lovinlife4eva

If it is cleared by your doc, have peanut butter. My doc told me a teaspoon of pb helps with those sweet and salty comfort food snack cravings. PB is high in protein and will fill you up. You cant do it everyday, and u must watch the portion. take your time and suck on the spoon, eating slowly. It has helped me twice when i wanted to grab something BAD!! GOOD LUCK!

So i was banded june 28 and you guys all know where the incisions, the band and the port are. All upper to mid tummy. Well for about 6 days now i have had a very uncomfortable sore feeling in my lower abdomen on the left side. It feels like i have severly pulled my lower left side tummy muscle. I tried not to think much of it at first, just general sorness, but it is so accute. I read about a woman whose tube became detached from her port and ended up in her pelvic area. Could this be what i am feeling? Could it still be lingering gas pain that has set up shop in my lower belly? My sorness from the incisions and surgery have subsided and i feel over all fine, but this tummy pain is killer:crying:. Also i was self pay and i cant afford a corrective surgery. HELP i am starting to panic!

thanx for all the replies. I guess I didnt realize I was in bandster hell. You just have all these expectations about after surgery.... no hunger.......clothes falling off of you.... etc. Its hard when you commit to all the pain and work and then you feel no different. First fill.... I'm waiting for ya!!!

I was banded June 28, 1 week ago. My doc is laid back about the eating and so 3 days post op I went to mushies and then 2 days after that normal foods (chew chew chew!) Guess what, I feel fine! I have tried small bites of many different things, lots of Protein, but also even bread. Everything goes down fine. I do feel a little more full than I used to but not too much. I have quit losing weight, lost 15 lbs pre op and 2 days post op. I really dont feel any different than I did b4, except for the $12000 I paid out of pocket. 12 grand is sooo much money and I cant believe that I just paid that to hopefully lose 100 lbs. I could have put that in a college fund for my WONDERFUL son (I know I would never regret that!!). What have I done? Does this feeling pass? Will it seem worth it when I get a fill?

I have a 3 year old son who was all over me. My dr said that short of eating gobs of food and then throwing them up right after surgery, you really cant "hurt" the band. Your incisions may hurt, and trauma directly to them may cause them to swell or even be infected, so go easy. However, your band really cant be hurt by anything on the exterior of your body!

I dont mind the question! My husband and I are self employed. We make pretty good money but out of a 12 month period we usually have 3 or 4 really tight months. For that reason we financed it on the longest plan. We did 5 years (60 months) and our payment will be about $280 a month. We will have it paid off in less than 24 months, (hopefully 18 months). We always like to keep our monthly obligations low so we can make it during the "broke" months, and then we just throw extra on it during the $money$ months. you should also know that if you use care credit, your dr's office will be the one who offers the payment plan. They are the ones who determine if you can choose 18, 24, 36, 48, or 60 month plans. My doctor did not offer any of the intrest free plans, but some do. Lastly, if you go to carecredit.com they have a tool(on their homepage) where you enter your est. surgery amount and they show you what your est payment will be depending on the # of months you choose. GOOD LUCK!!:tt1:

OK so care credit bases your approval totally on your credit score. They will ask you how much you make and if you own your house and how long have you lived there. If you have a credit score above 600 you should be ok. We used care credit and the process was CRAZY fast. Due to my age and overall good health, (and being self pay), I only did 4 days of pre op diet. I had my first Dr appt last wed, june 23, and was banded monday, june 28. Our out of pocket is 12,000. That includes access to the doctor for 3 months (fills, checkups), and the nutritionist for 1 year. Here is how we looked at it. I dont have a car payment, I dont have student loans, and I dont have any other large debt. This was my one time to invest in myself. It is a heck of alot of money and my hand was shaking when I signed the sales reciept, but I feel good about it and, so far, wouldnt change it. Dont do anything you are not comfortable with but also know that there are benefits to being self pay. You will feel more in control. And there is nothing like a $12,000 investment to give you some motivation!!!

Hey everyone, this is my first post!!! I was banded on Monday, June 28. I feel great just a few days post-op. I am trying to decide how to make my goal for my 3 month anniversary. I have heard people say anything from 5lbs a month to 20lbs a month. I weigh 264 lbs and I am 27. I also will resume my workout routine in a week or so. Should I keep goals low,(easily atainable), or reach for the stars? I would love to be down to my wedding day weight for my 7th anniversary:wub:. I weighed 205 and its on October 24th. Is this possible? in 3 1/2 months? 60lbs? Want to be optimistic, but not unrealistic. Any success stories and/or tips would be great!!!