Can't believe this day has finally arrived! In less than two weeks, I'm going to have a tummy tuck, breast lift with augmentation and lipo. I think I was 20 shades of red today when I had to get my before pictures. :wub:Then the nurse called to say that my front shot didn't turn out well and to please come back in the next few days and do a retake! :scared2:Oh, bother! I have such mixed feelings. I still expect the PS to call and tell me that maybe I should lose a few more pounds first. I can't believe how much shame I still have in my body. I wonder when you get over this?! I think I had to sign about 30 different places for consent and possible complications. Reading everything that could happen is enough to make you want to run right out of the office!:tongue: I remember that I felt the same way before my lapband surgery, so, I'm hoping that it's just pre-surgery jitters! Trying to picture what I'll look like afterwards is really hard. I keep grabbing my stomach and trying to picture it smooth and lumpless! Okay, that's hard to do! I couldn't decide if I should have the breast augmentation and at first the nurse tried to talk me out of it, saying that I would just be smaller and perky. I was ready to accept her opinion, but then she said, after closer inspection that she thought I should get the augmentation. It's hard to know when you don't get to talk to your surgeon about it. I've seen him twice, but the augmentation is more of a last minute thing. I just hope I made the right decision. It's all very nerve wracking. I'm trying to put a positive spin on all this, because I really have a bad case of the nerves! I want to share my journey with anyone who wants to come along. I will post before shots with my after shots. Love to have you join me on this adventure! Wahoo!:cursing:

Karey - One thing you might want to ask your doctor about when it comes to your revision is a reverse tummy tuck. Instead of a vertical incision it is a horizontal incsions that falls just at your bra line. Then they pull the skin UP instead of down. That is what she will be doing whenever I decide to go in and get a breast lift. She said that was the best thing to do when you have extra skin up top. The reason I had to have the vertical incision was because I had so much extra skin on the sides. Just thought I would give you that info! Thanks for all your support on my thread!

Jacquie: You spell your name just like my niece. I love it. Your weight loss is going great guns! Congratulations! Thanks for the support. It really does help.

Salsa: I hope you're feeling better. I was paying close attention on your thread to what your doc was going to do with your upper ab skin. I will see my doc for my 6 month check up and pics and hopefully, I'll have all my weight off and so we'll be able to see what is what and I will ask him about a reverse tummy tuck. I think the scars under my breasts would bother me less than the skin, so I would be willing to do it. Anyway, I'll definetely keep it in mind. Thanks for the info!

Well, just wanted to post a few things as follow up on my thread. I was going to post some 4 month pictures, but I had to have an emergency band removal surgery last Thursday. They were able to place a new band on, thank goodness! But, they perforated my stomach doing it, so I am on liquids for the next 30 days and then on a new bandsters diet. I had lost 11 of the 20 I wanted to get off, so I guess that now is my perfect opportunity. LOL. Not the way I wanted to have it happen. I'm a little depressed because I was just getting back into my exercise and feeling like I did before my PS. Oh well. Now, I have 6 new scars on my new flat tummy. I think I will give it a few months before I take a bikini shot, but maybe a clothed shot would show the progress? I guess you never know what life is going to through at you. My band slipped and my stomach was totally blocked. I was in so much pain, I didn't really care what they did, I was actually looking forward to the anesthesia! I guess it was a fairly life threatening situation, but luckily it wasn't my time to go. If you're struggling with too tight a band, you might want to rethink sticking it out. Being too tight can lead to slippage. More later...

holy crap karey - glad your were well taken care of & your new band able to be placed.....take care of yourself!!!

Well, just wanted to post a few things as follow up on my thread. I was going to post some 4 month pictures, but I had to have an emergency band removal surgery last Thursday. They were able to place a new band on, thank goodness! But, they perforated my stomach doing it, so I am on liquids for the next 30 days and then on a new bandsters diet. I had lost 11 of the 20 I wanted to get off, so I guess that now is my perfect opportunity. LOL. Not the way I wanted to have it happen. I'm a little depressed because I was just getting back into my exercise and feeling like I did before my PS. Oh well. Now, I have 6 new scars on my new flat tummy. I think I will give it a few months before I take a bikini shot, but maybe a clothed shot would show the progress? I guess you never know what life is going to through at you. My band slipped and my stomach was totally blocked. I was in so much pain, I didn't really care what they did, I was actually looking forward to the anesthesia! I guess it was a fairly life threatening situation, but luckily it wasn't my time to go. If you're struggling with too tight a band, you might want to rethink sticking it out. Being too tight can lead to slippage. More later...

Karey : I am so sorry to hear about your troubles. What were your first symptoms? what you are describing is my true nightmare. How tight were you? I am sorry you are feeling so depressed and the pain sounds terrible if you were looking forward to anesthesia!

I am curious how that scenario would be handled? I was self-pay for my band, so I am wondering if I had a problem like Karey's and the band had to be removed, would my insurance company ever get involved or am I 'on my own' with this little sucker from now on?

When you feel up to it Karey, would you mind providing the details of your ordeal?

Thanks so much and I hope you are feeling better everyday.

