faithmd

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f15/place-bandsters-their-60s-40106/

If the do total her out, you will find another one, I know you will. And while Betty will be mourned, you could have a newer one, perhaps Dita or Veronica?

Number ONE: I am soooo glad you are alright! Number two...Awwwww, not Betty?????? DAMN! I know you LOVE that car! Hopefully they won't total her out!

1. I hate my name and as a younger person could not WAIT to change it when I got married. But I didn't. I still have my maiden name. 2. I don't really like my engagement ring but I'd never say anything, it was a custom design. I do LOVE my wedding band and think they go very well together. 3. I think I'd be a lesbian if I liked girls. I tried dating a couple of women, but just didn't find any "spark." 4. I have always dreamed of having the body to be a stripper in a high dollar club. 5. I'm scared of big dogs, especially Doberman's (was attacked by one when I was 6) 6. I truly think my best friend from HS is/was gay. 7. I would LOVE to own a Bed and Breakfast. 8. I would love to write bodice rippers (where's Darragha?) 9. I'd love to write erotica. 10. I really enjoy taking pictures (this sounds gruesome, but it's NOT) of my patients and their families as they are going through the death process. (I feel it's VERY important to capture the story of the end of their life for their families' memories later). 11. I wonder EVERYDAY what my college love is doing now. Where is he, why didn't we seem to be able to get it together? 12. My greatest fear is of being homeless and alone. 13. Number two is of something popping one of my eyes (but I have no problems with contacts). 14. I can't stand to be naked.

Andrea, I understand you may have to travel, but I'd consider finding another surgeon. If your surgeon needs proctor, it MIGHT be that he hasn't placed the new AP band and he needs a proctor to go over placement with him (it's a little different), but it most likely is because he isn't certified by Allergan/Inamed yet, period. And that's okay, he's not necessarily incompetent, he's may just be brand new to banding. He may have done tons of various laparascopic procedures and maybe has done hundreds of bypasses, but he likely hasn't done many bands. But that's a consideration. Given the history of his pushing and pushing you to have bypass done, I'm leaning toward him not having done many bands. Do you want to be someone's first or second band ever? I *might* if I was comfortable and confident with the surgeon when I interviewed him. Based on what you've told us of your conversations with him, I would NOT be comfortable with his confidence in his own abilities or his own willingness to learn and try the latest advancements. Seriously, GO FIND ANOTHER SURGEON. I know you have kids, many of us do. I understand you may work, many of us do, I know it must be hard to arrange, but Andrea, this is your body and your new life you are dealing with here. Find a day or two that you can set aside to travel to an appt. Really think about this, please. From what I understand being Allergan/Inamed (Allergan is the newer name) certified to place the band is not state by state. It's one time. You can call Allergan and ask them if your surgeon is certified. The website is lapband.com and you should be able to find a link to look him up. What is his name, BTW? You can look him up on obesityhelp.com and on tha American Society of Bariatric Surgeons (asbs.org) to see if he's a member. Please do these things, or PM me the name or post it here and we'll see what we can find out about him to see how much experience he has.

Andie please go read my response in your other thread. I will try to go pull it from there and copy and paste it here, too.

From what I understand being Allergan/Inamed (allergan is the new name) certified to place the band is not state by state. It's one time. You can call Allergan and ask them if your surgeon is certified. The website is lapband.com and you should be able to find a link to look him up. What is his name, BTW? You can look him up on obesityhelp.com and on tha American Society of Bariatric Surgeons (asbs.org) to see if he's a member. Please do these things, or PM me the name or post it here and we'll see what we can find out about him to see how much experience he has.

Andrea, I understand you may have to travel, but I'd consider finding another surgeon. Likely if your surgeon needs proctor, it MIGHT be that he hasn't placed the new AP band and he needs a proctor to go over placement with him (it's a little different), but it may be because he isn't certified by Inamed yet, period. And that's okay, he's not necessarily incompetent, he's may just be brand new to banding. He may have done tons of various laparascopic procedures and maybe has done hundreds of bypasses, but he likely hasn't done many bands. Given the history of his pushing and pushing you to have bypass done, I'm leaning toward him not having done many bands. Do you want to be someone's first or second band ever? I *might* if I was comfortable and confident with the surgeon when I interviewed him. Based on what you've told us of your conversations with him, I would NOT be comfortable with his confidence in his own abilities or his own willingness to learn and try the latest advancements. Seriously, GO FIND ANOTHER SURGEON. I know you have kids, many of us do. I understand you may work, many of us do, I know it must be hard to arrange, but Andrea, this is your body and your new life you are dealing with here. Find a day or two that you can set aside to travel to an appt. Really think about this, please.

