Hello Junbies ......

I haven't seen a June Band Crew thread yet so thought I would start it .

I'll be banded on June 9th in Texas. I'm getting very excited about it. I know that the band is just a "tool" to aid in my weight loss journey and it will take a lot of hard work on my part to make it successful. I've been overweight my whole life with the earliest memories being around age 4. Although no one else in my family is overweight, I am extremely fortunate to have full family support in my decision. I know that there are many people who's family doesn't offer the support they need. I would love to meet other pre-bandsters being banded in June to walk with me to the banded side of life and offer each other support.

I wish you all the best.

Melissa Lea :hippie:

Pre-bandster 240 lbs

June 9, 2006

Spivak

self-pay

I'm glad to hear everyone is having positive experiences.

I can't believe how many of us there are that are banded and waiting to be.

Just earlier this year i never really heard of the banding procedure.

I wish i would have heard of it a long time ago.

CURIOUS:

How much does is cost to go to MEXICO and have the procedure done? My mom really wants it done to but doesn't have insurance.

Zexxah,

 

My dr. has a pre-op diet of low carbs. There is not a pre-op liquid diet though. so I do feel lucky there.

 

I have not called any of the Mexico doctors, but the advertisments I see are for alittle under $10,000. I have read some of the post where the total cost includes airfare and free fills. Although it seems that most find a local dr to do their fills and this can cost$$$$. I am self pay and it cost $15,000, this includes free fills for the first year and if I loose 50% of my extra weight I will get the 2nd year of fills free.

 

Reeneea

Hi Guys,

 

This may not make sense but thought I'd try a line or two.

 

Dr. Spivak had some kind of scheduling mix up was very apologetically two hours late. Surprisingly the time went pretty fast.

 

I ran into Melissa as soon as I got there, she was scheduled two hours ahead of me so she was still in the waiting room with her Aunt. We were able to chat off and on while we waited and we were together in step-down recovery.

 

The biggest thing I am feeling now is sleepy. I'm sure the pain, etc is yet to come. So far I have not had anything eventful to report. I have napped all afternoon and I'm up moving about now. The ride home seems to take forever, not because of any real pain..............I justed wanted my own bed. Very little gas, sipping water is uneventful. I just warmed some chicken broth and I'm looking forward to that.

 

Hopefully Melissa is doing great too. I'll keep you updated on my progress.

 

Thanks for all you good thoughts and prayers! Keep em' coming. Happy week-end to all.

welcome back!!

 

i'm very glad your surgery was uneventful. get some rest and keep sipping.

 

cutiern:biggrin1:

Zexxah,

My Dr. did not make me do a pre-op diet. Dr. Sanchez in Monterrey, Mx charges anywhere from 8500 to 9500 depending on which package you choose. Take a look at ready4achange.com for more info. I was pleased with my experience in MX.

Reeneea,

I'm still feeling the gas in my chest and back. If I take to big of a sip I burp alot also. I'm still a little soar in my stomach but feeling better everyday.

LOL, Sissi

I am so hungry....even after I eat I still feel hungry ...went to the doctor today and i will have my first fill July 6th.....she said i am hungry becauae i am not getting enough protein......tried to drink a smoothie today the gladiator with all that protein....and yuck......anybody else feeling hungry? Then i get jealous that my family can still eat all ths good food...AAAhhhhh! I know i need patience. I need some support.......:cry

Hi Zexxah,

I went to Dr. Ortiz in Mexico. His cost at the time was $8500.00. The airfare was another $240.00 RT on Southwest Airlines. I got their best fare. I ordered the tickets 3 weeks ahead. The $8500.00 covered the hotel and transportation to and from the airport, plus the surgery. That was basically it.

Cindy,

I am hungry too. Although I fill up very quickly. Although today I seem to have more gas in my stomach than I had been having, so nothing is going down to easily. Even water is tough, I have to take a sip, burp, then sip some more and so on.

