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Hi Pam, welcome to lapbandtalk. I love my band, and it's working great for me. I'm still "in progress", but I'm getting there.

First of all, congrats on the banding, AAAAND congrats on having already put in a call to your surgeon. It always irks me when people post horrible symptoms (I'm not referring to your post, BTW) and expect internet strangers to advise them: Hey guys, I was banded yesterday and I'm coughing up a huge amount of blood. Now I'm weak and dizzy and feel like I'm about to pass out. I can barely stay awake to type this. Should I call my doc? Ok, all fun aside, it sounds ok so far to me. People heal at different speeds. I don't know your medical history, but there are many conditions that can significantly slow the healing process......so absolutely it is feasable that your stomach is still irritated from the recent trauma. If you've been taking it easy, following post op instructions, chances are that you're fine....just still a little sore. It's a good thing to ask the doc, though. That's what they're there for! :sad:

Guh! I HATE meds that have to be taken on an empty stomach This (IMO) is the ultimate band "secret". Learning the difference between "sated" and "full" is the holy grail. I worked a retail job while I was in respiratory school. There is nothing, NOTHING (IMO...again) like a job in the medical field that will make you hate people. Don't get me wrong, I still love the work. It's just that medical folk often see people at their absolute worst. That's the Irene I know! Kick ass!! I'm pretty comfortable, but everybody is different. There's no "cookie cutter" appraoch. Yeah, I never saw the logic of using anti-gas meds with the lapband. Gas-X is basically a "detergent" that breaks down the surface area of a gas bubble (think rubbing alcohol on a soap bubble) in the digestive track, so the individual can...well...fart it out. The gas from the lapband surgery is inside the abdominal cavity, but outside the digestive system. But hey, if some folks find relief with the gas-x, more power to them!

But.....Medicare pays so poorly that many docs and private (not community) hospitals won't take it, because they lose so much money. So actually, that makes the patients with medicare basically uninsured. Medicare is a nightmare. That's one of the reasons that I can't support Obama's plan....part of his "reform savings" is to shift more patients into medicare (basically so they can claim that the federal government is saving money, but at the cost of the states). There doesn't need to be any more people subjected to medicare. I agree that there is a percentage of people that choose not to buy insurance (whether it be because they think they are young and don't need it, or don't want to spend that extra money, or whatever), and I believe that shouldn't be forced into buying if they don't want to. However, there is a need for healthcare reform. I don't know anybody that won't concede that the system badly needs to be "tweaked". Am I ok with increased regulation on the insurance companies? Sure. Howz about tort reform? Let's do it. Here's what I don't want: Government sticking it's huge, inefficient nose in and nudging the nation even closer to a "nanny state" than we already are. Which congressman was that? And how does a large number of people on medicare affect anything?

I loves me some popcorn, and will treat myself to a greasy bag of it when I go to the movies (sans the "butter"). I don't go to the movies very often, so I feel ok about it. As a TMI aside, it does seen to upset my stomach a little. I always attributed it to the fact that it's a pretty radical departure from my usual protein-rich diet.

I'd like to say I am personally repulsed by everybody that's posted on this thread, but that wouldn't stop me from having sex with all of you. At the same time. Except for the donkey....I want to take my time there.

Because I never mentioned where the beard was?

Are you looking for a support group, or for a convention?

But I still <heart> me some Austin.

PJTP: I've been growing a beard for the past 2 months. Pics to follow.

I'm saying the nurses @ my general practioner's office need to quit complaining about my weekly hernia checks. I'm saying they need to be more like the nurses @ my proctologist's office* that act very happy to see me trice / week. That's all. The general practice nurses are all like "ewwwwww, you could have showered first", and "I said cough, not moan and smile", and "I'm telling my husband you said that, you creepy bastard". The procto nurses are all like "like that, do you?", and "Sorry, we don't have any nurses with larger fingers". It's all in the attitude, really. *Procotlogist office is located in Joe's Truck Stop, in the shower area. Hours of operation are between 2100 - 0400. Ask for "Dr. Hervey"

Yeah, they seem to think it's a little "weird" that I go in for weekly checks....but I say a guy can never be too careful. They need to be like the nurses at the proctologist's office. You'd never hear them say "3x / week is a bit much".

