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Dear Kelli, Thank you so much for responding. I am just sooooo frustrated and scared that my lap band will be just like every other diet I have been on for the past 8 years and not loose weight. I will give this my all because I am really uncomfortable in my own skin. My OBGYN feels that all my PCOS will clear up to some degree with steady weight loss. So in 6 weeks I will start a liquid diet and on June 11th I will have my surgery. Slow and steady weight loss will make me more than happy so I will keep my fingers crossed. Thanks again. I am happy for you having results and wish you the best. Love, Tonya

My story is rather lengthy and sorted. I am excited to exclaim that today is the first day of the rest of my life. I was banded in October of 2003. By October of 2004 I had lost 165 pounds. My problems began somewhere after that point with a slip. My wonderful insurance that paid for my surgery in 2003, would no longer support the band by October 2004. Somehow I missed the announcement, or decision. My problems began after the major weight loss. TriCare would gladly pay for the removal of my band, but nothing else. My surgeon offered no other solution, but removal of my band. After losing 165 pounds, that was not an option in my mind. But I didn't know what to do. I suffered from frustrating reflux and I deamed my band useless. The food that would go down well was not good for me, empty calories, calories that served no purpose, carbs, sugar, and I rediscovered soda. A down fall for me. I accidently found a new surgeon. I wasn't looking for one, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that, hands down, I have the best, most sincere, caring surgeon in my life. He repositioned my band. I continued to have problems, eating too much, another slip, removal of saline, no fills. Disappointment. Regain 100 pounds, more disappointment, more "rounds" with myself in the boxing ring. It hasn't been pretty at all. I've appealed twice to TriCare to no avail. At one point, when my Saint surgeon "labeled" me with an eating disorder, I did us both dis-justice by following through. If I was going to have a label on my forehead that said I HAVE BINGE EATING DISORDER by gosh I was going to make sure I really did. A few weeks ago, admitting defeat, trying to believe that the band failed ME, I went to see my Saint of a surgeon and tell him to remove the darn thing. I was ready. I can't eat past 6pm or suffer from no sleep because of horrible reflux. I have regained a whopping 100 pounds, so I just wanted it out. Finally, after agreeing with myself that it didn't work, I couldn't think of a reason to keep it inside me? The band failed me. That concept is really difficult to grasp. The band failed me. The band failed me. The band failed me. I talked to Dr. Saint and we decided to replace my band with the new Allergan band. The most bizarre thing happened. The following week I received a TriCare newsletter in my e-mail at work and I opened it up, which I never do. The second article was about TriCare approving Lap Band surgery if the certain qualifications were met, effective FEBRUARY 2007! It is good news, however, Dr. Saint is not in my network. TriCare will only pay 50 percent of what they will approve.

Hello everyone! I am another newbie who has been lurking for a few weeks. My surgery is tomorrow and I am a nervous, anxious, and excited, all at the same time. Thank you all for such informative posts. Your posts have definitely helped me make an informed decision. You have no idea how much I appreciate these forums. Wish me luck!

I am 8 months out and barely remember six weeks. Have you tried a cheese omelette. That seemed to satisfy me a lot early on, I eventually added some pre-cooked bacon and it was something I looked forward to. I think tuna salad, chicken salad and anything that you can chew and make go down near liquefied would work. Be adventurous. There is nothing that I can't eat. I am so happy that I like everything. I live in Maine so I tend to eat a lot of seafood. Fish and scallops last night, and I just finished cleaning 5 lobsters for a few meals of lobster salad in my future. Good luck..

