elle

My doctor calls it 'thin liquids' not clear. You should clarify this with your doctor. I was allowed to drink the protein shakes watered down. I added half water or milk and thinned it. Protein shakes can satisfy your hunger longer. I also had diluted sugar free cocoa.

Talk about family feeling free to give you insults and advice because after all they are family and you shouldn't take it personally (and be too sensitive - I was always told). I have struggled with my weight all my life and have been fat and thin. My grandmother once told me when I was a child that it should be easy for me to learn to swim because fat or blubber would rise to the top and float. My aunt who is always pushing food, will go around the table and offer cake for dessert. When she gets to me, she will offer me fruit because I am naturally on a diet. My father, who is 80 and not senile. He always thinks he is funny. I told him that I recently lost 25 lbs. He said, my aunt would say (but she wouldn't and he did). When you are 500 lbs, 50 doesn't really show. Needless to say, I will not discuss my diet or tell them that I have a lap band. My children and husband are my support system.

Helen, My husband is also having his surgery with Dr. Fielding on 5/22. We will look for you in the waiting area. When I had my surgery on Jan 31, I saw Dr. Fielding before the surgery in the waiting room and he chatted with me. He did come to see me in the recovery room and told me that everything went well. Good Luck, its very exciting. My husband started his pre-op diet today.

I find that I have a "fat head" even if I am losing weight. I am trying to think like naturally thin people. The food will be there, I don't have to wolf it down. I can have a little bit of desert to get a taste and savor it slowly and not have to eat the whole thing (without really tasting it). Years of bad habits and not coping with issues won't go away in a few months. Don't beat yourself up. Try to not put yourself in situations that are hard for you right now. Plan your dessert for after you eat your meal. Eat proteins because it curbs your hunger. Buy portioned ice cream so it is premeasured or go out for ice cream. Find hobbies or classes or go for a walk in the evening. Leave the kitchen. All of the things that we have been taught thru all the diet programs are useful. The thing is now we can have more success because we have a tool to help with the hunger. Good Luck to you and me too.

My doctor recommends liquids for the rest of the day after the fill and one day after. Then 2 days mushies. He says the fill makes you swollen. Liquids dont have to be clear. I use protein shakes as well. Those 4 days, I lose weight so I adhere to it. Also I appreciate the mushies when i get to them and then food after that. Good Luck and ask your doctor what he recommends.

I was banded Jan 31. My doctor gives you the first fill after 4 weeks and recommends that you come every 3 weeks in the beginning because he feels the new AP bands are less restrictive. I just had my 4th fill. First fill - 3cc 2nd fill - 2cc 3rd fill - 1cc 4th fill - 1 cc - total 7cc in 10cc APS band. I had some restriction at 6cc but I could still eat mostly everything in smaller quantities. Now at 7cc, I think I have a lot more restriction but I am on my 2day liquid and 2 day mushy stage after my adjustment. I had some difficulty eating cottage cheese but I think it was because I always eat too fast. I'm down 27 lbs and 22 since surgery in 3 months. I may not be losing as fast as others but I am very happy. I will never go back. I am giving away my clothes as they become too big.

I think it is your port also. I asked a nurse what happens when I lose weight, will I see it protruding. They told me that I can eventually replace it with a low-profile port or have the port placed deep under the muscle. Anyway noone can see it and it is probably easy to give me adjustments now so I'm ok with it.

I have had 4 fills and my doctor never poked or prodded me. All I feel is a pinch when the needle goes in. I assume your doctor places the port in the same place for each patient and he can feel the port with his hand. Hope it gets easier for you.

I only started thinking about fill cost recently. I had just assumed that they were covered. I saw people talking about fill costs on-line and I got worried. My doctor includes 90 days of fills for free as part of the surgury followup. A friend of mine told me that she pays her co-pay when she gets fills(she doesn't have Aetna). I am assuming that I will be doing the same. I wouldn't know what Aetna would do if your doctor is not on the plan. You should ask the office about the fees. I waited to find a doctor on my plan.

I got my band Jan 31 and I feel the same way and want 'to get the show on the road'. I don't feel so much restriction but I get pains in my shoulder, and feel a lump in my throught if I eat quickly or take too big a bite. Also have a little trouble in the morning. Other than that I can eat a lot and will be hungry a lot. I have slowed down my eating but I have only lost 3 pounds in 6 weeks and have had 2 fills. The weight I lose is from the liquid/mush stage after my fill. On one hand, I want progress but on the other, I am afraid that the band will be too tight and I wan't be able to get much down. I am due for a fill soon. I am going Friday because I need to get through the liquid/mushies before I travel on vacation next week.

I was worried that if I lost weight my BMI would drop below 40 (which it didn't). I didn't lose significant weight during my 6 months. I lost some, gained it back and so on. Anyway, I think I only lost 5 pounds after the 6 month period. The doctor's office told me that it didn't matter what the loss was only that I had the 6 month's of doctor supervised diet documentation. I was approved by Aetna, so that might give you some relief.

My surgeon also has a lap band and he not only is sympathetic about the pain, but he told me he had it as well. He said he feels it is related to gas and the pain is a referred pain. He also said that he knows it can be quite painful but he said it will ease up over time. So I am hopeful. I know that when I dont' eat for a long time and I then I may take a bigger bite or eat faster or eat something more doughy, the pain kicks in. So I am learning to be more careful. I have only had 2 adjustments and I don't really feel any restriction yet but I get the shoulder pain.

The presurgical diet sounds like a lot more effort than the 6 month supervised diet. Hope Aetna approves you. Hope the specialists are helping you too. It should be helpful after you get the band. Good Luck.

I also thought the band would fix all my eating issues. I think that if I had the band loosened, all the fast eating and overeating (and non-physical hunger eating) would come back. I want to believe that I and everyone else are changing our way of life and learning how to eat to live. I guess you have to work on it one step at a time. I am trying to add exercise into my life everyday in small ways. I park on the top floor of my garage at work and walk up 3 flights of stairs to get the car. I am leaving the kitchen after dinner cleanup. I am taking on hobbies so I can keep busy and not eat out of boredom or whatever drives me to eat. Small steps.

I have Aetna POS. I was approved also in what I think was a quick amount of time. I was told by my doctor's office to supply them with 6 months doctor supervised documentation. They tell everyone to get the 6 months documentation because most insurances require it. Aetna does. So if you have all the documentation and you have jumped thru all the hoops, and you are eligible, I think Aetna will approve it. My husband has different insurance and because I am a patient already, the insurance coordinator in the office told me that he doesn't need 6 month documentation for his insurance. We will see if he gets approval quickly. Anyway, good luck.

I am a relatively new bandster. I was banded on 1/31/08. My first fill was 2/4 - I was told 3cc.s 2nd fill 2/24 - they withdrew the saline and said I had 2ccs - but I remember them telling me they put in 3. Is measuring by withdrawing saline inaccurate?. The doctor added 2ccs. So I should have 5cc but he thinks 4ccs. Can u lose saline? Also I assumed I had a 10cc band but I asked the doctor and he said 12cc. I know I have an Allergan band but I never heard of 12ccs. I thought it was 10 or 14cc capacity? Can anyone explain it. Will it take me longer to feel restriction if I have a larger capacity band?

I asked my surgeon what size band I had and he said 12cc. I don't understand. I know it is an allergan band. Do you know about a 12cc band. I also wondered about whether it will take longer to get restriction, because it holds more saline. I was told for my first fill that he put in 3ccs which is a standard basic amount. Now at my second fill, he measured what was there and said it was 2 ccs. Can you lose saline or did I misunderstand or is it just not exact when you withdraw the saline to measure. He added 2ccs so he said I total 4ccs. (I think it would be 5ccs.)

I have read on this site that some people will NOT feel the restriction until after a few days or even weeks, after a fill. I don't understand that. Can anyone explain it. Shouldn't you feel the restriction right away and it will get looser as time goes, and you lose weight. I have had my first fill 2 weeks ago (3cc in 10cc band) and don't feel restriction yet. I don't think that I will until I get another fill.

This had been my first post, I never realized I got so many replies(I didn't get e-mails). Thank you everybody for giving me the info and good advice. I have been banded on 1/31/07 and working my way down.

My doctor told me to stop drinking ONLY 5 Minutes before and up to 20 Minutes after. I guess I am really lucky because he is strict with other things. He suggested not putting a cup at the table. There are two reasons not to drink. 1) The drink washes the food down and defeats the purpose of the band. 2) Once you are restricted, the drink will get stuck behind the food. Two hours seems like a long time.

Hi Alish, I had one fill also. My doctor's regimen is liquids for rest of day after fill and one more day after after that. Then 2 days of mushies and then onto solid food. I follow what he says exactly because I don't want to cause any band slippage. Good Luck. By the way I had 3ccs put in my 10cc band and I have not noticed any restriction. So Good for you.

Thanks for the recipe. Thought your comment about your husband was hilarious.

My husband had an appt with Dr. Huberman mid February and will have his nutritionist and nurse appt mid March - 5 weeks later. I think they are very busy and that was when they could give him an appt. Then you make an appt to meet one of the surgeons. If all your paperwork is in order and you qualify, they will schedule your surgery at the same time. My surgery date was 6 weeks away but I met Dr. Fielding right before the holidays so I'm sure my date for surgery was a longer wait then usual.

I have Aetna and they are also strict about documentation. I had to start a new weight loss program with my doctor. Go every month to get documented weight, blood pressure, exercise program for 6 months. I also had a letter of recomendation from my doctor why I was a good candidate for the surgical weight loss program. Also I had to have a letter documenting my weight for the last 5 years (basically one weight per year to prove that I was Morbidly overweight for last 5 years). I think i was approved within 4 weeks. I had the psych eval, medical check up, blood work already done. My doctor's office has a check list of documentation that you have to provide before you meet the doctor. Then they tell you specifically based on individual insurance companies, what else you have to provide. I did not deal with the insurance company at all. The doctors say that the insurance wants you to jump thru these hoops with the hope that many patients will give up. Hang in there because you will get there. Good Luck.

I was banded by Dr. Fielding on 1/31/08. Everyone at NYU is so efficient and professional. I think Dr. Ren, Dr. Fielding and Dr. Kurian are really the best doctors. Dr. Ren founded the NYU Program for surgical weight loss Dr. Fielding alone has performed over 4000 Weight Loss Surgeries. The whole team are really compassionate and care about the patients (plus I really like them). The center is recognized as an American Society for Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence. I wouldn't go anywhere else.