Pretty standard stuff to discontinue high sedation / paralysis every now and agin to re-check everything. Hey, it's people like you that make it more difficult for people like me to prey on the young , drunk girls, so shut yer pie-hole, k? The sweet, sweet smell of karma. Princess better shape up or she won't last much longer. Pretty much. It's ok, slim....I'm sure Glouc forced you to type this by threatening your family. Because it needed to be posted again. Me too! Movie popcorn (and Target popcorn) is my biggest weakness. Love that stuff. And if anybody else needs me to "touch" them just ask.....Now that Lu's staying, I can take the gun back out of my mouth. *cough cough cough*

Medicaid is mostly state-run, so each state will be have slightly different things its medicaid program pays for. I always think of medicaid as "medicare light". Where medicare mostly covers older citizens, medicaid covers lower-income people, unemployed and disabled citizens, and specialized groups (like pregnant women). Because it's mostly state run and funded, the reimbursements are typically very, very low. Because of low reimbursements, many doctors and hospitals don't like to accept medicade patients.

Quit telling stories about me

Ladies, I think you may be scaring some of my bretheren here in The Men's Room. Shameless!!

Hi Louise. Full disclosure: I run my band VERY conservatively, so keep that in mind while I opine, lol. I wouldn't get the fill if, in September, you feel the way you do now. Fills are for when your band-sized meal isn't containing your hunger for 4 hours or so. Over-aggressive filling is (IMO) where a LOT of us bandsters go wrong. Now, having said that, you may find that by the time your fill appt rolls around, you may feel "looser", as your stomach may still be a bit irritated and swollen right now. Also, it is quite common for people to lose scale weight slowly but to lose inches. I find that I tend to go through a kind of weird "seesaw" thing where I will lose inches (as evidenced by clothes fitting better, or even looser), but the scale won't reflect it for a few weeks. You don't have to decide right now. Go by how your body feels and have this discussion with your doctor. Good luck!

Hi Mango, I'm a neighbor to your extreme northeast part of the state. I don't want to be a downer or anything, because all hospitals have different protocols, but my hospital (I work in the hospital where I had my surgery done) explicitly states that you MUST have somebody accompany you (for those whose insurances don't dictate an overnight stay). I'm pretty sure it's for litigation reasons.

Hi pars. My money is on the caffiene withdrawl. Every time I give it up I have some stiff headaches for 2-3 days.

Hi there, imstillstrill, welcome to lapbandtalk. You can certainly find a lot of nice people here to answer questions and provide support, so start reading, lol. Good luck!

your alot of ignerant sluts.

I like your positive, can-do attitude. Well, here's my $.02: There are instances where the band has slipped, or malfunctioned, or whatever. Some of these (IMO) are undoubtedly due to the stupidity of the owner, but some aren't. I was comfortable enough with the statistics to "play the odds" (maybe because insurance paid pretty good for my band. I don't know if I would have been quite as comfy had I been self-pay). Once I was comfortable with the risks, the "horror stories" didn't worry me much. Heck.....you can read stuff in any newspaper that might discourage some folks from ever leaving their house, but we "play the odds" every day to do just that. Having said that, I have to ask: Are you SURE you want the band (verses any other surgery, or even verses doing nothing)? I love my band, but it's a lot of work, both physically and mentally. If I hadn't been so diligent on research, I might be bitter with my choice (but luckily I knew exactly what I was getting into, so I'm ok).

I know....welcome to dealing with the general public, right? Shut down one douche and it seems like there are two to take his place. Still, as troublesome and never-ending as it seems, the only way for mods to know if anybody is stirring up crap or over-stepping boundries is if somebody says something. I totally understand and support anybody that feels like they need to take a break (or leave forever, if that's the best thing), but it seems like a real shame to let some jackass drive you off. Especially if that jackass is me.

Hey there pklecka, welcome to lapbandtalk. Can you be a little more specific of what you are scared of? Do you mean you are scared of the surgery itself, or scared of other things? But you know what? Good on you for realizing that you need to make some changes. And good that you are starting to look around to see what your options are. Weightloss surgery is a drastic step and you owe it to yourself to investigate all surgeries throughly to see which one may be right for you (I love my band, but it's not the best fit for everybody). Any specific questions, just ask (me or anybody)! Good luck on your journey.

I watch it....that's my dirty little secret. What keeps me entranced is watching how UNcomfortable some of the women look when Luke is all in "pimp daddy" mode trying to make out with them. I think he's a dude that needs to constantly feed his ego, and he thinks he can be a "stud" to this group of overweight women, even though he looks like a giant douchebag (how many times is he going to pull the cliched "You look cold...here, wear my jacket" stuff? I've seen him do that at least 3 times so far). So yeah, I'll continue to watch. It's trash TV, for sure....but it keeps me entertained.