kombimel

Well so far I have had 2 fills and they have been bulk billed and my dieticians visits were covered as well. I am not sure how many dieticians visits though... I am sure there is a limited number or it could be just the first year. :thumbs_up:

I had my 3 week weigh in on Wednesday with the dietician. I have lost another 2.2kgs which makes it 7.6kgs so far. I will get my first fill in just under 3 weeks time. Lita, I know its still early days for me but I have not PB'd either. I am eating very normal foods and just making sure I chew really well and limiting myself to a cup of food too. I had the surgery on the Wednesday and went back to work on the Monday. So far - so good :thumbup:

I went to the dietician this afternoon for my first follow up. Very happy so far.. when I started Optifast a week before surgery I was 125kgs, pre-surgery weigh in was 122.7kgs and today (1 week) is 119.6kgs. I don't remember the last time I was less than 120kgs. :tongue2:

Luscious, do you put anything on the wound to help it heal? If its not very big, have you tried rubbing pawpaw ointment on it? I had a wound that almost stopped me getting banded. I had a spot, looked like a pimple, an inch under my belly button. I went to my GP and he just said "Its an infected hair, it will go away." That was October. It oozed a little bit every day and after 4 months, I went back, got another referral to see my surgeon and my GP said let the surgeon have a look. So I turn up at the surgeon to get my lapband date, he looks at this spot, and says "That goes really deep. I am going to operate on that and have a look at what it is. See you for day surgery Monday (25 Feb)." This was Wednesday! So he goes in and finds a stitch sinus on mesh that had been put in for an umbilical hernia 7 or 8 years earlier. It had been infected for years and had finally worked its way to the surface. So after a couple of days, this wound ruptures with a huge amount of Fluid gushing out - it was horrendous. I get put on antibiotics that made me vomit (Erythumicin or something) A couple of days later, the surgery site opens completly and I have this massive hole that looks like another belly button. I take myself off to the hospital and they put this awful bag thing over the hole - it looks a bit like a colostomy bag and it hangs off my stomach collecting the fluid that is just constantly oozing out. I see the surgeon 2 days later and he packs it with seaweed dressing. I then have to have a community nurse come to my house every morning to pack it before I went to work. It was 6 cm deep! After 3 weeks of daily packing, all of a sudden, the wound closes as it had to heal from the inside up. Very nervewracking because if it had not healed my surgery date would have been put back later than my original 7th May. Once it had scabbed over, I rubbed paw paw ointment on it. I find it heals burns and cuts so well. The red jar that you can get from both chemists and supermarkets is the best. Sorry if I have grossed anyone out, but our bodies can do some pretty amazing things. :tt1: Mel

Congratulations Josh. You are an inspiration to a newbie like me. Thank you for posting your pics. :tt1:

I gave up milk years ago when it used to give me gallstone attacks. I dont drink coffee or tea and I didn't eat cereal for breakfast so I didn't miss it at all. I persisted on the Optifast as it was only a week. I wasn't keen on milk before the surgery but now that I am on "Up and Go" and "Sustagen" that milky taste just wont leave... are we allowed to suck on a sugar free sweet or something? I see the dietician on Wednesday but this mucus feeling is getting me down.:confused2:

Thank you for the welcome Fanny :biggrin2:

Hi fellow Aussies! I was banded Wednesday 7 May and so far so good (gee I hope they are not famous last words :biggrin:) Only a little bit of discomfort, might take some panadol a bit later. I am expecting to go back to work on Monday. I know I lost 3kgs on Optifast (I cheated and only did it for a week) but I dont own scales (just yet - getting them for Mothers day) so I'll update that little fact when I know more. :thumbup:

I had my surgery yesterday by Dr Tim Wright at Warners Bay Private. I went to his seminar in December 2006. He will only do it if you have private hospital health cover so I joined in January 2007. That meant I had to wait 12 months but because I attended that seminar I was locked in at $4200. I think it is now $5200. I paid $300 to my anaesthist for the pre visit and I paid $50 for the one night in hospital. I am pretty sure it covers all of my fills but I think I have to pay for my dietician visits.

Greetings. I was banded yesterday, feeling OK for now and I hope it stays that way. I have enjoyed reading lots of suggestions and hints before my surgery, it helped me enormously. Thank you.