RestlessMonkey

Here's another link that may help (it's not a thread on lap band talk, however) Compare Adjustable Gastric Bands - LAP-BAND vs. REALIZE Band

I agree with the other posters and want to reiterate something HeatherO said...."not interested in aftercare for a patient that did not have surgery in their clinic" This is true whether you went to a clinic in Mexico or the next state over...or the next COUNTY over. You obviously CAN find aftercare, sometimes at a price, if you have surgery remote from where you live, or move. Getting your records may help, but make sure you line it up before you go ahead with surgery that is "elsewhere"

I agree, stick to the preop diet. AND why won't you be able to have sushi again? If you mean those rolls with rice in them (not a sushi fan!) you may very well be able to eat them. How much restriction you have/need will be up to you. Right now I have 3 fills, 4.5 ccs in a 14 cc band, and I can eat rice fine. It isn't a "good" choice necessarily, but if I LOVED Sushi I could still have it occasionally. So don't assume you're giving up all the foods you love. How you look at food, how you eat, will change. What quantities you eat will change. But the odds are you will still be able to eat just about anything if you want to. You'll have more control over that part of it than you realize.

JMHO...the band won't help if you're "eating around it" so no matter how tight, until you nip that in the bud, it's not going to help you. Not that I know it all! LOL far from it. But if you are already admittedly eating around the band, what good will more saline in the plastic do you? You need to work on the gray matter between your ears! Once you get that under control, see where you're at.

I recovered quickly and was home the same day, but that was after I asked my surgeon to let me go. He keeps most patients overnight "just in case". He did require I have an upper GI done to make sure I could swallow and that it was going where it was supposed to. I wasn't sore for long at all. I only took my prescription drugs on day 2. I slept on my side the 1st night, on my stomach from night 2 on...no chairs or couches for me. I drove on day 4 (surgery on friday, had class on tues. afternoon...am a student) Restrictions were no lifting anything over 15 pounds for 2 weeks, and then the normal "band rules"...the post op diet, no carbonated beverages, etc. I have honestly had dental surgery that made me feel worse for a longer period.

Thank GOD they did not make me stay in recovery for 3 hours! I had to hang out in my "room" with my husband while they got everything together to give me another upper GI to make sure I could swallow, and then they sent me home. I was "alert" in recovery only about 30 minutes or so. AND I could look around. I'd have gone nuts! LOL

What size is your band? I have 4.5 ccs (mls) and no restriction to speak of but have a 14 cc band. You're saying you had 2 ccs put in in dec and then Jan they said your band was empty and put in 5? Where did that first 2 cc's go? What did the UK surgeon say? Depending on responsive and helpful he/she was when you went in for your fill, I'd call and ask if they thought I might have a leak. It wouldn't necessarily show up on an x-ray.

i don't make a point of drinking "before" a meal. What I do is STOP drinking (per my surgeon's instructions, and they are all different) at least 15 minutes before my meal. I don't drink during my meal (and I have to eat in 30 minutes or less) and then don't drink for 15 minutes post op. There is no "requirement" on liquid you should have before a meal, but many surgeons have rules on when to QUIT drinking before a meal. As to water for the day, mine says 64 ounces of water. You want to stay well hydrated. Now that I am so many months out, I use iced tea for part of that requirement, but for the first 3 months I just made sure I drank that much water, and any other liquid was just "bonus".

It isn't just the "fill", but the amount you are filled, and there are conflicting medical opinions on whether or not "aggressive" fills are dangerous or really good. My doctor is on the "no aggressive fills" side and I have had 3 fills, 4.5 cc's total, and only mild restriction occasionally. I am not HAPPY about it, but he was very patient to explain WHY to me, and from what I had read on line (other sites, Med journals etc) I believe he is setting me up for lifelong success, if I can just keep it together! However, like I said, there are surgeons who believe fills should be fast and big...lots of saline early on. So it will depend on your doc. If he is a slower type, hang in there. You might want him to give you his reasons....it helps me hang on! :confused:

