Chris61

THis will depend on what your insurance company and the doctor requires. Has the doctors office sent you the stuff they are looking for? Have you found out from the insurance company as to what they require. Once we meet with the doctor and went through the pre-op testing (he does one stop shoping) did it all in one day, and gave him all the items the insurance company wanted:Letter from PCP Ie: Min 5 years of weights, heights, BMI etc. a list of all medical issues you have. THe hard part for us was getting all the weights together and having the doctors write the letters the correct way for approval. We had both approvals for surgery within 30 days. We did have to call UHC several times and refax things but we got it done. Then it was about 3 weeks after approval that we had surgery. If you would like to see the letter e-mail me at vcw61@excite.com and I will forward it to you. Chris

Well the wife and I both had are first fills today. It took about 15 minutes for each of us. I got 1cc in my band and the wife got 2 1/2cc. I got to see most of the procedure on the screen The band looks good and is in the right place and the port is just above the belly button. We sure can tell allready that the fill is working. We have both notice it takes longer to eat and drink etc. She was 6 and I was 5 weeks out from surgery. We went to the doctors office and I weighed in at 217. Day of surgery I was 231 and first doc visit I was 250. So maybe by the 1st of the year I might be at 200 or less. The wife is loosing a little slower but that was expected according to the doctor. One thing he did say that was a surprised and have not heard much talked about it is that men have/hold there fat in by the stomach area and that is why I did not get more than 1cc since I had great restriction. women hold there fat more on the outside. So all in all we are both please with how were are doing with the WLS etc. My wife sister had her surgery last Thursday. The biggest problem/challenge that we have both had, and more for me than my wife is learning to re-work the drinking and eating schedule. Iam a person who can work 2-3 hours and not take a break and then come in and drink or eat. Now you can not do that. I have learned the hard that is for sure. I wonder if anyone else has had that problem and how they cured the problem. The doctor did say that is one of the major problems that people talk/complain about. Chris

Well the wife and I both had are first fills today. It took about 15 minutes for each of us. I got 1cc in my band and the wife got 2 1/2cc. I got to see most of the procedure on the screen The band looks good and is in the right place and the port is just above the belly button. We sure can tell allready that the fill is working. We have both notice it takes longer to eat and drink etc. She was 6 and I was 5 weeks out from surgery. We went to the doctors office and I weighed in at 217. Day of surgery I was 231 and first doc visit I was 250. So maybe by the 1st of the year I might be at 200 or less. The wife is loosing a little slower but that was expected according to the doctor. One thing he did say that was a surprised and have not heard much talked about it is that men have/hold there fat in by the stomach area and that is why I did not get more than 1cc since I had great restriction. women hold there fat more on the outside. So all in all we are both please with how were are doing with the WLS etc. My wife sister had her surgery last Thursday. The biggest problem/challenge that we have both had, and more for me than my wife is learning to re-work the drinking and eating schedule. Iam a person who can work 2-3 hours and not take a break and then come in and drink or eat. Now you can not do that. I have learned the hard that is for sure. I wonder if anyone else has had that problem and how they cured the problem. The doctor did say that is one of the major problems that people talk/complain about. Chris

Well the wife and I both had are first fills today. It took about 15 minutes for each of us. I got 1cc in my band and the wife got 2 1/2cc. I got to see most of the procedure on the screen The band looks good and is in the right place and the port is just above the belly button. We sure can tell allready that the fill is working. We have both notice it takes longer to eat and drink etc. She was 6 and I was 5 weeks out from surgery. We went to the doctors office and I weighed in at 217. Day of surgery I was 231 and first doc visit I was 250. So maybe by the 1st of the year I might be at 200 or less. The wife is loosing a little slower but that was expected according to the doctor. One thing he did say that was a surprised and have not heard much talked about it is that men have/hold there fat in by the stomach area and that is why I did not get more than 1cc since I had great restriction. women hold there fat more on the outside. So all in all we are both please with how were are doing with the WLS etc. My wife sister had her surgery last Thursday. The biggest problem/challenge that we have both had, and more for me than my wife is learning to re-work the drinking and eating schedule. Iam a person who can work 2-3 hours and not take a break and then come in and drink or eat. Now you can not do that. I have learned the hard that is for sure. I wonder if anyone else has had that problem and how they cured the problem. The doctor did say that is one of the major problems that people talk/complain about. Chris

Well the wife and I both had are first fills today. It took about 15 minutes for each of us. I got 1cc in my band and the wife got 2 1/2cc. I got to see most of the procedure on the screen The band looks good and is in the right place and the port is just above the belly button. We sure can tell allready that the fill is working. We have both notice it takes longer to eat and drink etc. She was 6 and I was 5 weeks out from surgery. We went to the doctors office and I weighed in at 217. Day of surgery I was 231 and first doc visit I was 250. So maybe by the 1st of the year I might be at 200 or less. The wife is loosing a little slower but that was expected according to the doctor. One thing he did say that was a surprised and have not heard much talked about it is that men have/hold there fat in by the stomach area and that is why I did not get more than 1cc since I had great restriction. women hold there fat more on the outside. So all in all we are both please with how were are doing with the WLS etc. My wife sister had her surgery last Thursday. The biggest problem/challenge that we have both had, and more for me than my wife is learning to re-work the drinking and eating schedule. Iam a person who can work 2-3 hours and not take a break and then come in and drink or eat. Now you can not do that. I have learned the hard that is for sure. I wonder if anyone else has had that problem and how they cured the problem. The doctor did say that is one of the major problems that people talk/complain about. Chris

