Just realized I never made an introduction!!!

Hi , my name is Ron. It took me 16 months from first appointment to surgery.

I was Banded on March 17 2008 (Happy St Patty's Day). I lost 27 pounds on my pre-op diet. It was much easier than I thought it would be, until the holidays hit. had to make a mad dash to the finish line to loose the last few pounds b4 surgery.

I had my procedure done In Fremont California by Dr. Dutta and his staff. They were all wonderful as well as the staff in the Hospital after surg. I stayed 1 night and went home the next day. Sounds like I have been having issues most others have been having so far; no fill yet and getting hungry!

One thing I have been experiencing is air/gas in my stomach. it was bothering me so bad after surg that I went to the store and bought Gas-ex. It helped a little. has anyone else had this problem? I still struggle with it and wondering if it will get worse after fillings?

So far this site has been a God send, you are all wonderful and I totally appreciate all positive and sometimes negative input. I think I need to tuffin my skin to take the negative. Queenie (haha)

Enjoy the site, it's a lot of fun and informative!!!

There is someone in Fremont doing this surgery?! Oh wait, I forgot about Kaiser. Did you have your surgery there? I drive by there all the time.

I don't have Kaiser and the closest East Bay doctors I could find were at Alta Bates in Oakland and ValleyCare in Pleasanton. The Oakland guy hadn't done enough lap bands for my comfort level though.

I did have my surgery at kaiser in Fremont. I dont remember the # but they do them all day long there. lap band and RNY.

My insurance (Kaiser duh) covered it 100% due to my sleep apnea. My BMA was at 38. I had my routine blood work and regular check ups in Santa Clara but only Kaiser Fremont and South San Francisco do the procedures. I will need to get my fills done there too..

Welcome and congratulations on your success.

I have Aetna but WLS is excluded. I can switch to UHC or Kaiser at open enrollment time. UHC covers it under certain conditions that I had trouble getting a firm answer as to what they were out of the CS rep I talked to and I haven't looked into Kaiser since my family has been with the same doctor since '96 and we don't want to change. I strongly suspect it's covered though.

I have a BMI of 42 and hypertension.

Welcome, Ron :cry_smile:

The gas (at least for me) subsides. I had it for about a month - 6 weeks post op. After that though, luckily, it went away. The best thing for me when it occurred, was walking.

Kaiser covers the procedure as long as your bmi is 40, or 38 with a health related condition, mine was sleep apnea and a bmi of 38. My nutritionist suggested i pursue it and with a little coaxing my gen practitioner agreed to refer me to the Bariatric Department, and the rest is history....

Thank you for the greetings and warm wishes:biggrin::cry_smile::biggrin:

Hi I am Wendy.

I was told to use Phazyme for the gas pain. Many banders mentioned it worked better than Gas-X for them and it can be bought in any store. I got mine at Walmart to pack for my surgery trip. Good luck.

Alta Bates Oakland Dr Upadhyay is F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S. I am a Kaiser patient, but went outside Kaiser and had Dr Upadhay do mine...get this I was his 1st Lap band ever in 2004..... I have some thoughts on this, let me know if you want more details

Hey all, anyone still on this thread? Can't believe it's been 4 years. Still down 50+ pounds but definitely still struggle. Foods just doesn't mean much to me anymore. Sometimes I would rather not eat than deal with the uncomfortable full feeling and the occasional slimming. Anyway, how about updates, if anyone has the time.

Update time,

Hello to anyone out there. Just passed the 5 year mark. Have been happy with weight, not skinny but not getting any bigger. Complications a few months ago. Had a bout with vertigo and ended throwing up a few times. It was the first time for me to actually throw up from my stomach and not from eating too fast. From that point on I started to feel funny, I was able to "feel" my band and port more prominent. Was uncomfortable as soon as i started eating was always felt odd. I let it go on for a few months before going back to my Bariatric dr for a check up. Turns out it may have slipped. My dr immediately unfilled by band (weight gain started right away!!) and now I have to wait till August to get an X-ray to see if it moved back. If it doesn't correct itself I will get the option to have it removed and replaced with ru en y. Any thoughts from anyone out there???

Hi Ronn

Did your doctor give you the option of a sleeve?

I just feel that you were given only one option.

I opted for the band but I originally wanted the sleeve. If I do have problems down the line I would probably opt for the sleeve.

I'm in FL, and I live in Titusville but travel to St Petersburg which is 3 hrs away but that's a story in itself. I went to seminars for 3 yrs, I wanted a person to person relationship with my surgeon. I have that with my surgeon. The other places I went fills were handled by someone other than the surgeon. Then you never saw the surgeon again unless a complication set in. I couldn't handle that. I have to have a rapport with the doctor.

Wishing you well and hope everything turns out OK for you.

Hi Dawalsh, thanks for your comment. In the clinic I go to (kaiser) there are 4 surgeons that handle the operations and the fills, i get to see my surgeon occasionally but normally See another for my fills and follow up appointments. Kaiser does the sleeve but my dr is recommending the ru en y if I have it redone. She advised me of patients having lots of reflux issues with the sleeve and ultimately I would prefer gastric bypass because in an emergency my dr said it can be reversed. The sleeve cannot be. Wish me luck in my travels!!!

Good luck Ron!