RestlessMonkey

You can probably find someone who is money-hungry enough to charge you to do it. However..often "bandsters" only lose 35-50 percent of their excess weight. Would you pay thousands and go through all this just to lose 25 pounds (or less?) I do not mean to be a snob, a downer, or to belittle how miserable I'm sure you are. BUT...there are probably less expensive ways to get you where you want to be, that are better for you and will give you more success.

I know there is a surgeon in Houston that a frequent poster (and buddy!) flies from New Mexico to see... her name is MissBS. If you don't get the response you want regarding Dr. Rincon, you might ask her the particulars. Good luck to you! :thumbup:

I don't "Guzzle" it usually but you can drink like 2-4 ounces at a time in good healthy swallows. Right now you don't have much restriction and I believe water just flows right on through. If in doubt, ask your doc, but once you aren't swollen from surgery and before you get much restriction, your band is fairly wide open; kind of like a belt that you have sitting around your waist that you haven't buckled or tightened yet. It's there, but not doing much.

Do you have someone REALLY near by? OR can you just stay overnight in the hospital? Odds are you'll be wonderful but it's that rare instance where something goes wrong. Plus most hospitals won't release you (especially under the influence of narcotics) without someone else to care for you. You won't need physical help so much as just "tending"...a warm body to be there if you start to feel bad, etc. Do you have anyone like that?

If you think about it, it makes sense ... once we have restriction, rather than moving on through our digestive tracts, meds just sit in the pouch for a good while. My surgeon said regular meds almost effectively become extended release. This same action, of sitting in the pouch for a while, is the very reason nsaids are so dangerous! Best to check with YOUR surgeon; mine says no extended release!

I can't imagine why you couldn't. Not the extended release ones (if there are? Multi layered or something) because once you're filled they can just sit in your band, unless they are very small. Ask your doc to be sure, of course, but I've never heard they were forbidden.

I admit I don't go out to eat very often but it doesn't happen to me when I'm out. ALSO they don't pop out without me knowing. NOT that I think you are misrepresenting it...I just don't want someone to not get the band because of it. I was horrified about the burping and almost decided not to do it if I was going to be a gross embarassment at every restaurant! :smile: Of course when I'm out I pick foods I KNOW I can eat (no experimenting in public LOL) and I take small bites, am VERY careful to chew like the dickens, and don't drink much. Maybe that helps. At home, though, I've burped so much (especially after the last fill) that my husband now will burp and then say "I've got new restriction" LOL It's not fun, but it's not worth passing on the band. And long timers say it subsides with time.

Call your surgeon tomorrow...let the office know that it's oozing (or dripping?) describe what color and if there's an odor, and if the area around it is red, hot, especially tender etc...it's possible you have an infection, or it could just be how you are healing. Safest to ask your doc! (By the way, his office will know to ask you all that stuff; I just thought you might want to "be prepared"!) Good luck

I agree call your doc!

My band had only "primer" in it (as my doc called it) I came to in recovery hungry (yes really hungry not "head" or emotional hunger) I didn't have restriction until my 4th fill. AND I'm still not in the "green zone" but I'm getting there.

This depends on you and your doctor. Most docs require 4-6 weeks between fills and as long as you are losing 1-2 pounds a week, don't want to do a fill, but that's just a rule of thumb, not a hard guideline.

AH I just read your TITLE...OOPS! Post op week 1 I had water, water, a little (gross) broth and water. I didn't measure it but know I got over 64 oz a day. Week 2 we were "allowed" protein shakes and I was so happy to have those dire things back! I drank 2-3 of them each day, plus MORE water, and broth. I finally hit on the idea of taking a soup I liked (not creamy..but like vegetable or chicken noodle) and filtering ALL the "food" out of it (husband got that part) and warming and drinking the broth. That got me through. Never counted a calorie though.

I was told to (and am getting) at least 64 oz of water (not milk juice coffee etc...but water) each day. I don't monitor the other two things. For me this isn't a diet. If I diet I go nuts. I obsess over each bite...WHEN can I eat WHAT can I eat what if I run out of calories before supper on and on and on. Dieting helped get me to 405 pounds.