Lynn

Well, just wanted to post a few things as follow up on my thread. I was going to post some 4 month pictures, but I had to have an emergency band removal surgery last Thursday. They were able to place a new band on, thank goodness! But, they perforated my stomach doing it, so I am on liquids for the next 30 days and then on a new bandsters diet. I had lost 11 of the 20 I wanted to get off, so I guess that now is my perfect opportunity. LOL. Not the way I wanted to have it happen. I'm a little depressed because I was just getting back into my exercise and feeling like I did before my PS. Oh well. Now, I have 6 new scars on my new flat tummy. I think I will give it a few months before I take a bikini shot, but maybe a clothed shot would show the progress? I guess you never know what life is going to through at you. My band slipped and my stomach was totally blocked. I was in so much pain, I didn't really care what they did, I was actually looking forward to the anesthesia! I guess it was a fairly life threatening situation, but luckily it wasn't my time to go. If you're struggling with too tight a band, you might want to rethink sticking it out. Being too tight can lead to slippage. More later...

Karey,

So sorry to hear about your band but it sounds like they got it fixed in time. Thank goodness! I am glad that I have never been too tight as some people are, it means a little slower weight loss, but less chance of a slip. Take care and know that I'm thinking of you and wishing you a quick recovery.

karey: I'm glad you're feeling like being up and at the computer. Darn! 6 new holes on your new flat tummy. Well as they say, nature isn't perfect. No perfect trees, flowers, etc., you're just a product of mother nature with a few slight blemishes. Otherwise, perfection!

One thing that I have been concerned about since my really too tight episodes of last summer, is that not only do we bandsters have a "tighter is better" mindset, many doctors and related professionals in the field of LB surgery do too. So the answer has always tended to be if you weren't losing weight or not losing fast enough, was to add more fill.

When I told my experiences here last summer and continuing into the fall, I could tell by the responses that people were saying basically: ok yeah, whatever. And really didn't think I had a clue. Everyone figured me for just having no willpower and not enough commitment to the band working.

Your problem is very regrettable and unfortunate, but if you are listened to and your message reaches more people, it will have at least served a good purpose for that.

Folks, PB'ing is NOT a good thing. It is a bad thing. You might get away with it for a while, or you might not. There's no reason to take those kinds of chances with your band. The stakes are too high. We should all stop trying to have quick weight losses with the band and do ourselves a favor and love ourselves for a reasonable 1 to 2 pound loss per week.

I'm not absolutely NOT criticizing you karey. I'm not suggesting that you did anything incorrectely. I'm just saying that being too tight can cause slippage and erosion and those are both seriously threatening to our health and our success.

Number II in my lecture series is now over. You can now return to your previously scheduled fun thread. :crying:

P.S. Praying for your speedy recovery, karey!!

Karey,

Glad they could reband you. A friend of mine wasn't that lucky. Hope you feel better soon.

Karey:

Hope you heal quickly and get back to normal life, including exercise. I'm sorry that you had to go through this.

Your posts have always been inspirational and informative to me. Thanks for doing all that you do here on the board.

Take care, rest, relax, recuperate!

Sue

Thanks for all the well wishes. I am starting to feel better. Still very nauseauted, which I don't remember being when I first got my band. I agree with BJean that it isn't good to be too tight. I really didn't think I was too tight because at first, I pb'd only occassionally. It was only in the last 2 weeks that I thought I could be too tight and I should have gotten my butt into the doc before I did. That being said, I'm really wondering if the problem didn't start when I had my plastic surgery. While lying in bed the other night, I was watching Big Medicine and they were doing a TT on a lapband patient. One of the surgeon's got a hold of the patient's port and the other ps went a little balistic, saying, do not pull on that port, you can totallly pull the band off or make it slip. That made me think, because during my tt, they changed my port to a lower profile port. I also had my first serious episode with pbing after a pain pill was stuck and I had to get an unfill right after surgery. It has only been since my TT, that I have had issues with my band. I guess that I'll never be able to prove it, but I really do wonder if something happened in my surgery? As far as who has to pay for this surgery? I do! My insurance company doesn't pay for anything related to my band. It sucks! Of course, my lap band doc said they would give me a break and try and get the hospital to give me a break and contact the band makers, etc. We will see how much of a break I get. I'll keep you posted. Anyway, we're a lot more vulnerable than we think we are. I'm not really angry about any of it, I would just like to know what really happened and why. Was I too tight? Yeah? Maybe? I just know I'm going to be very careful with my second chance. I'm not going to hurry in to get fills. Of course, I'm almost at goal, so I can be more relaxed about it. I just don't want to gain any weight and I really do want to get the last little bit off, it just might have to be with diet and exercise and not as much reliance on the band.

Karey,

You have a very good point there. I wonder if it did happen while you were having your surgery? very interesting.......

Just take care of yourself.

Laura

Karey!!!!! I am so gad they were able to catch/repair this in time. it CAN be very dangerous and long term. I'm sorry to hear you'll have to absorb the costs and I hope like heck they'll give you a break..... hospitals, let alone surgeouns, are so incredibly spendy!!!!

You've got a great attitude and I'm 100% sure you will be completely successful, both in losing the last few pounds and in your long term, keeping-the-weight-off goals.

Take care of yourself and take it easy.... give yourself plenty of time to heal.... the exercise and remaining weight loss can wait :thumbup:

Karey - just now reading this. Hope your doing better. What a turn. Glad they were able to reband you right away and that you didn;t loose it. Keep us updated and how your doing. Best wishes.

Neal: Thanks for your well wishes. I'm feeling better everyday. Compared to the TT, it was a mosquito bite (as Nina would say). I can start walking this week and plan to do so. How are you feeling after your recent touch up surgery?