Well the wife and I both had are first fills today. It took about 15 minutes for each of us. I got 1cc in my band and the wife got 2 1/2cc. I got to see most of the procedure on the screen The band looks good and is in the right place and the port is just above the belly button. We sure can tell allready that the fill is working. We have both notice it takes longer to eat and drink etc. She was 6 and I was 5 weeks out from surgery. We went to the doctors office and I weighed in at 217. Day of surgery I was 231 and first doc visit I was 250. So maybe by the 1st of the year I might be at 200 or less. The wife is loosing a little slower but that was expected according to the doctor. One thing he did say that was a surprised and have not heard much talked about it is that men have/hold there fat in by the stomach area and that is why I did not get more than 1cc since I had great restriction. women hold there fat more on the outside. So all in all we are both please with how were are doing with the WLS etc. My wife sister had her surgery last Thursday. The biggest problem/challenge that we have both had, and more for me than my wife is learning to re-work the drinking and eating schedule. Iam a person who can work 2-3 hours and not take a break and then come in and drink or eat. Now you can not do that. I have learned the hard that is for sure. I wonder if anyone else has had that problem and how they cured the problem. The doctor did say that is one of the major problems that people talk/complain about. Chris

Well the wife and I both had are first fills today. It took about 15 minutes for each of us. I got 1cc in my band and the wife got 2 1/2cc. I got to see most of the procedure on the screen The band looks good and is in the right place and the port is just above the belly button. We sure can tell allready that the fill is working. We have both notice it takes longer to eat and drink etc. She was 6 and I was 5 weeks out from surgery. We went to the doctors office and I weighed in at 217. Day of surgery I was 231 and first doc visit I was 250. So maybe by the 1st of the year I might be at 200 or less. The wife is loosing a little slower but that was expected according to the doctor. One thing he did say that was a surprised and have not heard much talked about it is that men have/hold there fat in by the stomach area and that is why I did not get more than 1cc since I had great restriction. women hold there fat more on the outside. So all in all we are both please with how were are doing with the WLS etc. My wife sister had her surgery last Thursday. The biggest problem/challenge that we have both had, and more for me than my wife is learning to re-work the drinking and eating schedule. Iam a person who can work 2-3 hours and not take a break and then come in and drink or eat. Now you can not do that. I have learned the hard that is for sure. I wonder if anyone else has had that problem and how they cured the problem. The doctor did say that is one of the major problems that people talk/complain about. Chris

Well the wife and I both had are first fills today. It took about 15 minutes for each of us. I got 1cc in my band and the wife got 2 1/2cc. I got to see most of the procedure on the screen The band looks good and is in the right place and the port is just above the belly button. We sure can tell allready that the fill is working. We have both notice it takes longer to eat and drink etc. She was 6 and I was 5 weeks out from surgery. We went to the doctors office and I weighed in at 217. Day of surgery I was 231 and first doc visit I was 250. So maybe by the 1st of the year I might be at 200 or less. The wife is loosing a little slower but that was expected according to the doctor. One thing he did say that was a surprised and have not heard much talked about it is that men have/hold there fat in by the stomach area and that is why I did not get more than 1cc since I had great restriction. women hold there fat more on the outside. So all in all we are both please with how were are doing with the WLS etc. My wife sister had her surgery last Thursday. The biggest problem/challenge that we have both had, and more for me than my wife is learning to re-work the drinking and eating schedule. Iam a person who can work 2-3 hours and not take a break and then come in and drink or eat. Now you can not do that. I have learned the hard that is for sure. I wonder if anyone else has had that problem and how they cured the problem. The doctor did say that is one of the major problems that people talk/complain about. Chris

Well the wife and I both had are first fills today. It took about 15 minutes for each of us. I got 1cc in my band and the wife got 2 1/2cc. I got to see most of the procedure on the screen The band looks good and is in the right place and the port is just above the belly button. We sure can tell allready that the fill is working. We have both notice it takes longer to eat and drink etc. She was 6 and I was 5 weeks out from surgery. We went to the doctors office and I weighed in at 217. Day of surgery I was 231 and first doc visit I was 250. So maybe by the 1st of the year I might be at 200 or less. The wife is loosing a little slower but that was expected according to the doctor. One thing he did say that was a surprised and have not heard much talked about it is that men have/hold there fat in by the stomach area and that is why I did not get more than 1cc since I had great restriction. women hold there fat more on the outside. So all in all we are both please with how were are doing with the WLS etc. My wife sister had her surgery last Thursday. The biggest problem/challenge that we have both had, and more for me than my wife is learning to re-work the drinking and eating schedule. Iam a person who can work 2-3 hours and not take a break and then come in and drink or eat. Now you can not do that. I have learned the hard that is for sure. I wonder if anyone else has had that problem and how they cured the problem. The doctor did say that is one of the major problems that people talk/complain about. Chris

Well the wife and I both had are first fills today. It took about 15 minutes for each of us. I got 1cc in my band and the wife got 2 1/2cc. I got to see most of the procedure on the screen The band looks good and is in the right place and the port is just above the belly button. We sure can tell allready that the fill is working. We have both notice it takes longer to eat and drink etc. She was 6 and I was 5 weeks out from surgery. We went to the doctors office and I weighed in at 217. Day of surgery I was 231 and first doc visit I was 250. So maybe by the 1st of the year I might be at 200 or less. The wife is loosing a little slower but that was expected according to the doctor. One thing he did say that was a surprised and have not heard much talked about it is that men have/hold there fat in by the stomach area and that is why I did not get more than 1cc since I had great restriction. women hold there fat more on the outside. So all in all we are both please with how were are doing with the WLS etc. My wife sister had her surgery last Thursday. The biggest problem/challenge that we have both had, and more for me than my wife is learning to re-work the drinking and eating schedule. Iam a person who can work 2-3 hours and not take a break and then come in and drink or eat. Now you can not do that. I have learned the hard that is for sure. I wonder if anyone else has had that problem and how they cured the problem. The doctor did say that is one of the major problems that people talk/complain about. Chris

Our doctor does them under the x-ray not sure how many times before he does them in the office. This will be a good question to bring up when we see him on Monday for our first fill. Chris

I am noticing that this week for the first time. It sure is a differant kinda of feeling etc. Chris

My wife and I can not wait for our first fill on Monday. We have been hungery and able to eat a lot. I hope that it will also help slow us down to. Eating a bit fast today and ended up PBing so I learned something new. However one of the hardest things for me is to slow down and take small drinks of fluids instead of large ones like I used to do before banding. I work outside a lot and have to learn to adjust to this. Chris

I will agree with all that has been said here. I have the same problem with my mother she is allways complaining about my dad. I finally asked her the other day how much weight he needs to loose in regards to his bad knees. She did not say a word at all. All she talks about is him going to see the fat lady's while he is at the pool swiming. I have not told here or my side of the family the we have both had the surgery and doing well. I think I will wait until I go and see them the next time and then drop the bomb shell then. Chris

CaresaRN: Glad to see that you are doing well. You are right about all the differant in plans. Even our/and your doctor has changed his mind about the way he has it. He even told us we he needed to update his problem. We were allowed to eat scrambled eggs the 2nd week. My wife is 5 weeks out and Iam 4 weeks and we have our first fill on Monday. We are both trying to figure out how much of a fill will get in the band since we have the new advance AP band. We really notice the differance about 3 weeks out, that we would need a fill. Glad to see everyone is doing well aslo. Chris

I only told a few people before surgery. I did not want to have anyone rain on my prade. Also since I work in construction and so you can image what they could have been like. Now that I have had it and the weight is coming off, I have no problem in telling people that I have the lapband and I love it. Chris

It might have been the OJ. I have heard people say that after being banded things they used to like no longer works. Just a thought. Chris

I notice my current belt is going to have to be put out to pasture before to long. Iam down to the last hole on it. I hope that the first fill will help keep me going to get a new one. Chris

Iam 4 weeks out and had my first BP today. I was trying to eat pizza and think I ate to fast since I was hungery. Have to learn to slow down and eat along with not waiting so long between meals. Chris

Iam 4 weeks out and still having gas pains in the left shoulder. I go for my first fill on Monday and the see the doctor for a follow up. I will ask him about the gas pain and then also about if it also has to do with eating etc. This is a good thread. Chris

Iam 4 weeks out and I have some Fluid in my band. I will know more on Monday when I get a fill. about 2 weeks after surgery I knew I needed a fill. Chris

My doctor gave me a picture of what it look like inside with the band. You might ask him for that. Chris

thnaks...sometimes you just feel like it is all your challenge...nice to know others feel the same sometimes...thanks for the advice...Fran

My wife and I love the AP Band. She has a fill next week. Iam also hoping to get a fill at the same time. She will be 4 weeks Wednesday adn I will be 3 weeks. This is a new inmed band that goes 360 degree and is desgined a bit differant. it will hold anywhere from 10 to 14 cc depending on which one you get. You need to check with your doctor as to what he is using. The cost is about $ 4,000 for the band itself. Chris

Welcome to the group. This is the best thing that I have done in a long time. I will be three weeks on Wednesday and my wife will be 4 weeks on Wednesday. If you have any questions just ask. We are all here to help you. Chris