maclynn

Darn! I looked at the people I saw there hoping you might be there but no luck. And that makes sense, he 'brought' me to 4cc, but 2 and 2 would do that. He did say I could have soup tonight for dinner so I did have some and as the night progressed feel even more full than I did a few hours ago. I have gotten a bit 'stuck' on chicken but I stood and walked around. I need to take smaller bites and chew better. Especially now! Good luck and maybe one day we'll meet.

I just got my first fill today and my doctor said that he was putting 4cc in my band. I was happy and pleased that he was being a bit agressive. I have only lost a total of 8.5# since surgery. I will be going back monthly until I hit the green zone.

I have never heard of admin fees in addition to the medical costs. Is your doctor associated with a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence? I would do some research on the doctors in your area before agreeing to those extra charges. I was only responsible for my co-payments and deductibles.

I got my first fill today and boy did I need it. I've only managed a net loss of 1# in the past three weeks due to getting back to solid food and being hungry about 3-4 hours out now. The doctor used and ultrasound to mark where my port was. He said things looked good, no Fluid or such around the port. They numbed me first and then added the fluid. The pushed and pushed to almost the point of discomfort but only because it was so close to my ribs. Finally they finished. I had to drink some Water to make sure it could pass through. I was told to only have soup for dinner and then back to regular foods tomorrow but to chew well. Dr. Chua said he was going to bring me up to 4cc's today. I don't know if there was anything in the band at all but I don't think so. I have another fill appointment on 7/13. I will go monthly until I hit the 'green zone' and then every 3-4 months until I need restriction again. When I was asked if Mondays or Fridays are best for me, I chose Mondays since I've read that some people need to get unfilled after a fill and I didn't want to have problems over the weekend. As I am typing this, I'm feeling a tightness. Its possibly a spasm that the doctor mentioned could happen today. Other than that, I feel fine.

A little behind but here goes: Starting weight 214 Surgery weight 199 Friday 6/5 186.5 Total so far -12.5

Thank you so much for the heads up. I'll definately check them out!

Best of luck to you! I'll keep you posted on my progress and would like to know of yours once you're banded. ~mac

Hey Gunner, This is just me but I've dieted successfully in the past. The issue for me isn't losing weight but the fact that eventually I gained it all back plus another 10% for good measure until I went from overweight to morbidly obese. That is the main reason that I got banded, to keep the weight off that I lose. Ultimately only you can know what is good for you. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Hey Tina, I did not have to do any pre-op diet for my liver so I don't think you have anything to worry about there. The smoking thing I can't help you with. You may just have to be extra diligent with the breathing exercises post op. Best of luck to you! I would have loved a quick turn around. ~mac

I would definately call your doctor. I stopped taking the pain meds about day four and never experienced that pain but it is different for everyone. The only one who can tell you for sure is your doctor. Good Luck.

Before being banned I was drinking the Slimfast low carb shakes which had 20g of protein. Then after banding, I found I couldn't get them down anymore. It's probably all in my head but they were making me gag. I then tried whey protien powder, nope, and broke down and bought unjury unflavored but I could still taste a bad taste. Currently I am drinking the Dean's Skinny Cow, no fat chocolate milk. It has 11g of protein with 110 calories. I know its not the 20g recommended by my nutritionist but its better than nothing!

Hi WIP, I had port side pain and was finally able to sleep comfortably on both sides at almost two weeks out. I'm still very careful when I turn over though. Good Luck!

Best of luck and hopefully you'll be able to sleep on your side soon.

Oh, I so know what you are talking about. I swore the only commercials they had were food commercials when I was too sore to do anything but sit in the chair and watch TV!

Hi Moxi, I had to follow a six month physcian supervised diet and exercise program for insurance qualifications also. Because part of the Bariatric Center's requirements were to see the nutritionist, I got advice from her and my doctor noted that I was reducing calories and carbs along with exercise. I pretty much saw the nutritionist monthly along with my PCP. My doctor did not put me on diet pills as I had a TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack) years ago and she didn't recommend diet pills.

Thanks Scorpioqt, I'm sure it's all someone's FUBAR but it is really irritating. Since I did go through all the qualification processes and the doctor has that authorization from the insurance company I think its just them playing games. My daughter used to work for UHC and she said they would do stuff like that and many people didn't question it but paid.

