimes this board does weird things. lol. Tylenol - I've taken with water alone, however, you don't want to let it sit in your pouch. Drink enough water to wash it through thoroughly. You might even consider keeping liquid Tylenol on hand as it's much easier to wash through.

I do know of one other lady who had reported her band had come open. She posts on BayBandsters on Yahoo Groups. I believe her handle is 'sofiesmom'.

Cigna approved my surgery within the first week also. The hoops I went through were significantly less than some I've heard of too. However, I don'tthink we can really blame it all on Cigna as a company because each employer choose what coverage they will or will not pay for. Some have Cigna but choose to not cover WLS at all. Some have Cigna and have chosen to pay for WLS coveraged based on medical necessity. It's really our employers who have set the rules. I'm really glad you were fortunate enough to have one of those who chose to take the risk of allowing this great chance to their employees.

Chrissy, I am so sorry to hear of this. I really do hope that you get some support from Inamed. I would continue to correspond with them. They seem to be really nice folks. When I had slippage they wanted to know everything that led up to it and what I went through to resolve it. Unfortunately, there was no monetary help as far as replacing the band, but I have heard in the past they they did do this. It doesn't hurt to ask, right? Maybe you can take a 6 month break and have it replaced? This is a very personal issue and I know a hard one to go through. Please know that you'll be in our thoughts and we definitely want you to keep us posted on how things go.

Welcome Cat! Be sure to read, read, read all the posts so you'll be familiar with things that may or may not come along with being banded. That 'wretching' thing you are describing is quite common with the band. Sometimes I get it whether I have eaten or not, but IF I am eating at the time, it's one of my first signs of fullness - so be aware. I have heard about the 'straw' rule, also . It's been said using straws causes more gas/air bubbles. Personally, I use straws all the time and find that I can consume more liquids IF I do use them. Either way, ask your dr for his/her reasoning and always follow their rules. Good luck and welcome to LBT, your dr was right. There are some great, caring folks here and it is a very 'down to earth' place to share and support one another.

Oh Michelle I'm so sorry to hear this. I am, however, very glad that you have probably one of the best band docs and he is available to you so readily. You're very lucky in that sense. Please do keep us posted. I'm definitely going to be praying it is only something very minor. You've done so well. I sure hope nothing slows that down. Good luck to you.

It's one day and it will help you NOT have too much tummy troubles immediately following, maybe. I do hope you understand that immediately following, probably WEEKS, you'll have to adhere to liquids and soft foods too??? It's imperative that you follow these rules so that your band can get itself seated in scar tissue which helps to prevent slippage later. If you feel you can't do ONE day before surgery, how are you going to cope with weeks afterward?

Sounds like some good goals, Taylor! The time is drawing near now. We'll be thinking of you and hoping everything goes smoothly for you!

Welcome home Paula! I'm really glad everything went well. I'm even more glad your MIL noticed YOUR weightloss. That's a score for you! Congratulations!

Sultana, Be careful with those pills. You said something about taking 10 at a time. I take about 5 every evening, but I take them as I eat, one at a time. I don't do well just trying to swallow them with a drink or I think I would get into trouble. I do take them with my food, making sure one goes down, then later trying another. I have one that is particularly bad for hanging. Luckily, it hasn't been hung one time since banding. I hope everything is all better. Good luck!

There are laws against email harrassment, aren't there?

aww, garsh... what a nice thing to say. thank you for making my evening. Happy Holidays to you and yours also.

I need all your help! My brother and sister in law were both denied by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas and told they must do the 12 month dr supervised weight loss thing. My sister in law wants me to write her an appeal letter to see if we can get this reversed and she can move on. She is at her largest and in pain physically and basically sick and tired of being sick and tired. I was wondering if some of you who had to appeal might have appeal letters that you'd pass on to help us construct one that will work for her and my brother. I realize we'll have to personalize it to their own issues, but seeing other people's who were reversed will help immensely. Please feel free to post it here for others or you may email me privately at leatha_g@hotmail.com. Thank you so much!

Can't hurt to be doubly protected, Betty! lol

Welcome luv2bthin! We're glad you have found us! Please feel free to search through all the previous posts for loads and loads of great information. Arm yourself with all you can learn before your surgery, so that you'll know what to expect after. Also, we'd love to have you go to the 'Introductions' forum and tell us a bit about yourself, who you are, how you came to find us, your decision to be banded, anything you can think of! We're neighbors, by the way. I'm in Plano. Good luck with your surgery!