Yes, it's normal! You're exactly right; until you get restriction (and it will likely take more than one fill for you to experience that) your band is just "there". Some very few people have swelling post op that, for a while, limits what they can eat for several weeks. Most recover more quickly than that. Some just stick to a small amount of food out of will power, but many do not. Some even gain back some weight that was lost pre and initially post op. It's a process. You're right on track!

This actually depends on your insurance requirements (does it even cover lap band) and then what your surgeon may require. For example I did not need a cardio exam although I did get an ecg. Don't pick a surgeon until you find out if insurance covers it and if so, who is on your "list"....my PCP sent me to a group that my insurance didn't cover! It worked out well though; I love my doc...but start with insurance and proceed from there. I didn't even need my primary to recommend the surgery. And while Lapbandtalker gave good advice too, I don't think you can be sure this is what you want until you've researched it some, and that, to me, includes the informative seminar that your surgeon holds. I was already "into" the process when I attended that. Had I not liked him and what he had to say I would've stopped it. You can change your mind up to the time just before they roll you in to surgery. It is a big change and you have to educate yourself before you make it. At any point in the process you may decide against it. Many of us don't, but some of us do!

It is referred pain from your diaphragm. It irritates a nerve and causes the muscle to cramp. What helped me was having my husband rub it (with a pretty strong grip) so the muscle would relax. It happened with me only when I overexerted (like breathing hard from exercise). Gas X won't help it because it isn't really gas...

I think the problem with white pasta is a general lack of nutritional "bang". Our nutritionist said if we just HAD to have it (or rice, for that matter) to make sure it was well done, because as you know pasta keeps on absorbing liquids and can therefore swell. So with proper restriction you can end up with a pouch full of pasta that will just swell and that's not good. Just be careful with pasta and rice.

I think that's wise. Most LVN/LPNs I know work really HARD...it's a very physical job. Good luck!

Skin is an organ...exercise works the muscle layer underneath the skin, not the skin. It is good to be fit! It is healthy and most people prefer fit to flab! BUT some will have saggy skin anyway, and some won't even if they don't exercise a muscle. MANY things go into whether or not we have saggy skin. Our age, our genetics, our skin type, how LONG we've been fat, how FAT we were to begin with, how healthy our diet has been, etc etc. It may happen; but if so, it can be dealt with more easily than the fallout from obesity.

call and ask your surgeon. I think 10 days (and if you had surgery on the 8 and went back to work on friday the 17th...that is 9 days, just barely over a week!) isn't enough time. I was still under lifting restrictions then. It may be adhesions, or you might have given yourself a hernia or something. Check w/your doc.

Come on. You can't really think that being FAT is prettier than having some wrinkles? We all heal differently anyway. If it bothers you, have some plastic surgery done. That's better than open heart surgery because you were morbidly obese.

JWL08 the odds of the band slipping far down are VERY slim. For one thing the width of your stomach would stop it. For another, it is, at least in the case of the lap band, lightly sutured into place (which is why we aren't usually supposed to eat for a few weeks post op; to keep the stomach from moving during digestion). And wintobethin...I don't know...I know I have a large lower incision, a large upper left incision (where my PORT is, not where the band went in) and a couple of other small little incisions. AND I had 2 surgeries over the same incisions. Its possible that the surgeon used the large port area incision to put the band into the body (one is for a camera and instruments) but even so it is NOT over where my band is. My band is under my liver...and my abdominal muscle and so on. It's well protected by my body and can't be palpated from the outside. The PORT, yes. The BAND, no.

I agree that you should call your surgeon. To withhold pain medication is almost malpractice, honestly. Describe your symptoms; you shouldn't be nauseated and dry heaving either.

In this one it's covered by the liver....but I think you can see what I mean. Also, there is NO incision directly over where the band is placed, unless your doc "cut you open". Laparoscopically the incision is lower (probably just above your belly button)...that one is where the band entered your body. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/MEDLINEPLUS/ency/images/ency/fullsize/8710.jpg

Docs place ports in different areas, but the odds are this is not your band. It's around the top of your stomach and that is located between your breasts and down slightly. I'll see if I can find a good link to show you.