podna

$13,800 all included for first year. Fills $100 each after that.

I too was banded on Tuesday 5/29. Went home the next day and was pretty tender. Yesterday was much better. today I hardly notice it unless I move the wrong way. I have hunger pains that come and go and occassionally feel like theres a knot under my sternum. Doc has me on Clear liquids for 2 weeks but its a lot more tolerable than the preop diet....ALOT! I had a little depression yesterday but its subsiding. Main thing is I'm bored.

If you read the long term studies by O'Brien weight loss is virtually the same when comparing bypass vs band. But, the band is minor surgery, totally reversible and carries few if any complications. Furthermore, if you look at weight loss for bypass vs band charted out on a line graph you'll see a slight weight gain for bypass pts in the long term...kind of like a rebound. You don't see this same curve for band patients b/c in bypass the pouch can stretch with the band it can continue to be adjusted. For me its a no brainer. My surgeon has ceased bypass altogether considering it somewhat barbaric considering the strong results of the band.

My doc has a pt that lost 140lbs without a single fill. Just a thought.

New to the forum: Going to pre-op today. Have been on the miserable liquid diet for 1.5 weeks. Procedure is Tuesday. Have been "cheating" on the liquid diet but not too bad....Just have more of the lean Protein than the sheet indicates...i.e. broiled shrimp, tuna sashimi, crab legs. My surgeon is a very close friend of mine. Who's been doing the band for 2 years. He's quite passionate about it and is very excited that I've decided to take the plunge. I've got a lot of naysayers (everyone but him and my wife) around me. I combat them with facts: 1. NIH study indicating that less than 5% of people can maintain weight loss from diet and exercise 5 years out vs published long term lap band results from Dr. Obrien in Australia and Italy. 2. LSU study released this year that essentially says that the battle of the bulge is won at the dinner table. 3. The fact that you are combatting the most primal urge you have...to eat when hungry. 4. The fact that I've done diet and exercise and regained the weight (as have most of the people I argue with) To hell with them. I just tell them that in about 9 months I'm gonna have their wives wanting to cheat on them.:heh: :heh: Podna Louisiana