Elizabethdb

Congrats on the weight loss denise. Keep up the good work. I am going in today for my 3rd fill. I still dont have any restricion so hopefully this will do the trick.

Good for you! Welcome to "Kaplans Bandsters" An old co-worker of mine is having it done on the 29th also. It is nice to have locals on here who have the same doctor. Who needs Jeanies support group? who have our own. lol Good luck next week. I know you will be fine.

From what I understand, I havent had it happen yet. It is when the food gets stuck and your body produces saliva or something to try to flush it down but then that fluid just ends up coming back up and they call that sliming.

Ive heard of sliming. Maybe that is what they meant, it makes more since.

I mever heard anything about chewing gum until I came here. I mean, I guess it does make since, but if it does happen to get stuck, all they have to do is and EGD, thats where they take the scope down your throat and then they can get it. Its a simple procedure IF it would happen to get swolled and get stuck. Anyway, I guess its just up to the doctor and the patient.

Drooling?? Ive never heard of that. what were they talking about when they drool or whatever? I have not had any problems with drooling.

Welcome to Lapband Jennifer. I just had my surgery done July 14th by Dr.Kaplan. That 6 months will be over before you know it. Is Lindsey and Jeannie fighting your insurance trying to get them to pay for the preop stuff? I mean if your insurance makes you do the 6 month diet, then they need to pay for it. I only lost 10 pounds in my 6month diet with Lindsey. Men lose weight a lot faster then women do, its not fair. Keep up the good work.. I go in Monday for my 3rd fill, Im gonna tell Dr.Kaplan to FILL ME UP! I just dont feel much restriction yet, but it takes time to get to your "sweet spot" Its good that you and your hubby are both doing it. Are you doing it the same day? You 2 will be each other support. My mom and I are both doing it. We planned on doing ours on the same day but she started in the diet later then I did and even though she had 3 months of a physician followed diet prior to her doing the preop diet, she didnt have 3 months of exercise documented so she had to go the full 6 months. We are each others support system and my best friend also had it done so that helps. Being on here helps a lot to and it is so neat that I am actually meeting some of "Kaplans Bandsters" on here. Hope to here from you soon

What was your question??

You are not allowed to drive for a least 72 hours after general anesthesia. Even though you may feel fine, the anesthesia is still in your system slowing your reaction time down. You would be considered DUI if you would drive.

I had severe shoulder pain until about 6 weeks out. I talked to my doctor a couple times about it. First he suggested going to the chiropractor maybe something was out. That did ease the severity of it but then I would have it REALLY bad after I ate or drank something. He then told me I was eating too much, so when I cut my portions down even more, that is when the pain finally went away.. Even now, I am 7 1/2 weeks out there will be times,not often, that I eat too much and the pain will come back. Anyway, just a little food for thought there.

The only trouble I have had with pills was the day after my surgery I took all my daily pills at once and that caused a lot of pain. I myself, have had no trouble whatsoever other then that day with pills.

Don't ya just want to stick your finger down your throat and get it over with?? Just kidding. I havent experianced that yet but my doctor told me if you get in trouble with being stuck which sounds like you are, give it a little bit DONT DRINK, and if you do get scared about it go to the hospital to have an unfill to get it to move. Sorry I dont have much advice, but that is what my doctor told me to do in that situation. Maybe you should call your doctor to see what to do.

I dont keep track of how much protein and stuff I eat a day. I know I know, I should be.. I just make sure I get protein in with each meal. Like for breakfast I have a cup of cheerios with Pediasure instead of milk. Pediasure has about 7 grams of protein so that tends to hold me off a little longer then just milk. Im really not going by a certain diet right now. I am concentrating more on cutting my portions, knowing my signals that Im full and stuff like that. I dont go out and eat junk food or stuff like that. Right now Im just eating a lot of chicken products. I cant wait until I get to my "sweet spot" I have however finally cut my portions enough that I dont have pain after I eat so that is a good thing. I had a big lecture about that at my last fill because everytime I would eat I would get this SHARP pain in my left shoulder into my chest making it hard to breath. Dr.Kaplan told me that I am eating way too much at a time and that is why I was hurting so I am cutting my portions, not quite down to the cup size portion, but getting close. It takes time.

Im not sure of the time frame but I do know you have to have a history of trouble with your weight. They dont look it up though, they just asked me how long I have been stuggling with my weight. I tell them since I was born, I was 2-3 weeks early and weighed in at 9lbs 3 oz.

