lipara

Hi everyone, I have not been one of the *successful* lap-banders. Got down about 45 pounds, been packing 20 pounds back on, never really got the hang of this lap band. On Thursday, I got so stuck (on 1/2 a bagel - I know, bad girl) that I could not stop throwing up. So, I contacted my doctor's office and they had me come in immediately for a complete unfill. While the RN was unfilling me, she said "you're hunger is going to come back, BIG TIME" and all I could think was "huh?". I haven't seen a decrease in my hunger from pre - to - post op, didn't even know I should. I expected to be satisfied with less food after my surgery, but that hasn't happened at all. I just go from starving to a feeling of food at the bottom of my esophagus - I don't ever feel satisfied. I do know that part of my problem is eating too fast, but I work in a lab, and can't be munching on food through out the day. I can't take my time eating at work, and because of getting stuck I haven't wanted to get more of a fill than I had, we removed 4 cc's of liquid on Thursday. Is it possible that the reason I don't really notice a difference in hunger levels pre vs. post op is because I actually didn't have ENOUGH liquid in my band?? I just don't feel like I using this tool properly and am beginning to really hate my band Any advice??

Hello all, I've really been struggling lately and I wanted to know how some of you deal with what I've been dealing with. I think this may be a "form" of head hunger, but when I search lapbandtalk.com for head hunger, I don't find exactly what I'm dealing with. My problem isn't that I eat when I'm not hungry, but when I do sit down to eat I don't listen to my stomach to tell me when I'm full. I listen to this little voice in my head that wants to eat everything on my plate. Can't throw anything out. Even if I'm full. There's a war going on in my head EVERY TIME I EAT. I have two voices in my head, the angel and the devil. The devil WANTS to clean her plate. The angel wants to listen to her stomach to tell her when she's full. And the entire time I'm eating, I'm arguing with myself. "Just don't take as much", "Okay, even though you took that extra scoop, you don't NEED to eat it", "Stop when you're full", "but there's still food on my plate", "but you're full"....... and as this fight goes on, I'm still shoving food in my mouth. Then I get stuck. This is so emotionally draining, that I hate eating now. Plus, I find myself eating sliding food so I don't have to think about it. Which is BAD, and I know it. So, would you guys call this head hunger? Or what is it?

I've been lurking on this site since August of 2007, but have never posted. However, I needed to share what happened to me today. I've done EVERYTHING the doctor has wanted. I sat through 2 of the orientations because my husband couldn't come to the first one. I called my insurance company twice to verify the surgery was covered. I was told both times I would have to be pre-certified (evidence of medical necessity from the surgeon's office - I have a BMI of 43 & 2 comorbidities), but that my insurance would cover it. I even got copies of ALL my medical records incase they needed weight records. I went all the way back to 1994! I could come up with 13 years of weight history!! I was told that I had to lose 5% of my body weight, I lost close to 10% in 6 weeks. I have been ready for this surgery ever since August. My husband cleared his schedule (which is difficult for him to do) for the week of the 7th (My surgery was scheduled for April 7th). And, at 5pm Friday night when I was at work, I was called by my surgeon's secretary to tell me that she had to cancel my surgery. My insurance denied my surgery not because it wasn't medically necessary, but because they said they never got the surgeon's paperwork for the surgery. The secretary faxed all 25 pages back in March, received a fax confirmation sheet that the papers went through, but she didn't follow up with a phone call until the last business day before my surgery on Monday. My insurance company claims that they never received her fax. I didn't follow up with the insurance company because I couldn't control the paperwork submission - and I figured that I would receive notice if they denied me. I NEVER thought that the doctor's office wouldn't follow up with my insurance company if they didn't receive ANY word from them. So, my surgery is now cancelled. I do feel badly for the secretary though, the surgeon is pissed off at her. He told her that she is to get on the phone with my insurance company on Monday - get authorization - and put me in the next available OR spot. He only does surgeries on Mondays, but is going to do my surgery the next available day, Monday through Friday. We'll just have to see though, I'm not making the mistake getting my hopes up again until I'm being wheeled into the OR. Sorry about the long first post, Marlene

I work with a trainer at the gym and she makes comments to me about how she sees my "middle" getting smaller and how proud she is of me. My knee-jerk reaction is to make a face and shake my head "no". I don't see what she sees when I look in the mirror. However, I've gone from a pants size 22 at the time of surgery down to 16 or 18 sized pants even though I have only lost ~40 pounds. Part of me just wonders if I'm working my butt off to get to my goal weight, only to still be unhappy with myself when I get there because I have a screwed up body image in my head. It's never going to be enough. That's a very scary thought.

Hello all, I just received a bill from my hospital where I had my lap band done. When I look at the pre-certification letter that came before my surgery from my insurance company, I now notice that it says I'm approved for Ambulatory surgery - not inpatient surgery. So, someone at the surgeons office didn't request approval for the right thing. This is not making me very happy with my surgeon's office right now. That is because my surgery was originally scheduled for April 7th (Monday) and I was called by my surgeon's secretary on Friday the 4th at 5pm in the evening saying she had to cancel my surgery for Monday because my insurance company never received her fax for pre-certification. She called me the morning of April 7th and said she had verbal confirmation that I was approved and scheduled my surgery for that Thursday, the 10th. I cannot call my insurance company (Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield) because they only answer their phones 8:30am to 5pm Monday thru Friday. Right now, I feel like I'm going to throw up. Do you think they will be able to straighten this out, or am I stuck with the $5,000 bill?? BTW - I called twice before my surgery and I know my surgeon and hospital were covered by my insurance along with the procedure. So, there's no reason I should have this bill. Any advice to calm my mind would be greatly appreciated.

I called Empire today and after being shuffled between the medical management department and regular customer service I was informed that the $5,000 was a penalization for not receiving pre-authorization. However, according to one of the reps she said she saw not one, but two pre-authorization approvals. One for the surgeon and one for the hospital. She said there was no reason for the $5,000 bill - and that she was sending the claim for resubmission. Very disappointing - two departments at my insurance company cannot even talk to one another. So, this was not even the doctor office's fault. Empire told me that even though I spent the night, because I was out by the next morning after surgery, that is still considered Ambulatory surgery and that my pre-authorization was correct for this surgery. I was just very disappointed with how the first 4 people I spoke with didn't want to help me - both reps from the medical management department did absolutely nothing and had no advice as to why I was receiving this bill. Although I finally got someone the 5th time I called who seemed to know what she was doing, I will be following up next week to verify that the claim is in processing/or has been resubmitted. I also notified the hospital that the claim was being resubmitted and didn't seem too concerned about helping me either. Sometimes I think the self-pay people have the right idea - these insurance companies are just a pain.

I did receive an explanation of benefits - which did have a total of $5100 as my responsibility. There was a footnote that went with that total that said "This service is not covered because we were not notified in accordance with your policy's medical management guidelines." I had received that letter from the Medical Management team stating I was approved, so I didn't worry about that EOB until I just got this bill. This is all on the hospital/surgeon's secretary. My insurance was notified, but in the approval letter I just noticed that it was for ambulatory surgery not inpatient. All the lap bands from this hospital are done inpatient, so I don't know where my insurance company got the idea this was outpatient. It's just frustrating, I don't understand why this whole insurance thing has to be so complicated.

I'm slowly losing my mind! Besides being a total drama queen, I am becoming a hypochondriac! I had a slow start to post-op healing, questioned why the heck I put myself through all this. I have finally come around to my lapband, started enjoying myself, especially since my swelling has gone down and I have been able to eat "normal" food. However, I was in a 5K this weekend. I have done them before, but I think I pushed myself too hard. I actually "trotted" for parts of the race because the 10K runners were starting an hour after the 5K began and I wanted to finish before they started. Plus, I didn't want to be the last one to finish! (I've done that before and it's not the proudest moment! You don't know shame until you have a police escort on a motorcycle who yells "That's the last one" as you cross the finish line!!) I now have pain under my left ribs. It is high and on the side - far away from my port and slightly to the left of my band. When I think about this rationally, I was breathing hard during the race & this area had medical equipment shoved up there only 5 1/2 weeks ago! Of course this would become sore. And the pain started after the race on Sunday. However, I keep wondering if I have done any damage to my band. I have not had restriction since my swelling has gone down, and I am not having any problems eating, nothing is getting stuck, nor have I thrown up. I'm just so worried about doing "something" bad to my band! I'm reading all the "problem" posts trying to figure out if my band has slipped, eroded, or been abducted by aliens - anything! I'm even worried about getting my first fill next week (the 27th) because I've read about all the problems with punctured tubing and ruined ports during fills!!! I NEED TO STOP READING THIS STUFF!!! Any advice as to the left side pain, mental problems I obviously have, or similar issues?? Let me know!

Yeah, I am going in for my first fill next Tuesday & I will definitely mention the discomfort to my surgeon. I am 99% sure the pain is just associated with walking/trotting in the 5K & breathing hard. And like I said, I have absolutely no symptoms of slippage or anything like that. I'm just making mountains out of molehills! It's easy to do sometimes on these message boards! And, FYI - I finished the 5K in 48 minutes and I beat 35 other people!!! Yipee! I wasn't last!!! My hubby (who is psycho & ran the 10K & weighs 150 lbs soaking wet) was very proud of me. He said that he was hoping I'd finish in under an hour and that 48 minutes was great! Plus, the course was very hilly!

I'm very sorry you still have the same feelings today. I have been in therapy since 2003 dealing with why I overeat and binge, so I've dealt with why I eat the way I do. However, I've read about other people on this board who never had to face why they eat the way they do, and after the band they have no other choice than to face those demons. I'm not say that you are one of them, but you've made a HUGE life change. If you dealt with stress by eating (as I did), you've taken that coping mechanism away from yourself. I am on Lexapro & still in therapy & I still FREAKED OUT after surgery. All I can say is that if you can get through this, you can get through anything. You will empower yourself to take control of your life. I really never thought I would be able to say these things to another bandster when I was exactly in your shoes less than 2 weeks ago. Just know you are not alone, you're not the first person to question having this surgery and you won't be the last. Hang in there! You will be able to eat "normally" again, but you will just only be able to less of your "normal" food. You will not be on liquids for the rest of your life & there will be more birthdays! You're not missing anything today!

I was EXACTLY where you were 4 days post banding. I came to this board and I posted. I was in tears, I literally was praying for the band to slip or become eroded so that it had to be removed. That was the only thing that got me through was thinking that "this band isn't permanent". However, when I got to Mushies, everything got better. The physical action of chewing real soft food was so much better. You will get through this. Now, I'm 16 days post banding and I'm much better. As I told one girl who e-mailed me from this board, I don't love my band yet, but I've torn up it's eviction notice. It really helped me to call a friend up and just cry, let it all out, she helped me tremendously. ~Marlene Banded 4/10/08

I came to this board tonight to post this EXACT post!!! I lost 20 pounds pre-op, then another 10 between the cleansing for the surgery and the liquid phase post op. But, I've been on mushies for 10 days and I've gained 1.5 pounds!! I figured that I was retaining Water and that possibly my body still hasn't recovered from the surgery, but I wanted to hear from others than had gone through the same thing. Also, the Foley catheter (sp?) from the surgery caused me to get my period 10 days early - and I bloat a lot during my period. I really didn't need that! I think I'm eating enough - I don't think that my problem is eating too little calories (I've allowed myself some ice cream almost every day - but it's only been a scoop or two! Hey, it's mushie foods) However, I have don't really have hunger, I only know my body is hungry when my stomach growls. I know I'm eating less than I was pre-surgery. Also, I take a 20-30 minute walk every night with my hubby. I'm not breaking any speed records because I still feel as if my insides are loose, but atleast I'm out there. I cannot thank you girls enough for the advice that this is par for the course. I was a little worried. ~Marlene Banded 4/10/08

I fought so hard to have this surgery, I was all set - no questions about it no cold feet. I had the surgery last Thursday, and I have struggled so much. Today, I think I hit rock bottom. I don't want to eat anything, I have no appetite, but I'm eating every hour just like the doctor wanted. If I smell whey Protein - I think I'm going to puke. And my doctor wants 40-60 grams of protein supplement even when I'm on regular menu. I'm not sure I can do that. I'm panicking - and part of me wants this foreign object out of me. I don't know what to do - I'm home by myself and I am just crying. I'm really in need of some support out there. ~Marlene Banded 4/10/08

I really appreciate the responses. I've tried Isopure, unjury, and I'm using a local stores whey Protein, the chocolate flavor. I think I'm going to try some of those protein bullets. I just did not except to feel this way, I was very naive. I sailed through knee surgery - I didn't even take any pain meds. I realized in my intelligent brain that this was going to be much different, but no one told the emotional side of my brain how tough it was going to be. Part of me thought I would be able to handle the pain. But, between this left shoulder pain that *nothing* can touch (i.e. - tylenol, gas-x strips, walking) feeling nauseous everything I try to drink my Whey Protein, and eating when I'm not hungry. I'm really struggling. Also, I've been in therapy since 2003 trying to NOT eat when I'm not hungry. It's just one step forward and two steps back. Thanks again for all the responses. I've been able to stop crying. ~Marlene