vonhelzing

i too was band about 2 years and was great then all of a sudden, i couldn't eat for like 3 months. ended up getting 1cc taken out. gained to much weight back so went in for .5cc fill still not loseing anything so i am going back next week for another fill. I'm like constantly hungry which i never had before.

My dr was an hour away so i found one alot closer after 2 years. The new office just checked my insurance and i only have ever paid my $10 copay. Never had to pay a new patient fee.

There's a gas relief product called Phazime (sp?) Got rid of the gas after surgery in about 5 minutes. it's in a purple or pink box.

3 years 3 months.

Hi Oldie, I have had both a tummy tuck and a brachioplasty. The tummy tuck is pretty painful when trying to move around or getting up from a chair. Using a pillow helps. I had drains after surgery and those coming out hurt. The arms wern't to bad. It just takes a while before you can do anything overhead. I live in the southwest suburbs of Chicago and the cost for both procedures was about $10,000 and took about 2 1/2 hours to complete. As soon as these are paid off, i'm getting a thigh lift and the girls lifted. Let me know if i can answer any other questions.

3 years out and 100lbs down and had my last fill over a year ago. everything was going great until about 3 months ago. since then i can barely keep anything down. going to dr next week for a little unfill. it's wierd the way this thing works.

oh how i would love a big mac or some deep dish pizza. I just wanted to say ditto on all the above.

it all depends on your dr about the carbonated drinks. mine said go ahead in moderation. it's more about the empty calories and sugar than anything else. after i first got banded, i didn't drink pop for almost a year. then i would slowly try some now and then. at first the taste had changed for me and the carbonation was a little bit of a discomfort. now 3 years out, i have a can every morning with no problems.

i didn't get an unfill or take any pills prior to my tummy tuck. i was eating fine that afternoon.

i have this pain also on my left side lower than my port. it tends to get really bad if i eat too much. i was worried too when it first started. i had an ultrasound, cat scan, saw two different lab band surgeons and two general surgeons plus my general doctor and they all said that they can't find anything and it may be one of those pains that just happen with not explanation. unless it gets worse of radiates from where it's at now, i'll just live with it.

mine definetly gets tighter when it gets cold out. we had a cold snap 2 weeks ago and nothing stayed down for 5 days. You should be ok on the plane, just really chew. I get tight when flying also and when going into uppper elevation states.

I have been banded for 3 years now. I can go weeks without throwing up but then i will have a few days where i can't keep anything down. i havn't had a fill in over a year and a half so i know i'm not too tight. I think it may have somthing to do with the weather changes. I would have to say that my eating habits may have gotten a little worse since finding the sweet spot. I have a real hard time keeping down fruits and vegie's. I try to eat my protien in meat but that is a day to day adventure. The thing that is in my head latley is that if I eat the slider foods, at least i can feel a little normal especially in a social setting. Even though all my friends and family know how i eat, it still gets frustrating when they are eating a huge burger and i can't seem to get Soup down. The way I eat may not be everyone's ideal, but i've kept off 100lbs for 2 years now so somthing must be working. Good Luck.

I order off the childrens menu alot or split the meal with my husband. Our fridge also has a lot of left overs.

Don't be to worried. You may find that after the surgery you may not even like the taste of soda. I was a coke a holic and after the surgery i couldn't even stand the taste of soda. I'm a year and a half out now and can drink about a half can of cherry coke or dr pepper a day. The carbonation is a pain. It can really hurt and you may not want a pop.

I had a TT in January. The best advice is to make sure you get some kind of stomach binder. It really helps. If they tell you that it won't hurt when they take out the drains, they lie. Mine told me it would be easy and it hurt like hell.

I agree it depends on where you live. I had a TT, arm lift, inner and outer lipo on thighs and I paid 11,400 with a surgery time of 3 hours. This was about 40 miles south of Chicago. I met with a Dr. from Chicago and the price would have been just under 17,000 without the thighs. It's all about location.

Wow, thats great. I don't think your losing to slow at all. Keep up the good work. It took me a little over a year to reach my goal weight. You'll get there.

Me too. Lots of hiccuping.

Did it start right after getting the band? My second day with the band I started to get a bad pain in my left side down low around overy height. When I asked my surgeon about it he said it had nothing to do with the surgery because he wasn't around that area and if it continued to hurt, contact my regular dr. Well it's been a year and a half and still have the pain. My fault, I havn't been to regular dr till recently. I had a pelvic ultrasound and it came back clean. Some days the pain is worse than others and seems to get worse if I over eat. I am wondering if the port got sewn into a nerve or somthing because if I push on the port I can feel the pain down low. I am going to call my surgeon next week and find out. I'll let you know if I learn anything. Kris

BetsyB, My mom recently went to the silver cross seminar and when she wanted to set the appointment to meet with the Dr. They wanted $5000 upfront and told her then she could recoup from her ins. even though ins is covering the whole thing. Needless to say, she hungup and went to Little Co of Mary. On the other subject, I was banded at Day One Health in Chicago and there was never a fee. The psych and all pre-op testing was billed through ins. I never even paid a copay.

Don't get discouraged. I didn't get good restriction until my 4th fill but have not had one since and that was in August.

i'm about 1 1/2 years out and 101lbs down. Just shoot me a note anytime you need help or someone to talk to. I'm in the chicagoland area. Kris

I tried a machine at my local fitness store that totally made you feel the burn. I don't know the name of it but you place your legs on a pad kneeling where your feet are just hanging off and you place your elbows in slots kinda up near the digital readout. there are handgrips up there also to hold on to. the object is to use your ab muscles to slowly pull yourself up on the curved bars the pad sits on then slowly lower yourself back down. I hope this description helps. The store that has it by my house is Chicago Home Fitness.

Sorry, but it dosn't go away. there are days i would kill for a big mac or a bowl of cereal even. it does suck sometimes only taking 3 bites of food and being done but when the end result is shown it is well worth it.

Cutting the food up small means you won't try to swallow to big a piece and get stuck. I personally can not gulp water. It's like a funnel that overfills and the liqued will come right back up.