Northwest_Nance

I was banded on May 15th and had my first fill last Thursday. Most of the time I've been making healthy choices and good portion sizes.... I've had a few slip ups but I haven't worried about that. I feel some restriction if I eat a large meal, but that is more than anyone should be eating to lose weight. Still, as I said, I've been doing really well at Portion Control and not struggling too hard with it because it's mind over matter... I really want to lose weight! But today.... I don't know what came over me today but I've been starving. Painful stomach growling! Really hungry, not just hungry in my head. When I got home from work it was all I could do to keep from grabbing something, anything, FAST just to kill the hunger pains while I took care of the birds, fed the cats, and did a little workout on the Wii before I could finally stop and get dinner heated up. I managed to hold off, even though it left me standing at the microwave watching the seconds tick down until my leftover pork loin roast and broccoli were ready. I had a little chat with myself, reminded myself that the scale won't care or make allowances for the fact that I was really starving if I ate more than I should! Then, when at last I sat down to dinner, the urge to shovel the food in my mouth, because ya know, I'm starving. But the lessons learned here and through my doctor, and the limited restriction I've had at times, came through.... I made myself chew each bite slowly and carefully, and pause between bites. It was torture. I finished eating 20 minutes ago and my stomach is still growling. I think it's rebelling!! Every day we make choices.... this day's been harder for me than most, and I really needed to vent.... but also to share... we can do it, if we want it!

Weight loss surgery is specifically excluded from my health insurance coverage. This is a coverage your employer can elect to pay for, or not. My employer elected not to make it available to employees, to save money on premiums for itself and for the employees. In their defense, it is a small company and I didn't work here when they negotiated their coverage, and I'm pretty much the only employee who has ever been a candidate for weight loss surgery. But I agree, you'd think insurance companies would either make the coverage more available or more cost effective or something.... I'm no expert on insurance so I can't speak with a lot of authority about this. It just seems it would be in their interest to include weight loss surgery as part of general coverage the way most other surgeries are. It is very short sighted because, as you said, they sure do pay out a lot of money every year for obesity related medical treatment and prescriptions. I had to go self-pay. I took out a loan against my retirement plan, and it's like having a car payment (only a better investment than a new car, I think). And, with each monthly payment, I'm paying myself back. Of course, not everyone can afford to take on a monthly payment like that. I'm fortunate that didn't have a car payment already. The fact that self-pay patients don't have insurance coverage for any complications from the surgery is a scary thing and I had to think about it long and hard. It's one of the reasons I elected to go with lap band instead of bypass surgery.... lower risk of complications (not to mention bypass is much more expensive in the first place).

I can't add much to the advice the previous posters have already given you, I just wanted to jump in and say what a great post this is! It's great that you've realized support can be a good thing, and you're reaching out for it.... welcome to the club! One thing you said really struck home with me.... the fact that you admitted your weight here, and how liberating that is. Since my surgery I have told two friends what I weighed when I started, and what I weigh now. I have NEVER told anyone my weight! At least, not when it was above 150 lbs. And it IS liberating. For the first time in my life I don't feel like I'm hiding or being ashamed. Along those same lines, I also chose to talk to all my co-workers (we are a small group that is like family) as well as all of my family, about my surgery. I know lots of people choose not to share the information and I understand why, but this is the option that worked for me. It felt so wonderful to finally be talking about the elephant in the room (no pun intended). This has been a good journey so far and as with so many things in life.... it's going to be as good as we want it to be. Good luck to you! *hums "Kum Ba Yah"*.....

I absolutely agree. I apologize if I misunderstood what the initial poster could have on her liquid stage. My doctor's rules were more relaxed than a lot of doctors, apparently... but definitely each doctor has a reason for the instructions they give, and we each need to trust the doctor we chose to do our surgery, and follow those instructions.

