Wheetsin

Something like sciatica is usually a very obvious "nerve" pain (as opposed to a muscula pain, or skin pain). It would not typically be associated with visible or externally detectable swelling. Tough love - you posted this at 3:51 am, butshould've called yoursurgeon around 2:00 am - or sooner. Please please get offa the board, and call your surgeon.

I'm female, 5'10, with a fairly large bone structure. My surgeon (AGB) was aiming at about 210 for me. I think that's what he considered "realistic." About 180 was the last time I was happy/comfortable with my body. Damn, that was a long time ago. BMI is a subjective guideline. I can be UNDER ideal body fat, but still be "obese" according to BMI if I'm muscular. Per BMI, your goal would be in the 111 - 149 range. Per BMI, my goal would be in the 129 - 173 range. I'm honestly not sure I'd like the way I looked at 129... :/ My goal is going to be size based, I think. To hell with what I weigh...

I've lost hair with each of the two surgeries I"ve had. It seems to start around month 3, and stop around month 5 for me. Rapid weightloss (losing about 150 lbs in a year) has not seemed to impact it. For me, it seems mostly related to the anesthesia/surgery experience. Keep in mind that things like conditioner, which "lubricate" your hair, will make it seem worse. If you don't shampoo your ahir every day, it will also seem worse on days you do. Some people with prolonged hairloss have reported some results with Nioxin (not a Minoxidil product). Iron deficiency can also be a big factor in hairloss.

I gain (on average) 11 lbs for my TOM. When TOM is over, I pee a bunch one day, and then I'm back where I started. Just remember - the scale weighs all of your mass, including fluids (and things like hair, and poop, and your last meal...). The scale doesn't do anything specific to your fat mass or lean mass. It's going to fluctuate on a daily/hourly basis. For your own sake, break the scale habit. It WILL fluctuate, sometimes drastically, and these fluctuations WILL have emotional consequences.

It wasn't even legal for her to ask that. You didn't break the law, so you shouldn't be the one feeling guilty. White lies are a part of life.

I had AGB surgery, but on some level lap surgery is lap surgery. Here's what helped me the most: Recliner! It was a solid 4 - 5 days before I could comfortably get into bed, and even then I had to be careful and support my abdomen with a pillow. It was about 2 weeks before I could sleep "normal" (I'm a side sleeper, and was quite overweight -- my pannus & stomach shifting to the side "pulled" on my primary incision (for AGB, this is the incision they use to insert all the silicone parts and it is quite larger than the rest) something terrible). Having a recliner by the tv to sit/sleep in was soooo nice. I don't know when you start with the Protein supplements, but find a powder/source you like before your surgery and have it ready. I know a lot of people wait until after surgery for this, and then have a hard time finding one they enjoy. If you use a laptop or netbook, have it handy. An extra pillow helps. Have it with you when you head home from surgery - it can help stabilize you during road bumps, and can also help during the first few days of recovery. Whatever your food progression looks like, I would recommend having about 2 weeks' worth of it on hand. It may take a while before you're ready to hit the store. I went for a very slow walk the eve of my 2nd day, but it was not pretty. Good thing Target is fairly empty late at night. If you're able to use them, a heating pad may help alleviate any discomfort that your pain meds can't take care of. If you're a "virgin" to bariatrics, you may find it helpful to use baby utensils to moderate your intake, even for things like Water. Trust me, how we chew & swallow is COMPLETELY habit. Most people don't realize how little they chew, and how much they swallow. The first time I could have something that needed to be chewed, I was amazed at how much I had to fight the urge to swallow just 2 or 3 bites into it. You will have to be very careful & very thoughtful. Sipping water from a baby spoon will really help moderate "sips" until you are more comfortable with doing it on your own. Same when you're able to progress to something like a Soup or yogurt. Baby plates or saucers also help with the mental side of it -- looks like more food on a small plate than large. Both of my parents had AGB after I did, and I made each of them a care basket to being to the hospital. I included some creature comforts like oversized cotton pajamas, memory foam slippers, etc. liquid Tylenol, liquid ibuprofen. Jello, freezer pops. Baby spoons/forks/plates and even a sippy cup (don't laugh it works wonders). Drink mixes. Electric blanket (it didn't take too much weightloss to reach the "perpetually cold" state that never has gone away). Etc. Different surgeries, but HTH.

