RestlessMonkey

WHy not go to your local walgreens or favorite pharmacy and ask the pharmacist? S/he can help you find something that will treat just your symptoms! If you dont' feel like going, you can call them, and they'll help you and then you can send a family member to pick it up for you. Either way, your pharmacist (not the techs, but the pharmacist) is a great source of help for stuff like this!

I get that occasionally; it's my port site. If I sit up very straight it goes away so apparently something in there is occasionally crowding my port. I don't know if that can be what's wrong w/you because I don't know where your port is etc but in any case, you are safest to ask your doc what it might be.

WHO said you have to have clearance; your surgeon, or your insurance? If it is your insurance it's likely your surgeon had no idea and it isn't something she could've told you about. I would call insurance and find out WHY on earth you have to have an ob/gyn sign off for lap band surgery...I know they are all different but that is a new one on me. I haven't had a mammogram in 4-5 years. Maybe they just want to know why you had your hysterectomy? Beats me, anyway, but I'd call whomever sent the letter and ask then "WHAT is this mess?" Good luck

I agree with counseling. You're one of those the psych eval was supposed to catch and help, I think! Anyway don't let it go on....call your doc tomorrow and get a recommendation to a therapist who can help with eating disorders. I can tell you I didn't get to 405 by not every having issues with food, so you aren't alone, or a failure. Get help!

Carnie Wilson and Al Roker both gained weight back post RNY bypass, not the lap band. You have your surgeries confused. However, you have to work at keeping the weight off, regardless of which surgery. I suggest you talk w/your surgeon or maybe do some more research, however, before you decide. Only you will know if surgery is required for you, or not.

It's not a race or a competition; if you do it right, it's for life. So ... you've lost 55 pounds since March? That's GREAT! There have been years when I gained that much in 7 months. How good that you have left it behind! Won't be long and those XL's will fit, and then the L's! :wink2:

Good luck! Toes, fingers, eyes all crossed! :wink2:

Are you going for your BSN or ADN? Either way you'll be an RN, right? Mine is supposed to be 2 years; I just took my time and stretched it a little. I had an issue the 1st semester with the Heptatitis B vaccine (me and 39 other students in that first class of 100! good grief, huh?) and just kept on going at a slower pace. Anyway, good luck and stay in touch!

Jewels68 Thanks! I will cross my fingers for your band date! I too started working at 16 and have mostly worked since then...until Aug 06 when I finally quit to go to nursing school. I've gone part time and have absolutely LOVED every minute of it! I graduate (I HOPE LOL) in May 09 and am ready to get out there in the workforce again. Good luck to you! It's hard; but worth every ounce of time, worry, tears, frustration, confusion because it is also fun, wonderful, and rewarding beyond words. Let me know if I can ever be of any help to you! :wink2:

LOL Sunflower if you work in the hospital and have heard the "post op info" through several times, I'd bet you know as much or more than I ever did about this! But it's sweet of you to be nice to me about it! :wink2: It's sure a process, I'll say that for it. I love my band, though, and have fortunately never had a moment's doubt or regret about getting it. Of course I've wanted one since 2001 when they first hit the USA so I've had a LONG time to talk myself into/back out/into/back out/into actually getting the surgery. My insurance, school load, health, and PCM all managed to come together late this summer and it finally happened! If I can be of help, I'm glad to! Lots of issues are surgeon specific but I love to read other people's stories and share mine!

Welcome and good luck to you! I've had my band since 8/29 and I love it already. Hope you love yours too!

My surgery was 1 month after the seminar...7/10 seminar, 8/11 surgery. However even after a 3 week preop loss of 15 pounds my liver was still fatty so I got the band 8/29, which comes to .... just over 7 weeks total. Self pay people could probably have gotten in a little more quickly...so I guess this month is feasible if they told you it could happen that quickly! My doc's office told us at the seminar the fastest they could make it happen with all the preop tests etc would be 2 weeks. I guess it depends on your locale, surgeon, and situation!

Welcome and good luck! Did they tell you it could happen that fast for you? If so, WOW! :wink2:

Hi Patti! How are you? Nice to see you on the boards! I think your symptoms are pretty normal; Carla (the NP at Dr. C's office) told me my diarrhea was caused by the anesthesia and it would get better...by about 9-10 days post op it was over with! Same with the gas...I didn't have any pain but I did seem to produce gas more easily. That went away, too. If in doubt of course call the office and ask them! :wink2: So glad to see you on the "other side" and also to hear you aren't really hungry yet. I was starving in recovery!