That wouldbe awesome! I started uot at 345 and so far am only down to 320, but thats a start. I dont have good restriction yet so it is going really slow, but the time will come .. Keep up the good work

It's so neat to actually see and talk to "Kaplans Bandsters" on here. There for a while I was the only one. I was one of his, Ill take that back, I was his first patient to be seen for the band. The 6 months go by fast, they keep you busy at times.Recovery from just the band takes about 2 weeks, I dont know the recovery time with the hernia in it. It shouldnt be too much longer. Ask you doctor, he should tell ya how long it will take. My mom is also having it done around Oct or Nov. My poor dad, he will be all on his own after that. lol. Good luck to you all. Come to chat sometime, usually in the evening aroun 8 or 9 there are several people in there to talk to.

Congrats on the weight loss!! I had trouble loosing in the preop. I had a lecture at the halfway point because I hadnt lost any, hadnt gained, but had no weight loss. So I lost about 10 pounds after that.

I was a Bread Addict. I still sneak some bread in from time to time. I just have to be VERY careful. I have had bread get stuck, not a good feeling at all. I think the bread was the hardest thing for me to give up. The soft diet is like food you would feed a toddler,something easy to chew up.

Are you from around Parkersburg? Letting Kaplan do it?? Its neat finally seeing people on here who are going to the same doctor. Just up until recently I was the only one from this area on this site.

I eat more then a 4th cup right now. I still dont have good restriction. I am fighting an infection right now so I am holding off on getting any needles stuck in me right now, other then the IVs. I dont want to risk it spreading to my band. I can eat about 2 chicken strips right now still. I will eat 1 cup of cheerios in the morning. So Im at about a cup of food right now and hungry a lot still. It takes time to get the right restriction.

Yeah, it was a very rough start, they first thought it was band complications but I just felt like I had the flu and was running a fever. They even talked about putting a feeding tube in while I was sick just trying to get nutrition in. When you go in to see Lindsey, which is everyother week, she will ask you about your exercise how much, what was it, stuff like that. The post op diet isnt all that bad. You will do clear liquids for a week, then full for 1-2 weeks then pureed(not baby food) for a week or so then softs, and then regular. I kind of stopped at softs, too scared to eat much more then that. GNC has a protein poweder that I used for my protein shakes. I couldnt handle the slim fast, made me sick, so what I did was Carnation instant breakfast with lactose free milk and a scoop of protein. That wasnt too bad, I just got sick and tired of drinking it and stubburn me quit drinking my protein and yes I lost a lot of hair due to that.. The main thing with the preop diet is to make sure you are commented and cutting your portion sizes down and getting rid of carbs, carbonated drinks and caffiene. It goes fast. :thumbup: Before you know it, you will be a bandster like a lot of us and think "That wasnt bad at all."

The only problems that I had was I got dehydrated and ended up spending extra time in the hospital and a week later I came down with the flu. I was probably exposed to it at the hospital and "lucky me" came down with it. What kind of plan do you have with Blue Cross? My plan is anything done at CCMH is 100% and everything else I pay 20%. I guess it really isnt too bad, the thing is I am unemployeed right now and a full time student so trying to come up with the 20% for all the preop testing I had to have for example a sleep study, cardiac testing due to me having high heart rate, stuff like that. I just had my surgery July 14th so far I am only down 15-18 pounds I guess that isnt too bad. One thing a lot of people are having trouble with is the exercise. They are finding out that if you dont exercise during the 6 months, you will be turned down. I know of at least 3 people so far that has been turned down due to lack of exercise. Well good luck with everything. Keep in touch :smile: Elizabeth

I had Blue Cross Blue Shield.. You will have a 6 month preop diet in which you will spend a lot of time with Lindsey. Lindsey is the dietition, Jeanie Morris is the nurse. You will see them the most and I onl saw Dr. Kaplan twice before my surgery. They handle everything, I didnt have to do anything with my insurance, other then pay the bills, but that is ok. So you are going to have Dr.Kaplan?? He did a pretty good job. When do you go to the seminar? Elizabeth

Finally someone close. Welcome to lapband. I am also from West Virginia. Where abouts are you?? Im from Parkersburg. Good luck with everything, I come here all the time it is a greatplace to ask questions and compair stories. Elizabeth

Are they sure it is not your galbladder?? When I had a galbladder attack I felt like my ribs were going to break and the pain radiated into my chest and arm. Just a thought. Elizabeth