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IF there is something I really want, I have some of it. I usually give myself one day a week to really go out and eat those type foods that I try to stay away from most days. I have found, though, that the Atkins bars are very tasty. My faves are the dark chocolate coconut almond (yummy) and the coconut (almost like Mounds bar). I like many of the flavors. Chocolate/caramel is good and the creamy peanut butter is good....etc.... Very tasty. I am perfectly satisfied having one of those bars versus a candy bar. But if you want just a little something, the Russell Stovers sugar free chocolates are good too. and the Weight Watchers ones. I like that they are individually wrapped. I'm usually good about controlling my urge to eat more than one (sometimes 2) since they are wrapped that way. I agree with the above poster about the dulce de leche sf pudding. very good. I also like the sf Creme Brulee.

How is everyone? I am a TON better today, every day is better than the one before. I am still having some gas pain but it's considerably less and bearable. I haven't needed any pain meds today. Today I noticed more of a discomfort with my incisions. Not pain but achy. I got to switch to soft foods today which was wonderful! I have to force myself to eat though, I am just not that hungry. I forgot to take my Vitamins this week so I got back on track today with my Flintstones! And for you ladies, I started my cycle today.... 3 weeks early! I had read on LBT about that being a possibility and it happened to me. Check in and let us know how you're doing!

Sorry I've been away for so long, I've been enjoying my banded life! I had my surgery 10/1. Went for my esophogram and follow-up on 10/9. Everything went well. I found out that I have the 14 cc band. I started my mushy/pureed diet on 10/12. My God how great it is to eat again!! I've been eating all sorts of things, and I am so surprised at how little it takes to fill me up. I find myself eating 2 times a day, and I'm usually not hungry much before lunchtime. oatmeal, chili, meatballs, Soups, I even ate some cavatelli!! I go back to work on 10/22. The doctor's office was very nice and gave me 3 weeks time off for disability. I begin introducing solid foods into my diet on 10/30 and I go for my first fill on 11/6. My port area is still a little sore, but all of the incisions are healing nicely. The swelling has really gone down now and I can see my weightloss. And my clothes are starting to feel too loose!!

Hello, I am at the very end of my process, just waiting for my processing team to look over my file and make sure it fits everything insurance is requiring. I just wondering how long it took all of you to go through your "processing" phase. Not how long it took insurance to approve, just how long it took your processing team to submit your prior authorization to insurance after everything was completed? I'm almost at two weeks and no one can tell me anything, but when I contact the insurance company they don't have it. Is this timing normal? Thank you!

My mother thought she was having a heart attack, my older sister had presistent lower back pain for years. Both were their GB. I am having a HIDDA scan on the 26 to see what is going on with mine. Bet it will show nothing like it did last year. I have a double ya up pain on the right side under my ribs that goes up to the curve of my neck on the right side. The nurse told me that I need to have the HIDDA scan before I can get a fill "just to make sure everything is ok". I don't think it is my gallbladder but S.O.D. Hope to find out what it is soon because I have had 3 attacks this last week, the last one started when I woke up this morning. Sucky day today.

