kbinaz

Oh, and when I say $15,000 I mean that is everything - none of my pre-op testing was covered by my insurance so my total is all that - the surgery was $11,500.

Going to Mexico is fine, but you really need to count the costs. My surgery -- self pay in the US- came to a little over $15,000. With that I get free fills for a year, free support from nutritionists and the knowledge that the person who did my surgery is less than 1/2 hour away in case of an emergency. Most doctors in the US are leery of seeing patients who were banded by other doctors for obvious reasons. Who will do your fills? How much will they cost? I have already had four and need more, if I were paying for them it would be really adding up. Stay on this forum and read, read,read and get yourself really educated and do your research. And mostly research how you are going to take care of fills. I don't think there is much to worry about medically with having surgery in Mexico, they are competent but I always wonder if it really saves that much money.

The band works at keeping you feeling full with very little food but it needs to be food. The more dense the food you eat, the longer you will feel full. I don't drink protein drinks at all, I eat all my calories. Shakes go right through the band so you will not feel full for long with them. If I eat chicken and vegetables, for instance, I need very little and I will feel full for a long time. Also, you don't have the band yet, so you aren't going to be able to just take in so few calories and feel well. You will do fine after surgery.

Get the fill...I've never been told anything like that by my doctor and even if you are a little tighter that would only last a few days. I don't notice any difference.

I broke my ankle and the doctor I went to didn't see the crack on the x-ray. He pronounced that I had a bad bruise. He asked "What do you do for a living?" I replied that I was a stay at home mom with five kids, the youngest two ages 2 and 4, and he said "Good, because you are going to have to sit with your foot elevated and iced and stay off your feet for several days!" Wow, ignorant jerk! I guess he wanted to make sure I didn't have an 'important' job, like him! Two weeks later I went to a different doctor and found out my ankle was broken and I was on the verge of needing surgery to repair it. My husband proceeded to call the ignorant doctor's partner and give him a piece of his mind-told him how hard stay at home moms work, etc. and the group ended up not charging us anything.

All vitamins are available in chewable and liquid forms. Go to your local health food store and ask and they will help you. Prescription meds can be trickier. Some go down no problem, some are too big. Talk to your dotor and they can either give them to you in a different form or you can crush them (yuk, I don't like that option). It is very different for everyone. Some days I can take a pill no problem and the next day take the same pill and it gets stuck. Water does help me with pills, usually (not with food that is stuck) as I guess it dissolves it. Anyway, you just have to practice and figure out what works for you.

I am three months post op and the lump is still there! Most of it is the port, some of it is some swelling that remains. Get used to it, that is your new buddy!

Please try to remember that there are people on these boards (me, for instance) who do not have much restriction yet and who do NOT lose 14-18 pounds a month. You make it sound like we aren't doing it right if we aren't. I can easily eat over 1100 calories a day. I am hungry if I don't. And I, too, work out 3 to 5 times a week. That is how it is and I can't eat 600-800 calories a day and survive at the restriction I am currently at. There are a lot of variables- starting BMI, number and size of fills. I am happy for your good losses, but when you make declarative statements like "You will lost 15-18 pounds a month" it really hurts those of us who aren't. I got the surgery because I couldn't stick to a low cal diet because of hunger. The band is supposed to allow me to cut calories and not be hungry. So far I'm not there yet and I hate feeling like I am to blame.

I have a NSV!!! I had surgery October 26th 2007 and did my measurements the day before surgery. I just redid them yesterday (3 months post op) and had gone down 6 (SIX!) inches in my abdomen!!! (around my belly button). That was amazing to me and I had to remeasure about ten times to make sure I hadn't gotten it right. I have only lost about 18 pounds, which is discouraging to me, but that brightened my day a lot!!!

Hi, I was banded october 26th and I have cheated, too~ My doctor makes us do clear liquids for three days after each fill and I have never made it the whole three days. I usually do clear liquids for one day then move to soft food for two days and I have been fine.

