NYMoMof3

WELCOME BACK JASON! here is a website I use to go to free online support groups http://www.stopobesityforlife.com/schedule, there is one tomorrow at 7pm online. Good luck!

Hi Everyone! I'm Jason and I'd like to join the group.

Here's the twist. I was banded in December 2009. Issue is that it was completely devoid of any saline and was never filled until 2 days ago. The surgeon believed waiting 6 months before the first fill and in that time I lost my job and also my insurance.

I'm thankful that I found a new job last summer and I love it, but it's a small company and the insurance covers NOTHING regarding the lap bands, not fills, not the doctor's visit, not even the cup of Water they give you when you walk out the door.

So, I'm finally filled. I have the "big" lap band (14cc's I think) and he put 5.5 cc's in there under a fluroscope. He said with that, I should feel very uncomfortable if I continue to eat like I've been.

2 nights before I went to a Sushi buffet and closed the place down. I've had ZERO restriction and could eat unlimited amounts of anything. Right now I'm on yogurt and pudding and tomorrow I can start with blended stuff. (or just scrambled eggs since there's NO WAY I'm blending food)

Sad thing is that the day of surgery I weiged 290. The post op, mostly liquid and no carb diet brought me down to 251 at my lowest in March 2010.

As of 2 days ago I was 319. That's a gain of 68 pounds since surgery. Needless to say, I'm ashamed. I've been able to save up over the last year and have found a new surgon who will take credit cards so I'm paying for follow up myself. This is motivator #2 or 3 for me.

So for all intents and purposes, it's like I was just banded but worse because I don't remember the protocol very well. I found a new surgeon. I finally have Fluid in my band, and I'm scared to death of what lies ahead. The new sugeon's support groups start up again in 3 weeks so this site is all I've got.

Please adopt me.

...and.... if anyone can tell me if oatmeal and or cream of wheat is a "heavy liquid" or a "mushie", that would be awesome.

If anyone has any threads that are favorites, please let me know those too.

I have to succeed. I'm 36 years old, fat, diabetic. have apnea and a 3 year old daughter I want to be around for.

Help....please.

Thanks

Jason

Im 36, have 3 kids under 7 and just got the band 3 weeks ago. I too was always a thin person, today I look like im about 7 months pregnant being that all my weight is in my mid section. Ive tried every diet program and my arms and legs will always get skinny, but the midsection never changed much. Im so happy I did it because I truly needed help. Everyone has there own eating habots and mine are unconcious eating, large portions, grazing, and sugar/carb foods. The lapband doesnt make those problems go away. Im struggling now in week 3 because I keep eating all the bad stuff. My stomach says your full and my brain is like one more bite. Several times i filled my pouch and my chest tightened up and i had to wait the pain out for 10 minutes. So now Im going to go back to the first week diet of mostly liquids to detox myself of the carbs and sugar. It's a mental battle and you will need a good support system or a website to vent to, because only people like us will understand how you could go through a surgery and still want to cheat. Good luck!

I have BCBS also, but my deductible wa $550, I guess your employers plan determines how much you pay. I used an out of network Dr, and he made me see around 10 specialits to get a full work up to find my co morbidities, because BCBS would do the surgery with a BMI of 30 if it was medically necessary. Mine was a 36 with comorbidities such as high cholestorol, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, diabetes, arthritis in feet, heart disease in your family. They didnt ask me to prove anything about past weights or diet attempts. I heard if you have a bmi of 35 and sleep apnea your almost guaranteed to get approved. Find a Dr and anesthiologist who are either in network or who will take what ever BCBS pays out of network.

I would love to know this answer too. Im a newbie and im really struggling, I eat way more than should, say 1.5 cups instead of 1/2 cup, and Im still hungry. I even find myself grazing in between. I think Im eating to many carbs and sugar so Im going to try Daves 5 day band test..minus the solid food since im only banded 3 weeks. Someone said to me that my pouch may be to big or now stretched out from over eating. I wonder if this is true. I guess the only true test would be an extra of the stomach. My first fill is in 3 weeks, I wish I could get it now, I miss that feeling of fulness and restriction. Good luck everyone!

Im in the same exact boat! 3 weeks post op and Im eating like 1.5 cups of food instead of 1/2 cup and Im still hungry. On top of that the 3 times a day is cutting it, Im doing 4 and sometimes snack. Im eating way to many carbs and sugary items...I have no self control it's disgusting. I think Im going to try and do a detox to get rid of all these cravings, I dont know what else to do, I feel so frustrated. I did great the first 10 days, now Im totally ofdf the diet eating what ever i want and making it mushy. I need a fill bad! I want to feel tht fullness and restriction like I did the first week.

the main reason they dont want you to drink is because 1. it takes less alcohol to get you intoxicated now, so it could be dangerous since you're drinking on an almost empty stomach. 2. there is a lot of calories and carbs in these drinks, so they will slow your weight loss down, and the drinks will be stored as belly fat since alcohol turns to sugar once processed through your system. On another note, I have had several glasses of wine, and no problems. My nutrionist told me to have a glass of Water after each drink, she was furious though when i told her i drank the wine so soon. Oh well, what can you do...vacation peer pressure LOL. I would be nervous about beer, doesnt that have carbination in it? my friend made me a wine spritzer with seltzer, and i drank it thinking it was just some cheap ass wine, I started foaming at the mouth...literally, and had the worst knot in my chest.

Good for you! are you exercising like a maniac, 39 lbs is amazing in 2 wks. Im starving too, I think Im eating way morew than i should. My nutrionist said to eat one egg for Breakfast, it wasnt cutting it so i upoped it to 1 egg and 2 egg whites, and that barely satisfies the hunger. are you hungry? what are you eating that your weight loss was so successful?