I lost my sense of smell about 7 years ago. I didn't even realize it until I bought a new car and when a friend of mine took a ride with me, I commented on the fact that for some reason, it didn't have the new car smell. She asked me if I was crazy, the car reeked of new. Obviously I did not also lose my ability to taste food. Anyway the doctors never could find a reason for it. After about 4 years my sense of smell slowly started coming back and now I'm pretty sure it's working 100%. I'm really sorry for what you're going through right now though.... I've had a lot of health issues this year and am still dealing with them... I need a hip replacement and I am in constant pain, can only sleep in one position, need to use a cane when I walk more than half a block..... but the surgeon wants me to lose weight before he feels I will be ready for the surgery. It seems like it's been one thing after another and at times it is hard to keep the spirits up.... so I completely sympathize and hope everything works out for you!

Jello with fat-free Cool Whip and sugar-free pudding with the Cool Whip were my big treats. I was allowed to have cream soups too ("anything you can drink through a straw") so I did the tomato soup, cream of asparagus, cream of celery, etc. (had to put some of them through the blender). I also discovered a rather strange fondness for chicken noodle soup put through the blender - but at that point I was excited to have anything different to taste! I had Carnation Instant Breakfast with diced up apples or bananas added -- also put through the blender until smooth, of course!

I was banded on May 15th with the Realize band, which is empty until the first fill. It holds 9 cc's. I had my first fill last week (4 weeks after surgery), 3 cc's. Second fill is scheduled for 2 weeks after the first one. Third fill is scheduled for 2 weeks after the second one. I have no idea how much they'll inject next week at my next fill. I have some restriction -- I feel full after an average sized meal -- still more than I should be able to eat, but I know I'm getting there!

My surgeon appears to be a lot more relaxed than most of the doctors we read about on this forum.... he had me on liquids including pureed foods for the first week, and mushies for the second week, then slowly start working regular food in. Even by his relaxed schedule, you've jumped the gun by about 4 days. It doesn't sound like you ate much and probably no harm done, but I'd try to stick to your doctor's orders.... he has a reason for them!

I'm 4 weeks post-op and I'm burping a lot. I'm not sure what that's all about. I've just had my first fill and I have a little bit of restriction but not a lot. Still, I eat slowly... I'm not aware of anything I'm doing to cause the burping.

I am self-pay and I wasn't offered a plan like that. Much as I would have hated to spend even more money, I would have seriously considered purchasing that coverage. In the beginning of my process I was really torn between gastric bypass surgery and lap band surgery. Eventually I got scared off of bypass surgery because it seemed so much more drastic to me than lap band and I was concerned about complications.... especially being self-pay (I thought of it as drastic bypass). I was afraid if I went the bypass route and then had complications, it could potentially bankrupt me. I still will struggle financially if I have complications with the lap band, but I felt the odds were more in my favor with the lap band. Then as it turned out, bypass cost more than I could comfortable spend anyway so that (among other things) helped me make my decision to have lap band.

I had my first fill yesterday and I noticed the same thing. My stomach was growling so much it almost hurt, and that hasn't happened very often since I got the band. My doctor doesn't require us to stick to liquids or mushies after a fill so I had a chicken ceasar salad for lunch (4 hours after the fill), that cured the growling stomach.... for a few hours! (Obviously, I haven't noticed much restriction from my first fill, at least, not yet -- still hoping!) I notice today I'm better, I had a doctor's appointment this morning that required an empty stomach so I haven't eaten yet today; it's almost lunch time now and although I'm looking forward to eating something, my stomach isn't growling like it did yesterday!

One of my favorites (and I'm still eating it now that I'm on to "regular" food) is fat free refried beans spread out in a bowl, topped with diced tomato and then microwaved until the beans are hot and the tomato is tender, then topped with shredded Weight Watchers cheese and nuked again for just a little bit until the cheese melts, then topped with diced black olives (might want to leave those out of the mushy diet), guacamole, fat-free sour cream, and salsa. Tastes like I'm in a Mexican restaurant totally pigging out but the total calorie, carb and fat count are great!

I agree that we should each follow the instructions of our own doctor. They're the ones we carefully chose, and we placed our lives in their hands. And we paid them the big bucks (or our insurance company did)!! That being said, my doctor and his team are a little more lenient than some. We do one week of pureed liquids and one week of mushies after surgery. I chose him because he has been doing lap bands for years, long before they were popular, and he has a very good reputation and a high success rate with few complications. I am fortunate to live in an area where I had quite a few doctors to choose from and his credentials were among the best. I put that in here just for those who think he is too lenient, lol. He said that in his opinion, there is no medical reason to stay on liquids and mushies longer than 2 weeks, and he wants his patients to start learning to live with their band with "normal" foods as soon as possible. If I'd gone to a doctor who had me on a liquid diet for longer, and mushies for longer, I hope I'd have followed his or her instructions to the letter. If you do have complications, and you didn't follow your doctor's instructions, it really diminishes your right to complain, or any claim you might have against the doctor. I was a medical malpractice paralegal for many years so I can't help thinking like that! :rolleyes2:

The way to lose fat from your liver is to lose weight. My doctor told me the liver is one of the first places the weight comes off of. I asked him, well, I'm X pounds, what about someone who is 200 pounds more than me, they lose 10 pounds before surgery and they're still X pounds more than I am right now without losing weight, so what difference does it make? He said if that person weighed 200 pounds more than me he would have them lose more weight on the pre-op diet than me. You can't shrink the liver without losing pounds. I lost my weight on the pre-op diet by drinking MediFast drinks and eating low carb dinners (a chicken breast and green Beans, for example). Good luck to you!

I was banded on May 15th and I had a glass of wine while out to dinner last weekend. The weekend before, I had a White Russian with the gang after work on Friday. They both tasted good and gave me no problems! The only problem is when you add the nutritional info into your daily count (I do mine on TheDailyPlate.com) it's shocking how many empty carbs and calories they are. I try to think about that when I'm tempted to indulge in a 2nd! I don't smoke so I can't answer to that one.

Hi guys, I had my first fill in my Realize band today, I got 3 cc's. I can't really tell yet if I feel any more restriction than I did before. My doctor says it's ok if we eat "normal" food the first day (surprised me) so I just got back from having a chicken caeser salad for lunch (minus the croutons, and with just a little bit of dressing) -- ate it slowly and it went down fine. I feel pretty full. I guess I'll see how it does in the next couple of days. My next fill is scheduled for 2 weeks from today.

Hi Dean, I was banded May 15th and I had my first fill today. I lost 10 pounds since surgery and the nurse said that was very good! She said a lot of patients don't lose anything in the first month and some even gain. So don't worry about it, you're doing great. We're all anxious to lose the weight fast but it's really not healthy to lose it too fast. You're on a new journey and the weight WILL come off!

I'm really sorry for the people whose first fill experiences were not very good.... I was really anxious about mine, especially since my port area is still intermittently sore and tender. The very thought of injecting a needle into my port was making me cringe. Fortunately, this morning for my first fill, it wasn't one of those sore times. The fill went great, and I just wanted to share that to give another perspective for those who are as nervous about their first fill as I was. I asked the nurse if they use a numbing agent and she said no. She said the needle for the lidocaine stings and is just as bad as the needle for the fill. I told her I was anxious about that because of the intermittent pain I'm experiencing. She suggested that if it was painful for me when she was feeling around for the port, she would use the numbing agent; or, if I experienced pain at any time, to let her know and she'd stop what she was doing and use the lidocaine. Well, it didn't hurt a bit when she felt around for my port so we proceeded without the numbing agent, and the injection for the fill wasn't bad at all, I really hardly even knew she had started the injection. I have the Realize band and she injected 3 cc's. I don't notice any restriction -- I drank a MediFast Protein drink for Breakfast afterwards with no problem, but she felt I'd notice it more with solid food. Unlike a lot of doctors, they do not require a liquid or mushy diet after a fill. She said if I felt more comfortable (safer) eating mushies today that's fine, but they'd like me on solid food by tomorrow so if I'm going to have any problems with the fill, we will know it sooner rather than later and they can get me back in there. She said they'd much rather me not keep the band too tight and "wait it out" for a week or so, as that can cause problems down the road. I brought some chicken noodle Soup that I put through the blender, for my lunch today, assuming they'd want me on liquids, but now I might go get something light for lunch just to test out the fill. She said if I go 24 hours without being able to eat solids they want to know. I lost 10 pounds since my post-op appointment 3 weeks ago. She said some people don't lose any weight at all. I confessed that I had been a little bit nervous about whether they'd give me a fill if I lost too much weight. She said they don't use that to determine whether you can have a fill or not. They go by what your portion sizes are and whether that portion size satisfies you, how difficult it is to push yourself away from the table, and how soon you are hungry again. They had me make two more appointments for additional fills... one in 2 weeks, and the next one 2 weeks after that. So anyway.... every doctor is different, and so are each of us.... but that was my experience today. I'm no longer a fill virgin!! :teeth_smile:

