Leena

I love salads, obviously I skip the dressing when eating out. At home I have fat free 20 cal per 2 tbsp dressing and love it.

I only eat egg whites, usually 2 at a time. On most days I'm able to finish 2, but sometimes my dh or kids have to have the last few bites.

My surgeon recc. the bypass for me, as it's easier to loose weight with the bypass. I was against having it done, not due to other health issues but due to the riskiness of the surgery in general as well as its side effects. Stick to what you think will work best for you. Afterall it's your body that has to live with the operation, not your doctor's.

Pre-op I bought 24 cans of low sodium chicken broth, 12 of beef and 12 of veggie. Trust me you won't need that many, and you'll get sick of it really fast. I have broth out of the wazzooo.

I'm 4 months post-op and had my labs done at 3 months to check protien levels, Vitamin and mineral levels and a bunch of other bloodwork my doctor wanted. Everything was normal, just thinning hair. Oh and I have more than my fair share of protien, even supplement with 1-2 shakes a day. I think in my case it's just rapid weight loss, nearing the 100 pound mark since my 1st consultation to 4 months post-op. So today I went out and bought 2 wigs and 4 hats. I prefer wearing a hat over a wig any day. So for now I'll be wearing hats, but when dh and I go out with his friends who don't know I'm banded or cut my hair I'll be wearing a wig.

Well, dh asked me yesterday why I'm "going bald." I've been noticing the thinning for a while, but thought it just might be me. Now that he's noticing it I know everyone else is too. My hair is really short too and dark brown, so it's hard to hide my white scalp. It just sticks out. I'm actually considering buying a wig, or atleast a few more hats. I have one hat that I've practically been living in. DH thinks I'd look cute in scarves, so we'll see. You know it's bad when a dh who doesn't notice a hair cut or eyebrow waxing notices you're going bald/thinning.

I was self-pay in NJ. Total was $14,500 including 3 months of aftercare/fills and one night in the hospital. I went to Mehta Bariatric Center in New Brunswick. I live in south jersey and it only takes me an hour and 10 minutes to get to his office.

That does sound expensive. My surgery was self-pay-financed. I pay $400/month for the next three years for surgery costs of 13,000. $600 month for 5 years sounds high, that would mean you'd pay back $36,000 in 5 years, with a certain percent of that being interest. But it sounds like the intial cost of your lap-band surgery is on the higher side as well.

Dh found out what I weighed a few weeks ago, when I was at 270. I was so pissed at him. My scale is in the kitchen, so I weigh every morning. I always make sure he's out of the kitchen when I do so. Well he snuck around the corner while I was waiting for my digital scale to display my weight. So, then he has the balls to ask what my starting weight was. Well he slept on the couch for 3 nights because my weight is just something I don't like to tell people I know (well at least thin ones or ones who haven't had WLS). As long as my mother and sister don't know I'll be okay.

I'm almost 4 months post-op and my weight is slowing down to that 3-4 pounds lost in a week. And that's a good week. Some weeks I loose 1-2 pounds. Anyway, I'm sort of getting tired of being asked how much I've lost. Mainly it's from my mother atleast once a week. I'm getting tired of it. I tell her each time that I'm at the point where I'll only loose a few pounds each week. Thank God she doesn't ask me how much I weigh as I won't tell her that. Any advice on how to deal with the constant weight questions?

Ok does it make sense to hold off on fills and save them for later? I have a 4cc band with 2cc already in it. My weight loss is slowing down, but hasn't completely stopped. I think I've resolved my emotional eating issues, as I haven't done it since the beginning of October. I'm working out and am loosing slower, 2-3 pounds a week. So is it okay to not go for a fill? I'm scheduled for one in the next weeks. Has anyone taken a break from getting fills? What did your dr say? Also has anyone used up all of their fills in the beginning and regretted it later on? I guess my concern is that I don't want to be at 4cc in a 4cc band and still not be at or close to goal. Thanks, Leena

Well 2-3 pounds seems a little slow after the 1st week post-op I lost 20 pounds and the 2nd I lost 10. So 2-3 is a whole lot slower than 20 pounds. I knew going into it that 1-2 weeks was what I could expect to loose. But I am religious about exercising so I know I can loose more than 1-2 on most weeks. I've always exercised, my big problem prior to lap-band was eating large large portions.

