gigem

Band worked fine for the first 18 months. I lost weight, but put some of it back on... In November, I started having some odd health issues... If I sat for too long, I would start to get bad headaches - a pounding in my ears. Also had pain in my neck and shoulders. At first I thought it was an inner ear infection. Went to the doctor and they talked to me about orthostatic hypotension. The first though is that I must be dehydrated. That wasn't it. Then I stopped taking some meds that might have caused it. No change. Problem got worse, and I actually had a "syncope event" at work. Passed out - hit the floor! My internist ordered a bunch of tests - brain CAT scan, heart EKG, 24 hour heart monitor, all sorts of blood and Fluid tests. All came back fine. No issues. So I go to my lap band doctor, and he says the band looks fine and shouldn't be the problem. But after a consultation with my internist, we all decide to unfill my band. Problem persists... With no more ideas to go on, I had the band removed yesterday. I just think that it was pressing on my vagus nerve when I sat too long and caused these issues. My doctor says he has never heard of this in the 6,000+ bands he has installed, but agrees that the band might well be the cause. So here I sit, about 20 hours post-op. I can still feel the pressure in my head when I sit too long, but maybe it's a little less than yesterday. And the doctor said it might take a week or so for me to get relief. I sure hope this solves my problem. If not, I am off to find a good neuroligist... This was all paid for out of pocket. That just kills me. My insurance wouldn't pay for the band, and I didn't even ask them to pay for the removal. I wonder if I should have? Probably have a valid argument that the removal was medically necessary, even though it was my decision to put on the band. Any thoughts? Anyways... there is my story... :Banane20:

Been a month exactly since my surgery. I've lost a lot of weight (see below). All good so far, so I go in for first fill... I knew going in that the plan was for a nurse to do it, not the doctor. I wasn't too happy about that already, but whatever their procedure is, right? So I'm on the table, and she's feeling around for the port. She is feeling way higher than where I thought the port was, but I assume she knows better than me. Wrong! Stab, OUCH, hmmm... no port there. Oops, that's just scar tissue from one of the other incisions... Strike One! Oh, HERE'S the port... Hang on... Stab, OUCH, just... can't... get it... Nope, not in. Strike two... Gee, it seems deep. Let me try again, and move it around alot, and make it hurt like shit! OUCH!!! Nope, no dice... Strike three! Gee, sir, you sure bitch a lot. Want some lydocaine? Yes, please. She puts some topical on. Why didn't we start with that??? Stab, small ouch, wriggle around, test it, no dice. Strike four??? As she goes to get the fifth needle, I tell her to go to hell. She says that the doctor can do it, and he can give a lydocaine injection. Why are we just now suggesting that???? So I wait an hour, doc gives me real lydocaine (tiny pain, compared to Nurse Ratchet), get's into the port (zero pain, but it took him a few seconds too, but nothing like the nurse)... Go into the barium room... he puts in 3 cc's - too much. Pulls out 1, better. We decide to pull out another .5, as I am out of the country for two weeks starting Monday, and better safe than sorry. Plus, I've lost a ton already, on no fill. Morale of the story is... nurses are for bedpans... Sorry if I offend any nurses here, but I am beyond pissed right now...

Been about a month since I checked in here... Had my first fill about a month ago. It was a crappy experience, but long story short he put in 3 cc's, did the barium swallow and decided that was too much. Pulled off 1 cc, it looked better. Then we decided that since it was my first fill, and I would be out of the country for the better part of three weeks, to pull off another .5 cc's. So I had 1.5 cc's in me. Trips went fine. Found out what "stuck" felt like a few times, but it wasn't too bad. Never hurled. But I knew I was able to eat more than I should. Came back from the first trip (a pure vacation) and had gained 3-4 pounds. Came back from the second trip (work) and was pretty much back where I started. Have lost another 5 lbs. since I got home and back on my routine. Going back tomorrow with the intention of getting that .5 cc put back in (for a total of 2cc). When I am eating the "right" food, and doing it correctly, I am able to eat more than I should, if I let myself. Hope I hit my sweet spot tomorrow. If 3 cc is too much, and 1.5cc is not enough, then 2 or 2.5 should be it, right? Hope my experience tomorrow is better than the first fill. Will demand the doctor do it, with Lydocaine. And no, I am not a wimp!

Just got back. Had Dr. Spivak do the fill this time - no nurse. Got Lydocaine right up front. Piece of cake, no muss no fuss. Did take the doctor two attempts to find my port, but I didn't feel a thing. I went from 1.5 cc to 2.0 cc. Hopefully this will help me feel full sooner than I have been, so I can rely less on willpower than I have been. Next BIG milestone is to get under 250. I have one of those scales at home that has the "big" chunk of metal that you put on 200, 250, 300, etc., and the "little" chunk above it that goes from 0 to 50. Moving that big chunk of metal from 250 to 200 will be a big win. Hopefully within the next week :thumbup: On we go!