Right now I have been having nausea for the past ten days and every suspects my gall bladder. I went to the ER about a week ago because the nausea was just getting worse and I was retching and I know that is bad for the band and mine is fairly new and all. My ultra sound came back just fine. So I now have a HIDA scan scheduled. My symptoms: Nausea. Pretty much there is persistant nausea, but it gets much worse after I eat something, about 20 or 30 minutes I would say if I had to guess. I'm talking agonizing... I could be in the bathroom trying to figure out if anything would help, throwing up, bowel movement, gas, etc. Nothing helps but time. Also gas and indigestion. Some lower back pain on the right side. Also it hurts on the right side of my upper abdomen, around the bottom of my rib cage, if someone presses on it. At first I just thought it hurt because it was being pressed on but when the surgeon pressed on the left side to compare, that felt fine, it didn't hurt. Then he pressed on the right side again. Why is it that when doctors find where it hurts, they always want to press on it again? I always want to say, "knock it off, that hurts". Usually i hold my toungue, but didn't we establish that pressing equals hurting the first time around? My last bowel movement, a few days ago, was greenish. I haven't had one since so I have this laxative my PCP prescribed me the other day because she said the zofran I am on for the nausea can be constipating. I don't feel constipated though, but I don't know. My bowels haven't been consistent since the surgery. If it is the gall bladder, I get to be cut open yet again... At this point though I am getting a little more anxious that it isn't my gall bladder. We know its not my band cause that looks good on the x ray and it feels just fine and normal to me. So what would it be? I don't want to be nauseated forever. The surgeon said it was likely either my gall bladder or something mysterious that would randomly clear up and never come back. The last time I had stomach problems it was my ovary, but I don't have abdominal pain this time like I did then, so I know its not that. Whatever it is I just want it fixed! Right now everybody seems inclined to think its probably my gall bladder. My liver enzymes were also elevated, but mine go up whenever I get sick.

Dang, I'm glad you mentioned that! I'm in the same situation as you, but have free fills until September. I was going to put off gall bladder surgery indefinitely (until more frequent/severe attacks), but with the fill situation in mind, I'd be better off getting the surgery out of the way so that I can get my re-fills for free! I've only had a few attacks. The first two or three were relatively mild. The last one was 5-6 weeks ago, and was fairly severe. It started after lunch, and lasted until dinner time or so. I was in bad enough pain that I knew that I couldn't drive myself to the hospital, so it was either wait it out or call 911. Fortunately, it passed before that was necessary. An ultrasound the next week showed the stones. I visited my bariatric surgeon a few days later, and he recommended I go ahead and have surgery. He said that something like 80% of the American population has gallstones, but once you become symptomatic, it usually goes downhill, and that eventually surgery is necessary. He added that women are more likely to go ahead and have it taken care of, whereas men usually wait until they have "the big one" that makes them regret delaying surgery! Wheetsin, what are you waiting for, girl?? You seriously need to go on and get that baby taken care of! Don't be such a "guy"! Tami

Tomorrow will be 2 weeks since procedure, I was doing pretty good, but now, I can honestly say.......I AM GETTING HUNGRY!:crying: I weighed on my scale, down to 220, so that is now a good 8 lbs!! Other than the hunger comin, I am feeling good. I need to go walk more! Dr. said call if I needed to see him earlier than the Mar. 5th appt he gave me for my first fill. I dont know if I should think about calling something earlier...end of month....?? Hope I dont eat my little ones arms off!!:scared2: LOL

Maybe it would be a good idea to tell your boss about the surgery and the reason why you need that lunch time... I feel your pain. I am a Police officer and we don't have a specific time to eat. We eat when we have a slow period and those are almost always interrupted by a call for service and we have to leave half way through our meal to go take a call..It makes it hard to eat healthy so we usually resort to going through the drive-thru for meals...Once I get back to work next week, I'm going to have to work something else out...I will probably rely on Protein shakes during my work day and then eat actual food on my days off or in the evenings...

I got whatever I could in chewable or liquid form and crushed the rest for maybe the first 2 or 3 weeks, but as you say, it's awful, (even using applesauce). It wasn't long before I started swallowing. For larger tablets, I'd cut them first and take in several pieces. Smallish capsules (Omeprazole) went down okay whole after a few weeks or weren't that bad in applesauce.

My husband started getting kidney stones about 6 months post op. He was having a episode atleast once a month. His saving grace has been pure lemon juice water. He goes through a bag a week and squeezes the juice in a water bottle. He then drinks several glasses of it a day with the juice. The artificial stuff did not work. You can have a test to determine the type of stone. He ate a lot if okra which was on the kidney stone forbidden list.