Tiffykins - great post. I think it's helpful and healthy to give people this type of perspective. People often aren't very realistic (because they don't understand) about what their bodies will and will not be post-op. Look at that "skinny girl leg crossing" that us fat folks can't do without looking awkward as hell... go you! I'm always amused when someone posts because they're concerned about the scars from surgery. Hello, you're covered in stretchmarks... you look like an Interstate road map drawn in pearly pink chalk lines... and you're worried about a handful of surgical scars on your abdomen where (likely? hopefully?) no one will ever see? I will take the wrinkly skin (I already have a bunch of it, and still need to lose 100 or so lbs if that helps you draw a mental image... a large ^ shaped indentation now masquerades as my bellybutton) over the shirt getting caught in my back rolls. The cellulite is here to stay, so I will perpetually look like a sock full of quarters. My skin is essentially wrecked. And that's ok! (BTW, as a pasty redhead who grew up in So Cal, and daughter of a woman who has survived melanoma twice - I'm with you on the SPF! I should have a frequent visitor card to my dermatologist. Have you seen the "SPF I'm in heaven!" commercial?

BTW, pre-op I was 3 days, every 28 days like clockwork except for anomolies related to BCP and medications. To this day (I'm over 5 years post-op) my anomolies continue. My cycle now varies +/- 2 days (26 - 31 instead of 28) and although I usually bleed for 3 days, it's sometimes 1 day, sometimes 9 days with one or two brief pauses of a day or two, etc.) Dang it! Planning for convenient vacations was so much easier when I knew exactly what to expect.

That sounds pretty unusual. Weightloss AND surgery/traume (and things like medications, and stress of something like surgery, and... can mess with our cycles, but start/stop/start/stop/long time seems to be on the end of the weird spectrum. When you say it started, then stopped, then started, etc. =-- do you mean started as in JUST started, and then JUST stopped? Or do you mean you bled for a few days, then a few weeks off...? I react pretty strongly to different things and my body was all outta whack after my surgery (AGB) and for the first 3 months (I lost about 70 lbs in 3 mos). But not like that. I was starting late, and going longer (typically have a 3.5 day flow, but was seeing almost 7 straight, then about 2 days off, then bleed for another day). You could always call your GYN and see what theym even though they're going to say "come in."

GastroMD -- from the perspective of a medical professional, why did you elect to have VSG over all the other procedures out there? What about it stood out from the other options?

