Alexandra

I agree with Sue. You can't be the only adult in that household who knows how to throw together spaghetti and meatballs! Let daddy do the lifting in the kitchen for a couple of days. Don't let yourself get too hungry and making dinner won't be so hard. It seems to me that you should by now be able to go with a broader range of liquids, and that can include cream soups and chowders. Egg drop soup was one of my favorites--it's loaded with protein and goes down very easily. PS: Why limit yourself to one sugar-free popsicle a day? Just asking. They have like, what, 8 calories? If they help you get through this tough time, there's no reason to skimp. This is not a time to worry about calories, and concentrate on healing. Feed yourself, girl!

Hi Julie, Gabby is right. If you're thinking about getting banded here in the U.S., chances are you'd have a very hard time finding a surgeon to do it. You're not heavy enough, unless you have significant health problems that weight loss will improve (co-morbidities). From what I hear, though, you sound like a good candidate for banding in Mexico or Europe, where their medical criteria are different. One thing I will say, is that liposuction is NOT recommended as a method for significant weight loss. To take more than a relatively small amount of fat from highly targeted areas can cause SEVERE bleeding. I sure hope you didn't hear that recommendation from any medical people!! Good luck with your research. :eek:

Hi JA! Reading all the old threads and posts will give you a good background, and obviously feel free to ask any specific questions that occur to you. Welcome and good luck with your research!

Hi to both of you, and welcome! I don't have any firm notion of what might be causing your numbness, except perhaps immobility? Since your surgery was so recent you've probably been sitting a lot or lying in one position all night, whereas before you probably moved around. That could cause some temporary nerve weirdness, I'd imagine. Just a guess...

NO KIDDING! I am ALWAYS having to tell my husband that he's cooking way too much food. He can calculate our dinners as though they're for one adult and two children now, instead of the THREE adults and two children he used to figure on. We're saving money, too!!

Hi ~c~: You've written a post I could easily have written in certain moods. These feelings are not unusual, and I wish there were a magic bullet to eliminate them. I suppose therapy might help, but if we know where the self-desctructive behavior is coming from, where does one start with the therapy? Maybe I should try it once before I dismiss it, but it's hard to imagine what a therapist might do besides saying repeatedly, "Don't you want to be thinner? What's wrong with you?" I can say that to myself plenty, thanks. And many of the answers are obvious anyway. (Before people start yelling, I really don't think therapy is a waste of time. I just haven't figured out any way it could help me...yet.) All I can say is be good to yourself, take a break from self-criticism. When complication things are going on in your life, it doesn't do you any good to be angry at yourself as well. Be well, take care, and let us know how you're doing.

Here's what I would do if I were in your shoes. I'd give the fill three or four weeks to see if it changes. People often report that a fill doesn't immediately become obvious but a couple of weeks later it suddenly will. Especially with your first fill, you don't want to take any chances of going too tight. If several weeks go by and you don't feel anything, definitely shell out for the x-ray. Particularly since you're dealing with a different doctor than your surgeon, you want him to know as much about your band as possible. It's an investment in your future, and the fills are as important as the initial placement if you want this to work. Maybe one x-ray will be all it takes for the doctor to see what's what and fill you right from here on out. What would be worse is trying again and again and never getting the restriction you need to make the band work for you at all. THAT would be a lot of wasted money. Good luck, and don't be discouraged! People have come through way worse stuff than this to be very successful bandsters.

Did the doctor really say that he wasn't sure he'd hit the port?!? Blech, what a message to send to a patient! How about: "I'm having a bit of trouble finding what I'm certain is the right spot; how about you come back when we can take a look under fluoro so I know I'm not wasting everyone's time?" If he's an experienced band doctor and can't be sure of getting the right spot for a fill, I'd think he'd be worried about the positioning of your port! Anyway, I don't think it's necessarily proof of no fill that you were able to eat half a sandwich. The question is: Do you feel any difference in restriction from where you were before? If he was only trying to put in a tiny bit, as some docs do, perhaps you aren't intended to feel very restricted at this point. However, if I were you, I'd want to have the doctor take a real look and be everything is OK and that he didn't do any damage! Phooey. Talk about a "blind" fill!

Hey David, I don't want to nitpick, but your math is off. You're down 60 lbs!! Did you do that in only one month?!! Holy moly, Batman, why did you get a fill?

Perhaps you're not posting about your problems because you know the answers? Hmmmm, could be... :eek: I know that if I KNOW the answer to the problem I have, I'm not likely to post about it, unless I'm asking HOW to accomplish the thing I know I should/shouldn't be doing. Sounds familiar... Sometimes I know the answer, and know how, but for whatever reason am not really interested in fixing the problem yet. No point in posting about that... Yeppers!! Donali, you sure have my number. Sue, on the other hand: You're just nice, no matter what, and you want people to feel good. LOL!! I'm not that nice, really. But IMO message boards are places where it's so easy for things to spiral out of control, that it's really important that our words be measured carefully. So I guess I do come across online as being really nice. It's all an act, I swear. Darcy, you make a good point about it being taboo for us to be anything but happy in public. Now the question is, for me, does this count as "public"? It must not, because I've posted my weight here and that's been the most closely guarded secret since the location of the Holy Grail. Can I come here and vent about why I sabotage myself? Why I fear getting thinner? Why I can't stop taking that one last bite that I know is one too many? I know the answer is yes, so my question to myself is why don't I?

If you're having outpatient surgery and there's a problem, they'll just admit you to the hospital for an overnight stay. At that point, whatever your specifications are for a hospital stay will kick in. With a 90/10 plan my guess is that you have an in-network deductible, PLUS you'll have to pay 10% of the next $10,000 (an additional $1000). If your in-network deductible is $1000, your out-of-pocket for a hospital stay would be $2000. Outpatient surgery may be covered as an office visit or it may be subject to deductible and coinsurance. You should probably calculate your maximum out of pocket and be prepared to pay that much if necessary. However, not every surgeon will demand those amounts up front, or even all at once. Many doctors will let you pay off your portion over time.

Barb, I agree with Donali. Get at least a slight unfill before you hurt yourself! Vomiting that often is definitely a bad thing. Let us know how you are, OK?

Wow, what a scary story! We can all learn from that--being too tight is no way to take care of ourselves. I'm glad your friend got help--good thing you were with her! Thanks for sharing this cautionary tale.

Alabamaamy, I'm so sorry you got that bad news. Can that be true, though? Where did you hear that? Do you know that in fact to be true? Whatever the case, I'm sure it's just a matter of time before insurance carriers embrace the band, even in Alabama. I hope you can stick it out until that time, and that you stay healthy and whole in the meanwhile. Good luck!

Sue, there's a very important type missing from your list. What about the people who truly want to find support at a support meeting? Who think it's going to help them in their struggle? Who end up saying nothing because the types 1 - 4 are dominating the conversation? People like that are the silent majority in person and online. On the Web, at least, they can absorb the information in peace without having to listen to procedural arguments or what some Type 4 did last night. Nancy, I'm glad you care enough about this board to create this thread. This is by far my favorite board and it would be nice if it were busier. But I'm one of those who takes a break from time to time and don't want to point any fingers at people for not speaking up. (Not that you're doing that!) Frankly, I find it hard to open up to a support board, just as much as at a meeting. There is still a voice in my head that tells me I should only share "success" stories and that no one wants to hear about my problems. Lately I've been having a few problems, in fact, and have been telling myself that I should come here and post about them. Maybe doing so will both make me feel better and help me take another look at my behavior. But then I...well, I don't know why, exactly, but I haven't been able to talk myself into going through with it. Call me a support board chicken (SBC). I hate boards that are busy just for the sake of being busy. No one gets points for a high post count. On the other hand, a support board needs activity to help anyone. It does take some initiative from people to start the threads that lurkers will read and respond to. Perhaps we just have to try to do a little more of that. :eek:

Teeta, it really is true that the answer to this question relies totally on the insurance plan you have. Is it a PPO or an HMO/POS? Do you have an in-network doctor? Do you have a hospital copay? Are you going to an in-network hospital? There is no way anyone can answer your question without knowing the precise details of your policy. I can tell you that in MY case, with an HMO plan, I paid the office-visit co-pay for each visit to a doctor's office (surgeon, PCP, and dietician), and had to pay in full for the psych evaluation because there were none in my network. That came to about $275. Then for the surgery itself I was charged only an office-visit copay, because I was operated on as an outpatient and didn't have to stay the night in the hospital. If I had stayed overnight, my charge would have been $250. But NONE of this pertains to you. What kind of plan do you have? If you call the membership services number on your insurance card they can clarify your plan and the way it works. If they say anything that is confusing, ask again. It's their job to help you understand exactly what your responsibilities are. As for whether BC/BS covers the band, the answer to that is again, it depends. BC/BS is not one company, it differs from state to state. I know that Horizon BCBS in New Jersey does cover the band, and Empire BCBS in New York is coming around. Where are you? Good luck!

Wowie Zowie, child, that's amazing!! Restriction sure makes a difference, no kidding. It's interesting that you and your doctor decided you needed an adjustment before weighing you. Do you think a different decision would have been made if they knew you'd lost 18 lbs in the past month? Isn't the rate of weight loss on that sheet as an indicator of whether you need an adjustment or not? At any rate, YOU GO GIRL!! You're doing great. :eek:

Hi Melissa, Oh, how exciting!! My tips are simple: wear a comfy bra and elastic-waist pants to come home in. Bring lip balm. Depending on how long you're going to be there (overnight?) bring a BOOK. As for when you get home, I preferred Soup to Protein drinks. But now I do drink Protein Drinks for Breakfast and the one I like best is Kashi Go-Lean. I mix it with milk at a lower proportion than the label indicates (they say two scoops to 8 ozs, and I use 3 for 16 ozs.) and it's actually quite yummy! Post banding I had worried a lot about the protein drinks, making my own with yogurt, ice, Peanut Butter, and Ovaltine. But I got sick of that process pretty quick.

Hi Jeanie, and welcome! You're doing really well, and it's obvious from your picture that you're healthy and happy, too. Congratulations!

Sunny, I take vitamins and thyroid meds and don't have any problems with the smaller pills. Especially the thyroid tablet--that's really small. I don't have to do anything with that. I do split my larger vitamins when I'm feeling very restricted, but most of the time I can take those as well without any trouble.

Different people have different experiences, as with every food. I expected to have trouble with salad, but every time I eat it I really don't have a problem. As with anything else I can't eat much of it, but if it has things like beans and cheese in it I don't feel like it's a waste of limited tummy space.

That's wonderful, Patty. How nice to be able to look forward again. I hope you and your new restriction have great success!

Congratulations, Sheila!! Remember the mantra: Be good to yourself and follow doctor's orders. You'll be 100% in no time. Let the losing begin!! :D

Nancy, I go through this from time to time too. Your theory that it's just an ugly habit that will rear its head from time to time sounds good to me! I think the answer is, at least for me, to not kill myself trying to be perfect all the time. I don't want to hate myself for being unable to stick to some plan--my goal is to be healthier and happy at the same time. If that means allowing myself to "eat like a crazy person" a few days here and there so be it. The band keeps these periods from spiraling out of control. I can't eat enough at any one sitting to do any real harm, and the effects of carbs and sugar are noticed so much sooner that I can regain control before it's too late. I think of it as a guardrail on that wagon I have fallen off of so many times before, keeping me from giving up even if I think I want to. After a day or so I feel crummy and give myself a little talking-to. Get back to drinking Water and concentrate on breaking one little behavior that has been negative. Climbing back up out of that bad-habit ditch is SO MUCH EASIER with the band it's almost like I was never there at all.

Jennye, I'm so glad you decided to have the unfill rather than continue struggling. You definitely don't want to have any problems when you're so close to goal (nor at any other time, obviously), so good for you for making that choice!! :banana Take care of yourself, girlie!!