Been a month exactly since my surgery. I've lost a lot of weight (see below). All good so far, so I go in for first fill... I knew going in that the plan was for a nurse to do it, not the doctor. I wasn't too happy about that already, but whatever their procedure is, right? So I'm on the table, and she's feeling around for the port. She is feeling way higher than where I thought the port was, but I assume she knows better than me. Wrong! Stab, OUCH, hmmm... no port there. Oops, that's just scar tissue from one of the other incisions... Strike One! Oh, HERE'S the port... Hang on... Stab, OUCH, just... can't... get it... Nope, not in. Strike two... Gee, it seems deep. Let me try again, and move it around alot, and make it hurt like shit! OUCH!!! Nope, no dice... Strike three! Gee, sir, you sure bitch a lot. Want some lydocaine? Yes, please. She puts some topical on. Why didn't we start with that??? Stab, small ouch, wriggle around, test it, no dice. Strike four??? As she goes to get the fifth needle, I tell her to go to hell. She says that the doctor can do it, and he can give a lydocaine injection. Why are we just now suggesting that???? So I wait an hour, doc gives me real lydocaine (tiny pain, compared to Nurse Ratchet), get's into the port (zero pain, but it took him a few seconds too, but nothing like the nurse)... Go into the barium room... he puts in 3 cc's - too much. Pulls out 1, better. We decide to pull out another .5, as I am out of the country for two weeks starting Monday, and better safe than sorry. Plus, I've lost a ton already, on no fill. Morale of the story is... nurses are for bedpans... Sorry if I offend any nurses here, but I am beyond pissed right now...

I did - last month...

Congrats! You might have tied my record... I walked (yes, walked) to the hospital at 7:00 AM, went into surgery a little after 9:00, and was home a little after noon (they wouldn't let me walk home though, had to get a ride)... Worst parts for me were sore throat for first 24 hours, then weirdo referred gas pains in shoulder and neck. Gone in 3-4 days, and not that bad...

Small world! I was the pissed off fat guy, there from 9:30 to about 11:00. Glad yours worked out...

OK, fair enough... Let me qualify that statement... "That particular nurse is for bedpans..." I'm over it now... Next time, I will insist on the doctor, and the lydocaine. My port is hard to get to - I understand that now. She should have known when to throw in the towel... Bad nurse, no empathy, inexperienced... She can suck my bedpan!

June 4, 2008 - Seminar & initial consultation June 5, 2008 - Made up my mind it was for me June 18, 2008 - Surgery 14 days... I paid out of pocket. Ouch! My insurance would have taken a year, if they would have approved it at all...

Good luck!

And another thing... The nurse was planning to put 3 cc's into me. I do not know if she was then planning to use the fluoroscope thing to observe a barium swallow. If she was not (and I don't think she was), I would have been screwed! 3cc's was clearly too much. Maybe her ineptitude was a blessing in (a really good) disguise? Who knows... All good now... My traumitization is diminishing... On with the weight loss!

Sorry for spamming this in two areas, but I was mad enough that I felt justified. I don't post much, and when I do it's here in the Men's Room. But I wanted everyone to learn from my experience.

I did a sleep study a year ago, at the request of my wife. Diagnosed with sleep apnea. Got that damned machine, tried it for a week or so, got zero sleep. Hated it. Gave it back. Got banded one month ago today. Have lost 35 pounds (28 since the surgery). Wife said snoring stopped completed about 10 pounds ago... I am sure your mileage may vary, but it worked for me! :cool2:

So it's been almost 6 weeks since my initial consultation, and therefore almost 4 weeks from my surgery. Yes, I pulled the trigger VERY fast, and self pay. I can be impulsive sometimes... :smile2: Weight is coming off nicely, although I can say with some certainty that it is 100% willpower at this point. I haven't felt anything that I would call a restriction. My plan is to go full bore, old style, self denial, willpower and some exercise until the fills get me to my sweet spot. Probably a dumb idea, but I am impatient... My first fill is this Thursday. I have a morbid fear of puking, so I will not be pushing for a big fill. Ease me into the green zone please. I never want to say "oops, that was too much fill!" :crying: I like interim goals, so I set a goal for myself of being under 260 by the first fill. I am at 261, and headed to the gym. In the bag! Other goal was under 250 before my kid's start school in mid-August. I like my odds! I have one of those old fashioned scales with the big chunk of Iron that you put on 200, 250, 300, etc., and moving it from the 250 notch to the 200 notch will be awesome! Somewhere in between these two goal I will pass the half way mark between my starting weight and my goal. Never thought I would do that in two months, but I think I will. Something tells me that the 2nd half will take WAY longer... But that's OK. Next goal after that is under 240, which would make my BMI be under 30, and therefore remove me from the "obese" category... Found a way to help justify part of the cost of this surgery... I live in Houston, and it's hot here. Real hot! I find that already I am much more tolerant of the heat, and can turn the A/C up in my house. That is saving us real money. Never gets very cold here, so winter heating costs are not an issue... Not to mention the reduced food bills. 800-1000 calories a day from the Whole Foods store just doesn't cost that much... Otherwise, recovery from surgery is basically complete. I have a fairly hairy body, and they shaved my stomach big time. It's about half grown back, still looks kind of stupid. I think 4 of the 5 scars will be basically undetectable. The one just above my belly button I think will show somewhat. It's "dimpled", too. Wonder if this is permanent? My 5 year old calls it my "extra belly button"... I have what feels like a small bit of "stitching" left in one incision area. Feels like 10 lb. monofilament fishing line. I'll ask the doc on Thursday about it... Thought the sutures were supposed to dissolve??? Anyway, that's my update. Thanks for listening... Go back to your business... Good luck to you... :confused_smile:

Freakin' awesome! Think how good you are gonna feel in a year, at your goal weight and not smoking. Outstanding!

Is there a forum like this for bypass patients? Maybe you ought to poke around there too. My guess is that folks here will be biased towards the band, since most of us already went through this mental exercise and chose the band... Good luck regardless...

First picture is circa 1986. Probably weighed 210. Second picture is from a few months ago. Notice anything different! :ohmy: Pushing 3 bills at that point! Had a hair transplant 2 months ago, and Lap Band installed 2 weeks ago. I look forward to what I look like at the end of the year. For all of the money I spent, it better be a lot different!

No kidding! What the hell was I thinking?

I won't consider RnY unless I am a total failure on the Lap Band, for all of the reasons mentioned above.

I am in the exact same boat as you... Banded on the same day (June 18), and have lost 21 pounds since the week before surgery... And I am getting hungry! I wasn't too hungry last week. I don't think it was restriction from the band, just post operative stuff... My routine is this... Breakfast - Two scoops of this stuff, ice, Water and a banana, blended up in this monster. lunch - varies... had a banana today... sometimes refried Beans, sometimes soup run through the same Vitamix blender... dinner - same as lunch... Daily calories averaging between 800-1000 or so... Have been walking and going to the gym... Losing weight just fine... Definitely in ketosis... Breath stinks, piss smells funky, etc... Just scheduled my first follow up with Dr. Spivak for July 17... Hoping to get enough of a fill to feel something... And then progress out of the "mushies" (hate that term) into real food, so I can start working on new eating habits... No drinking with eating, small bites, chew a lot, etc... all that stuff I have never done before... I will not be able to maintain this eating style for long... But I can give it until July 17... Good luck to you, and me!

I am ready. Got my post-op supplies in hand. I've lost 6 pounds in the last two weeks in preparation for the surgery. Got things at work under control. Went and got a nice 90 minute massage last night. I am mentally and physically ready. See you on the other side!

OK, my final post on this thread... It's the end of Day 5, and this surgery was pretty much a non-event. I hung around the house on Wednesday, and felt just fine. Stomach muscles were a little sore, kind of like I had done a bunch of situps or something. Nothing approaching pain, just a little muscle twinge. On Thursday, felt about the same. A few gas bubbles, felt the left shoulder and neck thing, but it didn't both me. Nothing remotely worthy of pain medicine. So I decide to drive the 200 miles to our beach house for the weekend. No sweat. Friday-Sunday, just hanging at the beach. Long walks every day. Protein shakes and liquified low sodium Soup. No pain, no hunger, no nothing. Had an offer to go offshore fishing today, which I passed on. Didn't want to push my luck to far. But I really think I could have handled it. It was a beautiful calm day, and I am kind of kicking myself for not going. Got home tonight - no sweat. Work tomorrow. Same as always. P.S. I weighed 292 on June 11. Weighed 286 the morning of surgery on June 18. Weighed 278 tonight when I got home! I believe I am on my way!!

Right! Speaking of walking, how many people do you think walked from their house to their Lap Band surgery? I did, this morning. I didn't realize the surgery facility was so close to my house. Dr. Spivek's office is a few miles away, but I walked to the surgery in about 10 minutes. I thought that was cool! They wouldn't let me walk home. :smile2: I feel really good now. No real pain, and gas is very minor at most. Hope tomorrow is even better! I am fired up about this!

Back home - piece o' cake! Pain is a 1-2 at most. Got a little gas pain, not too bad at all. Nurse said it all went perfect. And so it begins! :smile2: :thumbs_up: