Maddy1

I have BCBS which does cover gastric banding IF your group plan chose that as a procedure they would cover. My employer did not chose that as a covered procedure so I am self pay. $10,000 including first year of office visits and fills.

You really need to find someone, anyone, who can help you for a little while. You shouldn't be lifting more than 10 lbs. and yes, you can cause yourself physical problems by lifting because it puts stress on the stiched and healing areas and they can come apart.

I wondered some of the same things....my doctor told me that band slippage usually happens with chronic over eating/vomiting and that erosion is often associated with aspirin or NSAID usage which affects the stomach wall. Have any of you heard that?

You don't say how big your band is....2 cc in a 5 cc band is different than 2 cc in a 10 or 14 cc band.

Why not list all the things that have improved about the large amount of weight you have lost? Surely your clothes are a smaller size, you can move somewhat better, etc.....You have done a great thing! I just hope I am as successful as you have been! Also a little citalopram can really help. Ask your doctor.

My surgeon stated I should never take aspirin or NSAIDS which include ibuprophen or aleve. She said they can really irritate your stomach. Only tylenol.

Stomach flu is actually the Noro Virus and it does spread easily. Only bleach kills it so you might want to keep your work area wiped down with a 1:10 mixture of bleach and water. That's what we do in our skilled nursing facility and it really helps. Hand sanitizer does not help this.

what is your exercise level? Can you bump it up or change it around?

Actually, my surgeon uses all the bands and chooses based on the needs of the patient. She stated that they usually use the realize band and that I will be getting the 10 cc band. She said she generally uses the lap band on larger men because it can go to 14 cc. Otherwise she is able to use realize band on most people who like it better because the port is flatter and has less chance of showing (lump on your abdomen. She also stated it is empty initially but starting at 4 weeks she does fills every 2 weeks until you gain some restriction. All the fills, office appointments and follow up care are part of the overall fee, which is $10,000 using an outpatient surgery center. I happy to be self pay so I was happy there weren't additional charges.

I think your feelings are very normal. I am self pay also and have questioned myself a few times. Anything big like this has some not so good outcomes. A lot depends on how much you are willing to follow the rules and guidelines. You always have a much better chance of success if you can follow the best practices that years of experience by other people have shown.

I think your feelings are very normal. I am self pay also and have questioned myself a few times. Anything big like this has some not so good outcomes. A lot depends on how much you are willing to follow the rules and guidelines. You always have a much better chance of success if you can follow the best practices that years of experience by other people have shown.

Me too! And I have good insurance, a Blue Cross PPO plan. It didn't occur to me that my company wouldn't cover it. What are you going to do? I just found out today.