Please check out this thread before you go buy a $50 Bullet http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f17/drink-mixer-magic-bullet-41229/

It is surgeon's choice and comfort level that guides them whether to do GB removal and Band placement at the same time. To some it may seem crazy, but I do understand both sides. If your GB is really inflamed and you have a lot of stones, they may not want to take a chance of a fragile, friable GB tearing opwn and spilling out into the surgical field where the band either is going, or was just placed. Then again, of the scan isn't terrible and your GB isn't that inflamed, then I can see it coming out at the same time. I'd personally rather wait and not risk a nasty sepsis (infection), abdominal infections are NOTHING to mess with.

And no, you should absolutely NOT be gulping any fluid. so soon post-op many surgeons advise you should be drinking from a tablespoon to about an ounce every fifteen minutes.

Call your surgeons office RIGHT NOW. There should be someone on call at all times. They should have given you paperwork at your discharge that explains how to get ahold of them. I'm amazed you've put up with the vomiting for two days. I'd have called after a few hours. Do not do anything else in the next ten minutes, go pick up the phone and call right away!!!! If you have slipped, it can be fixed right away. It happens at times, and if you truly haven't kept more than a teasponnful of Fluid down in a couple days, you likely need IV fluids to get rehydrated. Please don't get frustrated and say yank it out, you've just had a setback, setbacks can be dealt with. Please log on later and tell us what happened.

If I were you, I'd appeal that in a heartbeat. As long as you can document that you have fulfilled their written policy, they should have to approve you. If you have trouble, it might be worth contacting Obesity Law and Advocacy Center For a few hundred dollars you may be able to save yourself fulfilling a big deductible.

I think our granparents had the right freaking idea...whiskey in the bottles.

Lol!!!!!!!

Boo Boo, see Wagner. He's really freaking laid back. Except he likes to take photos..... :waytogo: I haven't been back since my one week post-op visit to get my staples out (almost 13 weeks). They haven't called me, either. Think I should go see them to say hello?

There is also the Midband and the Swedish Band, but those aren't used in the US. Don't know where the OP is from, though.

APS (Advanced Platform Small) is 10cc/mL APL (Advanced Platform Large) is 14cc/mL Cannot imagine a 1cc band Also: Lawanda, if my surgeon was serious when he made that comment to me, I'd be looking for another surgeon. Its your body, your band and your health, there is never too much reading.

Nope, not planning to fill anytime soon, ingyrob. I may have to once my loss totally stops, but I'm eating about 1/2 of what I did pre-op and losing at an okay rate, so I'm happy for now.

Thank you Elisabeth! Goodonya for getting control of your food demons and your loss, too! I'm not totally in control yet, and don't think I'll make my challenge goal, but I'm so glad to be in Twoterville, I either won't care, or it will motivate me more and I'll really push on! I'm hoping for the latter, but since it's been three years since I've been here, I'll be happy for the former for now. I had gained up to 347 about three years ago, and while DH was away, I really worked hard and lost to 297. But then he came back, I got complacent, and gained it all back plus some. I met him somewhere around 270-280 (I think), so I still have a way until I am in virgin territory with him (virgin WEIGHT territory, I mean). I need to go see my PCP and ask her to go over my weights over the past ten or twelve years so I can see what I weighed when. Might be kind of cool.

Wheetsin, I've missed you someting FIERCE! Glad to see you are back and hopefully will be back to 100% soon! I have only been banded about three months, and I don't have a fill yet because I still am somewhat restricted either from the band itself or from whatever Fluid they may have put in my AP band at placement. I don't know if they did, guess I should find out, huh? Haven't been to the surgeon since 1 week post-banding. Anyhoos, I do find that I have a very tough time eating shaved turkey deli meat, plain. I can eat it no problem in a wrap, but alone, it has a tendency to get stuck. I'm not talking about the dry stuff, I mean even the Oscar Mayer pre-packaged turkey. Doesn't happen with ham, occasionally feels a little "golfball-like" with the roast beef, too. I feel somewhat more restricted when I wake up, I work nights so sometimes that is in the morning, sometimes it is in the evening. I also seem to be a bit tighter a day or two before the TOM comes thru about two days into it.

Unless the surgeon put some in during OR (and I heard that is really quite common with the AP bands), I don't have any in there. Haven't had a fill yet, OR was June 21st. Losing about 10# per month, don't feel the need to get filled yet.

WOOHOO, Wheetsin's back!!!!!!

I'm guessing her TOM, Aunt Flo, etc...

I know to those who still could have food this seems extreme, but mine was actually worse. At least the OP can have five Slim Fasts a day...mine was a prescribed liquid diet that equalled out to about 700 calories a day, now that was seriosuly extreme. But I guess it was in the name of shrinking the liver.