greytz

My surgeon fills her patients herself and I had an appointment with her before the fill. She checked my incisions and also checked for the placement of the port. She had me stand up and lay down so she knew exactly where it was. I am sorry you had this problem. I think it is a good idea to make the surgeon do it and use flouro or something since they had such a problem.

You are doing so great! I look at it like, I was going up and never moving the scale back and now, even when I just lose a pound in a week I feel successful because I haven't gained a pound. I know it is difficult when you run into that plateau and cannot budge the scale but I think the suggestions above are a good way to help you jumpstart your weight loss again. Don't be so hard on yourself and concentrate on what you have already accomplished. You have done a great job!

Good luck to all of you.

Hi everybody. I was banded on 06-19-09 and I feel your pain. It was difficult for me for the first 2 weeks. Once I started mushies it was so much better. Hang in there, it will get better. I have my first fill today! I am so excited. Can't wait. I will say one thing. It has helped me so much to read posts on this site. I have made a list of things I want to ask the surgeon when I go. I probably would not have thought to ask some of the questions, had I not spent some time on this site. Good Luck to all.

You should have an insurance card with a toll free number on the back. The best thing to do is call them and they can tell you exactly what your particular insurance will cover. The next thing to do is definitely go to a seminar. It should answer a lot of your questions. It is not pushy and no committment but gives you a lot of information you are looking for. I have bcbsfep (federal) and when I called the number, they told me exactly what would be covered. I was banded on 06-19-09 and will have my first fill tomorrow. Good Luck. Let us know if it works out for you.

DJV22, I am so glad you wrote about your experience and did not sound so completely disgruntled just honest. I appreciate that very much. I am newly banded 06-19-09 and will have my first fill tomorrow. The reason I am posting to this thread is two-fold. I so agree with you about the surgeon and follow up care. I am one of the lucky ones and my insurance pays for my fills except for the co-pay which is only $20 bucks. I spent a long time choosing my surgeon and I feel very fortunate to have her as my follow up doctor. She and her staff have been wonderful and I appreciate them so much after reading some of the horror stories about doctors on here. The second part of my post is about anxiety. I too have suffered from anxiety and at times have to take medication. It is one of the things that my surgeon covered really well before my surgery. I was required to have a psych eval and the psychologist I chose who was a part of my surgeon's network, allows me to revisit anytime I want which is great. I believe it is a very important part of the process and should not be taken lightly. Thank you so much for allowing us into your bandworld experience. I know it has been painful for you and I am so sorry it did not work for you. I hope I am fortunate enough to have a better story down the road.

It is really difficult the first month or so. I am doing the same thing by counting everything I put in my mouth and I am really careful. I made a vow not to eat past 4:00pm and have done well with that. I also am down to eating twice a day now and that has helped a lot. I made sure I had stuff in my freezer that I could go to when the hunger pain strikes even if it isn't real hunger pain with sugar free stuff it doesn't matter. I love sugar free popsicles, sugar free fudge pops and sugar free Italian Ice. It makes me feel like I am cheating but I am really not. That has kept me sane. I have my first fill tomorrow. Yeah!

I was banded on06-19-09. I had to stay one night in the hospital. I went in at 0530am and was processed. I already had all of my pre-op done of course which consisted of EKG, chest X-ray, blood work, letter from doctor and cardio doctor. The nurse came in and put in my IV and began fluids. At about 0730 my surgeon came in to see me and talk to me for a minute. Then they took me to pre-surgery for my general anesthesia. The anesthesia doctor talked to me for a minute and they began the relaxing meds into my IV. At that time, I informed my anesthesia dr. that I get very sick after surgery unless he puts that stuff in with my anesthesia that helps with nausea. He said no problem and that is the last thing I remember. I woke up as I was being wheeled into the recovery room and was immediately hit with waves of nausea. They put zophran and morphene in my IV and it did not help. After 1 and half hours they took me to an intermediary ward before my room to try and stabalize my nausea. Finally they gave me phenergan and morphene and I was finally over the nausea. They took me up to my room where they continued my oxygen and IV. They finally took me off of oxygen and IV at about 0800pm. They just continued to monitor me throughout the night and made me use my breathing machine and I was gone from the hospital by 0800am the next morning. I continued to have nausea for three days after my surgery. But I found out I had the stomach flu which I am sure was part of that. After I got over the flu, all was well. Over all, it was good and the hospital I went to was great. My surgeon has been great as well. I have my first fill tomorrow and I am very excited.