Optasia - here are some thoughts. To be fair, I want to make it very clear that I do not have a sleeve. I do, however, have an AGB and have submitted paperwork for a revision to a sleeve (I wish they'd call me back...) Please take my thoughts as general to obese people & WLS in general, not sleeve specific. What I know: I do know I simply don't want to have the surgery. I do know that I need to lose 100pnds. I do know that I have to lose the weight, count calories and exercise whether I do the surgery or not. I was in a similar state of mind before my AGB surgery. I hated that it came down to an operation to fix something I felt I should be able to fix on my own. I also hated that it was surgery, period (my first surgery, nonetheless). I needed to lose 200+ lbs. Had I needed to lose 100 lbs, it may have been a different story - though I suspect not (the theory of realtivity applies to fat, I'm sure!) I do know that I lost 80pnds before (ok, fine. And gained some back). I do know that I have currently lost 20+pnds with little effort. I do know I need to do this for myself and my family Most people who have had WLS have lost significant amounts of weight on their own. Virtually no one can maintain that loss. I once lost about 85 lbs, once about 120 lbs, and once about 80 lbs. Never once could I maintain the loss at all, really. I was in a continous "gain/lose" cycle that, at the very least, absolutely crushed my self-esteem and confidence in my ability to see a goal through (I'm not known for failing, I usually acheive what I'm after... my weight being one of the only exceptions, so I didn't understand why I could accomplish everything else, but not this...) I mentioned earlier that most people who lose significant anoutsn of weight cannot maintain it. I'm not talking about people who lose 5 lbs. When people are morbidly obese, there is almost always an addiction in effect, and almost always depression in effect. And almost always, there is some perceived "gain" from being fat. People hate that I say it, but it's true. There's something being gained from it - usually related to control issues. Those are dangerous partners. Of those few who can maintain their weightloss, it's almost always because they have "hopped addictions" - taken their addictive behavior from one subject to another. Think of people who quit smoking and begin to overeat. Also, you will find eating disorders in most of them (e.g. only eat one meal a day, only eat 3 days of the week, etc.) I'm not saying you can't do it on your own. All of us would have liked to do it on our own. I'm saying that it's not realistic to expect that you can in a moderated & healthy way, and it's not healthy to beat yourself up because you've been unable to. What I don't know: I don't know if I can be consistent and keep going (weight loss wise) on my own. I don't know that I can commit to such a stringent diet following the surgery (well, I would for fear of hurting my stomach, but I may not be a happy or nice person and that scares me). The AGB (at least on paper) requires a similar diet. Opposite, but similar. WIth AGB, as time goes on, our diet becomes more and more limited. With most other WLS surgeries, as time goes on, your diet expands. I think mots people doubt their ability to stay with food group & portion guidelines, but keep in mind that you aren't usually trying to do that while hungry or with instatiable cravings or while battling a food volume monster. I didn't think 4 oz of food sounded like much, until I tried to eat 4 oz of food and about halfway through felt like I had just walked away from a pre-op Thanksgiving dinner. You will be happy & nice, as long as you are now -- and even if you aren't, you may still end up that way. I couldn't imagine being happy without my food to look forward to, but as soon as I started seeing my fat rolls go away and buying smaller clothes -- was I happy!!! I don't know how to react to people who don't understand the surgery (if I had the surgery). I don't know how I'd handle eating in front of people. It's your choice whether to tell them or not. I tell people. I don't advertise it, but if someone asks I tell them, and if it's relevant to what's being discussed I will mention it. I've had my AGB for going on 6 years and I've run into a handful of people who didn't understand it (the technical info, as well as how "surgery" was a valid option for me). And the end of the day - don't react. If someone doesn't understand but wants to, educate them. If they don't understand and don't care to, smile and walk away. Eating in front of people - if they know you've had WLS, be prepared for a lot of questions and scrutiny. How does it feel? Are you really full? Does it taste the same? Are you full yet? How come you ate more than that yesterday? Etc. If they don't know, and you don't want them to know, you can stick to some basics such as, "I'm not very hungry" or "Just want a snack." I do this sometimes when we eat out. It's easier to explain, "Not that hungry" than go through the story. And wait staff can be concerned if you aren't eating much of your meal. I ask for a to-go box at the same time as when I order, and just say "I know I'm going to need it." I don't know how I'd feel about myself if I did do it. I felt such great pride when I lost it on my own before. YES, I know wls is just a tool and it requires just as much work. It is a greatm prideful feeling to lose weight on your own and "win." But how have you felt when the weight has come back, plus? For me, the defining thought about my WLS wasn't that I would lose weight, or eat less. It was that I would KEEP IT OFF. As I said earlier, I could lose weight. I could not maintain. I've maintained for about 3 years now, without any real effort. That feeling beats all others. I don't know how well I'll recover or if there will be complications (duh. no one knows, but I had to write this) I don't know how much of this weight loss thing is in my head. I CAN lose weight by eating in moderation. It's not a physical thing FOR ME. So, if it's more in my head (for whatever reason), then maybe I should go at it from that angle. What do you mean, it's not a physical thing for you? Eating is always a physical thing. It's ac activity, and therefore it's physical. There are two primary drivers behind overeating: emotions and behavior. Fat people are typically emotional overeatersor they are behavioral overeaters. Or they are emotional and behavioral overeaters. Emotional overeaters display tendencies such as -- eating when stressed, eating when sad, eating when bored, eating for comfort, etc. Behavioral overeaters -- you snack on something when you watch a movie even though you aren't hungry, because that's what you should do when you watch a movie. You eat around 7 even if you aren't hungry because that's dinner time. You eat while working on a hard project because thats the activity that helps you focus your thoughts. Either way, with WLS there's still a mental change that has to happen. This is what your program's therapist should help you out with. Many people experience a period of mourning -- mourning their foods, or food quantities, as they would ourn a friend. I had times where I missed being able to eat a whole plate of something, but I had more times where I felt pride in being able to leave 80% of my plate untouched.

