GuyMontag

15lbs. in two weeks for me.

Centrum chewables, Flintstone Complete, even Gummy Vitamins are pretty good.

Same here. Easy peasy.

First of all, disbelief, sarcasm, and condescension are never effective debate tools...unless your 7. I mean this in all seriousness, take a class in critical thinking...you'd learn a lot. Secondly, I just called Dr. Watkins office and you are WAY off on the fill pricing. It's actually $250 for fill for someone that was banded in the US and $400 for someone that was banded in Mexico. There is a onetime transfer fee of $400 if banded in the US and of $1000 if banded in Mexico. As for me, since I was banded by Dr. Watkins, my fills are free for two years and then $50 thereafter. Really, that's about all I have to say to someone that has a hard time being civil and discussing something like this on an adult level. As for you having all the experience with weight loss surgeries and surgeons...I was simply providing first hand knowledge on someone that you were providing false and offensive information about. If you take offense at that then I apologize for stepping on your toes with the truth and first hand testimony. PS - I applaud Dr. Watkins for sticking to the real issues about weight loss surgery and staying on task in this thread. This topic is about erosion and that's what he addressed. Kudos.

The only real unpenetrable roadblock for the insurance company is when it's in your exclusions on your policy. If your policy doesn't specifically exlude weight loss surgery then you should be able to appeal or take other steps to get this taken care of. Good luck!

Congratulations and keep up the good work. Just remember that this period is all about healing. Take care of yourself and just get better so you're all ready for your first fill!

I am currently in bandster HELL...but it's okay...I just keep telling myself this time is all about the healing. I was banded on February 13th, and don't get my first fill until March 12th. I have my appetite back and I'm eating so-so. If i gain a few pounds during this time I can deal with it. Don't forget the analogy that everyone here uses, you have the tool, it's just not turned on yet. Don't fret until you start getting fills. This is a process and it's not going to be easy or just a drop in the bucket. Stay encouraged, talk a lot with your doctor and/or nurse(s), and I'm sure we'll all do fine. That's my story and i'm sticking to it!

Hey, you're going back to the doctor and that's a great start. I applaud you for getting the ball rolling again. I'm sure there are plenty of people here that have had similar experiences and will be willing to coach you along. Good luck!

Yup. I went through the same thing. I was banded on February 13th, 2009 and I haven't had any regrets.

here's a tutorial: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f5/ticker-tutorial-pictures-41782/

I just want to toss in my two cents here in a little defense of Dr. Watkins. I know it's easy to toss in things like, (the guy who charges over $1,000 for a lap band fill), without really knowing the guy. I was banded by Dr. Watkins on February 13th, 2009. Let me tell you something, he's an amazing doctor. I say this for many reasons. First, his clinic has performed almost 5000 lap band surgeries with only one reported case of 'slippage' and that one case happened after the patient had undergone chemo...not saying that it was the cause but it is an interesting coincidence. Also, when I went in to meet with Dr. Watkins on my initial consult he spent over an hour not only answering every question I had but also filling me in on many aspects of the lap band that I had no idea about. He also took the time to chit chat with me about himself, his upbringing, etc. and made me feel more comfortable than any doctor i've ever met before. Also, i'm about 12 days post-op and my surgery day started at 9:30am and I was in the car heading back home to recover by 1pm the same day. My recovery has been awesome. Since the procedure was laparoscopic my incisions are healing very well and i am exercising and feeling great now. In fact, I've already lost 30lbs. in the last 3 weeks. I would also like to point out that Dr. Watkins didn't say that the band was more powerful than the sleeve. He said that the band is a powerful tool. He then went on seperately to say that the sleeve is newer...i'm sure he means as far as approval by the FDA for weight loss uses...not as far as invention goes. Also, his point about the adjustability is for reaching an ideal weight and maintaining it. I have a friend that has the sleeve and honestly he's lost TOO MUCH WEIGHT...he looks like a skeleton now and it's really sad. The nice thing about my band is if I begin loosing too much weight I can always have my band adjusted to whatever ideal weight I desire. Finally, I would like to address the comment about going to a surgeon that performs all the surgeries for a balanced opinion. I don't know about you but I don't take my Lexus to Wal-Mart to get my servicing. I take it to a specialist that works on my type of car exclusively and has a proven track record working with high performance machines. To me that is what Dr. Watkins has done. He has chosen the procedure that he deems most successful while balancing risks and benefits and has chosen to make a stand and to specialize in that one particular procedure. To me that's a good thing to know that i'm getting specialized care catered specifically for the exact procedure that I chose to receive. I'm not going to knock the sleeve or bypass just because I have the band. I will however defend my doctor for being nice enough to write a message about why he performs and recommends the lap band over the sleeve. He was taking the time to give his opinion in a polite manner and i don't think that he deserves to be discredited in a public forum by someone that doesn't even know him. Again, just my two cents.

I live in Florence, KY but was banded by Dr. Brad Watkins of Cincy Weight Loss in West Chester, Ohio. www.cincyweightloss.com

Congrats! There's tons of good info on this site. I used it a lot before my surgery and really felt prepared going into this. One warning, stay away from negative people or posts on here. It's natural to get a little scared as the surgery date gets closer but that is completely normal. The more you surround yourself with encouraging people and information the more confident you'll be when surgery day comes :smile: As my surgery day got closer I spent more and more time in the testimonial section of the website. It's really encouraging to hear from all the people that have had their lives positively changed by the lap band.