I wasnt required to go on a diet pre-op, just Clear Liquids 24 hrs before and no food or drink after midnight. his is determined by how much you have to lose and how much fat is in you stomach area. Many Drs ask patients to go on a 2 wk diet to reduce the size of the liver during surgery. My Dr made me see a nutrionist, who gave me a list of when and what to eat. After surgery, the first 5-6 weeks, your on a mushy diet and need 50 grams of Protein a day and 64 oz of fluids. Im in week 3 and my list has cream of wheat, ricotta, cottage cheese, applesauce, Protein Shakes, chili from wendys, Soups, flaked fish, shgredded meats (moistened), etc. There are tons of websites with me u ideas for us. Good Luck!

To soon, to much fat in area to see it. But when I stand I can feel it, when sit or lay down it's harder to find. I wonder how my 1st fill will go 11/10 and if they will find it easily

In the hospitall you want to try and walk every 2 hrs, it really helped a lot. when i got home, I was pretty active, I have 3 kids under 7. I walked every 2 hours, excet at night I stayed in bed to rest to sleep as long as possible. In the am I would have a bottle of Water and Vitamins and then walk around the block, by that time, the water had passed through and I could eat Breakfast (you cant drink 30 min before or after meals). Got home Wednesday night, by Friday I felt like nothing ever happened. Good luck!

Wine turns to sugar once processed and will be primarily stored as belly fat. So it will slow down your weight loss. Since we are so limited on what we could consume, they want us to choose wisely. Think of it this way a small bottle of wine is about 500 calories (~90 calories a glass), if you drank a bottle a day you would gain 1 lb a week. Ive cheated to and I spoke to a nutrionist, she said to make sure you drink a glass of Water after each glass of wine if I feel I absolutely have to drink when I go out. Dont drink spritzers, I had one and the carbination made me foam at the mouth, it was so scary. I went away for 4 days and drank a few glasses, my weight loss was only 1.5 that week, as oppossed to 7lbs the week before.

Good Luck

Name- NYMoMof 3

Age - 36

Weight on October 1st~ 225 lbs

Goal Weight for October 29th - 217 lbs

Exercise Goal for October~ Recently banded, so just for now, tons of walking!

Dietary Goal for October~ Lots of Protein and Remember to keep hydrated

Personal Goal for October~ stop thinking about all the things I cant eat

Date Banded 09/27/2011

Total Weight Loss Since Banding 4.2 pds

Im 5 days post op and Im starving. My diet is suppossed to be mushy stuff like oatmeal, eggs, yogurt, cottage cheese, ricotta, flakey fish, pureed veggies no more than 1/2 cups a meal. Plus 60g of Protein daily. I can put down a whole shake and eat a meal, and Im barely satisfied. My roomate has been scared to eat, so shes on shakes only. I asked the Dr (not my surgeon) who discharged me from the hospital, what my fill was, he said you dont have one yet, you have what ever the band is pre-filled with. So what does that mean! I dont even know how many Ccs I have. A lot of insurances arent paying for fills, they are like $250 a pop if insurance doesnt cover. So is this a way to get you to come in for a fill sooner than later?

On another note, I found if I get that 50-60 g of Protein in, my appetite is nil. Today I had 46g of protein, and Im not hungry now.

I have Empire BCBS, my first consult was 7/28, I saw all my pre-op Drs, and had my surgery this past Tuesday 9/27. My friend has GHI, and they are making her weigh in for 6 months before considering her

Had my Pre-Op on Thursday 9/22 and surgery is scheduled for Tuesday 9/27! I have to call today to find out what time, assuming my pre-op tests were fine. Yeah US!

I feel the same way, Im going in on Tuesday, so I will post about the experience and hopefully it will help you prepare. Good Luck to you!

Im going in too on the 27th...Good Luck!

CONGRATS I UNDERSTAND UR FEAR BECAUSE I FEEL THE SAME WAY. I AM DUE SEPT 27TH THATS THIS TUESDAY AND I AM SO SCARED

So after this 2 month process of seeing over a dozen Drs, I am booked for surgery for Tuesday 9/27. Im so wired I cant sleep! Tomorrow I have to go on a clear diet, then no food after midnight. So tonight my hubby and I went out for my "goodbye dinner", thinking I would completely endulge, and I ended up eating half of my dinner and took two bites of dessert. So much for that! Looking at other posts, I cant help but wonder why some people were put on 2 week pre-op diets and mine was only 24 hrs; not that Im complaining . So my biggest fear is not being able to eat the foods that give me so much pleasure. Im am a social / emotional eater and Im nervous about how I will feel and react when put in a situation where I normally would completely endulge myself. I keep hearing I will never be hungry, but how will my psychological cravings go away? Dont know about you, but all I have to do is watch a commercial, or talk about a recipe, and boom Im eating what ever Im talking about...can't do that anymore Im also scared about how long th recovery will take and the level of pain. My life is so busy I dont have time to be incapacitated and the thought of taking it easy for 6 weeks stresses me out more. Im Go Go Go person so I hope my recovery will be as easy childbirth recovery. Can any moms out there tell me if child birth recovery (Vaginal delivery) was easier or harder than lapband recovery? I guess I need to keep my eye on the prize and hang some old pictures of me around the house. maybe I will even start a daily photo shoot to see how my body is changing. My journey will be short because (estimate a year) because I am on the lower end of the BMI requirement, having to lose only around 100 lbs. So who knows lapbanders I may just be in a bathing suit (hopefully a bikini) next summer! Actually, now that I think about it, I wonder how my skin will be after all this...anyone one to share how there skin was in the end?