Burping is intestinal gas, which products like Gas-X are designed for. Gas-X will not help with "shoulder pain" gas. Sorry if I didn't make that distinction clear. Gas remedies like Gas-X work by breaking the surface tension of the gas bubbles -- really simplified version: it pops the bubbles so the gas can escape and move out of the intestines. Some intestinal gas can be caused by anesthesia - indirectly. Medications like Gas-X stay in the intestines and are not effective systemically -- e.g. they are not able to help with the dissipation of CO2, or whatever gas the surgeon uses to inflate the abdomen -- which is one of the culprits of shoulder pain post-op. BTW, that too is an indirect cause of the pain. Until fairly recently, it was believed that the migration of the gas upward & then settling was what caused the pain. Who knows, it may still be, but most recently: There is also a shoulder pain that can be caused by damage or irritation to nerves (vagus & phrenic). A family member of mine endured this and it was not pretty. In short, if you feel like you need to toot, try Gas-X or comparable. If your shoulder is hurting you, you can still take Gas-X, but don't expect to feel any better.

Chinese food is extremely healthy if you make it yourself. You didn't specify if you meant a restaurant -- I make my own PF Chang's style lettuce wraps, minus the rice. And I'm pretty sure mine area healthier. Cook some green onion in a bit of oil, when it's sweated add the turkey & brown. Add in Water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, green garlic, homemade hoisin sauce (you can use store bought, homemade is just better for you, and better tasting), soy sauce, ginger, and rice vinegar. Let it all cook together for about 5 minutes, then add in tofu (extra firm, drained & cubed). Eat with bibb lettuce (or on a fork!) If you mean a regular restaurant -- Cantonese tends to be the healthier of the Chinese foods because of its higher proportion of vegetables, and lower sauce & meat. My restaurant standby is hot & sour soup with sriracha and vinegar added (because hot & sour soup is usually neither!). We had some Panda Express last weekend -- I got soup and a Jr order of mushroom chicken, with lo mein. I haven't been to a Chinese buffet for years, but don't they normally have crab legs? Crab legs are a great Protein. Look for chicken dishes that aren't breaded. Beijing Chicken tends to be a pretty healthy dish, and I'd imagine buffets have it. If you want an eggroll, have an eggroll. Just have one.

You can lose weight without exercise as long as your BMR or daily activity MR is continuously higher than your caloric intake. You will lose weight more slowly, and you will be losing it from different sources (e.g. body mass vs. fat mass). Once you have good restriction, it's not so hard to manage the intake part of it. But your MR will change as you lose weight, and you will have to readjust, or compensate somehow (exercise). The long story short -- lots of people lose a lot of weight without exercise. RARELY is that loss maintained. It normally comes to a stop, and then what? Exercise while you're still in the losing cycle, before maintenance. WHen you hit maintenance, and are healthier, you will be so glad you did. Exercise isn't just about losing fat, it's about being healthy. And you don't have to work out daily, and you don't have to work out for very long. And workouts don't have to be an event -- e.g. a set time of day, involve you driving somewhere, etc. Take the stairs, park in the last spot, don't use a shopping cart, etc. It all adds up. It's not the maintained heart rate increase that will help you with fat loss, but it can be your appetizer until you're able to commit to a real exercise routine.

BTW Tiffykins, I just noticed your pregnancy ticker. Congratulations! MY DH and I TTC for a while, and never quite got it. Until the lapband. As soon as I hit about 130 lbs gone, -poof- there it was. Right when we stopped trying & decided to take some time off. I couldn't believe it. About 4 years of trying, and about 2 years before that of "whatever happens happens" -- I took 8 home pregnancy tests, and then went to my doctor for a REAL test. Your first?

I haven't had VSG - I have AGB & am here researching a revision. But I had to have my gallbladder out almost a year to the day that my band was put in. Mine was a much simpler outpatient procedure though. From what I can tell, MOST people who lose significant amounts of weight lose their gallbladder at some point. In fact when my AGB was done my surgeon basically said "See you soon" -- he was right. Poor little gallbladders go all wonky without much for the bile to do.

Research the vagus nerve. It's extremely tied in to our stomachs, bands and digestion - but also emits pain signals to referred areas of the body such as the shoulder & head ("brain freeze" is thought to be caused by cold substances chilling the vaug nerve, for example.) Soft stop syndromes are generally attributed to the vagus nerve as well (sighing, sneezing, watery eyes, etc.) My father had a lapband put in about 3 years ago. I have posted his story here before, but in short -- after months and months of vomiting (not PBing, actually vomiting), weird PBs... he started vomiting "brown stuff" as he put it. This progressed and he was continuously treated as though he was too tight, or doing something wrong and needing to correct his behavior. He started having pretty significant left shoulder pain, and mentioned that to his surgeon, but it never seemed to be taken seriously. They eventually did a swallow test and at that time, everything passed normally do they did not think it was his band. His vomiting progressed to the point that he was vomiting continuously, 20 - 30 times a day -- more if he tried to eat or drink anything. He was hospitalized and diagnosed with gastroparesis -- partially paralyzed stomach. Anything, including saliva from swallowing, would cause violent vomiting. After 3 days at his local hospital they xferred his care to his band surgeon, who eventually removed the band - which had slipped profusely by that time. The minute he woke up from surgery he was fine, and has not had any nausea or vomiting since. (He has been re-banded). The surgeon denies this (of course) but I think the band put pressure on his vagus nerve, and either the sustained irritation, or a combination of the irritation and side effects from the vomiting and stuff he was going through, led to the gastroparesis. Bad stuff. Gas does cause shoulder pain. I get it from surgery. But it's not horrible, and it goes away. If you have shoulder pain, particularly left shoulder pain, that persists - don't take it lightly. Gas pain goes away. Vagus nerve complications get worse.

Gas pains for me come a few days after, and last a few days. They aren't that bad. You know the feeling when you get a pinched nerve in your neck/shoulder area? For me, it's like a very mild version of that, and usually hits between my collar bones and the top of my shoulder. Annoying, but not something that disrupts my day. FWIW - if people advise you to take gas-x type medications, don't bother. Intestinal gas, and surgical gas pains are two totally different things. (Yet I see that advice given a LOT, and it baffles me...)

You will pay the lower amount. So if 20% is greater than your OOP, you will pay your OOP. If 20% is lower than your OOP, you will pay 20%. HTH

Just my observations/research/opinions... The band as a long term solution - sometimes. Beyond the 4 year mark, I know, and have seen, and have read about, and have been told about a LOT more people who have it removed than who still have it. I personally do not have faith in it as a long term properly functioning device. I think people who keep their bands for more than a few years, and are truly complication free (not to be confused with have unknown/undiagnosed complications), are the exception rather than the rule. If your plan requires a supervised diet, you probably can't get around it. Having a history of going to the doctor and being weighed for your visit doesn't count, they want it to be doctor's visits specifically for the purpose of supervised diet. I had my band under UHC and they did not require the supervised diet, nor did I have comorbidities, and I was approved in about 3 days. But that's all so specific to your particular plan, take it with a major grain of salt. I've recently submitted my paperwork for revision surgery and my current provider (no longer UHC) requires a 6 month diet for all bariatrics. We're trying to see if the fact that I've had a lapband for going on 5 1/2 years, and have technically been under the surgeon's care during that time, will count. They are also trying to see if there's a waiver for revisions, or if it's truly required for all bariatrics. The office staff are more optimistic about that than I am, but we'll see.

I paid $20. Out of pocket rate was about $16k a the time, IIRC. Negotiated rate paid out about $7k.

You might enjoy this recent thread: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/131158-surgeon-gave-impression-gastric-bypass-was-better/

You can cut it, just don't go below the skin surface. Alternately, if you let it be, it will eventually disappear.

Water, potassium, Calcium. In that order. Ae you following a low-carb diet? Intense, or increased (if you already suffered from them) leg cramps almost always come with a low carb diet. I went from cramps in toes/calves pre-op, to cramps where my entire thigh muscle would completely seize. Talk about hurt. If you are having a hard time kneading them out, moist heat really helps -- hot wet towel, shower head, etc. Hubby knows the routing to go microwave a hand towel if he wakes up to me rocking on the bed & kneading a lower body part.

Sounds like you're learning your "eating windows" as I call them - the times of day you can & cannot tolerate foods. These normally develop a few weeks to months post-op (if you're going to have them), and will likely change over time. I currently cannot eat before 11 without discomfort, and generally not after 7. My best chances are between 1 - 4. Breakfast was the first meal I began having problems tolerating. It took me a while to connect it with time of day. For a long time I was trying to connect it with specific foods.