Now, don't get me wrong. I know that I'm fortunate to be covered by insurance at all but when I started this last year, my doctor was in network. I found out this year when I got one of my bills that he is not longer in network. I really wished I'd known last year so that I could have put more into my flex spending account. Now I'm on the hook for an extra $2500. :thumbup: *sigh* It will work out. Oh and then yesterday I was checking the status of my claims with the insurance company when I noticed that my hospital bill was denied by the insurance and I was on the hook for the whole thing. The reason was surgery not covered by plan. Well that's just a bit suspicious since on another page of my coverage it shows the surgery as pre-approved. I called up and they said they'd send it back to claim. :mad: I certainly hope that they fix this soon rather than later. Here's hoping none of you are going through this!

LOL! Thanks for that image. The hubby is sad because he doesn't want to see them shrink. I'm all for smaller. Some days I think I have backaches from trying to support the damned things!

Hey Carrie, sleeping on my side for the first week or so was impossible but it was uncomfortable on my back all night long. I found that sleeping on the couch was better because I could lean against the back of the couch and change my position slight which made it better to sleep. I also found that when I could manage on my side, it helped to hug a pillow close to my belly.

I started my journey to being banded with Dr. Chua by attending the mandetory seminar 07/08. I have had a problem with weight my entire life though there was a period of time that I had lost about 50# and kept most of it off for 7 years. Even with that loss, I was still obese but felt much better. Last year my cholesterol and triglycerides came back as borderline high. Combined with my hypertension, I asked my PCP if the Lap Band might be a good choice for me. She gave me a referral to the Sinai Bariatric center and I attented the seminar. At the same time I inquired with my insurance company if they covered bariatric surgery. They did but required a six month physcial supervised diet and exercise. I completed that in January of this year. I also met with the nutritionists monthly and had my phyc eval shortly after the seminar. In February I had an appointment with Dr. Chua and Taddei. In March I was told that I was approved for my surgery. Due to a work conflict, I scheduled my surgery for May. A few weeks before surgery I had the pre-op tests. A week before surgery I met with Dr. Taddei for a history and eval. The morning of my surgery I arrived at the hospital at 5:30am. I was the first scheduled surgery. By 7:30 they were wheeling me into surgery and by 8:45 I was being roused in the recovery room. Due to a bed shortage, I was not transferred to a private room until about 2pm but that was okay as I slept on and off until around 1pm. The pain was not very bad but they did give me some morphine to make sure it did not escalate. My husband was waiting for me in the room and I slept again. Around 4pm they brought me some broth and juice to drink. My stomach muscles seemed to ache from that and I asked for some meds about 5pm. I got up to walk around about 7pm and by 8pm I asked if I could go home. I could have stayed the night but felt well enough to go home. The staff at Sinai was wonderful. My follow up with the nutritionist the following week brought a miscommunication to light. My discharge papers said to stop taking my multi Vitamin. But that was not the case. We reviewed my diet and she also explain when and how to move on to soft then regular foods. My follow up with Dr. Taddei showed that I was healing and doing well. Including an 8# weight loss. I am now a little over 2 weeks post op and doing very well. I returned to work this past Monday and wouldn't have wanted to do so sooner. Sunday was the first day I could stand with no pain at the port location. My next visit with Dr. Chua is June 8th. Please let me know if you have any questions about Dr. Chua or the surgery! ~mac

Thanks Ann, for the suggestion. Problem is, I've never found a sports bra in a big enough cup size. I just can't seem to win when it comes to my chest.

Hi Cyndi and Ann, I've tried a couple of different things but the problem is I have practically no waist. I'm 4'11" and there is just not much room for anything when I'm sitting. Good news is that it feels better every day. Hope you both are doing well also!

Hi Cyndi, I'm feeling good too with the exception of the fact that I am really busty and my underwire bra rubs against my port scar when I sit at work all day. Other than that, I'm just looking forward to advancing my diet to soft foods this weekend. Take care!

This is the second time I've seen people not getting enough protein in. I only know of the unjury protein powders but they have either the chicken broth or the unflavored that goes into clear liquids.

Hi Danimal, It sounds like you're not getting enought grams of Protein. We need to be getting 60-80 grams of protein in. There are protein powders that can go with the Clear Liquids part of our diet from unjury that is either chicken broth or unflavored that can go in clear liquids. I'm back to work Monday but had surgery on the 6th. Good luck.