This may sound like a silly question but do you have any loose skin? Depending on that; it's possible that some of your excess weight isn't FAT...but skin. Also if you exercise so much, you have muscle and it is more dense than fat. (people say muscle weighs more and that isn't true...a pound is a pound is a pound....but it takes less muscle to make a pound than fat) The caliper test will tell you about your muscles, and the other could actually be skin. Either way I think you've done amazingly well! :confused:

Does your insurance have a network? Is your surgeon IN That network? Most insurance companies have a network of surgeons you may choose from; it's possible your surgeon has applied to be one but the paperwork isn't finalized... If that isn't it, ask your surgical center what it means and how long it might take. If your Ins does have a network and your surgeon isn't in it, you might want to switch...?

Skinnymommy I forgot to add....congrats on your band! :confused:

I'm a teller...I'll tell anyone who asks. BUT!!! I didn't want a herd at the hospital. I was happy to have my husband there (he's a registered nurse and handy in a pinch! LOL) but no other friends or family were invited or allowed. (I mean good grief I was having bariatric surgery, not a baby! LOL) I feel your pain about someone talking about you and embellishing the story. Will your mom honor your wishes? Sounds like she was blackmailing you a little. I'm sorry for that!

Honestly I came to in recovery HUNGRY and THIRSTY. I know some will say "no one is hungry post op" but they are wrong. I recovered fast, had no issues (the 2nd time!) was alert, felt great, and if I hadn't seen my band when they made me do a barium swallow before I left the hospital I wouldn't have thought I had it. I drank THIRTY TWO ounces of Water before I left the hospital... and stuck to my post op diet, but it was a misery for me because I was hungry through most of that time. No, it wasn't emotional hunger. It wasn't phantom hunger. It was gnaw on my cat's leg hunger LOL (ok he was really safe...too furry) Apparently some lucky souls after abdominal surgery aren't famished. I was not so lucky. I sailed through the surgery well and am grateful for that, but the downside of having it so very easy, I guess, was an intact appetite. And hungry still feels to me like it always did. As I SLOOOWLY get more restriction I feel it less often....but it's the same old sensation it ever was, for me anyway.

If you walk that should help with your pain some. I know it seems counter-intuitive but it's true. It can help prevent adhesions etc. Good to move around. And you're probably already doing this but get a pillow to hold across your torso. It helps brace your surgical sites so they don't pull and don't hurt as much. ICE pads can also help (no heat though....at least not on your abdomen...can accelerate the sutures dissolving) And for your pain; have you tried liquid tylenol? They have it for adults (or tylenol capsules if you can take them; I could but some can't) Watch your meds because too much tylenol can be dangerous and many combo pain meds (like Darvocet or Lortab or Hydrocodone) have tylenol in them. If you just take the tylenol you get analgesic effects without being put to sleep. It provides great pain relief for many; so try it if you can. Honestly if you really are just drugging and sleeping, making yourself walk around a bit will do wonders for you. Aside from mentally starting to feel a little more "normal" (and that is a big kick, let me tell you!) it is physiologically GREAT for your body. Stay hydrated and hang in there! It gets better. We all heal at different rates but some of these ideas should help you. And I'm a nursing student (soon to graduate, yay!) so these tips are what you'd be told if you were my patient. We're taught that a patient who is worried about becoming addicted to pain meds isn't addicted! :confused: So you're safe. But the liquid tylenol may help the pain but leave you awake and feeling better all around. Take care of yourself! And usually it takes a bit more than 5 days to become addicted to the drugs they give us post op so that is not a worry for you.

Mine itched, but it was just healing and I could make myself ignore it. Yours sounds worse, so if I were you I'd call my surgeon. You may just be healing, or you may have something else going on! S/he can tell you what, if anything, you can put on them. While we're healing, most surgeons do NOT want us messing with the incisions. You aren't even 2 weeks post op yet so I don't think they'll want you to put any topicals on there, unless they prescribe them. Good luck and hang in there! but do call if it's really bad...just to make sure you don't have an allergy or something.

