Humming Bird

Your body is trying to adjust. It will start dropping off again. You are doing great! Keep up the good work! You may find that your sweet spot happens quicker than others, but will loosen up after more weight loss and you have to get a fill and find it again. Believe me, the weight loss will start again.

I have no insurance ..... the last insurance I tried to get turned me down because I was overweight. I was self pay for the band. I wonder if that same insurance company will now turn me down after I am under the obese range, but have the band now.

I don't know what everyone else's doc tells them, but mine told me ice cold liquid is best for the first few days. The colder the liquid, the better it helps keep the swelling down. The room temp part is things you would normally drink hot, like broth. I was told if you can see through it, it is clear liquid.

Dr. K. did my surgery in July 2009. I am happy with him and how everything has been going. Fills with him are free for the first 3 months and then only $15 after that. With some of the fill prices I've heard out there it would still be cheaper to return to him for a fill in some cases. If you have any other questions, feel free to pm me

I had zero pre-op tests. The only thing I had to do was a phone consult with nut to go over what to eat pre-op and post op stages. That was the best thing about being self-pay.

I was thinking ....... Maybe it's like the ol "honey, do these pants make my butt look too big?" thing and he's just being safe and staying away from it ....

Men, gotta love em ......... For the most part I have the most wonderful husband in the world. I have been with him for over 23 years and married 18 years. He is generally good to me, supported my choice to get banded, we don't fight, and I am still very much in love with him. In general, I think we are living as close to "happily ever after" as we can get. BUT .............. I have lost 44 pounds and he has not said a word or made any indication that he sees any difference. He has not asked how much I've lost...... nothing I'm not really pissed about it, though it does bother me a little. Maybe he doesn't know what to say? Who knows ...... I am going to wait it out and see just how many pounds it takes before he says something.

I have tried so many kinds of Protein drinks, it's crazy. So far, the ones I can stand to drink : Atkins vanilla SlimFast low carb vanilla protein bullets from walmart (sometimes) nectar Roadside Lemonaid Nectar Crystal Sky I am not good at keeping track of every single gram of protein, but try to get it in daily by eating high protein foods and drinking at least one of the above daily. Here's some interesting facts for ya: A tall skinny latte at Starbucks has 9gm protein, 90cal, zero fat, add sweet & low, and yum! A grande skinny latte has 12gm protein, 130 cal, zero fat. They do have carbs, tall 14, grande19. So, I do not replace my protein drinks with lattes, but it is just interesting info I picked up at starbucks.

I set my final goal weight at a weight I was very comfortable at in the past. In my life I have seen skinny, chubby, & obese. I was a chubby child, very thin in some of my teen years, and the classic Yo-Yo dieter as an adult (skinny, fat, skinny, fat). I am 5'7" and I felt most comfortable at 150 pounds. I have a long way to go before I see that weight again, so I take it day by day. My final goal is to maintain that weight of 150 and that is so far in the future, I can not obcess over it. That is where I hope the band will be different from all the other things I have tried.

I had to really extend the liquid and then mushie stage longer than expected after my last fill. If I was not very hungry at dinner time because lunch was sticking with me longer, I would just eat yogurt or something for dinner. Each day will get a little better.

I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. Get your rest and heal from this surgery. You can only take each step one at a time. Remember to stick up for yourself when it comes to insurance and hospital billing. Sometimes they take advantage of people. Don't let that be you.

great advise and support from kkarryall. I think your family just might come around eventually and be supportive. Maybe they need time for it to sink in or something. Getting banded is not the easy way, believe me. It is taking drastic measures, but so well worth it. You have so much life ahead of you. Why should you live it obese? There is no reason. I am glad you are brave enough to take this very big step for your future! You will find support on this site, but I also think you will find friends and family will support you in the long run. I wish you the best in this journey and in your adult life! Keep a positive attitude and keep moving forward!

There is no reason you should be hungry doing true atkins. You can eat an entire chicken and still shrink your liver and take off weight while you're at it.

Atkins only allows less than 20 carbs. That is next to nothing. There are some vegies on atkins, but very limited. I just tried to stay away from carbs the best I could. I ate a few salads while doing it and used no carb dressing, no croutons or bread of any kind. Your vegies alone sometimes put you over the carb limit. I am not one to obcess over every carb, every calorie, every gm of Protein. I feel like I have better things to do and to obcess over. If you follow the basic guidelines, you should be fine. That being said, If your doc says liquids only ....... I just couldn't have done that without the band.

I also did Atkins for 2 weeks pre-op. I didn't think it was too bad. Just try to have variety. Unlimited amounts of meat. You can have eggs, cheese, cottage cheese, low carb protein drinks. I just kept telling myself, "I'm shrinking my liver, I'm shrinking my Liver...." My surgeon told me of a case where he had a patient on the operating table, went in, and their liver was so thick he could not place the band. That did the trick for me. I did not want a thick liver and end up not being banded.

It seems like everyone's port is in different locations. Mine is just about in the center of my torso, a couple inches (5cm) below my sternum, and slightly left of center. I have a friend who's port is about an inch above her bellybutton.

I agree with nkara. I hope you still have the approval letter and any other documentation about costs. All of it sounds very fishy to me. I was self-pay and the entire thing, Dr., surgery, anesthes., everything, was a grand total of $9950.

It really depends on the kid. I really don't think he needs to know all the details. Kids tend to tell everyone else your business without understanding that there may be some people you don't want to know. If you want to tell him, keep it simple. Just say you are having a band put around your stomach so you will take off weight and leave it at that. You could just say you are having trouble with your stomach, but it will be ok pretty soon.

oops, now I've lost 43. .....had to change my ticker! don't ya just love it when that happens?! Tracy, Maybe your doc is a little more conservative with the amount s/he puts in each time. That could be a good thing in thelong run. You have lost great without restriction! I bet you will feel it with this next fill.

welcome back ! jump on in, read, post, learn & get support!

After reading many posts about this, I think everyone is different. It depends on many things. Do you plan to use insurance? If so, it takes much longer. I was self-pay. It only took a couple weeks from day one, which was a consult, to surgery. The only reason it took 2 weeks is because I had to go on a no carb diet to make sure my liver was not too thick.

It sounds like you are tighter than your sweet spot. Try liquids for a couple days and slowly work in the more solid stuff, but if you are throwing up, you may need a tiny unfill.

my pre-op diet was Atkins for 2 weeks .... eating no carbs shrinks the liver.

What !?!? That would be VERY irresponsible. I can't believe anyone would suggest it. The general anesthesia stays in your body for a long time. It would be as bad, if not worse, than driving drunk. You could easily kill yourself or someone else and you wouldn't even know what was happening. This is the very reason hospitals make sure you have an adult pick you up after surgery. In my case, they made my husband promise not to leave me alone for 24 hours. A cab driver is not an acceptable person to release you to and I doubt the hospital will do it.

I was banded July 9, 09 and have lost 41 (maybe 42) pounds. 8 of those were pre-op. I have had 2 fills and now have 5.3cc in what I was told is a standard AP 12cc band. I am still very tight from my last fill and have much trouble with meat and anything that is like bread. I have another fill appt. for Nov. 6th, but may reschedule that one. It may be too soon to add any more.