The very best thing about the band is, once you reach proper restriction (your 'sweet spot') you won't feel hungry between meals! That's the thing that makes it so awesome. It is easy to stick to a diet when you aren't chewing the wallboards out of starvation! I am not at my sweet spot yet, but am very close. It has taken four fills, but I can already tell this is the thing that is going to work for me. Do lots of research and read a lot and you will see that it really is a great way to go. Good luck on your journey!

Dr Blackstone did my surgery too!

Hi! I'm from Chandler- banded October 26th 2007. Have you been banded yet? Are you asking about what you will be able to eat once you are off liquids and soft foods? You can basically eat anything you want but may have trouble with certain foods. At the beginning, before you reach your proper restriction, you will probably be able to eat everything you ate before your surgery. The smart thing is to start practicing by eating like you will have to eat when you are restricted to get in practice. Once you reach your sweet spot and are restricted properly you will have to cut everything into small pieces - dime sized. You will have to chew it until it is the consistency of applesauce - that is why banded people have trouble with red meat - it kind of turns to a big blob and doesn't 'dissolve' like other foods (same with soft bread). On the other hand, you don't want to eat all mush, either. The band works best when you eat real, solid food. In order to lose maximum weight you should eat protein first every meal. My doctor recommends three bites of protein then a bite of vegetables or fruit. Your doctor might tell you something else. Starches are only a few times a week and only at the end of a meal if you have room. Once you are at your sweet spot you will get full before you really have to deal with eating bread! You are better off eating a lot of proteins and vegetables, they go down fine, and you will be healthy to boot! I hope this answers your question. Who is doing your surgery? When is it, or have you had it? Feel free to post any questions you might have, everyone here is very willing to help.

Why are doctor's so afraid of patients making decisions like this? Do they think we are completely stupid? Why would we want to be overfilled? How much fun is PB'ing and pain? Why can't they trust us to determine what our sweet spot is and when we need another fill? Geesh, they act like we are all out to get away with something. I very much feel for you, dustout.

I have had Tim Tams and love them! Have one for me as I am PMS'ing something awful and one of those cookies sounds awfully good right now...

I don't understand attitudes like that! I think patients should be able to know any information that is in their chart - it is YOUR chart and it should be YOUR information. But, if he isn't going to tell you there isn't much you can do about it and I'm sorry for you because I know how much I wanted to know - just to know! Remember, though, that it doesn't make much difference anyway. Your sweet spot isn't going to be anyone else's. I didn't find out my fill amounts until my fourth fill and if I had known the first three were as small as they were I would have pushed for slightly bigger ones. Who knows if I'd have gotten them though, there is a protocol that doctors follow for how much to give each fill and, fair or not, they usually stick to their guns on it. I'd keep asking, though, because if you want to know you should be able to know.

Congratulations! I can't wait to get there!

Hi- This one is for the ladies who are banded. I'm curious to know how you all deal with PMS now that you are banded. I am pretty new at this, but notice I am more hungry a week before my T.O.M. and really crave sweets still. (Obviously this wouldn't change with the band, I'm hormonally the same as before!) How do you guys handle it and what else do you notice about that time? I read in a book that the author (who is banded) can eat more a week before her period and her doctor said that is normal, your body and band adjust to the need for more calories or something. Has anyone experienced that? What other things have you noticed now that you are banded? I'm curious.

It would have been exciting if you had PB'd him. Something to show your friends...

hi, I have had four fills (6.5ccs in a 10cc band) It wasn't until this fourth fill that I felt I couldn't chug and I still don't have to sip like they told me I would. You are okay! You just don't have full restriction yet.

Wow! Ten dozen eggs and a rack of baby back ribs! Not too shabby! (that rack of ribs sounds awful tempting!!!)

