Wheetsin

I lost my band yesterday, but lost about 175 lbs while I had it. I believe my first month's loss was around 40 lbs. I'd lost 22 lbs at my 2 week post-op visit.

My gallbladder was bad at the time of my banding, but it wasn't yet diagnosed as a gallbladder issue (I had really atypical symptoms/attacked that never registered as a GB issue until most other things had been ruled out). Mine came out about a year after my banding. Had I known it was a GB issue, I would have had the GB surgery first. My attacks weren't agonizing, but they also weren't something I'd have willingly endured another year of if I had known how easy of a fix it would be. I know a lot of people who have had both done at the same time, but I think it's becoming less and less common.

Sorry for the sloppy typing, I'm on a new laptop and not yet adjusted to the different keyboard...

This is never an easy choice to make. Both procedures have pros and cons. 100% honesty - if I were in your shoes right now, I wouldn't choose either procedure, I would wait until something else was covered through my insurance. Band success rates 5+ years out are miserable. I've seen person after person after person getting their band out. Mine came out yesterday, due to a slip I believe happened in about 2008. I know a lot of long-term bandsters, but I don't know many who still have their bands. I don't know any who "should" have their bands (e.g. of those who still have it, they're showing suspicious symptoms and not paying enough attention, or are willfully avoiding pursuing proper care). Not many "oldies" are still here. I wish they stuck around a little longer so we'd have more long term anecdotal evidence. WIll the band help you lose weight? Probably. It did great for me, and I was able to lose about 175 lbs. That's serious weightloss, and I COULD NOT have done it on my own. I do think the band is an effective weightloss tool, while it lasts. I do not have confidence in the band as a long term tool. RNY is also a great weightloss mechanism, but it's not a tool. It will do more of the work for you. I really liked (and still do) the accountability that came with the band. And the flexibility. If the band could be trsuted to trulybe permanent, I think it would be pretty ideal for a lot of people. I never cared much for the malabsorption of the RNY, though it has great rates. Regain is a considerable issue. I dear friend of mine had RNY around 2003/2004 and as she put it just a few years ago, "I wish I'd known what this thing would really be like to live with." She's grateful for her loss, but is not enjoying the lie she assumed she would have. I would suggest you give it some thought. Read the responses here, but keep in mind that most people responding are fairly new to their bands and still in a honeymoon stage. Also keep in mind that you won't get many first-hand RNY perspectives (since it is an AGB board). Be sure to ask the same question of RNYers on some of the other boards. Hearing their stories of life 5+ years out is just as important as hearing bandster stories 5+ years out. This will be a very introspective process. Ask yourself a lot of questions: What chellenges do you have in weightloss? What does your weight history look like? Can you be accountable, or will you do best with a more "automatic" process? What kind of post-op regimine can you commit to? What foods are your triggers? What overeating habits do you have?(e.g. emotional vs, behavioral vs...) Your honest answers to questions like that can steer you in the direction of the procedure that's more ideal for you. Just keep in mind that "ideal" may be neither AGB nor RNY.

I really don't think it's the scar tissue so much as the surgeon's skill level. Although my surgeon did admit that revisions aren't as "easy or fun" as virgin procedures. He has never had a revision leak.

My band came out yesterday. I'm a little sad to see it go, but I WILL NOT miss the discomfort or reflux that came with the slip. I wish I had known the slip symptoms for what they were, and not just assumed it was another change in my "restriction pattern." WIth 20/20 hindsight I should have put two and two together, but I just didn't. At least it was caught before anything worse could happen, or there was permanent damage to my esophagus.

A port infection that isn't immediately post-op should be a huge red flag for possible erosion. The bacteria from your stomach love to travel down the tubing and start little colonies around the port. Hmm, another person in the 5 - 7 year range losing their band... can't say I'm surprised. I believe Medicare doesn't cover the sleeve at this time. THere has been some confusion because they have the CPT code (used for coding and billing), but that doesn't mean it's approved. My band slipped, and was removed yesterday. I'm pursuing the sleeve. If I couldn't do it on my own in the last 20 years, I have no reason to think that has suddenly changed. I know I need help to get to a healthy weight, and my family understands that. Your family's reservations are understandable considering the dangers of erosion and sepsis. Help them see the logical side of it. Right now they're stuck in the emotional side. Sleeves don't erode, either.

So you're able to eat more nw than you could with your band? Your doctor's theory doesn't seem quite right. Maybe maybe if you had gone straight from band to sleeve, but if you ate unrestricted for 4 months, that should have changed things. Your body's metabolism does adjust, but you will always have a BMR. BMR is basically the number of calories you need to lay in bed all day. It doesn't factor in any activity. Mine is about 2000. So it takes me 2000 calories to do nothing other than lay in bed all day., ANY activity, eating, etc. adds on to that. So in theory, at a caloric intake under 2000, I will lose weight. Your metabolism can slow down, but won't slow down below BMR. How many calories a day are you eating? Sorry, I'm not trying to scrutinize what your doctor has told you, but it sounds like a cover up. What size stomach do you have/boughie size?

There are twp types of exclusions (well, for the sake of this conversation there are.) Plan enforced - meaning your insurance company does not cover the service, ever. Employer-enforced - meaning your employer, when piecing together the coverage they wanted to offer employees, did not elect to have the service included. The verbiage aboves sounds like the latter: employer-enforced. What "they" are you referring to in your question: your insurance company, or your surgeon's office? If you're referring to your insurance company, it depends. Did you ever ask them if the procedure was covered? Did you ever ask them the requirements? And if so, what did they tell you? If you're referring to your surgeon's office, eligibility should have been determined before anything was scheduled. Normally surgeons require your pre-approval to be received before they will begin setting up your pre-op appointments.

Unless the delfated band is enough to give you some restriction (mine is... was... but that's fairly uncommon), then when you're unfilled it's essentially like you don't have a band. Hunger typically resumes quickly, and without restriction it takes a lot more to get satiety. I've been unfilled for the last several months, but still had no hunger - presumably because of my slip. Band came out yesterday, still no hunger, presumably because I'm so recently post-op. I'm crossing my fingers it won't come back, but I don't know. When my father had his band removed (due to band-induced gastroparesis) his hunger came back almost immediately, and increased daily for about 9 days. He put on about 75 lbs in the 6 months it took to get approval for re-banding. What you're experiencing sounds perfectly normal. Just try to keep things in check. The more you gain now, the more you'll have to lose later. But it doesn't sound abnormal at all.

Oh I may have miscommunicated something. It wasn't an insurance denial -- my surgeon will not do a revision in a single surgery. And frankly, I prefer it that way. The confusion was at the office, but what was presented to me was that it was a "medical standard" to always try and fix the band before removing it. That was confusing to me because I knew it wasn't the case. I didn't do a great job of follow-up to this post, though -- I called them back as soon as I had my wits about me and made it very, very clear that I was not interested in the surgeon trying to reposition the band, or being re-banded. That took care of it, and their response was, "Oh ok, then we'll just mark you down for removal." I guess the majority of their slips want to try and keep their bands. I have NO doubt that if it slipped, it would just slip again, so why waste the surgery? Band came out yesterday. Now I need to stay on their asses to get my sleeve pre-approval submitted. That's going to be the weak point (the people who do the letters)

I feel a bit differently than, well, just about everyone I've heard from. (Had my band out yesterday, BTW, after having it for 5 and a half years) I remain grateful for my band. I was banded in the 385 - 400 lb range. With the band I got down to about 210. That drop enabled me to do so many things, including conceive my daughter and have a healthy pregnancy. I firmly believe my band slipped during my pregnancy. My daughter is sooo worth it. I DO NOT have confidence in the band as a long-term solution. I know a LOT of banded people, or formerly banded people, but I don't know anyone in the 5 - 7 year range who still has their band (well, I do, but they are not doing well... as in they still have their bands, but are showing all the signs of slippage or erosion, but are not seeking proper follow-up because they are afraid they will be told it has to come out.) The long term stats are... grim. If I could maintain the loss the band gave me, it would';ve been the perfect tool. Unfortunately maintenance is the one skill that has always eluded me. I still think it's a good weightloss device. I think it has some amazing abilities to modify behaviors and change habits. I would like to say it's something I would still recommend -- but seeing as how it requires surgical removal still, I can't.

