lapbandnana

I've had 3 fills so far with 3 different people doing them. I was a little nervous since I had watched one being done on You Tube. But it was not bad at all. My doc's office deadens the port area with a tiny little needle, so when the larger fill needle goes in, you don't feel it at all. So if they have trouble getting access into the port & have to stick you again, you don't feel anything but a little pressure. They do sometimes put you in an awkward position on the table. They sometimes put a pillow under my low back, so I'm arched to make the port easier to find. Last time they had me raise my head like I was halfway in a sit-up, to make the port protrude. That was more uncomfortable than the stick.

I paid $13,000 in May 08 which included the surgeon (with lifetime follow-up and fills), hospital charges and anesthesiologist. I took a loan from my 401K plan at work and am paying myself back out of each pay check. I'm in DFW area of Texas. It was worth it!

I have Aetna and my husband's employer also excluded WLS which is why the cost of the coverage is pretty reasonable. If the employer chose the exclusion, there is nothing you can say or do to force them to cover you no matter how badly you need the surgery. As my surgeon's nurse explained it to me, it's like if you have a flood, if you don't have flood insurance, it's not going to be covered. The only advantage to not having it covered is that you don't have to jump through all the hoops the companies make you do. I was able to schedule mine in a few weeks. I took a loan from my 401K plan and am now paying myself back, so it's all good and was worth it!

Hi, I was banded 5-12-08 and so far no PB, vomiting or slime & nothing has gotten stuck either. I feel fortunate as my PA said eventually it happens to everyone. I try to be careful what I eat, but occasionally catch myself eating too fast. I have 8 cc in my 14 cc band after 3 fills, feel some restriction, but not at sweet spot, I don't think. I've lost 56 pounds, have a hundred or more to go.

Your band date is the same as mine! It was a great day. How are you doing? I'm feeling pretty good, have started exercising (walking) which I could never do before. Have had 3 fills in my 14 cc band. Have lost 55 pounds, so that's nothing to complain about. I've never lost that much before with any diet!

Everyone's idea of "rock bottom" is different. When I realized I had passed 300 pounds, it was quite a shock. I didn't own scales, never weighed myself. I have diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, arthritis, recently had breast cancer, all thought to be obesity-related. I truly felt that I might not live another 10 years if I didn't do something major. Now I look forward to getting on the scales every morning to see the progress I've made. I now have hope for the future--that I'll be able to watch my little granddaughter grow up. I am very glad that I have taken this step. It hasn't been easy during the "lap band hell" time, but it hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be either!

I believe you have to be motivated to do well with the band. I have been overweight all my life and have read everything I could about lap band ever since it was approved in the US, but I just didn't feel I could do it before. The PA in my surgeon's office told there are 2 kind of people. The first group embraces the lifestyle changes you make with the band and are very successful. The second group expect the band to do all the work and are not willing to make any changes themselves, so they obviously aren't successful. He said sometimes the light dawns on people in the second group and they turn things around and join the first group. Living the banded life is a big change. In the few short months since I started the liquid fast, then the lap band surgery, I feel like my perspective has changed. I feel like instead of "living to eat", I am moving more toward "eating to live". I never thought I would be in that situation, but it's happening. My PA said I was a "poster child" for doing things right and being successful. I believe if I had had the surgery before I hit rock bottom (with a weight of 312 pounds), I wouldn't have been successful. It hasn't been as hard as I thought and I'm enjoying the changes I'm making. This couch potato even looks forward to an evening walk with my hubby. Now that I've lost 55 pounds, people are really starting to notice and compliment me, which is a nice motivator too. My advice is that if you are just getting a case of nerves, get over it and go for it. But if you don't feel that you are ready to embark on this journey, that you are not willing to follow the lap band rules, maybe you should take some time to do some soul searching before you have surgery. But it is so worth it. You will eventually get to the point where you can occasionally eat all those things you love, you just will be satisfied with a small portion of it. If I can do this and be successful, anyone can! :biggrin2: