blondegal_

Flylovesong- Do you know if skin removed from thighs is ever covered by insurance? I still have plenty of weight to lose but am already noticing extra skin on my inner thighs. Thanks for the info!

Fake it, til ya make it. That's my current method of dealing with such things. Good luck!

You're welcome. Now it is possible for your metabolism to slow down but it's very unlikely you would gain weight as long as your calorie intake is less than you burn. If you are interested in learning how many calories you burn in a day look up. BMR calculator. That's how many calories you burn if your body is at rest all day. Then add on any exercise.

Nice to meet ya Khrisw

I paid the morning of my surgery. I was banded in dec '12 so they might have changed rules jan 1.

I'm in Arlington. Banded 12/19/12. I'm willing to "talk"/answer questions. There are others from the DFW area but once everyone starts doing well after the post op period they seem to drop off the boards.

My teenage son had his appendix and then gall bladder removed before I had surgery. So now we show our bellies and say my scars are way worse than your scars and do the whole "noooo my scars are bigger and I'm tougher than you". No made up story but we do act like four year olds arguing over something silly.

I only see my endocrinologist regularly. And when I saw him after the surgery, he seemed genuinely glad that I had gotten the surgery. I was pleasantly surprised. He's even started doing extra bloodwork for me. He checks all types of levels more than just for my thyroid to make sure I'm staying healthy with the reduced calorie intake.

Please try not to compare yourself. I know it's hard as I do it sometimes. Remember a 1-2 lbs/wk is average so you're doing well. Just follow your doctor's instructions and you'll do fine.

To gain a true pound overnight you would have to eat 3500 more calories than you burned in a day. Now that might have been something we could have done in the past. But it's unlikely you did that so it's probably just water weight as the others said. I weigh myself daily and now after six months I know before getting on the scale if it's going to be up a little. I can feel a heaviness in my legs or feel bloated from water weight. But I also know it will go away. If you log everything you eat then you'll know there's no way you actually gained and it's just water weight. Best of luck on your journey!

Like the others said, let go of what happened. Remember it's a journey and regular, healthy, "normal" people go on vacation and gain a few pounds. As for what to do now - when I want to get back on track I write out a menu for 4-5 days making sure that I'm getting in the required Protein and staying within my calorie limits. Then I go to the store and make sure I have everything I need to be successful. If my meals are planned and I have healthy Snacks then it makes it so much easier to get and stay on track. Best of luck!

I'm six months post op and I have no issues drinking a glass full of water. I also feel I've had enough fills to reach the "green zone". There is swelling after surgery and possibly after getting a fill but you should never be so tight that water doesn't go down easily.

Hmm... Haven't read of anyone experiencing pain in that area except maybe right after surgery when basically everything hurts. Hopefully your doctor will be able to figure it out and that it's nothing serious. My port is higher than yours and I still feel a little tenderness in the area you describe but I know it's the port.

I did have surgery in dec '12 so they might have changed things up after Jan 1. I had it done at the surgery center in Hurst.

Is your port on that side? I know mine will feel tender and not just at the injection spot.

Could you be more specific about the location of the pain? We often say stomach when it's actually our intestines. And the band is located at the top of our stomachs which is felt more in the chest area.

I used TR in DFW and didn't pay anything up front. But I only had a couple of appointments before the actual surgery. I had also told them I was putting the charge on my credit card (wanted the points) instead of paying them cash.

Does it have a battery that could be changed out? And I second the idea if weighing a dumbbell on it and seeing what it says.

I'm in Arlington. Banded 12/19/12. Don't think I could be a mentor but would be willing to be a buddy. Saw you post on the thread about monthly meetings. We haven't met for a while as there were to many conflicting schedules.

The easiest thing I think you can fix is item #2 - eating junk food. Why not just eat something healthy to get some calories in? If you're not hungry, then make yourself eat something healthy. Eating healthy (not just to lose weight) will help you feel so much better. It won't help out on the other issues (husband, son, work, etc) but it will help YOU. Also start taking a daily vitamin and a calcium supplement will help you out too. Best of luck on your weight loss journey and everything else.

Do you count calories? How about exercise? Those are the first two places I check if I think weight loss is slowing down.

I don't know anything specific about these pills but I've read warnings from others about fiber supplements. You have to be careful that its not the kind that will swell up as that could be stuck in the band and be very painful and you might need medical attention. But in my opinion, I got the Lapband so I wouldn't need to take a pill or join a program to lose weight. So be sure to do your research on the pills.

I just had surgery in December. No complications. There's very little data as it is still considered new. I believe I've read in other posts that it's not approved by FDA and that's why it's not cover by insurance. But I have not independently verified that. I remember looking up medical studies and reading about it. I believe a pretty detailed one was by Duke University. But you have to be willing the slog thru the technical stuff when reading those. CarolinaGirl also had plication. Hopefully she'll respond and have more info. I'm responding via phone so it's not easy for me to reference other material.

I got Lapband with plication and in my opinion (and only my opinion) I feel the plication kept me from being "starving" before reaching the correct fill amount. There have been times when I've been hungry, but I've read others "wanting to chew my arm off" or "this just seems like a diet". I've never felt like that. Reducing my daily calorie intake to less than 1200/day has been achievable. And without too much struggle. But again I'll say this is only my opinion and I don't have the experience of having Lapband without the plication.

I'm six months out and am at that 45% average but I fully expect to lose more as I haven't stalled out yet and I could always add more days of exercise too. As far as the average goes, remember it includes everyone that gets the band. Not just the success stories. To do the math: Original weight - goal weight = amount to lose Current amount lost / amount to lose = % lost to date