festivus

I was banded on 3/18 and about 65% of the time, I'm glad I did it. I know if I didn't I would only be heavier next year. 35% of the time, I'm aware that this is a huge lifestyle change. And when you forget that, the band reminds you! I wouldn't say I never had a second thought, but the second thoughts are started to get further and further apart. You have to be mentally ready, not just for the surgery, but for the commitment to eating right after. If you are still not sure, take some more time, give it another shot on your own and see how you do. For me, I decided I spent the first 41 years of my life battling my weight, I'll be damned if I spend the next 30 doing the same thing. I was starting to have medical issues and felt this was the best option since I couldn't do it on my own. It's been a learning process for me every day, but I'm a firm believer that if you do nothing, then nothing will happen.

Hi Shiela, For 3 years I got the same pain (I was not banded then). It would be so painful that I couldn't move for days. Sometimes eating helped, but if I ate too much, I would throw up. I went for every test in the book and no one could figure it out. Finally, one day it happened and I went to another doctor and explained everything (when it happens, the tests I took, what was ruled out, etc) and it was gas, plain and simple. Caused by a fluctuation in my hormone levels, causing my stomach to tighten up and not let the air pass through. (This actually made me think maybe I shouldn't get banded.). The doctor started massaging my stomach for about 5 minutes, and air just started flying out of me. I started hormone replacement therapy and the pain went away. Then, my hormone levels dipped (because I'm at that magical time in my life :thumbup:( )and it came back after about 1 year. It's very painful, and I feel sorry for you. I would check out to make sure that nothing is wrong with the band, and if everything is ok, then think about how to get rid of the gas. I notice now with the band, if I'm stressed out, I get similar gas pains, but they are not anywhere as painful and they don't last as long. Good luck!

I get that when I'm stressed or stressing. For me it's gas. Do you notice you are belching more as you move about? The first time this happened I called the doctor's office. I was told if I could belch it up, it would help, or I have to wait for it to pass the "other" way. If you notice it's not getting better, call your doctor's office to make sure.

Thanks everyone! I'll go out and buy some tomorrow.

I'm 5 days banded and finally felt the need to "go". Without getting into too much information, I am in excruciating pain. I went to work today but left after an hour because of it. I am drinking plenty of water, and trying to increase it even more. Is there anything else I can do. It's so bad, I'm thinking of going into the doctor's office tomorrow. :confused: Other than that, I feel terrific.

Hi: At the top of this page there's a link to "surgeons". You can find the surgeons near you who do the Lap-Band and then check them out to see which ones take medicaid. If there are a couple, you can research them on line, or ask your doctors if they know anything about them. Good luck!

I am happy for Rex Ryan and I wish him the best. I was completely blown away by the hateful comments that were posted. It has left such an impact on me as I get mentally ready for my surgery in 2 days. It was quite an eye opener. I thought as time went on, I would tell more people, but that's not about to happen after reading those hateful, ignorant, mean and stupid statements. Good luck Rex!

I went to the seminar in Early December, scheduled my consult and PCP visit for early January. I already had the 6 months of supervised diet. My insurance required 5 years documentation that I had a BMI of 40 or greater (which I had :thumbup:). I did all the required visits in January, was approved in 1 week, on February 12th and had my pre-op testing and started my pre-op diet on March 4th. I am scheduled for surgery on the 18th. If you have all the requirements your insurance company is asking for, you can do this in under 3 months. I delayed 2 weeks because my birthday is March 2nd and I didn't want to be on the pre-op diet during my birthday. One last piece of ice cream cake! Good luck!

Gingerjane, I'm glad you mentioned the gas. I'm on the slimfast and was starting to think I'm lactose intolerant. What are you doing about the gas? I'm starting to think this is the worst part of the pre-op diet.

Wow, 60 days??? I thought 2 weeks was harsh. Hang in there. I felt the same way after day one. I'm on day 5 right now. It does get a bit easier and it's all for a good cause. When is your surgery?

Deathstroke, I totally hear what you are saying. I am on day 5 of my 2 week pre-op diet. I agree with what everyone has said so far, but I too am having cravings. I just told my co-workers that I am craving toast with butter. I NEVER eat that and I'm craving it, go figure. I just went to warm up some chicken broth to drink instead. Not quite the same thing, but I've got 9 1/2 days to go and this is a huge and serious step for me, so I want to get off on the right foot. Good luck with the cravings, the diet and the surgery!

Mimi, I feel the same way! The first day was hard and I was so cranky, I thought I was going to kill someone! When I woke up the next day, I was exhausted and thought I'd never make it, but got on the scale and saw I lost 2 pounds! I agree, it's probably water, but who cares what it is, it's 2 POUNDS in ONE DAY!!!!!!!!!! That would take me 3 weeks to loose normally. The loss gave me the motivation to keep going and the 2nd day was much easier and I was happy! Now I'm down 4 pounds... Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!!!! My preop is up to 5 slimfast shakes a day and 2 cups of veggies. 12 days to go!

Hi Froggie: I had the same question as you. I'm 51 and having the surgery in 2 weeks. I made sure I looked at everyone's age on the postings, when they had their surgery and how much they lost. I think if we are serious about eating right, we will loose the weight, (maybe not as quickly as the "kids" do, but it will come off). And even if you only lose 50% of your excess weight, that has to help your overall health. My philosophy is, if you do nothing, nothing will happen. Good luck to you with your decision.

My surgery is 14 days away. I start the liquid diet tomorrow and I'm nervous about that. I'm going to look at it as one day at a time! I also do my pre-op testing tomorrow. It seems like there are so many hurdles that you don't get a chance to be nervous about the actual surgery. I'm glad for you, btrieger, that things went so well. From everything I've heard and read, you tend to forget about the pain as time goes on. Good luck to everyone.,

As many people have mentioned, it depend on your insurance. I have United, which requires 5 years documentation of having a MBI of 40 or greater, or 35 with co-morbidities and 6 months in a doctor supervised diet. Luckily for me, I happened to have all of that before I had started to look in this. I had my first appointment at NYU on January 11th. It took a couple of weeks to pull all my paperwork together. I had everything to turn in (including nutritionist consult and Psych approval) on February 5th. I had insurance approval in 1 week (on the 12th). I have my pre-op testing on March 4th. It could have been earlier, but my birthday is the 2nd and I didn't want to be doing the liquid diet on my birthday. My surgery is March 18th. So, if you have all the necessary "qualifications", you could turn it around in under 6 weeks. Good luck to you.

What's "Onederland"???

Hi: Just wondering, I totally understand why you would have gas/gas pains after the surgery. Just curious as to how the gas leaves your body as it not IN your stomach or intestines. These are the things that keep me up at night

Hi: I'm scheduled for March 18th. I just have the pre-op testing left, and that will be on the 4th, along with the start of the pre-op liquid diet :biggrin: I just tried a shake for dinner to see how that is. I too am nervous. The best things for me have been the group sessions. No one is sorry they have done this and that keeps me focused. I can't wait for the 20th (2 days in) when you can start drinking again and you've been home for a day. Best of luck to everyone!

I just found out I was approved by insurance!!! My date is March 18th and I can't wait for my new life to begin. Good luck to everyone!

I have United. As mentioned above, they want a 5 year (in a row) history of a BMI of 40 or greater (or BMI of 35 with co-morbilities), and a 6 month supervised diet. I have finally gotten all of my paperwork together. I am having this done at NYU. They should be submitting my documents to United this week and I'm supposed to hear in about 1 week if I've been approved. In the meantime, I have a surgery date for March 18, assuming all goes well with the insurance.

Hi Bandaide: I'm right there with you. I finished the first round of doctor's appointments, waiting for my letter from my PCP and my supervised diet and I'm a wreck as I wait for the insurance approvals. My nerves are more focused around, what if I can't..... get insurance to cover this, stick to the pre-op diet, lose weight after I have the procedure, maintain the weight loss..... I find that the more I get into this, the better I do feel about it. I have talked to a few of the women in my surgeon's waiting room and felt even better after talking to them. Tomorrow I'm going to my first support group. I read the book, "The Idiot's guide to weight loss surgery" which was written by my surgeon. And I read the blogs on here that I am particularly concerned about. I feel like the more I learn about it, the more confident I become. I was also afraid of telling people. Embarrassed by my "failures" and what they may think of me. To my surprise, while I have only told a handful of people, every one I told knew someone who had this done and said they were much happier with their decision. It's not like we have many options out there. You are doing this for a healthier life. I look at it as if I do nothing, then either nothing will change, or more likely, I'll only weigh more. At my age, it gets MUCH harder to loose weight. Hang in there and talk to people on here who have gone through it. Good Luck!

Hi: I'm not sure about the Protein in the blood, you may want to check with your surgeon on that so that you don't stress. Low Vitamin D seems to be very common right now. Mine was so low it was off the chart and I'm always in the sun when it's warm here. My doctor put me on Vitamin D pills, which are tiny little pills, and the levels are getting better, but still low. Having a proper balance of vitamin D will help you with your energy levels and a little bit with loosing weight. Again, check with your doctor about whether this will be a problem.