willowcat

Week 1 48.5 miles biked 131.5 miles to go

Elcee, Thanks for your thoughts. Have you ever mentioned chiropractors to your doctor before? Mine looked at me like I was going to a Witch Doctor! I really do appreciate your response, and I will give it careful consideration.

Who's your insurance company? I also have to pay 50%--I'd love to get that money back! :biggrin: Also, I'd really wonder WHY your insurance company changed their policy for what % they'll cover for lapband? Who made a mistake?

my dietician said that brown rice was ok

I have been having a sharp pain between my shoulder blades ever since my surgery on June 4th. At first I thought it was risidual surgery gas pain. But it continued well past the 2nd week post-op. I still have this pain. I mentioned it to my surgeon and he said it was "unusual but not unexpected." The pain does go away after I eat (it wakes me up in the middle of the night when I'm really, really hungery). I'm now five weeks post-op and I'm getting really tired of waking up from the pain and having to eat. I'm thinking maybe the chiropractor can help me some. What should I be concerned about? My chiropractor is very hands-on and pushes and twists in all sorts of ways. Do you think my band and port will be ok? I'm going to explain the band and port to him before he does anything, but I thought I'd draw on the vast wisdom of everyone here. Thanks in advance for your thoughts. PS. Please don't try to convince me that chiropractors are quacks or some such thing--I know that this alternative treatment option is controversial, but I've had very positive outcomes with it.

It seems like everybody's doctor is different--some here have to wait 8 weeks post-op for their first fill, some 6, some 4. Mine was 4 and I have a second scheduled for 3 weeks after. My first and favorite mushies were scrambled eggs--also refried beans. Those two meals were some of the best tasting foods I've ever eaten--you feel like those people on the show, Survivor, after not eating for so long. Hope you're feeling well after your surgery!

Ifyourstomach, I don't think that having gas pains 3 weeks out is the gas pain from surgery. When do you get the shoulder and neck pain? Is it related at all to when you're hungry? To when you're full? The reason I ask this is because a week after surgery I continued to have a sharp pain in my back between my shoulder blades. It only happened at night when I was sleeping. I thought maybe it was gas from the surgery. But, after trying many different things to get rid of the pain, I noticed that I was also waking up very, very hungry. So I tried eating a little something and like magic, the pain in my back went away. I am almost 5 weeks post-op and it is still happening. I told my doctor about it at my first fill. He said that the pain was "unusual but not unexpected." So, if I were you, I would try and see if you can find a pattern to your pain. But I think it's too long since surgery for that gas to be hanging out with you still. Good luck.

So did the restriction stick with you? Or did it go away as suddenly as it came? Headin_to_Mexico, I don't know! This morning I could hardly eat anything at Breakfast, but this evening at dinner I felt like I could eat plenty. But my meals are lasting longer--4 hours as opposed to 2 hours--so that's something anyway. This whole process is just so weird and not at all as black and white as it sounded when I was researching lapband.

Glad to hear you're felling better! When is your first fill? Seems like it should be coming up pretty soon. If it still hurts, I'd definitely mention it to your doctor. Good luck!

Okay, this is too wierd. I was feeling nothing from my first fill all the way up to yesterday (July 4th) and now suddenly today: "Yep. I had a fill." What a difference one day has made. I didn't do anything differently, but today's meals were smaller (not that they were ever very big) and they lasted a whole lot longer. THIS I can live with! Phew! (Still, it just doesn't make any sense from a purely mechanical point of view).

No water 30 minutes before and again no water until 60 minutes after--that's what my dietiician said also. But since I'm not a big drinker naturally, I don't have any problem with those two rules (I have to force myself to drink my 68 oz. of water a day--and reward myself with a sticker on my calendar). I get the wanting to understand the "why?" on your part, really I do. But, someone on this board said that she figures that her doctor knows a lot more about the human body than she ever will, so she's just going to follow her doctor's orders (that sounds like such a harsh word--what else would you call it though?). I took that to heart for me personally, because I have a history of rationalizing and reasoning myself out of doing what I really should be doing. Sometimes it's like Mom used to say: "Because I told you so."

Yea, I remember feeling that sensation you just described. I think it's probably going to get better with each passing day. You've just had surgery and everything in that area has been a little traumatized. Go easy on yourself and work on just getting better. :smile2:

I felt the same sort of "pulling" sensation. I think it's just the stitches holding everything (port, band, skin) in place. Plus the swelling. My bet is that it'll be gone before too long. But, as always, if it persists or gets worse, call your doctor. Best of luck and congrats on your banding!

headin_to_mexico, My fills/unfills are "free" for one year from my surgery. I'm not scheduled for another fill for three more weeks. I don't think I can wait that long though, at least not with this level of hunger still. I feel nothing from my 3ccs. My husband thinks that my doctor spreads out the fills so much to save money on his end--this way he's not doing as many fills/unfills in one year's time. The upside of all this is that I'm losing some weight. Still I can't stand to be this hungry all the time. The only thing keeping me sane is the thought that this isn't going to last FOREVER and that there is some light at the end of the tunnel--unlike with a diet that I knew I couldn't stay on for the rest of my life. Ps. Glad to see you're still here with us. :smile2:

the gas!!!

Michelle, I'm sorry your port is still sore. I know what you mean about bending over. I was trying to touch my toes in a yoga pose (I may be "morbidly obese" but I'm still very flexible) and I couldn't do it because of the pain in my port from bending at the waist. Otherwise my port site is beginning to feel mostly normal to me--except the skin directly on top of the port is still numb to the touch. Weird. You said that it feels like it's still swollen around the port--does it feel hot? you know, warmer to the touch than the rest of the skin? I would be worried about infection if it were. I agree with lbndoc that you could ask your surgeon at your first fill--or earlier if you feel like there is really something terribly wrong. Be well.

