dwarden

The surgery center I went through had a grid to fill out. It had a place to document the following at each visit: Date, Current weight, Recommendations. amd Comments. My PCP filled it out each month and at the end of the six months, we sent it in. Don't bother unless you have six months worth of entries. I've got CIGNA, too.

WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 199.5 for three consecutive days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our dog ( a shepherd-redbone mix) was named Happy Jack (she's actually a girl) when we got her from the shelter. She's still Happy Jack, but she's also hap-hap, Spazzy Snacks, puppy bear, sweet baby, furbaby...and on it goes. Although "Ride in the car?" and "get the toy" always gets her full attention.

I make chicken salad in the morning from chicken breast I get at the deli. They will shave it very thin so it mixes easily. It would easily count as a mushie. I still eat a lot of it even though I'm way past the mushie stage - just tight from a recent fill. My 15-year old son likes it that way, too. I had to tell him that "Mama's chicken" is OFF LIMITS!!

Oh, I forgot, ask your surgeon to mark the spot where your port is going. Compare it to where your bra usually sits so that you can avoid having the port where your underwire usually rides. A friend of a friend who was banded in KS has that problem. Boy surgeons don't always have a good grasp on how our structural support systems work.

Since most of the prescription pain meds have tylenol as an ingredient, I also got some liquid motrin so I could have avoid getting too much tylenol. And my arthritic knees needed something other than lortab elixir.

I'm an old married lady whose clothes weight too much. I've also been known to schedule my haircut first thing in the morning and postpone Breakfast. The lengths we'll go to.....

I can't think of any weighing other than naked first thing in the morning as official!

It's pretty normal for your port to be a little loose as you lose weight. It may be a little more sore just from moving around. As long as your surgeon can still access it, it should be fine. Your port being more mobile wouldn't have anything to do with any vomiting or PB'ing. They are two separate issues.

Sometimes the techs need to be reminded that we can't physically drink all that barium and can't drink the carbonated versions at all. Sometimes they don't understand what we have and why we can't. They don't always get enough information. For example, they may have an order for an abdominal CT Scan to rule out an obstruction or an ulcer and the order may not tell them anywhere that the patient has a lap-band. And if the facility they work for hasn't done the education for them, that may not mean anything to them.

<p>I got a fill Friday and am on full liquids through today, then back to diet as usual starting tomorrow. Am looking forward to my half an applesauce-bran muffin from the local coffee shop.</p>

I wouldn't get a fill just for the sake of getting a fill even if it means you lose a little more slowly. Plus it takes about six months for your body to completely recover from something like a hemicolectomy. I wouldn't risk decreasing my body's rebuilding blocks until I had to. If you're still losing, just say no, thank you. You could be losing some from the trauma of your surgery.

Allright ladies, here's another motivator to quit. Smoking gives you wrinkles and makes you look older - in a bad way. Just ask any surgical nurse. We can tell whether or not a woman smokes even when she's asleep and completely relaxed because they have a specific wrinkle pattern. And I'm surprised that your surgeons didn't talk about smoking cessation as a preop. Smoking increases your anesthesia risk and delays healing. But the wrinkles thing clinches it for me.

First, it didn't feel like it did when they put it in. It was lumpy in all the wrong places and it moved around a lot. Second, we couldn't access it to fill it in the office. You could actually hear the needle tapping the metal bottom of the port. Dr. tried under fluoro to turn it, but it wouldn't rotate in the right direction. So now it's resutured and I'm back to having restriction since they did a fill, too. The only rough part is that I definitely felt it at choir practice last night. I had general anesthesia and the breathing tube roughed up my vocal cords - in addition to the sore belly. We're having a recital at church next week for the community and I've got a couple of pieces to present as well as directing our ensemble.

I spent the weekend on liquids and drinking Lortab Elixir. I got my port flipped back over surgically on Friday and a couple ccs in my band as long as they were there. Although by Saturday afternoon, I was dying for a Grande Mocha with an extra shot of espresso.

I'm stuck between 203 and 206.

I had to do the Atkins thing for 2 weeks preop. Before that I was afraid to do any dieting for fear of losing weight and getting my insurance rejected.

My surgeon's support group is an hour away, and I just don't want to drive to Jacksonville at night if I don't have to. I'm so busy with my kids in the evenings that I choose not to spend another night away from the family. The local group is for a different group of surgeons.

My sister-in-law is 20 years post bypass. She has all sorts of malabsorption problems and she's so anemic that she periodically has to get blood transfusions. She's been successful with her weight loss, and is a beautiful lady. But she told me outright that if she had known then what she knows now and had had the choice of a lap-band, she NEVER would have had the bypass.

Some conditions that help(?) with getting approved are arthritis, especially in knees, hips, or back, and reflux. It's not just about heart disease and diabetes. Before I got my band, I couldn't walk down a flight of stairs, and I drank Maalox for Breakfast. Now, my knees don't hurt all the time, I can play baseball with my kids, and I haven't had a day of heartburn at all.

Actually they do make a size 0. I'm 5'5" and started at a 24. Now I'm wearing an 18W jeans, and 16W skirts. Shirts are XL or XXL depending on how they are cut. I'm still not comfortable with stuff that's too clingy.

WalMart jeans are good. Target is good for trendy stuff. And I try to buy one or two good pieces at Dillards on sale that I'll shrink into. It gives me a good incentive to persevere. Local consignment second hand stores.

I think it's kinda nice that they want to help you in their own way. My family did some of the same things. They watched it be so difficult for me for so many years before the band and wanted to be supportive. They're trying in their own way to be thoughtful. You're lucky to have a family who wants to take your feelings in to considerations.

This Georgia Girl would give up the band before the grits. Have a good time with them. For the record, grits are made from corn that is ground medium fine. You put salt and butter on them, sometimes ham or bacon in them. Or you can mix them in your fried eggs over easy and chopped fine. And fried fish with cole slaw and a side of cheese grits is a classic Southern comfort food meal. Whatever you do, don't put milk and sugar on them. You might as well tattoo "Yankee" on your forehead. Go Dawgs!!