Humming Bird

psych appointments were not required for me. I'm glad because I really don't think I need it. Throughout my life, if I need a psych for something I go talk to one. At this point my head is on pretty straight and things are going well in that department. I do understand why psych is included with lapband, but am thrilled it was not a requirement for me.

I hope things are going better for you tonight. btw .... Congrats on getting banded !

I also had hernia repair. Keeping a big ice pack on my stomach and remembering not to tense up the muscles in the area helped me. Also sipping ice cold liquid will help. Cold helps with swelling, not heat. All will get better soon. I'm thinking you should already be past the point where you need stronger Rx and they will only give you constipation to add to the general discomfort. Of course, I am not a Dr. and only speak from my own experience. If things are worse than that for you, you should call your Dr.

My doc told me to never take a pill whole. He said I can not take anything that is time-release. I have a big fear of getting stuck after he told me about a patient of his that did get a pill stuck and had big complications because of it. They do make adult strength liquid tylenol, but ibuprophen works better for me, so I just double up on the dose of Jr. strength chewable of liquid ibuprophen. I take Centrum chewable vits. and chewable calcium, sublingual (melts under tongue) B12 & biotin. I was not taking any Rx meds anyway, but the doc said there are places you can get your Rx made in liquid form.

Did u get your wisdom teeth out yet? I hope you did well with it. If you have not had them out yet, I hope all goes well for you :thumbup:

Hi Cathy, I did the yo-yo diet thing most of my life. I understand how you feel. I figured I could try another diet, but then the years pass by and I would just be older and fatter. The lap-band seems to be the safest way. I fear surgery in general. The band was my 4th surgery. I can only speak from my own experience. So far, I have not had complications and am VERY HAPPY I did it. I am not having any mental issues with it and it feels so good to feel my clothes getting looser instead of tighter. I would bet that more bad things can go wrong with staying obese than with getting banded. The choice is always your own, but I am so happy I made the choice to get banded. You and your husband could be band buddies. It would make it easier.

for me pb (productive burp) and vomiting are two VERY different things. If I eat too fast, too much, or the wrong thing, I might pb a little bit. For me this is a burp that feels like it is stuck and when I finally get it out I feel like a little bit of food comes up then it quickly goes back down. I pb sometimes, but not daily. I have not vomited since I got my band about 3 months ago. To me vomit is when you have to find a toilet quickly and empty the contents of your stomach there.

The popsicles and very cold ice water will help keep the swelling down. Stay with the very cold stuff. I also kept an ice pack on my stomach off and on for longer than they said and I think it really helped.

great weight loss! you should be very proud of yourself ! wow 60 lbs in 6 months! Perfect! What a great feeling! I hope I will have lost 60 lbs in 6 months. Of course at first my loss was fast and now has slowed. At first it just seems so out of reach. I have a total of 114 lbs to take off.

sipping very cold liquids helps and holding ice pack on stomach. Mild cough drops may help your throat, it did mine. If you suffer from dry mouth it is prolonged by the pain meds. I am happy for you and you will be very happy you did it !

I know I am using it on my taxes. I paid for it in the same way u did, just through a different company. No matter how u pay, the fact is YOU paid. It is a medical expense out of your pocket.

That is one of the signs of being full my surgeon told me to watch for. Sometimes it is just one hiccup. I get the hiccup well after I am full and stop eating though, so I don't use it as a full signal.

I have told everyone with one exception. All my family, friends, and whoever I have told have all been very supportive. The one exception: I work several part-time jobs. One of them is owned by a husband & wife who are real snobs and very negative about everything. I don't want them making comments or knowing any of my personal business about anything. I only took one day off that job for the surgery. Of course they thought it was their business to know what I was having done. They asked my co-worker. The co-worker and I had already talked about what to tell them when they got nosey. So, she told them I was having vaginal rejuvenation ! It worked like a charm! They are so prude they will never bring it up again. If they ever say anything about my wieght loss, I will just tell them my husband and I have a fun exercise we do often.

thinned cream of wheat or oatmeal were ok for me at that stage and really helped. make a 1/2 serving and add milk. eat very slow

When you called in to get an appointment with your Dr. did you tell them exactly why you need to see him? They should be able to get you in sooner than that for an emergency situation. Call them back. Maybe they can get you in within the next couple days if someone else cancels. I think they should squeeze you in anyway.