I have Tricare Prime, I had to pay $480 out of pocket for the protien stuff that i needed to eat and take, and for some multivitamins ect. I know a few people in my area who didnt have to pay anything but I liked the office i was going to and felt that it was a good place that i was comfortable with so i decided to pay it, Hey Tricare pays every dollar of my surgery and out of the entire seminar group of about 15 people I was the only person who had 100 percent coverage for the surgery no copays no nothing, so i felt that the 480 for my nutrition presurgery & a few weeks after surgery was worth it.

Hey everyone! I'm new to this site but I really need some help! I've been post band since 4/2012 and I've lost 75 lbs I was up to 85 lbs but had a setback.. but I have a problem that happens all the time, my band seems to tighten itself.... it will be fine and then all of a sudden it is hard for me to eat anything... and it doesn't get better even if I baby it - so I'd go get adjusted if I had to. But this time it's different. .. I have the worst acid reflux ever and it's been 2 weeks and it hasn't gotten better despite all my OTC effort (prilosec, Zantac, pepcid, tums...) nothing has helped... I can eat, but it hurts! I have a pressure that radiates from my stomach to my back.... it's a tightening pressure and suffocating feeling. Is this normal? Is my band tightening itself? Any advice?

My doctor will not even schedule surgery until you quit and she does blood tests to check. FYI -- It takes 2 weeks to get the nicotine completely out of your system.

I would call your doctor. If it is moving that much it probably needs restitched. No reason to wait 2 weeks unless the doctor says it is necessary.

Its raining today, which the sun would shine and warm up just a little bit. Can't wait to get my 1st fill. I'm wanting something sweet, like a brownie or cookie. I'm a cookie monster big time. I have never met a cookie that I didn't like. Its been 4 weeks since I have had any thing sweet. Thats a really long time for me to go without sweet things. I'm drinking a glass of water right now maybe that will help. Who am I kidding. Its really bad when you have to tell yourself that water is the answer. I proud of myself, I haven't missed the diet coke at all. That really surprises me. I thought it would be the hardest thing to do, but it's not. Wish rest of the stuff would be that easy. I'm going to try tuna tonite for supper. I have never just ate tuna without bread. I'm to scared to try bread, besides if I fine out that it goes down easy, it might be to easy to eat something else that I don't want to start eating again. Time to get busy, and stop feeling sorry for myself. This is want I wanted. I do feel better, but still have low energy level, hoping that will get better soon.

Its raining today, which the sun would shine and warm up just a little bit. Can't wait to get my 1st fill. I'm wanting something sweet, like a brownie or cookie. I'm a cookie monster big time. I have never met a cookie that I didn't like. Its been 4 weeks since I have had any thing sweet. Thats a really long time for me to go without sweet things. I'm drinking a glass of water right now maybe that will help. Who am I kidding. Its really bad when you have to tell yourself that water is the answer. I proud of myself, I haven't missed the diet coke at all. That really surprises me. I thought it would be the hardest thing to do, but it's not. Wish rest of the stuff would be that easy. I'm going to try tuna tonite for supper. I have never just ate tuna without bread. I'm to scared to try bread, besides if I fine out that it goes down easy, it might be to easy to eat something else that I don't want to start eating again. Time to get busy, and stop feeling sorry for myself. This is want I wanted. I do feel better, but still have low energy level, hoping that will get better soon.

