RestlessMonkey

it depends on your insurance if you plan to go that way. If not it depends on the surgeon. People are "supposed" to be a certain BMI or higher but many surgeons will disregard this for their fee. With a BMI of 35.8 you'd qualify for self-pay; and MAY qualify depending on your insurance and if other issues are found.

I googled "How do I pick a good surgeon" (I had researched this years ago before I had my gallbladder removed, and again before I got the lap band...you can google something similar if you doubt how important experience is) and found this: "Practice keeps skills high, so an all-or-nothing approach to surgery in the pre-retirement years may be better than gradually fading away." - Study co-author Dr. John Birkmeyer of the University of MichiganHere are some key recommendations that I share with people who ask for advice on how to pick a good surgeon: Pick a surgeon who does little but the procedure that you need to have done. If you must have a lump removed from your breast, pick a surgeon who does this procedure a hundred or more times per year. Pick a surgeon who will respect the choices that you will make regarding diet, lifestyle, and follow-up care after your surgery. Share your post-surgical recovery plan with your surgeon prior to agreeing to have him or her do surgery on you. Your mind-set and emotional status going into surgery are critical factors that will determine how well your surgery will go. A good surgeon should make you feel comfortable and cared for at all times. Although some health challenges, particularly acute medical emergencies, require surgery as soon as possible, the vast majority of health conditions are best addressed initially with health-promoting food and lifestyle choices.

I agree. You should not be having to pay anything except perhaps a deductible. More importantly there's no way I'd let an inexperienced surgeon do this surgery. Aside from the surgery itself....the band requires excellent follow-up care. Your surgeon cannot provide that because s/he has no experience. My surgeon, for example, worked with a renowned doc in San Diego for over 2000 surgeries before he moved here to accept the position of head of bariatrics at a local hospital. For surgery you want an experienced doc...one experienced IN THAT SURGERY. RUN from that place; get your money back, and find someone with experience who won't try to run an end game around your insurance.

Slippage is aroung 3-5 % and is usually resolved with either "unfilling" the band for a time then starting over, or revision surgery. Erosion occurs in about 1% of all cases. (at least per this web site I found) www.wlshelp.com

You hold the pillow over your abdomen with a hand or arm and the pressure of the pillow makes your incision sites feel more stable...less dropping, pulling, etc. The counter pressure of the pillow helps sitting and standing not hurt. THere's nothing to "understand"...either it helps you or it doesn't!

Wow I don't think my experience will help you; I had a great fast recovery. If you are nauseated, can the doc give you something for that? You need first and foremost to make sure you stay hydrated (as I'm sure you know). After that, walk walk walk to help the gas...(no marathon, but don't just sleep or sit all day either. Move some every hour when you aren't sleeping) Use your incentive spirometer if they gave you one (for breathing) and take your pain meds. (are you sure it isn't what is nauseating you? Lortab/hydrocodone makes me vomit) follow your doc's post op instructions to the letter and you'll feel better soon. AND use a pillow to splint or brace your incisions when you are standing up or even just sitting; it helps a lot. Good luck!

My doc had it on a "do not" list but when I asked why i was told "Because it CAN be an appetite stimulant". Well, duh. It CAN also be an appetite suppresant and doesn't do either for me, so I have my 1 cup coffee each day (w/sugar free creamer) and then my sugar free iced tea by the buckets. I did, however, avoid it for the pre and few months post op, just to let myself heal etc.

I have a 14 cc band and hit restriction finally at 6.50 cc I'm sure as I lose and need more, though, that I'll end up close to 10cc! Welcome and good luck! I'm like you, too...not much loss yet but it is finally happening! We'll get there!

Thanks for clearing that up! LOL Anyway..may not have been the lettuce, unless it gave you problems before. And my doc said if you find something you can't eat to wait a few months and try again, as our bodies adjust. Years ago salads would make my stomach burn like the dickens. MY doc told me not to eat it unless I had crackers or something like that because my body would keep trying to digest the lettuce. So I just put some croutons on it now and it goes down great (I never use dressing). I'd leave them for a while and try again a few months down the road! GOod luck! :crying:

Honestly, too, you will be blending things for only a short time. I bought a little 3-cup kitchen aid food processor instead and love that little sucker! :crying: My shakes were premixed, (the kind my doc recommended), I don't do "smoothies" etc (too much fruit and wasted calories) and the food processor blended the Soups and foods for mushies quite well! (even my spaghetti and meat sauce. It looked odd but tasted marvelous!) So no, you don't need a magic bullet. You don't really have to buy a blender at all if you don't want one.

You mean you've never had a salad before? Or you mean with your band at the current fill you can't eat it? Sorry but I'm a little confused. If you mean you can't eat it with your fill, give it a while and try again later. Odds are you just didn't chew it well enough etc. I can eat a salad but it takes a while and I feel like a cow with grass..chew chew chew chew chew...

Good for you, Minxz! It made my left shoulder/neck hurt (referred pain from my diaphragm) but I used it too. It's funny what a big difference it makes! :crying:

Yes it's normal! I didn't really feel restriction until my 4th, and not good restriction until my 5th. In fact I had a LITTLE taken out, and am now on fill/unfill #7 and FINALLY feeling the love. I have a 14cc band and "only" 6.5 in it; my doc is very conservative so different people feel it at different fills and fill levels, but to not feel the first few is very common, depending on the amount, the person, the doc, etc.

Never heard of that and I'm not sure how it would even work...but good luck! Hopefully it isn't! :thumbup:

I'll cross my fingers too, then, and hope he comes through with what you need! Good luck! :thumbup:

This web site may help you: Lap-Band vs. Gastric Bypass Surgery For me bypass was never an option. As I age I was worried about the malabsorption issues (many older people don't use nutrition efficiently as our bodies age, I didn't want to trade one medical issue for another) and I didn't want my intestines rerouted, my stomach sewn shut but left in place to produce acid etc. My husband is an RN and worked for years at a GI lab; many MANY of the patients they saw were bypass patients. If the band weren't an option, I'd never have had surgery. Finally; 5 years out they say that banded patients and bypass patients have generally lost the same amount of weight. It's not a race, the band is reversible (another BIG plus to me) and I wanted to be thinner but healthy. So to me, the band was obvious. It's not so clear for everyone, though.

Great! :thumbup: (how smart you are! I would've never thought of that before I got the band! You are really prepared!) I know you'll have wonderful band success!

WAIT! Atelectasis is fluid IN the lungs. If the fluid you're talking about was outside the lungs, that's something else altogether and the balloon trick won't help you. Either way by now you've probably met with your surgeon so I hope you're back in the pink!

I don't know about your great country, but over here it's often a challenge to find a place to get fills if you get the band away from your home area (either 100 miles away or the next country) so make sure you have aftercare lined up! Good luck!

The Fluid is "atelectasis" and can cause pneumonia...common after ANY Surgery. They should've sent you home with an "incentive spirometer" to use. If they didn't, buy some balloons and blow one up 10 times every hour (I know seems like a pain but it will work) until the feeling passes, then do it every couple hours to maintain. When the balloon gets easy to inflate (stretched out) toss it and get another. This works. You have to breathe deeply and keep your lungs clear.

Unfortunately this is a common problem for people who are banded in another country (or another county, for that matter!) Surgeons don't like to take on patients that aren't theirs. Good luck finding someone! And for bandsters contemplating getting banded away from home...get a plan for fills NOW. I had no clue, when I got my band, that the fills would be so time consuming and important! But without them, for most of us the band doesn't do anything.

What they said! It's there for life. Most who have it removed (for whatever reason) regain. (at least that's what I've heard and read; I don't know anyone personally who had it removed)

Bottom line, the lap band doesn't "work" for everyone, because you do control what you eat. Unlike bypass (where many get dumping syndrome if they eat sweets, and initially at least they have "malabsorption" to help them lose) we can eat shakes, candy, Cookies, nachos, chips, whatever. While the band, once tightened, does control true physiologic hunger, it won't help with head hunger (although some find it easier to not snack because of the "idea" of having the band and all it stands for). So if you are a grazer or, like me, a night time snacker (for example) you have to deal with that; the band is of limited help. You have to choose the healthy foods. You have to exercise. So your doc may guide you but if you feel s/he is trying to meet his or her own agenda, GET ANOTHER DOC. Although I started out at 405 my doc never once tried to convince me to do bypass. He presented both in his seminar and let his patients decide. If you have an issue where you can't (in his opinion) get the band...like an immune disease, then he won't do it. Otherwise he performs both and supports both. And realize initially gastric may cost a little more, but over time the band probably costs almost as much, what with fills and follow ups. So I don't think any sane doc would push one over the other just for money. At least, I wouldn't go to a doc I thought was doing that!

Talk to your surgeon...they are all different, as we are all different. Mine won't do aggressive fills, some do. In a way I was in a similar boat in that I have the 14 cc band and it took me until fill 5 to "feel it". But it's for life, it's not a race, I didn't expect fast weight loss. May I say...if you truly think your surgeon is doing slow fills just for money, then get another surgeon. I know my surgeon needs an income (we all do) and wants to make a profit but I have never felt that he would compromise my health or success for his pocketbook. He is supporting his staff, they work for their salaries and I KNOW this. BUt they are all kind, caring, helpful. If they acted like I was a number, or tried to herd me through, or didn't listen, I would find another surgeon. You should do the same. I always say to trust your surgeon, if you trust him. I don't mean to blindly hand over all your brain cells! BUT if you trust him, talk to him about it, listen to his side, and then make your decision. This anecdotal evidence posted here shouldn't cause you to doubt yourself. If you don't like your doc, get another. If you like him, get his take on it rather than being scared and worried about it. Your surgeon is the pro here; he (or she!) should be able to help guide you through it all.

Talking with your doc is an excellent plan! There's quite a learning curve with the band the first 6 months to 1 year or so (depending on how hard headed you are, like me LOL, and how quickly you get restriction) so you want to do all you can to make that period easy and successful for you and your future "band".