My doctor includes all fills for the first 13 months after surgery, in the price of the surgery. I am self pay and I was told after that, they are $150 apiece. But they might charge insurance companies more and then the insurance company knocks it down to what they'll allow.

I have my first fill tomorrow and I'm anxious about it, especially because I still have intermittent soreness and tenderness around the port area. I'm glad your experience was good.... gives me hope! Thanks for posting.

This didn't do much to calm my anxiety about my first fill tomorrow! My port area still has intermittent soreness and tenderness and I'm not looking forward to the fill experience. Blah!!! I'm just going to have to deal with it..... :tongue2:

Wow, a 38 pound difference in the scales? That's outrageous.... and I'm sure it was depressing for you. I'm sorry! But on the positive side, it does sound like things are really falling into place and you're getting closer and closer to your surgery date. That's great! Hang in there.... and good luck!

I think all of your pre-surgery fears are completely normal! Most people are aware of the risks and potential complications of surgery, and will think more than twice about it.... but thankfully, it almost always turns out ok (I know that's not a reliable scientific statistic but you know what I mean!). I had all of the same fears, and it was an absolute breeze. By far the easiest surgery I've ever had (and I've had my tonsils removed, my gallbladder removed, and a hysterectomy. Well, I take it back -- my cataract surgery was easier than lap band, lol). I can appreciate why you don't want to tell your family. I don't see why you can't keep it secret from them as time goes on, if that's what you choose to do. You might have to come up with some excuses if there are certain foods you can't eat or if you can't eat much at all.... but I think that's manageable. I'm fortunate to live alone (well, I guess there are some good things about it!) so I don't have to worry about anyone in my household sabataging my diet or having to keep non-healthy foods in the cabinets. I think you'll do fine though.... the band will help you, but more than that, the fact that you want this, you want to get healthier.... will help you! And as he watches your effort and your progress, your husband might just make more of an effort to not put temptation in front of you so much. Best of luck with your surgery, it's an exciting journey you're starting on!

I have seen a few stories -- don't know if it was on this forum or another, I just remember it scared the heck out of me before my surgery - of people having their surgery cancelled after the doctor started surgery and then got a look at their liver. Their livers were too fatty or too damaged (from alcohol, etc.) for the surgeon to feel that he could safely move it around. So it can happen and it is a real concern... but I think it's pretty rare. I was worried about my liver too, and I was relieved to wake up from surgery and find that they'd done the procedure! Detroit, I wish you had more support at home but you've got support here and if you want it more than anything, as you say -- you are going to be a success!!! Best of luck with your surgery tomorrow.

Nice to see such a nasty post here. And we're all here to support each other, huh? It might be possible to lose that much weight in that amount of time, why not go for it? In my opinion (and yes we all have one, and that's why we're here, to express our opinions and share our experiences, and respect other opinions, right?) it's not likely to happen in a healthy way but who's to say.... we're all different. My concern would be setting such a challenging goal for myself, I would tend to get pretty discouraged if I realized it wasn't going to happen. For me, I am trying to just see this as a new and healthier way to live, it's going to be for the rest of my life.... so if I can live with healthy choices, the right portion sizes, etc., the weight will come off at the right pace. Whatever happens.... good luck! It's a very exciting journey.