"The marriage appears likely to survive in most cases where the patient was of normal weight at the time of marriage." Enote, Very interesting. So...the weight loss is the new "unknown" in the relationship if the relationship was established while one or both partners was overweight. BUT, if the wls patient had originally been thin and while in the relationship gained (or in my case regained--I joke with my husband that I was "thin when I needed to be"!), then returning to a thin weight does not rock the boat with the same emotional intensity because it's not a big unknown. Very interesting. Thanks for posting.

lbndoc, Did you get any restriction from your 3cc? I also got 3cc two days ago. Nothing. I feel just like before. I feel like my stomach is a sieve and I feel like I could eat anything. My band is a 10cc band. What's yours? I didn't look at the needle, but you're right, it didn't hurt hardly at all (I'm a pain wuss).

You are being lied to by Insurance Companies. Single Payer will provide more choice and more cost savings to the average household. The only group that will suffer form this are the Insurance Carriers, and they will tell you every lie they can to stop it from being implemented. I don’t have a lot of sympathy for these companies. I don't have a lot of sympathy for these companies either. Our health care system in America sucks. I was so happy to get my first real teaching job, because it came with insurance benefits! BUT, I didn't get to pick which insurer our school district went with. And in my 16 years with the same school district, we've changed carriers 4 times--because of rising costs. This last time, I had to drop the doctor that I had had for 15 years--our new insurer was not able to come to a financial agreement with the doctor's group that he worked in. I didn't have a say in any of this. This new insurer covers 50% of the cost of my lapband (in some ways I'm grateful that they cover lapband at all, but then I also feel a little jeolous of people who don't have to pay any out-of-pocket for their lapband). My hospital estimated my costs to be $9,000 for the surgery only. I'll still need to pay the surgeon and the anesthesiologist their 50%. For the longest time, my husband didn't want to be on my insurance because he didn't want to spend the money on the higher monthy premium. I was terrified that he would get in a car accident or develop a serious illness--THEN what would we do?! Finally, he agreed to let me add him. I can't tell you what an enormous relief that was for me. My father had a small business for several years that was not a big money maker. My parents went without insurance for years, but still needed medications. They got them from Canada. Neither of my parents had a physical or any screenings done during that entire time. One should not have to play Insurance Russian Roulette with one's health--daring Fate to spare you a tragedy while you're uninsured. Also, there are people who have posted on this board that they CAN'T AFFORD to get a fill/unfill because they don't have insurance or insurance doesn't cover it, or something along those lines. I remember reading a post of Jachut's (who lives in Australia) where she said that her fills and unfills are free for the rest of her life. My "free" fills and unfills run out after the first year of my surgery date. After that I'll have to pay for them, too. When I was in Europe 20 years ago, I remember meeting some Germans on the train who told me that they couldn't believe that our "great" country allows people to go without proper medical care. They couldn't see how that could be possible. Doesn't a great country look after its own people?! Twenty years later and I still couldn't agree more. Something in this country has definitely got to change!

Godshelp, There is a ticker tutorial on lapband at FAQ. This is the link to the turorial: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f5/ticker-tutorial-pictures-41782/ I needed to use the tutorial myself, because I got stuck midway making my exercise ticker. Good luck. Glad you're joining us! It really does help to be held accountable to someone else.

Headin_to_Mexico, You know you'll always be a part of the June Journeys, and we wouldn't be bored by your pre-surgery jitters--we know just where you're coming from! But I do get how you want to talk to others who are in the same place. Good luck to you and all the other July Freedom Fighters (cool name!)! Stop in every now and then and keep us up to date on how you're doing. :eek:

My nutritionist said that it takes 20 minutes for the stomach to tell the brain that it's "full." Therefore, I'm supposed to take 20 minutes to eat my one cup of food. I can't do it! I didn't think I was a fast eater, but I guess that I am. I set the timer for 15 minutes and really, really try to stretch out my meals (like putting my utensiles down and just sitting for a minute or two). I can't make it to even 15 minutes let alone 20! But I'm still trying. I've only been banded a month and even though I've had one fill, I still have no restriction. When I finally sit down and eat one of my three meals, I feel like I'll never eat again and I guess I eat too fast. Aren't 3 meals a day and no snacking between just part of the "bandster rules"? That was my impression. My BB (Before Band) life was just one long graze from morning to night. Actually, I think I'd read somewhere that grazers and fast eaters aren't "good candidates" for lapband. But I've got the band now anyway and so it's time to make it work (at least that's what I tell myself when all I want to do is EAT)--I've got to learn a new way of living because the old way wasn't working that's for sure!

pinkpassion, I visited your profile--wow! You two are gorgeous together! I don't know who's better looking--you or him! And damn! but you make 287 look great--no wonder your guy is getting insecure--he's thinking how amazing you're going to look at 150! Let him know he has nothing to fear (he might also feel a little insecure after you said you'd rather wait on getting engaged) and let him know that you love him and appreciate him for all he's done to support you in all the other areas of your life so far. I'm totally singing a different tune now, I know--But with what you've told us since you're first post, I'd be willing to bet that he'll be there for you through this too. Good luck with your surgery later this month. Looking forward to seeing how everything works out for you. Keep us posted. Also, I really like the quote in your signature.

Thanks Restlessmonkey! I feel less stressed now! :redface:

2911, I don't know how many tickers we can have. I guess you could just try another ticker and see if it will work or not? It looks like both of your tickers (very nice tickers, by the way) show the same information. You could choose one or the other until the end of July and then edit your signature again to go back to the way it is now. Just some thoughts.