If you can, scan or retype your denial letter here. Knowing the exact verbiage of the grounds for their denial will help. You will want to appeal based on the grounds of your denial. A generic appeal may or may not address the specific reasons why you were denied.

My surgeon requires a minimum 2 month wait between procedures. I'm really glad he does.

So out of the blue today I got a call from my surgeon's office (this is after 9 weeks of nothing) that my band (slipped) removal has been approved, when did I want to schedule it for. Can I add something really strange? After all these weeks of waiting, I had a dream lastnight that I was in surgery for removal. Odd! So I told the nurse who called that I had "applied" for a revision, not just removal (I know they're separate procedures in terms of billing & insurance, but my surgeon's office - in terms of procedure and paperwork - treats revisions as a single case)... and asked if they had submitted for approval on just the revision or on both. She said only removal. Now, when my slip was first diagnosed I was told I was NOT a candidate for re-banding or repositioning, and that my slip was too "profound" to reposition it with any surety of it not slipping again. When my EGD was done the surgeon told me it needed to come out, and he did not want to try to just reposition it. So it was a total shock to me that she was talking about him trying to reposition it... and my wits weren't with me and I didn't respond accurately. I've since tried to call back but she was out so I left a message. This nurse told me, "Well he'll go in there and look around, and try to reposition it if he can." I was really caught off-guard by that, and completely caught off-guard by her call in the first place, so I didn't respond the way I should have. I said something like, "Well <PA> and <surgeon> both indicated that would not be an option for me, so understandably I'm hesitant to sign up for removal when I don't know anything about approval for replacement." I also clarified in my message to her that that both the NP and surgeon had said I would not be a candidate for repositioning or rebanding. So - I need some inputs. This has been in play since early June. Since then, I've pretty much, in my mind, committed to losing my band and getting a sleeve revision. I'm disappointed that they want to try and reposition the band. I'm disappointed that I specifically go through the legwork (it was not a cake walk) of doing all their paperwork and requirements for a revision and am now being contacted about a "reposition of we can, removal if we cannot" appointment. I don't want it to be repositioned, I want it out. I have 0... in fact, if possible, I have negative confidence in ANY sort of longevity with a repositioned band. I wanted them to, and completely thought it's what they were doing, submit for REMOVAL and REVISION. Did they jack something up? Do you have to be medically ineligible, as proven by surgical examination, to have a revision? WTF would they even have me slated as a "potential reposition"? I'm split between continuously trying to reach this lady/nurse, and just driving down there. I'm borderline pissed off because 9 weeks is a long timeto wait and then find out that what they seem to have been working on isn't what I applied for/wanted. Revisioners who DID NOT go through an attempt at repositioning the band, what was your experience? Did you get both approvals at once? Was something special required to bypass the reposition attempt? THis is a total wrench being thrown in and I am NOT a happy camper. But I don't want to be ticked if it's the way it is...