I would say go for the treadmill. I just got rid of my total gym, neither dh or I was using it. I bought a treadmill at Sears about a year ago and just started loving it. I also have a stationary recumbant bike, made by Schwin, and it's 2 years old and still wonderful. On Monday I bought a mini-stepper from Walmart for $39 and am hooked on it, however it does require balance. I'm not sure what your weight is, but my biggest concern personally ahs always been the weight limit on machines. DH and I had it out a year ago when we were treadmill shopping. At the time I was 350 so we had to buy a better (more $$$) treadmill due to my weight, and then I didn't use it a whole lot at first. My sons have a small trampoline with a 250 weight limit, can't wait to jump on that.

I love to use Mrs. Dash instead of salt. There are a few different flavors of her, extra spicy is great on eggs. But I was never a user of salt, so I don't know how it compares.

My surgeon has a self-pay lap band price. It's a bigger discount than what he charges the insurance companies. But his includes 1 night in the hospital and 3 months of after-care.

My son has keloided scars. One of his biosiblings also has them. His is partially hidden by his eyebrow, don't ask, he arrived with it at the age of 3 1/2 yrs old. Anyway the pediatrican recc. coco butter 3 times a day. After a year it started to look somewhat better, but it still looks like a keloid, ropey pink scar thing. Thankfully he's a boy and scars are cool. BTW he's 7 1/2 yrs old now, so it's been 4 years of coco butter.

i think the only reason I have managed to loose 3-4 or more pounds in a week is really watching what I eat and exercising. I'm so proud of my weight loss. It's just a downer when my mom says, "You mean you only lost 3 pounds this week." She's on the thinner side of things being 5'9" and about 145 pounds. She's also only been higher than that when she was pregnant with my little brother. So from her point of view I should be super stick girl by now. LOL. I would never ever let her pay one single cent of my surgery costs, NO WAY! She and I don't have the best relationship to begin with, long long story. So we aren't on those kinds of terms.

Thanks so much. I canceled my appoitnment for this week and am on the schedule for the 24th for a fill if I need one. It seems the more Water I drink the more restricted I become. Sounds wierd to me, but I don't mind staying hydrated if it means better restriction.

I had restriction with my first fill, 1cc in a 4cc band. It lasted almsot a month. With my second fill of .4cc it didn't make any dent. So I went back for a third fill a week later of .6cc which brought me to 2cc in a 4cc band. My third fill was 12/6 and I feel restricted a whole month later. I'm supposed to go in for a fill this week, but am going to cancel it because I definately don't need one. Hmmm, could this be my sweet spot?

Canned tuna has a lot of protien, one can has about 37 grams of protien in a 6 oz can. Egg whites are another favorite of mine, but they tend to be quite filling. My post-op instructions say to eat protien first at every meal and then if and only if you have space eat veggies, fruit and grains. I happen to like EAS low carb shakes, the only ones I can tolerate.

$200 fills don't sound too bad. My fills are $250 and are done without fluero. Thankfully I had three months post-op inlcuded in my surgery price. It looks like the fills I had then will last me for a while, knock on wood. I considered changing insurance companies during dh's open enrollment period at work, but couldn't find out if things would be covered or not. I'd only be willing to switch if fills were covered. I figure my surgery was the price of a commuter car and will last longer and be more benificial in the long run. Hopefully I won't be trading it in within 4 years. Yes I know the insurance company is a pain in the butt. Covering anesthesia only was a riot, my surgeon's office had never heard of it happening and even called on my behalf to ocnfirm it. Now they're having their self-pay patients submitt anestesia fees with this company just in case they pick them up again.

I live near you and chose to use Dr. Mehta in New Brunswick, surgery was at Somerset Medical Center. It takes me about an hour to get to his office and he has a great support group as well as wonderful office staff. I'm not sure how many people he's banded as of right now. As of my surgery he has yet to loose anyone, including bypass patients. If you google Mehta Bariatric Center you'll be able to find him.

I paid 14,500 for surgery plus $500 for a psych eval. Now I pay $250 for fills after having used up my 3 months of free follow-up/fills. So far I'm still at $15,000.

My insurance covered the anesthesiologist fee, and pre-op fees but not the lap band or surgery fees or hospital fees. I guess they were willing to chip in and make sure that I was sedated, because you know anesthesiology must be medically required for surgery.

Dh and I just recently revisisted the idea of moving from the east coast (NJ) to the west coast or west (either CA or AZ, possibly TX). I was banded in NJ and have a great surgeon and he does my fills and follow-ups. If we move west it's not going to be reasonable for me to fly back and forth. So, is it going to be easy for me to find a new surgeon willing to do my fills/follow-up? We won't be moving until summer at the earliest. I also don't want to have to join their program either. Right now I'm paying 250 for non-fluero fills and am a pretty easy fill patient. Thanks, Leena