I can cut my toenails without grunting !

I also used Dr. Kirshenbaum in Denver. $9950 everything included. I stayed in a hotel that was close to the hospital the night of the surgery. He has many out of town and out of state patients. Did you check out his website? He also does not require all the extra stuff some docs do. I went for my first consult and then had surgery a couple weeks later. He will do a consult over the phone and so will the nut.

Breast feeding is one of the best things you can do for your baby. The baby will get all the good things from it even if you only do it for a few months. Really the first few weeks is when they get the most important stuff. Some people have to stop early for other reasons not related to the band. Stay hydrated. Drink plenty of fluids. When I was breast feeding water was highly reccommended, but since you need more calories to stay out of the ER, fruit juice or other healthy drinks will be better. The baby formula they have now is very good for babies. Look at how far we have come ...... when I was a baby (44 yrs ago), my mom could not breast feed. The reccommended homemade formula was canned/condensed milk with Karo syrup and water added. I was fortunate enough to be able to breast feed my son for 9 months (never pumped) and truly believe he has always been healthier because of it. I also believe he would be just as healthy if I had only breast fed for 4 months. Do not beat yourself up over it. A sad, stressed, depressed mommy makes an unhappy baby. You show that you are a good mommy just by your concerns over it. Even if you only breast feed for a short time, your baby will be healthier from it.

there is no trader joe's in my state, but I did some looking in stores here and online. I ended up ordering some sublingual lozenges from www.BariatricChoice.com They have a mega does of B-12 and have 300mg of Biotin. I figure I need the B-12 anyway.

Usually the worst part about getting your wisdom teeth out is the fear of getting them out. I hope I helped you.

Everyone is different with the pain. Your youth is on your side. The younger you are, the easier they are to get out and the quicker you heal. The roots have not formed all the way like they will be when you are 30. This means less trauma to you during the extractions. I got mine out when I was 30 and took the pain meds (usually vicodin is the Rx) for only the first night and next day. The anesthesia kinda messes with me, so I slept most of that time anyway. My son got his out a week before he turned 18. It only took them about 15 minutes to get out all 4 teeth. That is where his age helped. He came home and went outside to work on his project car. I went and told him he should rest/ lay down. He said "why"? I said "hello! You just had your wisdom teeth out." he told me he was fine and that was the end of that. I think he took one dose of the pain meds before he went to bed that night and didn't take any more. Most people will not have it as easy as he did, but it usually isn't as bad as they think. Other things make a difference too. Like who is taking them out. Are you going to oral surgery or is your general dentist doing it?

I work in the dental field (12 years). You will be eating "normal" by the 2nd or 3rd day. mushy and/or liquid the first day or so. Just do not use a straw to avoid dry socket. It may be enough to break your plateau, but you don't have to starve after you get your wisdom teeth out.

Does the biotin come in liquid or chewable forms? I just had my 2nd fill yesterday and am very tight. I do not think it would be a good idea for me to take a pill. I am almost 3 months post-op. I am not sure if I am shedding more hair than I normally do or not. Today my hair does not feel thinner, but it just seems like I am finding more shed hairs on clothing and such. I already avoid social situations because of my weight. Hair loss would make it worse. I feel like my hair is one of my best features and I can't afford hair loss because my hair is already very fine. I want to treat it ASAP and will try anything and everything. I am very afraid to swallow a pill at this point. I am drinking plenty of protein shakes, but fear that I am shedding more hair than normal.

the gas/air/co2 they use during the surgery will all be gone in a day or so. The pain is from pressure on a nerve. I will try to give you a link to a thread that has a very good explaination. I am almost 3 months post-op and the left shoulder pain is just now getting better. I used pain patches from wal-mart and they helped a lot. here is the link http://http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f1...r-found-54827/

I used Health One for my loan. It is 0% interest for 6 months and then is a fixed rate of 10% after that. I am trying to pay off as much as I can in the first 6 months, then I may transfer the balance over to a low interest major credit card I have. The interest on that is 5.2%. What will be your total cost for the surgery? I used Dr. Kirshenbaum in the Denver area. He only charges $9950 for everything. Many people travel there because they are self pay. Do you have a major credit card that you could charge $10,000 on?