Hey guys! Here is some of my progress shots and I'm 6 days post op- I know silly- but baby steps and feeling great- be proud of the changes you are making and post some- mine is 3 pics: 1.(left) First day of 2 week pre op diet 2.(middle) last day of 2 week pre op diet 3.(right) 6 day post op- feeling great! Lost a total of 14 kg -Australian weight measurement (30.13lb?) Think positive and keep up the great work and support! Xxx Kristy

Our "Team of Experts" here in Portsmouth, NH requires .... Initial group seminar. Fill in paper work. Meet with RN a few weeks later and she tells you to loose 10% of body weight. Diet ...Meet with RN again, go see Shrink one on one and then once a week for 5 weeks with a small group. Meet the nutritionist twice, go to physical therapy twice. THEN .... if you have met all the requirements you finally get to see the surgeon. Go for an upper GI testing, EKG, chest x-ray and tons of blood work (that is where I am). Then it gets insurance approval, meet with surgeon again and get surgery date. I bet in a few years this procedure will be so common that all these hoops you have to jump through will be cut in half ... or they will come up with a magic pill that does what the lap band does now. This is the second time doing this. Last time I was just not committed enough and didn't know what I was getting myself into with all these appointments. How can people with a full time job / family get all this done? It's like another part time job. This takes many months depending how long it takes to loose the weight and when you can fit all these appointments in. I started again in March 2009. Surgery will probably be sometime in July. I'm one of the "quick" ones cause I worked my ass off to loose weight and wasn't made to take the 5 week course again.

Really scared

OHHHH I am a guilty on on this :thumbup: The morning I got my call to say I was approved I set my surgery date, I told them the sooner the better. I was told to start my clear liquid diet the very next day ( I was diabetic and had to do a two week all liquid diet ) Called my wife and said we are going to UNO's pizza for dinner. I had Pizza, Wings, a big ole dessert :seeya: I was a very happy camper. I must say that I am even more happy since I have had surgery. Just look at the weight ticker :mad:

It does get easier for most people, though the cravings will come and go. When I got a little disheartened, I looked in the mirror and said, "Yup, I have plenty of fat stores to live off of!" Just remember this is a small blip on the radar of your life and you'll be sleeved before you know it. All though not the same experience for everyone, I found that my hunger was almost nil for weeks post-op. Best of success on your pre-op!

This is normal and it probably will happen again unfortunately but it will start again. My wife stalled for 3 weeks but then went and got a vitamin b12 shot and lost 8 pounds over that next week after stalling for 3.

I am 6 weeks post-op and my port site was tender and hurt when I walked or drove over bumps, etc... until 4 weeks post-op.

I used to do total protein and would always lose quickly but when i gained it back I was "fatter" even though I did not weigh more than when I started. I have since taken a more Atkins or South Beach approach and incorporate vaggies and fruit and every once in awhile bread. My nutritionist would like for me to incorporate bread into every meal, but I can't get my brain around it yet! But this weekend I olet loose and ate a few cookies...I lost more than I had in weeks, 6 pounds!

Thanks everyone! I can't imagine how I will manage to get 45gms protein in a day!! And 48oz water!! It will be tough! I am allowed to drink anything that can go throw a straw those first two weeks... broths, shakes, etc... I guess Jello maybe out because it won't go through a straw? I had my pre-op appt and got all my RX's and went to the hospital for my interview... I can't believe this time in two weeks I will be banded!!!

are you supposed to be hungry during the first few weeks after surgery?

I'm new here as of .....about 5 minutes ago! Scheduled for the lap-band on June 15th. Right now I'm just trying to get through the Optifast 2 week program without running to Tims for tim bits.....lol I'm excited and very nervous at the same time. I have 80 pounds to lose but would be happy with 70....hell, I'll be happy when I hit 30 and delighted for every pound after...whoo hoo!!!! Any advise would be greatly appreciated. My only fear (other than fear itself) is getting sick or nauseated.

:welcomeB: Hello and welcome. I had Dr. Cobourn and I had to do 3 weeks opti-fast, because I had so much weight to lose. It was very difficult, but well worth it. Try to find a spot you can go and hibernate in the house to get away from the temptation(that helped for me). Focus on the last day, that helps. When you get to the last day you will be sooooooo proud of yourself, it's a great way to start with your band, not to mention the enourmous benefit you'll make for your surgery!! Also you can always come online and lean on us, I certainly did that. That is what everyone is here for, each other. I also did not get sick or nauseated, but let them know your concern the morning of surgery and they'll take care of it. Keep gravaul(?) with you all the time to be on the safe side.