Good luck on your journey. I understand your frustration with insurance but I guess when they pay for the procedure, they get to set the rules. That's why some people don't even bother and just "self-pay". I'm sure you know how to proceed etc so I just wanted to say Welcome! :wink2:

I think the sugar is a no no though! I was told nothing but water/clear liquids from noon on, and then from 10pm NOTHING the night before my surgery. They want you empty. I'm honestly not sure so if you're in doubt you can call the doc's office but I think the sugar is too high in calories to be acceptable! I'm Southern too but drink my tea unsweetened. Not all us southern women like sugar in our tea! LOL :wink2: You're safest to either call the hospital or your surgeon and ask if you can have the sugar unless you use an artificial sweetener.

Yes as long as it is unsweetened or artificially sweetened! Caffeine can be a diuretic so like noosagirl said, make sure you get plenty Water, too. And tomorrow they will make sure you stay well hydrated LOL I went up 14 pounds post op from the fluids; many go up 7-9 pounds. Take a lip balm though; your body will be hydrated but your mouth and lips will be dry dry dry! :wink2: Good luck! Hope you do great. I LOVE my band!

Thank you so much! That means a great deal to me. I try to be helpful and informative, not heavy handed and bossy! LOL But sometimes I think I slip. Your compliment means a great deal to me! And I'm in nursing school as you probably know, so your praise is extra special to me! :wink2:

I had a friend once who said "I would kill for cheese" I always felt sympatico with her viewpoint. Cheese is high in fat but also has calcium (especially many of the 2% milk grated ones like Kraft) and high in protein, too. I can't imagine any lifestyle I could maintain that didn't include cheese. But in my preop, and then early post op phase, I avoided it per my doctor's instructions.

Congratulations! I hope you love your band! I don't know about the "soda" you have to drink. I had to drink magnesium citrate, but it wasn't soda.

I think if you're self pay all that mess about co-morbidities etc doesn't matter. You might start just by calling some bariatric surgeons near your home/city. I know there is a surgeon in Colorado, for example, who does surgeries fairly "cheap" (if you call 9k - 10K cheap LOL) but ideally you want one near you who can give you support, fills, medical attention, etc. I love my doctor but being in South Central Texas, I am sure you can find one equally marvelous close to your home! You might want to check the "doctors and hospitals" forum...while waiting for answers here...and also the "staying local" forum (not sure of the exact name but you'll recognize it) Just click on the forum tab and then scroll through, if you want to locate those areas. Good luck! I LOVE my band and hope you find a physician you trust and find your band as wonderful as I do mine!

Ok just trying to help. I have always paid my bills on time and assumed you would too. Just wanted you to know I did NOT mean to imply that you could get out of paying the bill. Personally I've got cash ready for when the hospital bills me; I had thought I'd be self pay, so I'm kind of in a reverse situation from yours. They didn't make me pay anything up front except my $150 deductible. I'll owe around 1500 when they get around to billing me for it; since they didn't ask me to pay up front for my bariatric surgery, I'd hoped that a similar situation for you might give you time to gather the funds. Sorry if I made it sound like you should not pay; that was never my intention. That's stealing.

Veggies and especially most fruits are high in carbs. Carbs aren't bad. No food is "bad", some are just more nutrient dense and some are pretty useless nutrition wise. Don't assume eating veggies means low/no carb; even 1 cup of iceberg lettuce has 1 gram of carbohydrate! LOL Darci don't feel guilty. The band is a process, not a race. You're aware, you're working on it. Enjoy your vacation, eat what you enjoy but in moderation, and come home and kick A! The other poster makes a lot of good points of course! But for me if I tackle this like a diet, I fail. I get bored bored bored with the regimen and all the "drama" of it. I do better sneaking up on it all. I follow the band rules and I don't even have restriction yet; but for me the point of the band was that when life (like a vacation) interrupts my "diet", things won't go south. I'll be able to go wild a little then rope it back in. I'm sure you will, too. Either way, best of luck to you!

Can't you just pay the deductible and them bill you for the balance? I had 2 surgeries in August and haven't even got the hospital bill yet!

Adam you and your wife know your kids best. But I think, while there's nothing "WRONG" with being obese, it is unhealthy. So is eating a lot of fat, etc! Why can't you tell them the truth; that you want to lose weight and that the operation will help you eat less and be full? I'd worry about the balloon thing one poster told her kid because I was pretty low key but really admired my parents and might have tried to swallow a balloon be "be like they were"...Kids can be pretty literal, even the smart ones! You don't have to imply that being "fat" is wrong, just that you want to be thinner.