I, personally, think you should have decided on the band before you booked the procedure -- kind of scary to second guess this when your surgery is just over a week away. BUT... There is another website I frequent where someone just asked this question....you might like their responses. However, most people on that board that didn't have the band are pretty ill-informed about it. http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/messageboard/postdetail/1262177.html?vc=0 http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/surgtype-forums/LapBand/postdetail/171393.html?vc=0 http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/surgtype-forums/LapBand/postdetail/170826.html?vc=0 My cravings are pretty much gone. Sure, every once in a while, I crave something specific: mexican food or itialian or something, but I don't crave food in general. I don't have the feeling that I need to eat, eat, eat. That comes with good restriction as I don't feel hungry. Here are the reasons that I went with lapband: (note: this is posted from my blogspot where I journal these things) There are a few different types of weight loss surgery. They each work a bit differently and the results are different. One of the most popular ones is called RNY, where they cut your stomach to make a much smaller pouch that feeds into your intestines. They also shorten your intestines to prevent food from absorbing into your body as quickly. Depending on the person, they can either do the surgery laproscopically or open. I believe the surgery takes a couple of hours. From what I understand, most of the weight lost after this surgery is in what they call the "window of opportunity"-18-24 months after surgery. People can expect to lose 50-70% of their excess weight. A newer surgery is called Lap Band. Most of these are performed laproscopically. They place a band around the top portion of your stomach to make it smaller (called a pouch). It makes your stomach like an upside down funnel. You have the full sized stomach, but the opening is alot smaller, so you feel full faster because you have to wait for the food to go through the funnel into the larger part of your stomach. The FDA approved this method in 2001 for the US, but it has been performed before that in Europe. Weight loss with this approach is slower, but there is no "window of opportunity". After surgery, people can get "fills". The band around the stomach is filled with saline and can be filled up to be tighter or emptied to be looser, giving the person some freedom. Here are my reasons for having the lap-band: 1. My stomach/intestines will not be cut/staped/rearranged. If I ever had to have it reversed, it is much easier to remove the band than to re-cut the stomach. 2. I do not have to worry about malabsorption of my food and nutrients. All my nutrients will be absorbed the same as they are pre-surgically. People with RNY really have to watch their Vitamins since their stomach and intestines don't absorb nearly as much. People with a lap-band have to watch their vitamins too because they can't eat as much, but what they do take in vitamin-wise will all be absorbed. 3. Weightloss is slower. This helps with skin not to be as saggy after the weight loss. It also helps me establish lifestyle changes instead of using the "window of opportunity". People who lose weight very quickly often get gallstones and then need their gall bladder removed. I'd like to avoid that. 4. The band can be adjusted if needed. If the weight isn't coming off well, the fill can be increased. If the weight is coming off too quickly, the fill can be decreased. If I ever get pregnant :-) and need to eat more, I can get an unfill. This is true even 10 years down the road. 5. Lower mortality rate by far. 6. Less complications post-surgical, since there are less changes in your body and no cuts. 7. Shorter hospital stay. Most Lap Band patients are in and out in a day, if they have a fairly early surgery time and no complications with anesthesia. Here is information on Lap-Band: http://wlssearch.com/surgicalweightloss.htm http://www.nevdgp.org.au/geninf/std_misc/OBESITY_SURGERY.htm http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/surgtype-forums/LapBand/about.html http://www.lap-band.com/about.html http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/mda/docs/p000008.html

I first thought of getting the surgery done 9 months ago, I'm now less than 3 weeks away from surgery (also in Mexico, but with Dr. Cabrera). In some ways I feel lucky - for a morbidly obese person, I'm pretty healthy (no co-morbidities), active, and while I obviously overeat (mostly, because I can), I don't have food addiction issues. I don't have any support here in Japan (and I wouldn't even if I had the surgery here), so I've been educating myself, watching videos, reading tons of articles and blogs, and learning from forums like this one. The only thing I miss that other people have is the ability to join groups of people in real life who are dealing with WLS pre- or post-op. I'm so thankful for places like this though, because otherwise I'm not sure how well I would do without that kind of support. I used to worry I was missing out on a lot because I didn't have to jump through the hoops that most everyone else has to, but I've also read that a lot of that is for insurance purposes, and that the quality of care you get pre- and post-op can range from fantastic to indifferent. I think for those of us having surgery in Mexico, not having all the tests beforehand is not necessarily detrimental to post-op surgery success. It just forces us to be more pro-active about educating ourselves and finding local medical support that may or may not have experience with WLS, but are willing to help us out anyway.

