ParrotheadCathy

You can have the pharmacist add flavoring to the Lortabs Elixir for about $2. Mine recommended watermelon flavor because he said it was the strongest flavoring they had. I never actually took any of the pain meds, but curiosity being what it is, I stuck my finger in it and tasted. Still tasted medicine-y but not gag-me terrible.

I think you've named everything I've heard of. You have to remember that lap band surgery has only been performed in the US for about 7 years. While they are constantly compiling information about patients, there aren't any long term patients (like 10 or 15 years). BUT the band is removable, so if it became an issue 15 years from now or whatever, it could be removed if it was believed it was causing a problem.

Well, I have no personal experience, but you do need to tell the anesthesiologist and doctor about methadone because it may require special attention in the operating room. I don't know if they would have to disclose it to your insurance company, but you seriously don't want to risk your life over this. I applaud your efforts to become AND STAY clean and sober. It's an awesome accomplishment. Perhaps you could investigate it anonymously and go to a seminar with a doctor other than your own and ask if the methadone treatment would prevent them from operating on you. That way, you wouldn't be putting the information out unnecessarily?

IF it were not Friday today, I would say if it's not better by in the morning, go to the doc for a small unfill. BUT it is Friday AND Monday is a holiday. I say call your doc's office when they open and go in for a small unfill. Sometimes as little as .2cc can relieve the problem. What you definitely do not want is for this not to resolve itself and you find yourself unable to drink for three days and until whenever on Tuesday they could get you in the office. It could relax on its own enough to be fine but you cannot predict that and, like I said, you're looking at a 3 day weekend. Caution would make it the very wise choice to go back to your doc.

I ate some sugar free fudgsicles. I discovered by accident that I do not miss hamburgers per se ..... it's that Heinz 57 sauce I always put on mine, LOL. Just like Jimmy Buffet says "I like mine with lettuce and tomato, Heinz 57 ..." So I ate some Heinz 57 on some grilled chicken and got my taste of Heinz 57 AND it helped with the dryness of that particular piece of chicken!

It's not that unusual to not lose anything between surgery and when you start getting fills....or just lose a small amount. Your first fill probably won't get you close to your sweet spot, but you're officially on your way there. I just got my 4th fill earlier this week (Mon.) and I have reached my sweet spot. 3 meals a day of lean Protein (3 oz., looks like about the same size as a deck of cards), steamed or raw veggies (watch the raw stuff because if you don't chew it really well, it can stick even if you have only minimum restriction). I was told to wait 15 minutes. If I still felt hungry, I could have a serving of whole grain carbs. Until you reach your sweet spot, a meal likely will not stave off hunger for 4 hours (which is the goal, a minimum of 4 hours). I was told to eat a snack of low fat protein, such as a boiled egg, an ounce of low fat cheese, 1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese, etc. I have even used a few leftover steamed shrimp as a snack. For Breakfast, when I'm always in a hurry, I just drink a Slim Fast Low Carb Diet. This one specifically. It has 20 grams of proten and 2 net grams of carbs. They make several varieties, so look for the boxes clearly marked Low Carb Diet if you choose to use these. For lunch I usually have Soup and some low fat cheese. I cook dinner for my family. Often fish, since we all like it, but pork, beef and chicken are all on the menu.

I said I would DO THINGS I probably wouldn't have done otherwise. In Roatan in March, I went on a 16 cable zip line. Now I have to think up something else, LOL.

If I eat slowly (the very hardest part of the whole band process for me has been learning to eat more slowly), there comes that moment when I no longer feel like my stomach is saying "feed me, feed me". I don't feel overstuffed (which is what "full" used to mean for me) and I definitely don't feel hungry. So that's what full means to me.

It's a good feeling to visualize something separate from yourself like that and know that you have removed that from your body. I saw a lady in the grocery store years ago stacking up boxes of butter. They way 1 pound each. People were looking at her funny so she said, "You see, I've lost 24 pounds and I just wanted to SEE what 24 pounds looks like". Congratulations on your 35 boxes of butter or 7 bags of sugar.......

Sweet potatoes contain alot of stringy Fiber and that's where the problem lies. Same thing with asparagus. I can eat crackers (not many) and I can put a few croutons on a salad -- but I can't eat soft bread at all. So at least you can eat pita bread... Tonight I ate about 2 tablespoons of hummus and a few crackers and that was my supper. I'm stuffed. I had cooked a meatloaf for everybody else but it just wasn't working for me. Oh well.

Do you happen to have the 14cc band? If so, you are in the range of where you should be finding restriction. Regardless, when they did the last fill, did they draw out all the saline in the band to confirm that you had 5ccs in your band before they added the 3ccs? My doc always draws out everything in the band the verify that there is as much as my file shows.....