So out of the blue today I got a call from my surgeon's office (this is after 9 weeks of nothing) that my band (slipped) removal has been approved, when did I want to schedule it for. Can I add something really strange? After all these weeks of waiting, I had a dream lastnight that I was in surgery for removal. Odd! So I told the nurse who called that I had "applied" for a revision, not just removal (I know they're separate procedures in terms of billing & insurance, but my surgeon's office - in terms of procedure and paperwork - treats revisions as a single case)... and asked if they had submitted for approval on just the revision or on both. She said only removal. Now, when my slip was first diagnosed I was told I was NOT a candidate for re-banding, and that my slip was too "profound" to reposition it with any surety of it not slipping again. When my EGD was done the surgeon told me it needed to come out, and he did not want to try to just reposition it. So it was a total shock to me that she was talking about him trying to reposition it... and my wits weren't with me and I didn't respond accurately. I've since tried to call back but she was out so I left a message. This nurse told me, "Well he'll go in there and look around, and try to reposition it if he can." I was really caught off-guard by that, and completely caught off-guard by her call in the first place, so I didn't respond the way I should have. I said something like, "Well <PA> and <surgeon> both indicated that would not be an option for me, so understandably I'm hesitant to sign up for removal when I don't know anything about approval for replacement." I also clarified in my message to her that that both the NP and surgeon had said I would not be a candidate for repositioning or rebanding. So - I need some inputs. This has been in play since early June. Since then, I've pretty much, in my mind, committed to losing my band and getting a sleeve revision. I'm disappointed that they want to try and reposition the band. I'm disappointed that I specifically go through the legwork (it was not a cake walk) of doing all their paperwork and requirements for a revision and am now being contacted about a "reposition of we can, removal if we cannot" appointment. I don't want it to be repositioned, I want it out. I have 0... in fact, if possible, I have negative confidence in ANY sort of longevity with a repositioned band. I wanted them to, and completely thought it's what they were doing, submit for REMOVAL and REVISION. Did they jack something up? Do you have to be medically ineligible, as proven by surgical examination, to have a revision? WTF would they even have me slated as a "potential reposition"? I'm split between continuously trying to reach this lady/nurse, and just driving down there. I'm borderline pissed off because 9 weeks is a long timeto wait and then find out that what they seem to have been working on isn't what I applied for/wanted. Revisioners who DID NOT go through an attempt at repositioning the band, what was your experience? Did you get both approvals at once? Was something special required to bypass the reposition attempt? THis is a total wrench being thrown in and I am NOT a happy camper. But I don't want to be ticked if it's the way it is...

I have the 4cc 10cm band. I've never gone over 2.5cc that I can recall. My father had the 14cc band prior to his slip & resulting gastroparesis and now has another 14cc band. 9 mos out and still no restriction for him. It might be related to band, and it might be related to surgical technique - I can't really comment on that because I haven't looked for connections outside of my own case. It will be interesting to see what the correlations end up being. Right now I don't expect anything great, and I personally (which is all I've said all along) don't see the band as a "permanent" implant. I called last week to check on the progress of my revision case - I'm in limbo waiting for them to draft & submit my letter of medical necessity. The receptionist accidentally leaked that there was a backlog of cases because they're seeing "unprecedented" numbers of revisions, and they're backed up more than they can handle. (My surgeon handles revisions where he was not the original surgeon, so that "unprecendented" is not a reflection of any one surgeon's rates of complications).

First - take a few deep breaths and calm down. There's not much way for a sleeve to not work. It would be like removing your fingers, but being worried that you still had a firm grip. I know that comparing yourself to others is probably automatic, but you just can't do it with weightloss. When I had my AGB I lost 40 - 50 lbs my first month. Another girl who had it done around the same time, who was larger than me, lost 12. You just can't use other bodies as a benchmark for your own. If you're 2 weeks out, you're not in a stall. And even if you were, it's pretty common to "stall" (there's a difference between a short period of time during which you don't lose pounds, and to actually stall) around week 3. It will probably happen again in about 2 more months. 12 lbs in 2 weeks is never an "only". That's about a pound a day. How much do you expect?

Do ALL soups make you gag? Surely there has to a soup you can tolerate...? (Pureed chili would basically be soup) What kinds of foods do you like?

I used to make those (and pork rind pancakes) back in my Atkins days. These weren't included in the recipe you shared, but I would also suggest: Add 1/2 tsp maple flavoring in addition to vanilla (the one I used was called Mapleine and it's usually located near the extracts). Use brown sugar splenda instead of regular splenda. Heavy cream is used for the carb value, but you're trading fat. You can also use milk, fat free half and half (or regular), or the 0 carb heavy cream Trader Joe's carries (I haven't found it anywhere else). You can add flax meal for Fiber, just offset with Water (start with half as much but it may take 1:1). Day Dreamer - parmesan cheese (the kind you put on pizza, not the fresh kind) makes a great breading alternative, too. Esp. with shrimp & chicken.

As soon as you can make sure that bariatrics/sleeve aren't excluded. WHen you change companies, you're also changing plans, and there can be major differences. Tests, diagnoses, etc. should be good universally. Those are done by doctors, not insurance companies, so they just don't matter in the same way. Being able to start where you left off - in some ways, probably not in other ways. I don't know your status under your current insurance, but if you're pre-approved, you will not be pre-approved under your new provider, and they may have different criteria for approval (if it isn't excluded). Re: waiting periods -- there are two kinds. Well, three, but two that might apply to you. Not all companies/plans use them, but more and more are starting to. 1. Employer waiting period - required by the employer before your benefits kick in. Usually less than 3 mos. 2. Provider waiting period (also called "affiliation") - required by the provider, but not the employer. I think these are only in force with HMOs. Cannot be longer than 3 mos. You'll want to look into it asap.

