RestlessMonkey

I don't know your surgeon of course but as i said, MINE monitors our blood work etc and mine is the one who prescribed the allopurinol for me because of my uric acid levels (on my bloodwork) and my high protein diet (often a causative factor in gout)...so if your surgeon monitors your blood work etc frequently then he should know if your uric acid is high...and if he won't prescribe allopurinol to you he may be able to tell you what doc to go to. If you don't want to ask your surgeon you can just go to your primary; if it is gout he/she can prescribe for you without a big ruckus and if it isn't, he/she can refer you.

Nazzy how did they make you pay? Did you tell them you couldn't attend them because of work?

Why not call your surgeon 1st?

Please follow YOUR surgeon's post op diet as given to you and do NOT do what people on here do. Different surgeons perform the same operation differently and their patient base HEALS differently. Having patients move to mushies "early" may work for some surgeons, because of how they install the band, or for whatever reason...but you need to do what YOUR DOC tells YOU to do. If you are hungry, call and ask if you can advance faster. Don't just do it. Please. Even if it doesn't "hurt" you right away it MAY hurt you on down the road. (a loosened stitch may mean the band doesn't heal in place properly and set you up for a slip or erosion down the road, for example) You chose your doc, you trusted him/her to do your surgery, now trust him/her to guide you through the post op healing phase.

I was a 53 year old obese RN guest in my cath lab....I just graduated with my BSN so I understand. But you can speak up without being offensive and being a guest doesn't mean you should tolerate rudeness. THAT is something they try to teach us, too! Have you been through "management" yet? I AM sorry that you were offended, but maybe next time you can say "WHOA dude you need an attitude adjustment" or whatever. Further I can think that if a bunch of their cardiac patients ARE obese (and it is way more common for "fat" people to have heart trouble, as we all know) then maybe they get frustrated being unable to "fix" it. Medicine is about healing, fixing, making well (for the most part) and when you have nothing to offer the obese patient except "quit eating the wrong foods" I can see how it would wear on you. They need a change of venue, an attitude adjustment, it sounds to me, much in the same way that working with cancer patients or in hospice can take a toll. Not excusing them, you understand. We are professionals and must act that way...but you don't get off the hook just because you are a "guest". WHile it isn't your place necessarily to raise the rude RN, if something bothers you enough that you feel the need to post it on a board like this, then it must have been onerous and saying something WAS called for. In my experience nursing is a field with a good chunk of overweight people anyway. I've found mostly professionalism and acceptance, but maybe I give off a "don't stick your foot in your mouth around me" vibe! :frown: The VERY few times I have encountered unprofessional behavior, a comment or two usually gets everyone back on track. I'm proud of my profession, and sad when someone acts like the RN you described, and sad when someone like you won't speak up; if not for yourself, then the patient. You are a patient advocate too. Hopefully next time you'll feel empowered enough to say something. To me, it's part of your job.

Why would your root canal delay your appt with the surgeon? I can see why it might delay your surgery a little, but not the meet with the surgeon. ?

Wow sorry you are going through this. My surgeon and the NP just prescribed allopurinol to me prophylactically so I wouldn't develop it. I am loving them even more now. High protein diets contribute more than low calorie ... so I guess because they push protein first they figure best to head it off at the pass.

I'm sorry no one has answered you...I didn't need the documentation you mention but have you just gone to your primary and asked him/her to help you? And if you are overweight, has your doc never talked to you about it?

A stoma is a hole... the stoma is the hole between the new "pouch" and the lower stomach. And yes, the esophagus is geared to moving things through. It's a conveyor belt, not a processor. IF you eat too much and food is in the esophagus rather than the pouch, the esophagus, lined with mucus membranes, produces.......mucous! To help move it along. It will contract and move the food up or down. That is one cause of a PB. Another is when a bite or bolus of food is too big or not well chewed...it doesn't go through and so will come back, again with the aid of mucous (which is called "slime" here). You CAN stretch your pouch, ONCE YOU ARE RESTRICTED, by overeating frequently. Also PBing too much can be bad for your band. However for most of us if we follow our doc's individualized post op instructions to the letter, the band heals well and we don't have slips or big issues down the line. PBing isn't like vomiting in that there is no stomach acid/bile in it. It isn't corrosive. Unpleasant, but not corrosive. OF course your doc would be the best source of info!

2009LB when they sent you away without a fill, what did they tell you? Bye come back we'll try again? or are they going to do something different? My port is tilted but my surgeon finds it every time; as his NP says, "He put it there". I'm shocked your surgeon couldn't do it. Good grief.

Welcome and good luck! Hang in there with the post op diet; it will get a little better every day!

Also if you aren't, add in some resistance or strength training. Muscle uses energy and food, fat just stores it.

Well, you haven't had a fill in a year; so I'd think yes you need to accellerate that appointment. AND...you haven't gained it all back. I figure the band is for life and for many of us, that means sometimes we're on a roll, and sometimes we are under the roll! All you do is just get that fill and get back with it. The band is still in there waiting to help. If you got bored with how you were eating, mix it up. Make an appt to see a nutritionist. Go to WW or Jenny or some such...there is nothing that says you can't do a formalized monitored diet with the band if that type of thing helps you. But get the fill 1st.

My point is...that was one person. She said "So much for caring and empathetic nurses"...I resent being painted with the same brush as he. And did she stand up for obese people? Did she say "I don't think you should talk that way?" I am sure that what she heard was hurtful, and maybe the guy did mean to be hateful to her. I don't know her. I don't know him. But as the saying goes (and I'm paraphrasing cuz I don't remember it exactly) All it takes for evil to thrive is for good men to stand and do nothing. If you don't like it when someone picks on someone else, speak up. Sorry she was hurt, and nothing good came of it.

Perhaps they didn't see you as being all that fat? You know we are usually our own worst enemies... OR you could come here to San Antonio. I had my cardiac cath lab rotation when I weighed about 380 and I can tell you the guys there (docs and RN's and techs) were all the nicest people anywhere. They let me go in and watch, the showed me how they program things, a doc let me observe VERY close up and took time to tell me each thing he was doing...and never a glance, raised eyebrow, etc. I know people can be nasty, but maybe they were at ease with you because they didn't think you were "fat". Just a different perspective.

contemplating...you're preaching to the choir!

WOW I honestly would NOT pay almost 1500 in "fees"...I truly think that is just an end run around insurance. Is there no other facility you can use? "New Beginnings" is a franchise, I think...but there should be some reputable bariatric surgeons in your area and on your insurance that don't charge a fee apart from insurance. In some cases that is actually illegal. Just something to consider; I don't know about you but I'd hate to pay almost 1500 for something that should've been covered by my insurance.

It is at your doctor's discretion, whether or not there is a preop diet. If your physician doesn't require it and you trust him, then don't do one. If you don't trust him, find another doctor! Same about the ultrasound; I had to have one.

From Rutiglius' response on another post this is just curiosity. OF course no one should countermand his/her physician's orders for any anecdotal "evidence" read on this site.

I didn't notice any difference AT ALL until I was at 5.5 ccs in my 14 cc band...that was fill # 4. And then I got "stuck" because I didn't chew well. If I chewed well, then who'd have known? I was eating less than before, got full faster, but it seemed to just "happen". I didn't feel the band. Some "feel it" after the 1st fill; for others of us it takes a while. Until then, except for the scars on my stomach, I'd never have even known I had surgery.

My post op diet was: week 1 clear liquids (which meant no protein shakes) week 2 liquids (including blended cream soups, etc) week 3 mushies week 4 mushies and soft foods week 5 regular food... and I stuck to it. i learned my lesson the hard way during my preop diet.

It may NOT get easier, but it is finite; you don't have to "eat" (or not eat!) like this forever...just preop and then for a short while post op while you heal (very important then, as you know!) You can make it and the weight loss really helps!

Actually in some circles snackers/grazers aren't considered lap band candidates because the band controls high volume eating; if you graze constantly you can "eat around" it. I think MAYBE you are over-analyzing a little; just fill the paperwork out and send it in. You can drive yourself nuts trying to second guess every little thing. If your insurance will pay for it and you are sufficiently overweight (or if YOU Will pay for it without insurance) odds are you'll be considered a "candidate". Don't fret! And I've never heard of anyone getting fat who didn't overeat. Regardless of chemistry, genetics and so on, at some point you have to take in MORE calories than you use in order to gain, and you have to USE MORE than you take in in order to lose. If you really don't overeat, and that isn't the cause of your obesity, then no the band won't work, but you wouldn't want it anyway.

I didn't really start losing until this May when I FINALLY got restriction, and I got my band last August. Further my doc says that for many of his patients, loss (except that preop stuff) doesn't really happen until at least 6 months post op. Prior to that he wants patients to heal really well and adjust mentally to having a band. In fact unless a person gets aggressive fills or is the rare one who feels restriction with just the band alone, early on the band is just "there" and any loss is due to old fashioned dieting and toughing it out, with not much help from the band.

Many insurance companies would provide this coverage IF the purchaser pays for it. In other words, hypothetically, Company B wants insurance for it's employees. However, to keep costs down it can adjust things. For example, it can have a higher deductible, higher "Out of pocket costs" for employess...it can opt to have a lower lifetime maximum...and it can EXCLUDE certain things. Since weight loss surgery is considered an ELECTIVE surgery then it is often excluded and it is not illegal to do so. You'd have to sue your employer for picking the insurance that didn't cover WLS. Ins. has a right to deny certain things...surgeries or therapies that don't have a high success rate aren't necessarily covered, either. So I can see why it's omitted from some policies. Tell your employer you want the coverage, that's a better place to start.