ParrotheadCathy

Kibby, the amount of fill has a lot to do with your individual doctor's preferences and little to do with whether it is a Realize Band or a Lap Band brand band. I have the Lap Band band and my first fill was 4 ccs (on top of .6 that was left in the band when they tested it in the operating room)...and it was too much, I was so tight I couldn't swallow anything, so they had to take 1 cc out. My second fill was the day after a significant car crash (an idiot pulled out in front of me and I hit him and totalled both cars). I got a fill but only .5. Others will tell you that all their fills are small, and still others will say that their second, third and event fourth fills were 1 cc or sometimes more.

Significant weight loss can trigger gallbladder problems. Happened to me in the late 70s when I lost 100 pounds. Plenty of others on here have had the problem. Never heard how the surgery could affect your band though. It is performed in a similar manner, laprascopically, short duration surgery, quick recovery. I wonder if, perhaps, the surgeon is simply inexperienced when it comes to the band? I would talk to my band surgeon and, if necessary, refer the general surgeon to the band surgeon for further information.

When you were a kid, did you ever take out the center of a slice of bread and squeeze it into a "dough ball"? Well, when you chew up a bite of bread the same thing (sort of) happens. Many days, I cannot tolerate bread at all. On some, as long as it's not slice of bread, I'm fine with it. Toast it, eat whole grain baked crackers (I'm really fond of the new Kelloggs Special K Crackers (17 crackers = 90 cals). Eat other breads, like cornbread. Rice I have no problem with, but a lot of bandsters do. Now, admittedly, I don't just boil up some rice. Plain rice is somewhat sticky and just looks like a problem waiting to happen. I cook my rice with granulated chicken bouillon added to the Water. Different texture, great taste without other additions..

Hey! You didn't GAIN that 75 pounds over a six month period but you've lost it in six months. I do agree with another poster -- if those chicken tenders are breaded and fried, you're taking in calories that are pretty worthless in the scheme of things. Is the sauce you're dipping them in fat free? If not, you're taking in a lot of fat with just lunch. Popcorn has salt and if you're eating it every day it could make you retain a bit of Water perhaps.

I was self-pay and knew I was from the start. My first contact with the surgeon's office was January 2 (I didn't attend a seminar or anything), and when I left, I knew what testing I needed to get done for a surgery date of 2/10. Self-pay is so much simpler, I will admit. Yeah, I'd have been much happier to have insurance that would have paid for this, but it is what it is, LOL.

Bottom line is....the woman was out of line. Age? yeah, maybe. The rest....HELL NO. The fact that she asked you was unacceptable. Complain to the management office of the facility. OR Forgive the tone of voice and think that perhaps she's wondering why anybody would do it...and how that might apply to her daughter. Life always offers choices.

And I was specifically told to let the steri-strips stay on my incisions until they fell off on their own and not to put anything on the incisions after the steri-strips fell off. And, of course, call the doctor if the incisions felt hot, etc.

LOL....Some of the old evalution questionnaires, from back in the 70s, had T/F questions that said things like" I often talk to God. God talks to me. I often have black and tarry stools. And so many others. And of course questions that seemed like they "went together" like the ones about talking to God were never close to each other. What, were they trying to trick people into something? LOL. As for that third one, I wanted to know why I couldn't write down "I don't usually look". But I was a psych major and it was part of my school stuff to take the test and I was told I was trying to be a trouble maker, LOL, and needed to work with the test as it was written.

Noura, a certain amount of nerves are completely typical and normal. The best way to calm yourself is with answers. Why don't you tell us your questions and maybe we can help with that part! You did mention smoking. Smoking is bad and you know that already. The particular issue is that it can negatively impact your recovery from any kind of surgery. And smoking and anesthesia aren't all that compatible either. Almost all surgeons will insist that you stop smoking. That doesn't mean you have to do it white knuckles; there are over-the-counter and prescription products that can help you with that. Diet? Do you mean the pre-op or immediate post-op diets? Or do you mean over the long term? Like I said, let us know what your questions are specifically and we'll try to answer.

I had surgery on 2/10 and went on an 8 day cruise 5 weeks later. Parrot Head Cruise 2009, 500 Jimmy Buffett fans on a cruise that raises money for breast cancer research ... Key words there are "Parrot Head". Yeah, I drank. No problems at all. Now, I only lost 2 pounds that week, the extra calories in drinks do add up.....

