smilin_apple

Mamareid- They have that program at my Church here in CA too. I had heard of it but I didn't think of using it for food addictions. That is good to know I might have to check it out. I am curious about what she tweeeked on your food too! Maybe that is what I need to do as well?

Have you looked into any other self pay centers in your area or maybe the next State over instead of all the way in Mexico?

BinaryMan- I am not self pay so I cannot be completely sure, but I know I have seen people on LBT that are self pay that say they go offices closer to them for about 100 a visit, for me I only get a fill once a month so if it was 100 each time that would be almost half what they are charging. You might want to check into maybe a hospital local to you that does Bariatric Surgery for their insureds; they might be able to take a self pay.

Congrats Denise, I hope all works out for you two!

Thanks Froggi! Hey do you have your date for November yet? I was banded on November 7th last year. I know it seems so far away but it will be here before you know it!

I like the cooler weather maybe I need to move there...lol! I can't stand the heat, when it gets hot here in the summer I just end up pretty much hibernating...haha! Congrats tdsanders!!! You were banded on my 31st birthday! How are you feeling? Did you have pains from any trapped gas or anything? Just a heads up if you haven't noticed yet (Ididn't notice until I started driving again) That the port area is typically the most painful part for most people. I noticed it more when I was getting in and out of the the drivers side of the car. And it lasted for almost 2 and half months. My surgeon said it was because of he sewed the port to the muscle under the skin to keep it from moving around (most surgeons do that now, to prevent the port from flipping over). Take care! Hang in there Sana, at least the scale goes down, no matter how slow it is. If you hang in there you will reach your goal in whatever time is best for you and your body! Good luck with you fill tomorrow, I hope you get a good amount of restriction.

Thanks Froggi - I hope so too. I go in for my fill in 8 days and I can't wait!!! I need one so bad, I can hardly stand to wait. I spoke to the Bariatric Med Assit today to see if my surgeon has any cancellations to see if i could possibly get in this week and unfortunately not :smile2: Oh well as the saying goes "Patience is a Virtue" I guess I just have to be patient. I am so glad to see this thread taking of so quick, It is nice to see so many people who are going through the same things and who are at different stages in their journey. I joined LBT 6 months before my surgery and it was a blessing from God for me. I was part of the Bariatric group at my hospital but unfortunately they were so new to LapBanding that NO one in the group had it done and only 4 or 5 people were set up to do it. I have recieved so much moral support not to mention the care and concern I have recieved from people all over the world. To all the soon to be Bansters: Hang in there no matter what, your day will come and it will be such a life changing event for you that you will wonder how you ever lived without the Band. Take care everyone!!!

Hi all!!! I started out at my highest in November 2006 - 416 lbs. Then by the time of surgery I was down to 383 lbs. Since the surgery I have gone down to 339 lbs. Now even though I knew I choose this surgery option over the Gastric Bypass (the my surgeon kinda preferred me to have), that I would be loosing slower. But it has been 6 months and as of my 5 month weigh in I had only lost 44 lbs since surgery (5 months ago) Then I had some issues last month and had a complete unfill and have just completely messed up my eating even though I had 5 cc's put back in 2 weeks ago. I feel like I am having a hard time getting control again, and my next fill appointment isn't for 10 more days! My sweet tooth is OUT OF CONTROL and I never weigh myself between my monthly checkups but I broke down and looked last week and it looks like I might have gained 2 lbs. that freaks me out! I hope the change on the scale had to do with my monthly cycle and not actual weight gain?

My BMI was over 60 when I started as well. Thanks for creating this thread!

I do buy those they are AWESOME! I get mine from BevMO, the sugar free ones are life savers in adding flavor to anything without the sugar or calories and they are made with splenda!

Yeah I still drink it now almost 7 months out, when I need a protein boost. As a matter of fact I need to order some more...haha! I hope you enjoy it! Oh yeah and for a little flavor change sometimes you can add about 1/4 of med banana(make it small or it will change the texture too much) to the shake before blending to change it up.

I would agree with you but everyone is different, I it very important to get up and around to move the gas out but not everyone will be back to work after 2 days. I couldn't go back until 2 weeks because of minor complications. Also I was 200lbs+ over ideal weight at time of surgery not 100lbs like others. And you definitely DO NOT want to be up cooking meals and doing dishes and cleaning house either, as you can mess with the healing process. I guess everyone is different just be prepared in case you cannot be like others and be back at work after 2 days.