Today I went to the hospital to have blood drawn. My PCP wants to check my thyroid, blood suger and cholesterol levels. Everyone was super nice there and made me feel really comfortable. As I was walking down the maze of the hospital I happened to get a glimpse of the surgeon who would be doing the surgery. I only saw him for a few seconds but he looked kind and gentle. He had smiling eyes and was casually talking to a co-worker. Right after I had my blood drawn, I went to get the oil in my car changed. My phone unexpectedly range and it was the surgeon's nurse. She told me that they had a cancellation and I would be able to see the surgeon today for my pre-op consult! eek! I took the opportunity as I will be beginning to teach in a few weeks and will have very limited time for all of these appts.! I was not originally supposed to see him until Aug. 21st!!! Wish me luck, I will be leaving in just a bit, armed with quite a list of ?s from the board! Thank you!

Ok, so I hope that I don't babble on here and make no sense but oh well here is a little update! So a couple of weeks ago I started having problems again with not being able to keep much down without it coming back up!!! It started to get pretty miserable!!! and I mean Miserable!! I was like, why in the world would anyone want to do this to them self's, this is so stupid!! I was reading a lot on lap-band talk and looking at what most people eat.. well I would eat a few bits, and I mean a FEW bits of something and be totally satisfied!! I had come to find out that most people were able to eat a lot more than I could... but I though oh well, Im loosing weight!!! but loosing weight by being bulimic is not the way to go!... Then on Thursday I started to have pain in the kidneys.. So I thought I had a kidney infection... Friday I went to the hospital and after a 3 hour wait in the waiting room, I find out that I am dehydrated, and have a kidney infection as well as a possible hernia.. the doctor did a CT scan and said that It looks like I had a hernia.. (Dr. Malley said that if they don't know what they are looking at then the pouch from my lap band looks like a hernia) but I won't believe the hernia part.... Anywho.. I went and saw Dr. Malley today for my scheduled visit and I said "take it out" meaning all the fluid!! I want to eat!!! I have lost 67lbs and think that I am doing pretty good!!! But I still want to eat!! so I need to weigh the options!! I went into the office thinking I had 0.75cc in my band because I thought I had been keeping track... well I was not aware that Dr. malley put 5cc in my band during surgery (he normally does not do that) he said that my band was loose enough in surgery that he could fill it up then to keep it restricted.. hmmmmm no wonder I have been sick!!!! So we talked about it and he took 1/2 of what I had in, out.. so that should leave me with 3cc... It was funny because he chuckled when he said well you have almost 6cc in your band.. I screamed, "take some out"!!!!! well I feel much better to know that i had a lot in there and that I did not have just 0.75cc.. because I was thinking how am I this restricted with just 0.75cc this is horrible!! will I ever be able to eat? SO GUESS WHAT???? my stomach growled for the first time a few minutes ago... it scared me!!! I was like, what in the world? I am not sure if I like that or not.... I am getting ready to eat lunch so we will see how that goes!!!

I have been trying to find RECENT information from sleevers/future sleevers at NAS Jax and ended up here. I have my initial consult in two weeks and am trying to figure out what to expect. If either one of you have any helpful info, I would appreciate it greatly!

Thats one of the single worst aspects of the laproscopic surgery is that they blow you up like a baloon... Took about a week for me for the air to disipate ... was very uncomfortable at times ...walking helps a lot .. . hope it settles

Hi everyone. This is my first post. I was banded on 5/23/06 - everything went great. The only issue I am having is my stomach is Greatly distended. I am on the verge of looking like an ethiopian kid in some TV ad for sponsoring the children. My stomach was rather flat before (believe it or not) and it really poofs out ALOT now and is rather hard to the touch. It is very uncomfortable. I have had a few bowel movements so that is not the problem. Anyone else have this?? The nurse said some people get this and it can last a few weeks... ugh