CALL YOUR DOCTOR'S OFFICE TODAY. Not to cancel, but to talk to someone, asking for help with the pre-op diet and getting through it. As another poster said, post-op I was on liquids for 10 days. for the first 7 I really didn't care if I ate any food at all. Liquids were more than plenty what with the swelling, etc. The three days after that, until I went to mushy foods, i just had as much of what I was allowed as made me happy .... sugar free puddings, SF popsicles, SF Jello, beef and chicken stocks (I made my own because it actually TASTES like food instead of that stuff in cans and boxes at the store), Protein shakes (put in the blender with ice to get the texture of a milkshake sometimes). Post-op is actually more lenient than pre-op for a lot of us. My pre-op was not all liquids so I was lucky. But please don't give up on yourself just yet. Talk to your doctor's office. Be frank with them. I'm pretty sure you aren't the first patient to struggle with this part of it.

BrookeLynn, Post-op is a frustrating time. You've been on liquids only, your bowels are pretty much empty (which is part of the 14 pounds more than likely). You'll transition to mushy and then solid food and you may gain a bit as your bowels return to their normal amount of stuff inside. Sommerbrez, Ditton on the Protein shakes. Stop them completely. Solid food will make you feel full longer and the change in calorie intake and just the change-up in what you're taking in should move the scale again. I've been told not to drink my protein anymore at all, except in unusual circumstances, that I should be eating solid protein like meats, eggs, cheeses, etc.

Slimmy, I suggest you go somewhere like GNC. Mine will let you sample protein shakes to find one you like. Milk alone is, as another poster pointed out, too low in protein. You need at least 20 grams of protein in a "shake" and just milk and fruit is too low in protein and too high in carbs to provide what you (your body) needs.

Okay, Muscle doesn't weigh more than fat. A pound of muscle (lean meat) is smaller than a pound of fat (which is sort of fluffy, for lack of a better descriptive term). Do you clothes feel any more loose? If yes, then you have replaced some fat with some muscle. The rest of it could come down to a combination of (1) you need to have a bowel movement....I've discovered that I don't go as often as before surgery and when I do, I can lose 2-3 pounds sometimes. (2) you ate more red meat than other Protein for a few days or ate food that had a higher sodium content than you usually eat, both of which can cause Water retention. (3) weight does fluctuate and it could have been a "high" day. Are you pre-op? Post-op? How much are you REALLY eating? I suggest that you JOURNAL. Write down every little thing that goes in your mouth. Yeah, even ONE M&M should be written down. Nobody is going to see this but you so be brutally honest. I also write down the time I ate whatever. You may discover a pattern of eating too much at a certain time of day, at a time when you aren't necessarily THINKING about what you eat. Then you can work on alternative behavior to help you control it. For example, I am almost 9 months post-op. I got stuck. At first, I though, oh, well, a plateau was bound to happen. But I decided to journal...and discovered that when I got home I was cooking dinner and eating bits of things (if I gave the baby a vanilla wafer, I'd eat 2, for example). And I figured out that I was just going too long between lunch and dinner. So I started eating an ounce of low-fat cheese before I leave work in the afternoons. Voila! I'm not starving while I'm cooking dinner so I probably cut out 75 calories of JUNK eating as a result.

Michelle, just don't try to compare your policy to someone else with a policy that is also Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield PPO! A lot of people don't understand that each employer negotiates the coverage they provide their employees. So one person insured by your company might not have weight loss surgery coverage while another does. The single best thing you can do is to call your insurance company now. There is a customer service number on your insurance card. Give them your policy number and ask if weight loss surgery/lap band surgery is covered by YOUR POLICY. If they say yes, then ask them: 1. Do you need a history of weight/weight loss attempts from my doctor? 2. Is there a minimum BMI? If so, what is it? And, should my weight have been at that level for a specific period of time (for example, my girlfriend was covered IF her BMI had been 37.5 for a minimum of 18 months). 3. What doctors and surgical centers are covered by my policy? (Bear in mind that just because your doctor choice is covered, he may use more than one surgical center and not all of his options may be covered by your insurance) 4. What requirements do you have to approve the surgery? Do I need consultation(s) with a nutritionist? A psychological evaluation? In other words, do you homework BEFORE you get in too deep.