Thank you! Oh that is my favorite now! I will be using it all the time!!!

Welcome back Alysa! First of all let me say sorry to hear about your loss, but I am very glad to see you are back and ready to move ahead! Some of the things you'll want to do is a day or so before surgery do all the shopping for you yogurts, jell-o , pudding and so on. If it's Jell-o you have to prepare make sure to do it the day before and put it in small 1/2 cup individual serving containers, the same goes for your pudding. It will make things much easier for you when you need to grab something out of the fridge. You will also need easy to prepare cream soups or broth, and it will be a good idea to get you protein shake mix ahead of time. Some good ones are Soy protein mix, Whey protein, or one of my favorites are Unjury. They sell that online at Unjury.com, the unflavored if my fav (it is almost flavor free) and it great in a glass of milk with some sugar free chocolate syrup. My fav Unjury recipe that I made is simple: 1/2 scoop of Unjury 1 cup of Low fat 1% milk 2 ice cubes 1-2 tablespoons of Sugar free Chocolate Syrup (ie.Hershey's S/F) mix in blender or magic bullet This contains 25 grams of protein and only 150-160 cals It comes out very runny but it perfect after surgery or after a fill Remember though after surgery you probably be able to only drink half or less of it so you can adjust recipe accordingly. You'll also want to set yourself up a space where you will be resting. For me it was my big lazy-boy chair in the living room because experience from prior surgeries I knew I would be more comfortable in that reclining position instead of laying in my bed. If you decide to do something like that you'll want to set up a small table close to your chair or where ever you are resting with bottles of water, your pain meds, heating pad if you have one, something long like a "back scratcher" so you don't have to bend too much if you get an itch where you can't reach it. You'll want a phone and charger if needed) set up close to you as well as the emergency contact info for the doctor/hospital, just in case you have any unusual complications. Another good thing is to have a book/ magazines, remote for TV, small radio or whatever you like to do when relaxing; placed on that table. I'll leave it there for now, but if you need ANY help let me know.

I'm sorry all I feel so sillly asking this but some of the verbage Iam still not used to even after alomst a year of posting on LapBand Talk, so what does "PTL" stand for?

Hello all! I was banded on Nov 07,2007 and I just stummbled acreoss this thread and thought I would pop in and put my 2 cents in. I agree that is not the typical "Dumping syndrome" but it does feel similar for some people. I think it really affects anyone who has had their gallbladder taken out. And for those who haven't had their removed it is most likely due to the change in diet. I noticed it when I had too high fat content in my meats or even if I have too much milk. The reason for the increased gas is if anyone has noticed you can't burp the same as you might have been able to do in the past due to the Band. Since it is placed on the upper stomach where it meets the esophegus the new shape of your upper stomach effects whether or not gas travels up easily. So it has to come out one way or another, mostly out the other end.

Why so many miles Diz? It will be before surgery not after right? That would be too much time in the car right after a surgery.

You are sooo much better than me, my surgeon told me to do liquids for 3-5 days, then fuller liquids and soft foods like cottage cheese, yogurt, etc. from weeks 1-2 and on. Then he wanted me to wait until soft meat until I saw him. I couldn't, I thought I was going to die if I didn't get some protein in me soon when I had my surgery. So I started about 2 or 3 days before my 2 weeks post op appt. on really soft ground meat and oh boy did that help! I kinda wish I was able to have waited longer than I did, like you did but I think I did fine and now it has been a little over 6 months later. I go in to get my fill on June 10th and I am hoping to get some restriction again!!! I soooo miss having restriciton, I have had none since I was too full 3 weeks ago and now I am having a hard time. Keep up the great work NeverB4!

Diz- I noticed on your blog you are being banded at Kaiser? Is it South SanFrancisco Kaiser? Who is your surgeon? I was banded there in Nov 07 by Dr. Alami at Kaiser and I was just curios if you had the same doc. He is AWESOME!!! I had to see Dr. Le for one of my fills and it was the WORST experience of my life and I told Dr. Alami that I will never see another surgeon EVER again! He has the best bed side manner and is one of the BEST surgeons I have ever known, definitly a blessing for me to have him to my surgery. I am now almost 7 months out from surgery so if you have any questions feel free to ask. I have had a pretty great experience with the Band only a couple of complications but nothing to fear, and most caused by Dr. Le Anyways enough of the rambling on and on. Take care and Congrats on your upcoming band date!!!:thumbup::cursing:

Thanks Dianne - You too!

I agree, that is one of the best parts about the band is being able to adjust it. No matter how long we have had it in place we can always adjust depending on different life circumstances for anything from it being too tight, too loose, pregnancy or anything else you can think of. Well I hope you have a wonderful day and I will keep you updated on how things go when I get my next fill in 2 and a half weeks.

DLW- Thank you!!! Don't know if I mentioned this before but one of the surgeons in the Bariatric group at my hospital did my fill one time and when he thought he removed everything he could and it looked like was 1 cc short so he assumed it was leaked or absorbed. But when I went back to see my surgeon 1 week later guess what he found it. Now that has happened to me 2 times. My surgeon says that sometimes the fluid will find and air pocket or something and then when it looks like they got it all to see how much is in there to inject it back in, they don't really have it all. So that is probably why it was showing less than you were supposed to be and then when they put it back you were too tight. That is just my guess. I am definitely trying harder as to watching myself when I am eating and trying to chew better, my biggest concern was that I wasn't getting food stuck, which I would have before when I felt I was right there around my "sweet spot" if I didn't chew properly. Now being only a 1 cc from that original fill level and not feeling ANY restriction made me wonder if that was a "technical" problem with the band. But I am sure all will be fine. I know I have a great surgeon who took a ton of precautions to keep the chance down for too many complications such as sewing the port in place as to prevent it from flipping around. He also sewed the sides of the band to my esophegus/stomach to prevent it from slipping too easily. It's a technique I guess they learned recenty. My hospital has only been doing LapBands for about 15 months ad I had mine 6 months ago. They really did a lot of research as a group as to some of the best techniques to use prior to taking on LapBands, since before this all they knew was Gastric Bypass which they had been doing for years. Ok enough rambling I guess I just needed to say all that to convince myself that I am fine....haha!!! Thanks again for the encouragement!!!

I am so happy for you Chrispy, you seem like you are doing AWESOME!!! You are right on track as far as what they recommend for how long it takes to get to goal with the LapBand. I am definitely trying harder as to watching myself when I am eating and trying to chew better, my biggest concern was that I wasn't getting food stuck, which I would have before when I felt I was right there around my "sweet spot" if I didn't chew properly. Now being only a 1 cc from that original fill level and not feeling ANY restriction made me wonder if that was a "technical" problem with the band. But I am sure all will be fine. I know I have a great surgeon who took a ton of precautions to keep the chance down for too many complications such as sewing the port in place as to prevent it from flipping around. He also sewed the sides of the band to my esophegus/stomach to prevent it from slipping too easily. It's a technique I guess they learned recenty. My hospital has only been doing LapBands for about 15 months ad I had mine 6 months ago. They really did a lot of research as a group as to some of the best techniques to use prior to taking on LapBands, since before this all they knew was Gastric Bypass which they had been doing for years. Ok enough rambling I guess I just needed to say all that to convince myself that I am fine....haha!!!

I recently had the unfill and a re-fill to 5 cc's in my 10 cc band and I am not feel a ton of restriciton. I can pretty much eat anything and I am falling back in to my old habits of not chewing too well because for some reason I am not finding that I have to. I chew a little and swallow and I am fine nothing gets stuck at all!!!I am hoping that is not a bad sign that I am not going to be able to get good restriciton any time soon, or worse yet that there is something wrong like a slipped band?!? Anyone else had a large unfill and then a re-fill and not get restriction, or food stuck like you used to when your band is half full???

I recently had the unfill and a re-fill to 5 cc's in my 10 cc band and I am not feel a ton of restriciton. I can pretty much eat anything and I am falling back in to my old habits of not chewing too well because for some reason I am not finding that I have to. I chew a little and swallow and I am fine nothing gets stuck at all!!!I am hoping that is not a bad sign that I am not going to be able to get good restriciton any time soon, or worse yet that there is something wrong like a slipped band?!? Anyone else had a large unfill and then a re-fill and not get restriction, or food stuck like you used to when your band is half full???