Five weeks of liquids. Geesh. You must have some kinda will power buddy! hehe Hope you are feeling better and I know how good those mushies tasted after just 2 weeks on liquids.. You must be in Heaven!

I'm lucky because there's only me and hubby so I keep most tempting but naughty things out of the house and if he wants something he gets his own. That doesn't stop it from happening though and I have a few things I try and do.The drinking water helps if it's not too strong a 'pull' and I try and drink a lot so I just don't want to eat. Or I find something else to do. Come here and write my journal...makes me accountable for my actions or find someone to chat with. By the time you've done that you've forgotten you were hungry. Go out, shower, walk, swim...anything you can that's a distraction. If it's exercise based it often changes your mind set anyway because you feel so good with yourself! When my weight didn't go down for a 2nd week I planned a binge!!! Hubby was home for weekend so Monday was my day. Then Sunday I went swimming and felt good so the binge feelings went away. Finally...if I can't make it go away at all I at least think of what I'm going to eat and don't just grab at anything handy. I get my food (good or bad) and I sit down with it. I enjoy every single mouthful....if I'm going to do it,at least enjoy it right...and chew slowly. As soon as I feel I can, I stop and consider myself back on the wagon. Thankfully with the scale (generally) going down it's not something I'm dealing with as much and with my band I'm dealing with head hunger so much better than I ever did without it.:clap2:

I did not go for 2 weeks after my surgery. I read through some previous posts on here and went to the drug store and got some good ol' milk of magnesia. I took one dose before going to bed and the next morning things were moving again.

Hi Erynn, Whether you are a candidate can most easily be determined by your BMI. AMA guidelines for the US say that if your BMI is 40 or higher, you are medically eligible for WLS even if you are otherwise healthy. If your BMI is between 35 and 39, you need to have at least one co-morbidity; that is, a medical condition caused or exacerbated by excess weight. As for how long it takes, that's highly variable. Several weeks to several month, depending on insurance. Even in the best-case scenario it would take at least a couple of weeks.

More often than not, it's the INSURANCE that wants you to do the six month diet plan, not the doctors. The doctor will probably have you on a preop diet, but that's only a few weeks before surgery. :cake:

I think it depends on the surgeon. I was amazed how fast things moved once my insurance was set. I had to prove a year history (thankfuly my family Dr. could do that for me) for my insurance. Once the insurance was done, I had my appointment with the surgeon and was in surgery in a couple of weeks. He made me have a ton of pre-op tests: endoscopy, electrocardiogram, stress test, etc. However, they went very fast and were covered by insurance.

I had 1cc put into my 10cm/4cc band yesterday. Though I don't feel restriction and can still eat as much as I want (he did not put me on liquids this time), I do feel a strange sensation in the back of my throat after I eat. It's almost like acid, but I don't have the regular heartburn sensations to go along with it. Common sense tells me this may have been from overeating......if so, that's a good thing because now I have a reason without restriction to eat less. I had severe acid reflux before being banded I don't ever want to go there again. Anyone else had this with 1st fill.....or actually anytime? 1 more question...........My Doc will be out of town so I can't have a fill for another 6 weeks. he usually does them at 4....would it be ok if I have no restriction, to call and ask for one at 3 instead? Thanks Everyone! Michele

Sue is correct, I lost a ton of water weight pre and post-op and then maintained my weight. I just received my first fill yesterday (1 cc in a 4 cc band) and the surgeon specifically told me that it might take 1-2 weeks before the restriction kicks in. You've only been filled a week and have experienced PBs so it sounds like you should sit tight for another few weeks.

Hi all, I am just over 2 weeks post banded and I am feeling just great. I do have a question about port pain. For the last 2 days it seems that I can't bend to far forward without having some pain in the middle tummy area above my belly button. Also when I am sitting at my desk or driving I find I have to sit up strait or there is some pain. Its not constant but comes and goes. Does this sound familiar to anyone?I am hoping it is just the port healing on the inside. I have my first post-op appt on June 2. TIA for any answers/help:) :grouphug: Angie