That's a great post, Nancy. To me, this is what banding is truly all about: Regaining one's self inside as well as out. Somehow, in gaining the weight, we trade our true selves off. I know that once the new year begins and I can get some of these additional surgery appointments that I've had to deal with behind me, I really do need to find myself a counselor. Although I've seen them sporadically in the past, I really do need to get to work on some of the issues which are still causing me to pick the wrong foods despite the fact that my brain knows better, among other things. I think this experience is a whole transformation which just takes time and diligence. One I'm glad to tackle and luckily, with the band, it's okay that it's a gradual process, for life! Thank you for sharing. I wish you continued success and great new experiences with this endeavor! You've done a great job in regaining Nancy!

It's interesting how this attempt to cleanse this guy's name really only serves to bring out the real truths by past patients so that any new prospects might be reminded that this could be dangerous, at the least shady territory to venture into. It's almost like clockwork - a monthly reminder to post what shoddy aftercare one can get. Otherwise, the sleeping dog would be sleeping..

Isn't that awesome news? I'm so happy for you, Greg! It's just amazing that we're able to reclaim our health with this tiny little device. Halleleujah!

I'm a slow loser too, Sultana. Mainly because of the choices I make, food-wise. As long as you are moving in the right direction, you're still so much better off. I know I have to make a renewed commitment to me and my weight loss in order to move farther along, which I want to do. I'm struggling with choices everyday. The sugar is definitely an addiction for me and I have to come to terms with that. It sucks that everyone around me can eat it everyday and I simply cannot or I pay the consequences on the scale. I think my band has done what it is going to do on it's own, I simply have to get serious about meeting it halfway. Which means I am going to have to detox from the evil sugar/refined starches and 'get what I came here for'. I still believe if I do the right thing MOST OF THE TIME, I can accomplish this feat. However, I think MY 'most of the time' means more like 90% of the time instead of 60% lol. I really do think you need to be checked on the band thing. I do not think it is viral - not reflux. It does concern me, however, that you say you have a cough and are achy. Aspiration pneumonia is very common among bandsters with nighttime aspiration/reflux. Please get some x-rays etc to rule this out. As far as food/juices working their way up. Sometimes, if our pouch is enlarged or over-restricted, the food takes long to make it's way down, so it's just sitting there, above the band in this enlarged pouch, waiting for you to lay down and then it washes backwards causing this reflux. I'll attach a photo of my film when this was happening. You can see a 'bowl' like structure above the band, protruding over the sides of the band. This stuff just hangs around until you've either been upright long enough for it to drain through OR until you lay down and it comes the other direction. Not good.

I'm really so 'over' the Lopez thing. I do take offense, however, to people's experiences with this man being unvalidated. The hole in Lisa's tummy is undeniable, it's not heresay. The fact that she's sought treatment, BEGGED for treatment to resolve this is not heresay. It's not a doctored picture. I have seen this hole with my own eyes. The fact that there are numerous reports of erosion tends to make one a bit leary and rightfully so. What are the situations which are causing this? One has to wonder. Teresa can't get her own medical records? I'm sorry, but this is wrong. Every patient has the right to own their own medical records. Penni's port problems? No answers to her phone calls? These are only 3 people. What about those who are not on this board? I don't doubt this man's experience in actually installing a lapband. It's been established that he can do that, but his lack of aftercare for his patients is not only wrong, it also puts their health at risk and that IS WRONG. If he were truly trying to make things right, he would contact these people (because we're smart enough to know that there are people monitoring this board and the others) and do whatever he could to help them get their issues straightened out instead of cowering behind all the new checks coming in the door and acting as if these issues don't exist. Lisa still has a hole in her stomach - months and months later. He could still help her. Even if he is afraid to see her, he could call up some of his acquaintances in her area and ask them to please treat her. Teresa STILL needs her records. So you get new chairs in your office. You cater to those who are bringing in the new money. You hire a new assistant. All those nicey nicey things just don't make up for the one thing you're still ignoring and that is quality patient care after the check is cashed.