I agree with everyone here. I have my first fill tomorrow and I am very excited about it. I am going to go join Curves today. I used to do advanced aerobics 3 times a week and I hope to get back to that some day but for a start I decided Curves was the way to go and then move into more advanced exercise. I am trying to do things that I will give me something to look forward to. It was depressing initially to think I am changing my life forever and my family was very hard on me. I am going to visit my parents in Sept. and the first thing my Mom said to me was that she will go to the grocery and stock the fridge. I said to her, no Mom, we will go when I get there. That way I can control what I eat while I am away. I just decided to control my life and not allow everyone else to control it for me. I know you will get through this and move on. Find the strength you had when you decided to do this surgery and went through with it. You were determined then. Dig down deep and find it again. Good Luck.

Yes. I think everyone does at first because you don't have a fill, just your band and a very swollen stomach. Just stick to the plan. Check with your doctor but after the first week, I was able to eat sugar free popsicles and sugar free fudge pops. It really helped a lot. It will be trying through the liquids stage but once you get to mushies it is sooo much better. Good Luck and keep in touch with us. We have all been there. I get my first fill tomorrow. Yeah!

Protein shake for breakfast and lunch, then one meat protein either fish or chicken and one green veggie.

Cool, just really hang in there the first two weeks. It seems like there were a lot of people like I was wanting to give up. It is kind of hard the first couple of weeks but once you get out of liquids it is soooo much better.

I can't speak for everyone else but I had to have pre-op before I could do anything which consisted of, EKG, chest X-Ray, blood work up and psych eval plus a letter from my regular doctor explaining my personal health risks factors and one from my cardio surgeon because I have a heart condition and he had to ok the surgery.

What goes around comes around believe me it does. I my younger and much thinner days, I had a car accident and fracture my spine and compressed several discs. Needless to say it was very painful. I went to a doctor who was just like what you described only regarding my back and exercising. I tried to explain how much pain I was in an he dismissed me by saying I weighed to much and I need to get some exercise in a very rude way and when I was checking out, I heard him tell his male assistant "Can you believe that chick? What does she expect me to do with her fat self?". I found out a few months later that the weekend after he saw me, he was in a skiing accident and fractured his spine and compressed his discs much the way I had only worse. I inquired to the nurse about him when I went to see another doctor in the practice and she said he was in horrible pain and would not be able to work for several months and she just didn't know how he was going to be able to make it. I felt bad for him and said a little prayer but all the while I couldn't help but feel there was a message in there somewhere. I hope he learned it.

Thanks everyone for input. I appreciate that. I am always afraid I am the only one and it is something wrong so it helps to hear from everybody. I have been using my rice bag (heat). It has helped some.

Ok. Then you would definitely want to go by what your Dr. tells you. Thats what I do. And do what works for you. That's wonderful. Good Luck and let me know how you are doing.

You will get through it just fine. I think a lot of people including myself felt just that way. The first couple of weeks are the toughest. It is great to know someone who has been there and can help you through the rough spots. Good for you!

I also have bcbsfep and I was covered at 85% and a requirement of theirs is 23 hour stay in the hospital which means overnight. One thing I wanted to mention is I still had to pay an adminstrative fee to my surgeon which was $1,000 out of my pocket so be advised he may have something like that. It covered all of the paperwork for the health insurance, pre-approval etc.(I didn't have to do anything) and my protein shakes and all my vitamins, etc, etc.

I was banded 06-19-09 also. You don't feel restriction yet because you have not had a fill. Your stomach is initially swollen and therefore you can't get a fill right away. Since you don't have your first fill, you may feel a little restriciton but not a lot until you have a fill. I am no expert, but I would say that beans, corn and potato are not really what you need to be eating. You would probably feel more full if you ate some good proteins like chicken, tuna, yogurt, sugar free anything such as pudding, popsicles, etc. You are not eating enough. You should not worry too much about your weight loss until you get a fill. I have lost 17lbs so far but I go up and down some. Also, once you have your first fill, the golden rule, do not drink while you eat.

Hi Kim, You should have gotten Protein mix from your surgeon to mix with Water. If not, I've seen ads for

A small pillow for the bumps on the way home or a sneeze or cough. Some really loose soft comfortable clothing and a non underwire bra or sports bra. There is one incision just below the bra line that smarts a little. Looks like you are good other than that.

I was banded on 06-17-09 and I have lost 17lbs so far. I think everyone is different depending on their medical situation, etc. I am anxious for my first fill on Tuesday. I have been eating a lot less but I still want that feeling of restriciton that I don't have now. It feels good to see my clothes getting lose. I love that.:smile2:

I felt the same way the first week and was so sick of soup I wanted to barf. But, alas, it does go away and I felt so much better once I started mushies. It is great and I am anxious for my first fill on Tuesday. Yeah!

Good Job Sally. Let us know when you get your surgery date. Good Luck.

I went to several seminars and it was usually never mentioned. The surgeon I chose only touched on it briefly. She showed a picture of one of her patients and said he was hooked on plastic surgery now that he has lost so much weight and that he has had PS numerous times. That was about it. I would have thought that sagging skin would have been a subject that would have been discussed more.