Okay, maybe one of you can answer my question! If I go to a runner's shoe store, can they help me with this problem: I have Haglund's Deformity in my left foot -- it's a big Calcium deposit under the Achilles tendon on the big bone of the foot that creates the heel. I had it on my right as well, but when I ruptured my Achilles tendon, they chiseled the deposit off. So, now my feet aren't exactly the same size. If I buy a shoe to fit my left foot comfortably, the right foot ends up with a shoe that moves up and down. Can they build up the inside of the heel so that the shoe stays in place?

LOTS of us are tighter in the morning. My doc suggests starting your day with a cup of hot tea or coffee .... HOT, not luke warm. I find that the cup of tea makes eating easier for me.

It's so easy to let stuff like that get under your skin! I have a co-worker whose doctor put her on a diet (South Beach). She's lost about 55 pounds but hasn't lost much in the last couple of months. She's ALWAYS asking "how much have you lost now?" Then she bemoans how she's "stuck" -- but it takes all the willpower I have not to point out that I see her eating cheetos or chips on almost a daily basis. Sometimes, I wonder if it's a compulsion to compare like that? But, like I said, sometimes it takes a LOT of willpower not to say something.

Fly, I think you're just going to have to cut her a little slack. No decisions about anything is right for everybody. She made her choice, is happy with the results ... and doesn't get your choice. You made your choice, are happy with the results. You enjoy going to the gym or you'd be looking for excuses not to go. That reinforces your choice of the band....and, actually, kind of supports her choice NOT to get the band. A lot of statistics say that at the 5 year mark post op, the weight loss for both procedures is about the same. So in about 4 or so years, you can compare results. I'm thinking you'll be in a better place than your friend, but the simple response is "I made my choice, you made yours. I'm happy with mine and you're happy with yours."

My surgeon told me up front that I would probably experience some loose skin but to remember that with a rapid weight loss it's hard not to have that problem. Then he told me if I felt plastic surgery was the only solution for me that I should not pursue such surgery until I'd been at my goal weight for a year because the skin will continue to recover at least some. So I guess patience is a virtue!

It's pretty typical. Happened to a lot of us. You may find your weight fluctuating quite a bit up and down over the first couple of weeks post op. It doesn't mean anything.

l would guess that most of us have our ports located to our left sides. There are some in the middle. But I've only heard a couple of people say theirs is on the right.

A cup of hot coffee or hot tea (and I do mean hot, not lukewarm) will help. How much varies from person to person. I, too, am tight in the morning and I agree on the speculation that lack of hydration contributes to it. If you can delay eating and start your morning when you get up with a couple of glasses of Water, that too may help. I get up at 5:00 and put in 3-4 miles. I drink a big glass of water before I head out and don't eat until I get back in the house and shower. Yeah, the extra hydration helps some. Hot tea with breakfast helps too.

CALL YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY. There should be a customer service number on your insurance card. Ask: 1. is lap band surgery covered by my policy (always good to confirm) 2. is there a minimum BMI requirment? IF SO, WHAT IS IT? 3. I have other health issues. Are any of these considered co-morbidities. [NOTE the answer to this question is probably not, but do ask] 4. Would a letter of medical necessity from my PCP have any impact on coverage? No gallbladder? Well, frankly, that's good. If you have the surgery you will lose a lot of weight and it's not all that uncommon to hear people who have to have their gallbladder removed because of the weight loss. Do you have sleep apnea? Often, obese people suffer from sleep apnea. This IS a co-morbidity. The other accepted co-morbidities are diabetes and high blood pressure. Finally, have you had a consultation with a surgeon yet? The surgeon's office may have other information on getting approved....after all, they file predeterminations for alot of patients!

PB = Productive Burp. Once you experience one, you'll know. Basically, a bite of food gets stuck and doesn't traverse into the stomach. It could be too big a bite, you could have been eating too fast, or you might not have chewed as well as you should have. But it gets stuck, which hurts. Feels like pain under your sternum. DON'T try to wash it down with water because that will just sit on top of the stuck food and make it more uncomfortable. If moving around, holding you arms over your head, or whatever works for you moving a stuck bite, you will start sliming -- that is, producing a lot of saliva to help lubricate the bite of food. And then it will either go on down or come back up. It is NOT vomiting. There is no stomach acid in that bit of food. It never made it to your stomach. Afterwards, wait a few minutes and you should be able to continue eating. The ticker is at www.tickerfactory.com Just follow the instructions.