Carole Zurick Radney

Thank you everybody for all of your great advice. Yes I have been back to my doctor many times. He is the kind of person that holds your hair while you are throwing up. He has seen me or talked to me almost every other day, so he is on top of my case. I have had many bags of IV fluids to keep from getting dehydrated and I am able to keep things down more and more each day. Dr. Bagnato knows he put in a band that was on the small side and it just needs to loosen up. I was just asking for help with that. Right know getting up in the morning and drinking some hot tea is helping some. I do pretty well during the day, but it tightens back up in the evening. I have to stop taking anything in by 9 pm or I end up choking all night long and cant sleep. I wake up so thirsty during the night and that is the most frustrating because I have always been a water guzzler. Just curious as to what everyone is eating on week 3-4 post op. And again I thank everyone for all the good wishes!

Thank you so much and I did forget to mention I lost 29 pounds in one week and still losing. So I hope it will help in the end. I cannot thank you enough for your help.

The fungus is all over the esophagus and comes up like bits of stuck food. It is absolutely horrible. It will set better and I will have less pain once the fungus is gone because it is just traumatizing the esophagus right now and I can't get the swelling to go down. I will try the hot liquids more often. Thank you so much. I feel like all I do is cry and I begged him to take the band out, but he says give it time and all will work out. I just want some other ideas on how to loosen the band a little.

I had my lap bad done on April 27th and have been through hell ever since. My surgeon told me the band is too tight and there is no fill in it....none. After giving me 8 bags of IV fluids over one week, he had to take me back to surgery and do an Endoscopy to see why I couldn't hold down any fluids. He found fungus on my esophagus related to my lupus and I had to start taking a heavy duty anti-fungal medication (Diflucan). I would love some help on how to get the band to be a little looser. Does drinking hot fluids help? Is it just going to take time? I can't even take a few sips without them coming back up. I can't get any protein in because everything gives me nausea. Has anyone else had difficulty like this? Any advice would be appreciated. Right now I am surviving on popsicles, ice and tiny, tiny sips of tea and water. Please, please help!!!

I have Aetna, but did not have t do the three month program. I did have to do a 6 month physician weight loss program, a psych eval and a nutritional eval. Each one supplied me with a letter they wrote of our session. I have copies of each one just in case! Your exercise physiologist should have some form they have to fill out to show your session. Just ask them and get a copy. Good luck! I did get approved on the first go around and was extremely surprised because I have three co-workers who have been denied two and three times. I don't think you will have a problem at all since you are doing the three month thing. One word of advice that my doctor gave me......keep up with your approval yourself. Call Aetna.....push your paperwork through. I did that and like I said....got approved first time.

My physician puts his patients on two weeks of Sugar Busters diet to decrease the amount of fat in the liver. Makes it easier for him to do surgery. I will be having my surgery on Friday and going back on Monday. I have a desk job and have the option of being off on Monday as well, but I will see how the weekend goes. My physician puts the port up near the clavicle which apparently has a better recovery history. Clear liquids don't start until after surgery.

RN here in Warner Robins, Georgia to have my surgery next Friday on April 27th. Had to jump a lot of hoops to get my insurance to cover it (I have Aetna), but they did and I can't wait. I have about 100 pounds to lose so I am sure these forums will provide much needed great info! Good luck to everyone!