Call the California insurance commissioner's office. I don't think if they are a contracted provider with BCBS that they can refuse then to provide a service because they don't like the amount that BCBS pays. If you must change docs, etc., ASK BCBS for names of surgeons on their provider list who used surgical facilities also on their provider list.

Like Monkey, I had loose BMs while on the liquid diet but as soon as I moved to mushy food that was the end of that. I now go less often (less eaten, less to get rid of) than pre-surgery. I do take a fiber supplement every day (a heaping tablespoon of Benefiber every morning), but I don't know if that has anything to with anything.

You shouldn't be throwing up three times a day. that has likely irritated your esophagus to the point that it bleeds. Please call your doctor ASAP and go see him! Somebody needs to get to the bottom of the issue soon.

I was given a card to keep in my wallet (next to my driver's license) that says I have a lap band and gives my surgeon's contact information.

Any Protein that is dry can cause you a problem. If you're using boneless, skinless chicken breasts they are VERY dry. I've posted this so many times before, but you can put that boneless, skinless breast on a square of foil, put a couple of tablespoons of chicken broth on it, season it, add broccoli and carrots and even a little diced onion, wrap the package up and put it on a baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes at 350-375. Comes out very moist, tender, with the vegetables ready to eat and clean-up consists of throwing away the foil and wiping off the baking sheet. You can cook beef this way, too, but use beef broth. I cook fish this way as well but I don't put the vegetables in the package when I cook fish because I don't like my vegetables to taste like fish. If you cook a chicken breast with the bones and skin, it will also be more moist. Just don't eat the skin.

I have 2 incisions .... one is about 2", where the port is, and the other is about 1", a little further down and slightly to my right from the bigger incision. I also have three lilttle "poke holes" that were not as big around as a pencil. One has already faded to nothing and the other two are close. They healed absolutely flat and you can't feel them if you aren't looking at them. I know some doctors are starting to do a 1 incision surgery where they go in at the belly button but haven't actually heard any comments about it from anybody.

I was also told no carbonation. That was the push I needed to give up Diet Coke. Soda isn't good for you anyway, so I'm happy that it's out of my life.

Angelo, Dr. Hart did my surgery! He is fantastic. A bit soft spoken but willing to sit with you and answer all your questions. The staff is wonderful too. Dr. Orris is the medical director (non-surgical end) and Anitra is a wonderful physician's assistant. I am still so pleased with my choice of Dr. Hart and True Results! I had surgery on Tuesday and went back to work on Friday. Got a little tired by the end of the day but was fine! You shouldn't lose muscle .... you can start walking as much as you feel up to the day of surgery or the day after. You will get released for more aggressive exercise sometime after your 10 day post-op visit. That will keep muscle in place and tone it up. And that will assist your weight loss even more because muscle burns fat but fat doesn't. If you are interested, True Results has a forum as well. Go to www.trueresults.com and click on COMMUNITY on the upper right had corner. It's not as busy a forum as this one but I've made friends there!

Really TALK to your surgeon. You have plenty of questions and need answers. Tell him you need to know EXACTLY what is going on.

Depending on how aggressive this first fill is (or isn't) you may not feel much restriction at all. I just had #4 two days ago and I am finally feeling the restriction I've been waiting impatiently for.

Lauren, a lot of us have a period during the day where we feel much tighter than the rest of the day. Morning is the most common time to feel that way. I am tight in the mornings so I have a protein shake for breakfast. If you'll drink something warm like tea or coffee, that can make it a little looser so that you can eat soft foods. If you can eat more in the daytime, when it comes time for dinner, you won't be starved out of your mind.

I have a 2" incision over my port, which is to my left. I have 3 poke holes and 1 incision that's about 1". Two of the poke holes have already faded almost completely and are flat. The other one is on its way. The two incisions are flat to the touch but are still red but I expect them to fade out too -- but I'm only 3 months out from surgery. I can feel my port if I press on it. I've lost 57 pounds and still want to lose 79 more so it might become easier to feel and perhaps see, but it's maybe as big around as a nickel.

Coughing up what looks like coffee granules is really digested blood. This most likely means that you have a GI bleed, like a bleeding ulcer . This happened to me 18 months ago; I had a bleeding ulcer. The treatment was special acid control medication and they did a blood test for hpylori, which is a bacteria that can cause ulcers. I tested negative, but had I tested positive, I would also have to had taken some antibiotics. Please don't postpone a phone call to your doctor!

Until I came on this forum, I'd never heard of a blood test for nicotine. Try googling it or something if nobody responds.