Cate18

Also, if you have your surgery performed at a larger research university, you should ask about donating it to research labs. I did my graduate research thesis work related to skin, and it was only through the kind donation of skin from patients that I was able to complete my work. Be sure to ask if you're comfortable with that !

If I had to take a wild guess, I would say that your stomach has a bunch of acid in it before you put the milk in on top. Though 15 minutes is rather quick for that to be happening. It may be that you need to be taking an acid reducer. I would mention this to your doctor and see if he agrees about you taking an acid reducing medication or at least Tums.

Thanks for the input ! I really appreciate it !

For those that eat popcorn as a snack, what volume of popped popcorn will you typically eat ? I know this is a little lame to be asking, but how many individual pieces would you guess that you eat ? I love popcorn, but I'm really perplexed about how much is too much. I've had some Portion Control problems lately, and I'm trying to be more cognizant of what I'm eating. Thanks !

It sounds to me that what happened was that the doctor's office billed under the assumption it was being picked up by insurance. As you may know, hospitals charge different amounts for insurance and self-pay accounts. They will often charge a ridiculous amount for a syringe or a plastic tube if they know insurance is going to pay for it to offset different costs. But usually if your insurance company won't pay the whole amount they'll write off the difference (USUALLY). They just cut their losses in an effort to try to get the insurance company to pay as much as they will. So it sounds like when your insurance company said they weren't going to pay it looked like you had to pay much more than you actually did. Something vaguely similar happened to me. I found that it's just best to let the insurance company and the hospital duke it out until they come to a final bill, THEN I start making my calls. I'm glad to hear things have been sorted out with you ! Best of luck on your weight loss, and hopefully a less stressful experience !

I think this is a question that your surgeon would have to answer. When I have problems like this I food journal and write down when I had problems and with what food (and how much of that food) and let my surgeon tell me what he thinks is going on. Did you have your fill under fluoro so your surgeon has a reasonable idea of your restriction ? I went a very long time being too tight and being miserable. I found that I was throwing up Water some mornings, and then some evenings I could eat like nobody's business. I really encourage you to make an appointment with your surgeon and talk about this. Also, I would ask him what he wants you to do in a situation like the one you suggested. Where should you go if you are in Vegas and you are just too tight and need to get some saline out ? Hopefully he'll have some good answers for you !

I think getting a fill with or without fluoro depends on your situation. I usually have mine done in the office, but was having a difficult time with my most recent fill. I would sometimes throw up Water and other times I would be able to eat a normal cup of whatever. Yesterday my surgeon decided for the first time to fill me under fluoro to find out what was really going on. I told him that I felt like I needed .3cc taken out, and of course, I was correct, but being able to see it I could see that liquids even tended to hang around for a bit after most of my pouch emptied. Also, it told me that my pouch hadn't stretched, and it gave me a better visual idea of exactly what percentage of my pouch got filled up by a sip of liquid. It gave me a better framework for eating. I get where the other posters are going with the "it's nice to have a good surgeon", but I don't want anyone that's less experienced to think that their surgeon isn't good if they want to fill their patients under fluoro. I completely agree that having an experienced doctor that listens to you (since you know your body!) and can quickly guage how much of a fill you need is VERY important, but having a thorough surgeon that double checks his work and isn't above a little help isn't bad either !

I think you may also find that your stomach is much higher up than you may think. And with the pouch--that is even more high up. Next time you go in for a fill have your doctor point out where your pouch is and you may be surprised !

Thanks so much for letting me ! I appreciate it !

Eek ! Just thinking about those of you that have the port near your breast line gave me the heeby jeebies thinking about what it must be like to get a fill ! Especially Saffy ! That must be a very strange experience. Mine is on my right. Just slightly to the side and above my belly button. I never feel it unless I go in for a fill and he starts pushing on it. Guess I have quite a bit of padding to get rid of before it starts bothering me !

Scorpioqt--I was wondering where you found Naked Nuggets ? I've been looking for them around here and haven't found them. Did you get them in a chain store or a health store ? I'd love to be able to find them. Thanks in advance !

I found that it was whey Protein that I didn't like. I couldn't handle the taste, and mixing them with milk just seemed to make them even more terrible. So I decided to do away with both of those things and go to soy protein. Which sounds terrible, but it's really quite excellent. I use Spirutein Proteins (vanilla is my favorite) and instead of mixing with normal milk I use Silk Very Vanilla soymilk. I have a magic bullet and I mix 2 ice cubes, fill with soymilk and a packet of protein and blend. I promise I'm not lying when I say I think it tastes as good to me as a milkshake. Probably it's mostly to do with the "very vanilla" flavor of the protein. Now I can drink it as a dessert or treat. It's less protein than whey per scoop (generally), but you should be getting protein from foods now and it should only be a supplement from time to time. I really suggest you consider it may be the whey taste you don't like. And I guarantee you 100% that the quality of the product plays a huge role in it. You definitely get what you pay for and can't buy your protein just anywhere. That's my personal opinion at least. Hope you find something you like !

I think the reason I don't drink them was initially because I was told not to. But now that I've had it out of my system and have gotten used to not having it I look back and realize how truly addicted I was to soda. Honest to goodness, I was TRULY addicted. When you're planning out your trips based on how long you wait before you have to have another Diet Coke, or are late to a meeting simply because you have to have a Diet Coke, you're not in control. Now I hardly think about sodas, and it feel so good to not be controlled by something as stupid as a soda. I don't have any comments about "your doctor said no!" or "it's bad for you!". I'm just saying, most of us were addicted to these drinks, wouldn't it feel good to say you quit the habit ?