The center that did my surgery really recommended we not count calories. They have stressed the importance of listening to our bodies and eating to the point of satisfaction, not according to calories. If you concentrate on eating protein first, then fruits and vegetables and starches only occasionally you are going to do fine and lose weight. I think the point is to get you out of the dieters mentality and into healthy eater mentality. It is pretty freeing to not be stressing about those numbers!~

I can't really tell you how much of a fill to get. It's different for every person and you don't want to be overfilled. It is best to be patient and gradual so you don't risk not being able to get anything down. At my last fill there was a girl in the waiting room for an unfill because she was so tight she couldn't even drink water- then it gets dangerous and you can get dehydrated. I have a 10cc band and am up to 6.5 after 4 fills. I am close to my sweet spot but not there yet. There are people who feel real good restriction with way less than I have in my band and people who need close to 10ccs to get good restriction. It's because stomach's vary in thickness etc....Since it is your first fill I'd ask them to be generous but they usually have guidelines set by the band manufacturer (they are very conservative) for how much each fill should be. I know most doctore don't follow those but most also won't go too far outside the parameters. It may be different in Mexico. When I go in for fills I can't tell them how much I want, they tell me how much I'm getting and,based on what I tell them, they will bump it up if necessary(to a point). My personal feeling, even though I would love to have lost more weight than I have, is that it has been an easier road for me because it has been so gradual. I didn't have to wake up one morning and eat a whole new way. I could eat a little less with each fill and to me that has made the journey easier. Everyone might not feel like that but it is my 2 cents! Try to be patient! (from the most impatient woman on the planet!!!)

DON'T CANCEL YOUR FILL!!! Go in there with your head up and face the music. That's what I had to do last Monday, and I was exactly where you are today! I had gained, too. That's how you know you need a fill! If you could lose weight you wouldn't need a fill! Hopefully the person giving the fill will be compassionate - I have had a few experiences where I was made to feel like a failure for not losing and it really hurt. Then I talked to myself and reminded myself that if you aren't losing at your current level of restriction I need more restriction. I felt pretty much no restriction after my first 3 fills. I had my fourth fill last week and FINALLY feel it! I don't think I am quite at my sweet spot but it has made a huge difference and I have lost 6 pounds since last Monday. (I gained three, though, so it is a 3 pound net loss) (I haven't updated my ticker...) So don't get discouraged! It might not even happen with this fill, you might need more, but it will come I promise. I was doubtful, too! The worst thing you can do at this point is give up and not go into the office for that fill. Do it and reap the benefits. This is a marathon not a sprint!!! I'm rooting for you!

I could definitely have eaten three eggs after surgery/before first fill. That equals about 240 calories, not exactly a huge binge. Eggs are not that solid so go down rather quick and easy. If you ate that for three meals, your daily caloric intake would be 720 calories and you could lose weight on that. But the time after surgery is for healing, not for losing weight anyway. I was told not to measure, and not to count calories, to listen to my body and it would tell me when to stop. When I had no restriction prior to my first fill I could eat quite a bit. When you are eating only soft foods you get more hungry and faster. Some of the people who post on this sight eat very tiny, miniscule amounts of food and I am pretty amazed they can survive on those small amounts. I try to eat enough to feel satisfied but not stuffed and I can honestly say that between meals I am rarely hungry. I was told that the best way to eat is to fill your pouch three times a day with solid food, mainly protein. It seems to me that is what mindyemt is doing, which is exactly the right thing to be doing during this healing stage. When she gets restriction (3-6 fills) she will certainly eat less and her body will let her know if she goes beyond that. I worry about so many people on this sight who seem to restrict their food intake SO much. I can't believe they are not overfilled. It seems to me that if you can feel comfortably satiated on 700-800 calories a day pre-restriction you are doing pretty well! What are you guys eating for breakfast if you think three eggs is over the top for someone just past surgery? Also, remember the lower the BMI the looser you will feel after surgery and the longer it takes to reach good restriction. That's a fact. We aren't going to be able to willpower our way to weight loss, that is why we had surgery. The band is a tool and mindyemt08 doesn't have her optimal tool yet because she hasn't even had a fill. The last thing she needs is to be told she is doing it wrong.