I was in at 9:30am and on the road by 1pm. I think i took an empty bag to hold my clothes and shoes while I was in surgery. That was it.

I can trace a lot of my poor eating habits and hangups back to the way I was raised. There were always comments about how much I ate...or what I ate...or whatever...and it totally gave me a complex. Taking that to heart I made sure to never even mention eating habits to my children. Sure, I make sure they eat some vegetables and try new things but I never comment on the amount they eat or whether something might make them fat. I just let them self regulate and it has worked AMAZINGLY well. Maybe I just got lucky, but my 11 year old boy and 7 year old girl are both skinny as rails and super healthy. They play all the time and my son even has developed biceps...at 11! Honestly, with all the terrible food i've brought into the home I can't believe that they aren't both heavy...that's always been kind of a justification for me...as long as i'm not hurting my kids and they aren't heavy then i can keep bringing this terrible food into our home. Looking back I realize that robbing them of a father and possibly their mother due to us being overweight and possibly dying early...that's not fair to them. That's one of the reasons I got the band...not the ONLY reason. Ultimately, I go the band for me...but I also realize that others will benefit as well.

That's including my pre-op diet. I've lost 30lbs. in 3 weeks.

lol number 1 = peeing number 2 = pooping

Is any of it just loose skin? I carry the majority of my weight in my stomach and I'm worried that as I lose more weight i'll just have a big flat tire hanging around my waist I have a neighbor that had the RNY surgery and lost a ton of weight...no pun intended...but he still has a belly of loose skin. Just a thought.

Congrats and welcome! I was banded on the 13th If you're doing that good on your prescribed diets already then I bet you're going to be a weight loss superstar!!!

I went through a company called CareCredit and did my lapband self pay. Also, I found a doctor that had a fixed price...that covered everything for 2 years...that way there's no hidden fees to sneak up on me. The CareCredit website is just CareCredit if you're interested.

I weigh myself every morning...PRE-SHOWER!!! It's funny the little tricks that i've learned...I can actually tell you how much I weigh before and after I do number 1 and/or number 2...how sad is that?!? PS - For those of you wondering...it's always better to weigh yourself BEFORE you eat and BEFORE you shower and AFTER going number 1 and number 2...that's always a winning combo for a low score...er...weight...kind of like a video game

Name___________StartWeight___CurrentWeight______Goal_________ToGo *****:willy_nilly:************************:willy_nilly:***********:tt1:********** *** AmethystJade.......231.8..........212.........150.......62.0 Babe...............308............294.........199.......95 Bellaperdente......196............189.........150.......43 Bklyn1984..........317............261.........165.......96 Brandy.............198............189.........166.......21 Cappy..............240............235.5.......130.......105.5 Chocolate_Snaps....244............224.........175.......49 CubsGirl17.........147............138.........130.......8 Clarebear08........192............176.5.......160.......16.5 Donna113...........183............177.........126.......51 Ebonie.............307............307.........200.......107 FalloutGirl........282............278.........165.......112 FeliciaLevy75......200............194.........140.......54 FlordiaPete........413............397.........300.......97 GratefulHeart......226............211.........135.......76 GuyMontag..........325............295.........200.......95 health4life........279............239.........150.......89 janesays...........225............214.8.......160.......54.8 kimaly.............194............191.........160.......31 Lindar172..........246............229.4.......150.......79.4 Linksmom...........234............234.........145.......89 LocomotiveEngineer.311............311.........220.......91 Long2BThin.........216............199.5.......169.......30.5 lotzasunshine......270............262.........180.......82 Loveislovely.......216............210.........175.......35 ltgordon...........284.8..........250.5.......185.......65.5 lucyavery..........205............205.........140.......65 Mair...............231............222.........140.......83 Mamanmidwife.......264............260.........200.......60 mdgarcia31665......220............220.........165.......55 MissNilsa..........180............180.........132.......48 Rhea2d.............283............233.........185.......58 Sandra267..........220............220.........165.......55 Tabithan...........240............240.........200.......40 Tuger..............192............192.........130.......62 Under200...........242............199.........155.......44 vzghj3.............202............202.........150.......52 Wendy_Wo...........242............218.........142.......76 WOWOX7.............173............161.........125.......36

I've lost 30lbs.

Take it from a self-pay...CONGRATULATIONS!!!

I did the liquid diet 1-week post-op then the mushies. So far the mushies stage is a cinch compared to the liquid stage. Just keep your eyes on the prize and you'll pull through. As for port pain, the one thing I notice is right in the middle of my stomach it feels like someone is poking me with a hot poker every now and then. This always happens after I've used my ab muscles too much...like bending over, sitting up, or coughing. Placing my hand over the spot and applying a little pressure while I bend or cough seems to help a lot. It's kind of strange though because the pain isn't where my bandages are but about 3 inches to the right of them...probably where the rubber cord goes through my muscle wall. I'm looking forward to this pain going away and it's already improved a lot in the last week.