I am not having much incisional pain although this evening the left incision seems uncomfortable......could be gas.

glad everything went well Barbara. I know that feeling of just wanting your bed. Life was so much better once I was home. take care and rest.

Cindy: Be careful. I was hungry too, so I ate a 4oz jar of Turkey Rice Dinner (baby food). Then I felt like trash. waited a few hours before I attempted a shake and finally got that all down, but now I feel like I have been stuffed with needles. It really hurts. Be sure to take it slow. I should have only had 2 oz of that dinner, I guess. I will know better tomorrow. No more for me tonight. Damn, it is a horrible full feeling.

I must keep in my head: "Keep it small, sip it slow."

Hello Everyoe --

Thank you for all the well wishes. I was banded this morning.

Yes, as Barbara said, there was a mix up in the surgery schedule so everything was about 2 hourse behind. It was so great to meet Barbara! She did great through her procedure and post-op recovery.

The only post-op problem I had was nausea. I was told that I breathed in a lot of the gas because my stubroned A** wouldn't go under. All the nurses were very accodomating. But since I had the nausea, I had to wait longer to leave to let my IV run through (that's where they injected the anti-nausea meds). And then I have a bit of a scratchy throat (as expected) with surgical intubation.

I slept most of the day. I've been up on/off. I just finished about 1/2 cup of chicken broth (only food today), and sipped on about 1/4 cup of light grape juice. I feel sore but no need to take pain meds at this time. I'm trying to avoid pain meds primarly to assure I'm not using too much of my abdominal muscles getting up/down. I've actually been able to sleep on my side. I got my roll over technique down.

My biggest fear was gas pains. I had some in my left shoulder after sugery but it has resolved. Thus far, no more gas pains.

Again, thanks for you well wishes.

Melissa Lea:hippie:

Hi Everyone,

I will be banded on June 14th. I'm VERY:clap2: excited but scared to death all at the same time. This is my first surgery EVER:o. Its a new beginning to my life. I have lost 15 pounds in 3 weeks on the pre-diet I have been on, just started the all liquid diet on the 7th YUMMY :hungry:. Good luck to all fellow June Bandits

Kelly

Glad your doing well Mellisa. It was good that you got to meet Barbara as well. I hope I get to meet some nice people on Tuesday also. I bet I was there when you guys were there. I had an ekg at 10:00 and at that time there was 3 pre op patients waiting. One for sure was Spivak's and they seemed to have been waiting a while. Is any of our group going to be at the Surgicenter in Houston on the 13th?

Keep up the good work and hope all of you recovering are doing well.

Welcome Kelly! Where are you having your surgery? and please fill us in on your diet. Wow! 15 pounds!! Congrats. What are you doing for your liquid phase? Keep us posted on your progress.

Melissa, I only hope I can be as fortunate as you and not have the gas pains. That has been my greatest fear as I have to travel by car. Do you think there was anything you did pre-op that may of helped or that your Dr. may have done?:help:

Thank you to all who have been banded so far. You are a great inspiration to all of us still waiting this month!:clap2:

My doctor hasn't mentioned anything about preopt diet yet. He did tell me that i have to loose 5lbs (for my liver to shrink). I haven't started trying to lose the weight yet because i don't know when my surgery date is going to be.

I'm getting the lap band because i'm overweight and i overeat.

Did anyone else dread the idea of a preopt diet? I'm questioning if i can even do it. I thought about going on an all liquid diet the week before.

Only liquids for a whole week??!! How did you guys do it!!??

Any advice at this point will help.

For the newly banded. . . .

How much time did you take off from work? And do you think its going to be enough?

I was supposed to be on a low carb diet prior to surgery but I kept waiting for a scheduled date to start the diet. Then I got a chance to take a cancellation date that was only four days away. No time for any real dieting. So far post-op (24 hours ago) I am having absolutely no problems. So I'm thinking the pre-op diet is not all that important. I wouldn't begin to recommend that you ignore your doctor's orders but I can only say that I had surgery with no pre-op and I'm ok.