Fordgal88

For Dr. Miles - I believe Lisa does the females and Dr. Miles does the males. I am not sure about Dr. Schmitt. Didn't he used to do his own fills?

Did you have insurance? If so, they jack up the charges trying to get the max that insurance will pay. I used to work in supplies and they would charge $75 for a 75 cent bag of IV fluid, but it was because they couldn't charge for the pump so they would roll all the cost into the supplies. Hospitals cannot charge for anything that can be reused. Interesting factoid. So usually they roll the charges into room fees and stuff.

I registered about a month ago. I am still trying to meet my goal. I am about 1/2 way there. I am sooo looking forward to the walk!!

:biggrin: WTG Lolly!!! Keep it up!!!!

St. Vincent's East has an AWESOME support group. They only meet once a month though. Meetings are on the 3rd Saturday of every month at 10 am. Most of the patients were banded by Dr. Miles or Dr. Schmitt, but there are several participants that have been banded by other dr.s. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask!! =) Shawna

Thats the way my pain was. Nothing would make it go away. I was literally on all fours in my bathroom floor rocking. It was the worst pain I had ever experienced. It would last a few hours and then go away. Almost like it had never happened. The operation to have it removed was simple. I had it done on a Thursday and photographed a wedding on Saturday. The surgeon told me that it was quite inflamed and full of stones. He said if not treated you can have a stone make it to your pancreas and make you very very ill. Just something to think about. I hear now a lot of surgeons are taking out the gall bladder when they place the band. I think that is a wise move.

Don't worry too much Lolly! We are all here to help each other. Kanina is an excellent resource. I think she is one of the furthest out in our group. This is the "Bandster Hell" part of your journey. Trust me it will get better. Remember I told you it was about 6 months before I really "learned" my band. You are doing great and asking questions is the best thing you can do. I remember the first thing I had on my mushy phase was pintos and cheese. Yum!! Hope everyone is well. I am doing great! Loving this weather :thumbup:. Have a great week!! =) Shawna

Do you still have your gall bladder? I only say this because my pain was in the middle of my tummy. It hurt through to my back. Call your dr. and have them check you out.

Awe Wendy, I will definately keep you in my thoughts and prayers. Please let me know if you need ANYTHING!! Shawna

Hi everyone!! Hope all is well with you!! I had my post-op appt today and he told me I was healing nicely and he also told me he took a peek at my band while he was in there and all and nothing looked out of place or irritated. That was comforting. Since my surgery last week my weight is coming down. I had put on about 3lbs before surgery (I don't mark small gains in my ticker cuz to me that would be accepting it and I am not willing to do that). This morning I weighed and I am at 185!! That rocked!! 10 away from goal! I am glad you found your way around on here Lolly. It is a wonderful support system. I don't think I would have been half as successful without my friends on here. I am so glad Veronica put us in touch! Well I am off to finish up my work before the weekend!!! Have a great weekend!!! Shawna

I had surgery on Thursday and actually photographed a wedding on Saturday. I probably should have took it a little more easy. I did take off on Monday and was back to work on Tuesday. I feel fine, just the incisions are a little bothersome. Wayyy less painful than my lapband. I never even took the pain meds. =)

Get your gall bladder checked. I had the same thing happen to me. I thought it was my band too. Easy fix they just take it out. =)

Funny that there are all these posts now about this. I had my first gall bladder attack 2 months ago. I ended up in the E.R. It hurt soooo bad. The pain was also in the center of my chest. I thought something had happened to my band. After the 2nd I had an u/s and it showed the stones. I saw the surgeon and he said that gall stones was common when there was a significant weightloss. So I had it removed last thursday 8/13/09. So far it has been great. I have had no pain at all.

I wish they would have taken mine when I had my band. I just had it out last Thursday. I had 2 attacks, it was the worst pain EVER!! I ended up in the emergency room the first time thinking something was wrong with my band. My surgeon told me that gall bladder problems are a side effect of weightloss (I didn't use the same surgeon for my gall bladder). So far I am not having the explosive moments that I had heard some mention, but I am going to the bathroom more. Still better than the attacks. =) Shawna

Yep Kanina. I have a small business on the side with a friend from high school. Our website is 2chickstakinpics.com - we have been in business about 2 years. Let me know whenever you are ready for a session!! =)

Hi everyone!! Just thought I would stop in and say hello. I am sorry I missed the meeting on Saturday. I had my gall bladder out on Thursday (everything went well) and then I had to photograph a wedding on Saturday (probably not the best idea). Glad to see everything is going well. I will definately be at the next meeting. =) Shawna

Well saw the surgeon today. He said that it was not a good idea to wait until September to have my gall bladder removed, so he is doing it next Thursday 8/5(unless I get picked for Jury Duty). Again he told me that it is probably a result from the weightloss. But you know what - It is still worth it!

Glad to see everyone is kickin around here. I agree with Kani, I have a hard time eating in the morning. I just don't feel like it, but when I do, I will drop a pound or two and then the next time I don't eat they find their way back. I have to start planning my meals better and make myself eat something in the morning. Well I had my ultrasound and it showed mutliple gall stones. So that is where my pain was coming from. I have an appointment with the surgeon tomorrow to get his view on things. Honestly I really hope he will take it out, cuz I am scared everytime I eat that the pain is going to come back. If he will then I am going to push for the first week in September so I can get an extra day with Labor Day and not have to use all my time (saving that for next year for my abdominoplasty!). I will let yall know what he says! =) Shawna

I believe everyone will agree that this is a good call Jason. We can pick another weekend. Thanks for all of your hardwork. Can you get your money back for the gazebo?

For the Christmas meet - Jason we could talk to Veronica and see if she can get us the Bruno's Conference Center at St. Vincent's Birmingham. She might be able to get it for us for a big discount or no charge. It is VERY nice and lots of room. Just an idea.

Jason have you gotten everything yet? Remember I am bringing some hotdogs as well. Maybe a Watermelon? BTW - Love your pic Jason!! Looking good!

It was great seeing you at the zoo today!! Looking forward to seeing you at the meet and greet!!! =) Shawna

I did mine yesterday! I am looking forward to it!

Glad everyone had a nice vacation. Looks like this summer will be a lot of staycations for us. Just too hard to get the time and everyone together to go anywhere... Well I went to the Dr. today because I had another bad stomach ache on Monday night. I just went to see my PCP since I didn't feel that it was a band issue. I explained my symptoms to her and she is 90% sure it is gallstones. She said that this occurs a lot with weightloss patients. So they are gonna call me to set up a time for an ultrasound (they better not find a baby in there JK). I hope they can find out for sure why I keep having these episodes. The cool news is, when I weighed I was down 6lbs from my last visit. I am so used to them having to add weight to the scale and this time they kept going down. When she told me 186 - I was like "NO WAY! Your scale has to be wrong!" she looked and gave me "I hear that all the time" look and then I told her it was too low and that surprised her even more! She assured me that they were new scales and they were right...LOL At least it made my appt a little better!

I spoke with the lady over our plastic surgery clinic the other day (who is a bypass pt) and she looked awesome. She had lost 125lbs and looked awesome. She told me that if you are planning to have excess skin removed, that you need to start getting your PCP to start documenting skin problems now, so it will be in your medical record. She also had the new lipo that they do on her back. She said its done with a laser. They kind of liquify the fat and then suck it out, so it is the less brutal... She also said that it tightens the skin. Pretty cool. She said that she had it done at lunch one day and was back at work the next. Pretty cool!