I bought a MB before my lap-band surgery, used it every day for about 4 years, and a handful of times a week since. I'm having a hard time just doing pros and cons because there are some "didn't realize until..." that aren't really value judgments. Cons - The biggest con for me so far - sometimes when you're using it the base can come loose. This has happened several times, regardless of how tighlty I screw it on. Then whem I blend, it leaks and Protein drink or whatever gets down into the unit. This can prevent it from working. It's fairly easy to fix -- I just stream hot Water into it (unplugged of course), then let dry completely. Still a bit of a PITA but it wouldn't stop me from getting another one. If you have to process something long enough that the motor warms up, whatever is in there will taste like hot motor. You may need to use a liquid or thinner if you are trying to process too much at once (ice, nuts, etc.) All the seals that came with mine broke. They're really cheap to replace so it doesn't matter much, but still a tiny nuisance when you have a drink ready to go, and no spare seals on hand. It's pretty loud Pros - Super quick. 2 or 3 pulses and even the grittiest Protein powder is mixed in. I've shopped for alternatives to keep at work that can handle the protein powders, like the Oster cup blender or whatever it is, and the only other thing I've found that comes close to getting as good of a mix in a as short of time is an immersion blender. Very versatile. I've used it from everything from Protein drinks to Soups to chai mix (I make my own & then blend it to get the poweder consistency) to spices, guacamole, maragaritas, butter, etc. I could not have done all of that with other mix type gadgets I have. I personally think that for something I used every day for 4 years, and very frequently since, it's a great value. (And they're cheaper now then when I got mine) I'm impressed that something with the usage stats in the line above is still working well. Many other things have not lasted that long. Multiple cups and blades, so I can just toss the dirty ones in the dishwasher and make something else before it's done washing. THings I thought I would care about but I don't - The "cup" containers and rims. I don't like drinking out of them anyway. I always pour it into something else, or use a straw. The various attachments. I pretty much use just the cups, the short blade & the long blade (one is for blending, and one is for ice IIRC).

Add another can of soup, thus diluting the sweetness. Saltiness will usually cut sweetness. You can try NuSalt or equivalant if you're watching sodium. Cutting is probably your best bet.

Did you see the questions I posted to you on this same topic in the revisions forum?

I'm 5 - 6 years out and except for 3 people with whom I've lost touch with, everyone I know who had their surgery around the time I did or before has lost or needs to lose their band. That includes a few slips and an erosion that were just diagnosed in the last few weeks. I help the admin of this site moderate a board for lab-band and though I'm not terribly active there, I do monitor posts and the prospects look absolutely miserable. I think I've seen all of 2 people banded in the 5 - 7 year range who still have their bands. Granted, a lot of them have quit coming to the board so there are a lot of people we'll never know about. I see a lot of "oldies" wondering if there's anyone out there who still has their band. I lost weight with it, then gained some back with a pregnancy and now have no fill. My stats are in my signature. I think it's a great short-term tool, but who wants short term?? Diets are short term, too - and cheaper. I have a friend who was banded by Dr. Malley about 6 or 7 years ago IIRC. I considered switching my lap-band aftercare to him, but at the time his wait list to see other surgeons' patients was about 8 months and I couldn't wait that long Yikes. I've heard good things about him. I've never heard of Dr. Fearing. My lap-band was done by Dr. Hoehn through Shawnee Mission Medical Center. He also did my GB, and did my EGD. At this point I plan on having him also do my sleeve, but we'll see once I can actually talk with him about how he does it. One of the surgeons who was with Dr. Hoehn (Dr. Hitchcock) was with Dr. Malley at one point, but I don't know if he still is or not. So Malley is doing the sleeve now? That's interesting, I wonder when he started. As of about 2007 I think he was still only doing the lap-band. Does he actually do it, or does he have a sleeve surgeon in his practice?