Grannyky...you can either call your insurance and ask THEM what you have to pay and where they will let you go, OR you can call the facility you spoke of, ask them if they ACCEPT the insurance you have, and if they do, what costs you'll have to pay. That's the easiest way for you to get the answers you seek. Good luck!

Welcome! I'm another person who is fairly large; got my band in August. Please feel free to PM me if I can help you in any way! Good luck!

Another vote to call your insurance! :w00t: They will tell you if Lap band is covered and if so, what surgeons you may choose from (very few insurance companies still exist that will let you go just anywhere) Mine did not require a referral from a PCP or PCM, not all are like that. They can also tell you what requirements you must meet for the surgery....some require 6 months of supervised diet, some diet and exercise, etc. So that's the place to start. Good luck!

It's common to be nervous. May I address a couple of your concerns? The band is NOT permanent. You will most likely want it to be, and it's built to be, but if for some reason you want or need it removed, it can be. While there MAY be some scarring around the outside of your stomach, 99% or some huge percentage have no side effects (except weight gain!) once the band is removed. SO if they come up with a miracle cure for obesity, we're good. And I've read (and believe it makes sense) that once the band is in, insurance will cover you if you have issues pertaining to it. You can ask your surgeon for clarification but it is my understanding that once you have it in there, say you DO need it removed due to medical necessity. Insurance will cover that. (a caveat...I am just repeating what I've heard; if you are concerned, besides asking your surgeon it might be prudent to call your insurance company and ask them) What will cost is fills and aftercare and that is mostly frontloaded during the first year, so make sure your surgeon offers you fills included in your package. In the long run, only you will know what it costs you. I personally had prepared to self pay (my insurance covered it) and figured it was cheaper than having the comorbidities and costs of obesity....heart trouble, diabetes, hypertension, sedentary lifestyle, etc. The cost out of pocket, even at the more pricey surgery centers, runs about the cost of a car or small SUV. I figured I am worth a Kia or two.

I didn't really have a physical. I had an upper GI, psych, and nutrition visits and once I passed them, everything was submitted to my insurance. When I was "approved" I had preop tests (the week before surgery) consisting of a chest x-ray, an abdominal ultrasound, blood draw, quick visit with an internist, an ecg...and that's it. They asked when I'd last been to my gynecologist (under a year) and knew that I was under the care of an internist who prescribed my bloodpressure meds, and whom I see at least annually. That was it. HAD my ecg been abnormal my doc said he'd have wanted a cardiologist to clear me for surgery, but I was fine. Of course the surgeon's office weighs me and takes my vitals each visit, but that's nothing. No formal "physical".

Honestly you can go a LONG time and lose weight. As long as you're hydrated, and especially if you're taking Vitamins, your body will burn your fat for a long time. It is a myth that you won't lose if you go low low cal. At least that's what my PCP told me, and I belive him. That one pound you were up is Water retention either from having salty Soups or whatever and/or some hormonal issues. It is not HEALTHY to eat such a low amount unless you are on a very balanced replacement plan and under a doc's supervision, because our bodies need Protein, fat, carbs (and Fiber, vitamins, minerals) to function. We can get energy from the fat stores we burn, but it isn't providing us complete nutrition. Think of bypass patients. They don't eat a lot and their bodies don't absorb all they do eat, and yet they lose just fine.

What you can do is VERY carefully trim away the part that is curling up (if that's feasible for you) I did that because the parts that were stuck seemed to be necessary and I didn't want one accidentally tugged loose by me catching the end on something while I was dressing etc. SO...I carefully trimmed the loose ends. The strips should stay on at least 10 days to 2 weeks. I itched but it was internal/healing, so lotion wouldn't help. You don't want to put lotion on any surgical sites, of course!

i don't know where to go online to check...I didn't do that. The hospital where my surgeon is head of bariatrics handled all the paperwork for me. I've just read a LOT of people on here who were "borderline" (like just at a certain BMI, or 100 pounds overweight by one chart but not another, etc) having trouble. I didn't even need a referral; just had to go to a center of excellence.

I'm so glad you went! What a terrible weekend you'd have if you hadn't! :scared2: