faithmd

Here's a link to a thread started two days ago about this as well. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/bullet-t33450.html You can get them at Kohl's, Bed Bath and Beyond, Target, etc... They average around $60 and most folks that have them love them, though there are a few folks that used it a couple of times and it collects dust. They only have 225watts of power but come with a few cups for blending and storage and are small. I would suggest if you already have a nice blender that has the screw-off bottom blade assembly you not spend more money. A regular mouth mason jar, which you can buy in cases of 12 for a few dollars in sizes ranging from 1 cup (1/2 pint) up to a quart will fit right on there. And you have many jars to store things in. Walmart.com carries a personal blender by the brand name of Back To Basics that is about $18 and has 350 Watts. Big difference between 350 and 225. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=3609512 Here's a similar product to the Magic Bullet for a bit less: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4756038 Here's the Magic Bullet: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=3611642 If you do not shop at Walmart, you can find these items many other places. Perhaps do a Yahoo Shopping search for either Magic Bullet, Koolatron or Back To Basics. I just bought a new Oster 12 speed, 450 watt blender that came with a food processor attachment, and a free personal blender jar. I needed a new blender anyway.

Many folk have to do pre-op diets. The diets vary widely from doctor to doctor. I have read of a few that have to do clears, that having been written, Clear liquids are certainly not the most common. Most do some form of a bariatric diet, Protein shakes, Optifast, etc. Have you tried the clear Liquid Protein bullets that have either 25 or 42 grams of protein in them? I think some people have said they get them at GNC, others order them at bariatriceating.com. Protein will help fill you up, have you tried the Special K Protein Water? It's not a lot of protein, but it has helped me when I've been needing something. There is a clear unjury Protein powder you can add to things. Might help. Some folks have drained the solids out of Hot and Sour Soup, Egg Drop Soup, or French Onion Soup. How about popsicles and/or those Luigi's Italian Ice cups? Something a bit more solid. I really do wish you luck!!

I have heard nothing but great things about her. It is nice to see more wonderful things posted. I would have used her but her hidden fees and requirements to use the doctors she chooses for qualification kind of rubbed me the wrong way. The fees are not listed anywhere on her site, I did not get told about them in the info session I attended (and I was VERY impressed with her, BTW), I never knew about them until after I read about them on either OH or on one of the Yahoo! Groups. Rebecca was less than pleasant when I called to inquire about the fees and where I could find them listed on their site, as well as if I really needed to use their doctors, as I have quite a few I already see who would gladly provide test results and clearance letters. Sadly that sealed it for me, I just couldn't go there. It's not about the money (not that that wouldn't be a struggle, because it would), it was not being told about it. But I think Dr. Deol is an amazing, caring, wonderful surgeon who wants nothing but the best for her patients. It seems that she is very strict and puts you through a very rigorous screening and learning process. I think that's just fantastic. Congrats on your great loss!!!

DWrigley, welcome to LBT! I am pre-band myself and have found this site full of very valuable information. Take some time and look around, you'll find answers to many questions you have, and many you never even thought to ask! A good forum to start in is this one: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/lap-band-faqs-f73.html?s=&daysprune=&f=73 Check out each of the threads there, they contain a lot of the banding basics. Some very simple basic things that are considered to be generally true (though some doctors advise their patients differently, but I think the general consensus is this): You will be giving up carbonation for at least the immediate post-operative period, and some doctors tell you never again. It's because some believe you can stretch the pouch that is created. This includes beer, soda pop, spritzers, champagne, etc. Most folks say bread is hard to get down, it tends to get stuck, some people have a hard time with chicken, some have no problems, some can eat rice, some can't, so asking about specific foods is very difficult because every single person is different. You won't know until you are banded. You can expect to be eating about 1/2-1 cup of food per meal. You should not drink before eating, definitely not at all with food and most docs say for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour after eating. This is to keep the food in your pouch so you still feel full. If you drink, you just wash it through and defeat the purpose of the band. There are thread here of before and after photos, seek them out. There are also threads here with scar stages. They are (I believe) in the general forum. Here's something that I found to be VERY helpful, a link to watch the entire surgery, the surgeons do a GREAT job of explaining the band, the band placement, and answer questions during the broadcast: www.or-live.com/tgh/1593 Hope this all helps!

There is another personal sized blender you can get from places like walmart.com or brylanehome.com It is a personal sized blender with the brand name of Back To Basics. It does not have all the extra cups the Magic Bullet has, but the Magic Bullet only has 225 watts of power, and is about $60 and this one is around $18-$20 and has 350 watts. Big difference! I needed a new blender anyway, so I bought an Oster 12 speed 450 Watt from Walmart for $40 and it had a food processor attachment as well as a free personal blender jar. But if you already have a blender that has the screw-off blade assembly, a regular mouth canning jar will fit on there, and you don't have to spend a dime. Just an FYI.

Here's the links to a few of the many other threads on here that ask this same question. I found them by using the search function, going to advanced search and using a title search for the word: foods. I list these so that you can have the opportunity to see some of the other responses people have made in the past. Yours is a really good question, so in addition to what people may respond to this thread, here are the links to some of what other people have said: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/have-give-up-t30356.html?t=30356 http://www.lapbandtalk.com/foods-avoid-t29615.html?t=29615 http://www.lapbandtalk.com/foods-question-t27793.html?t=27793 http://www.lapbandtalk.com/foods-can-never-t29227.html?t=29227 http://www.lapbandtalk.com/list-foods-lbanders-t27656.html?t=27656 http://www.lapbandtalk.com/foods-cant-you-t24133.html?t=24133 Hope this helps you out, and good luck! I can't wait for my surgery day!

I would suggest you call each one of the options that you can take and ask for a copy of their weight loss surgery requirements. That way you know EXACTLY what YOUR policy will state. It is quite possible that two people can have the samne insurance company, but work for different employers and one person will have coverage for WLS and for the other it will be an exclusion because the rider wasn't purchased. You need to call the companies you can choose from, identify yourself as a MA state employee and ask if they cover adjustable gastric banding and what the specifics are, then as I said, have them mail it to you so you have it in writing. Also, if your insurance wonj't then change until a certain date, you need to ask the company you are calling if they anticipate any policy changes coming up. For example, I chose to change my company because I new the one I was with didn't cover banding, so I called another one, and they did cover it. But I didnt ask about the requirements. As of Jan 1st, 2006 (the date my new policy went into effect) their requirements went from 6 month MD supervised diet, to a 12 month MD supervised diet. BIG difference. But I didn't think to ask... Good luck!

That is going to look quite cool when it finished (cause it's pretty darned cool now)! The claw marks look good.

You are most welcome. Best of luck on your surgery!!!!

What do you mean? Explain it how? What has your doctor prescribed? The idea behind the pre-op diet is to shrink the liver and flush some of the fat out of it so it is less risky to retract it out of the way when they are placing the band. It is also helpful to lose some weight before surgery. Some doctors require it, some do not. It is your doctor's choice and you should follow their prescribed diet. You might want to go and watch a video of the surgery, it will explain what I mean about the liver and retracting it for the band placement: www.or-live.com/tgh/1593

I also wish you happiness and peace. I have responded to many questions on here, and I haven't been banded yet. I preface my posts with something like "from the hours of research I've done" or "from what others have said" or "from what I've read on here." I will frequently direct people to another thread (and list the link) so they can go and read for themselves from the wealth of information here. Frankly, the majority of the questions have been answered a hundred times over in the same way, it's not String Theory or Astro-Physics. Some questions are medical in nature, and having been in medicine for a number of years, I am certainly qualified to answer those questions with what I've seen or what I've learned (not intended to override the advice of your physician, of course), whether or not I've been banded. Just because we may not have been banded yet, or only have been banded for a short time, doesn't mean we don't have information and thoughts to share. Lots of the questions are about how folks feel in the immdeiate post-operative period or gas pains or what foods at what stages. Who cares if I was banded three days before you, or two days after you, or three years ago, I've been there, maybe I've found something that helped me that will work for you. This is a place to come and talk and ask questions and bounce ideas off of each other. It's not intended to be like going to your physician and the words of advice and encouragement given here are just that, they are not written in stone. They are not to be taken as medical direction. Most everyone on here says "go by what your physician says." Some people do eat pizza after ten days, and they probably shouldn't. If someone else takes that as gospel, please pardon me, but they are an idiot. If you have noticed, when someone says that a week in they are eating solid food, most will jump in and ask why and redirect that person to their own doctor's program. Some folks do consider the band a safety net. Maybe that's why they got it and it works for them. Who am I to say it's wrong how they feel about their band? I can only speak to why *I* want the band and how I will be working to use it as the tool it is. Sorry to see you go after only 17 posts and two days registered as a member, there's loads of good info and advice and support on here, come back anytime.

bodybugg.com

I had one and had it sanded off. (Before laser removal.) It's certainly a personal decision. I just wish they hadn't become the fad they are, I think lots more people are going to be seeking dermatologists in the future to get them off. I am excited see yours, though! Please make sure to post some pics!

No, I read that part, too. To quote HPB: "Alright so i was banded on March 13th. I started solid foods about a week and a half - two weeks ago." I think she may have meant that she was on liquids for two weeks pre-op, plus two weeks post-op. So my question to her was if her doctor's program moved her to solid food two weeks post-op. Most don't. My reason for asking that was because I was wondering if her father was chastising her for eating the pizza and bread sticks (which I think one or two on occasion is fine), or if perhaps he was meaning she'd ruin her band because she's eating solid food too early.

I agree with those above me that said to move on from the breadstick and the pizza. You don't have good restriction (from what I understand) yet since you haven't had a fill, so feeling fuller sooner will change. The larger question is, as asked above, why you chose to eat the bread stick and pizza in the first place. The band isn't going to make you lose the weight on it's own, it requires you to make choices, different choices, in what you are eating. I understand that people say they can eat anything they want, but in smaller quantities, and lose weight that way. That's wonderful, but I also think that this is a time for me to make dietary choices and changes and stop eating the pizza and the ice cream and the chips, etc. I have stopped eating these things for almost two months now, in preparation for being banded. A member said in another thread somewhere that they didn't eat the foods they used to because with the decrease in amounts of food that can be eaten with restriction, they wanted to enjoy and get the most nutrition out of the food they can eat. Just something to think about. And a question, was your dad only referring to you eating pizza and breadsticks as being why you are "ruining" your band, or was he meaning that you shouldn't be eating these foods yet. (No, I don't think a slice of pizza and a little bread is going to hurt.) You mention that you have been eating solids for two weeks now. That's two weeks after banding? I'm curious if your doctor's program moved you to solids so quickly as most I read about have you on fluids and full liquids and mushies and soft foods for about a month to six weeks before having you introduce solids. That is for the band to heal in place. Since you've been banded you spent a few days in the hospital, and it sounds like you were intubated (on a ventilator) for a couple of days, so all in all, of the days since being banded that you have eated, you have progressed to solids within about ten days of eating. I'm glad you are continuing to feel better and the clot is dissolving.

Yes, it is ridiculous to fire the man. If my own daughter was part of the team, I would feel the same way. It was a stupid, awful comment, probably intended to make "interesting" radio. It didn't make interesting radio, it was a bad thing to say, but it was said, it is done, it is over with. He has apologized and sat down with the team (and that is who matters, that he apologized directly to the women he offended) end of story (or it should be). I can guarantee not one of those women will have any lasting effects from being called "nappy headed ho's." I am sure they (like my 19 year old calls his friends-much to my chagrin) call one another MUCH worse. It is the way they are growing up, it is SADLY becoming commonplace to hear people calling one another horrible names and the music, television and film just continues to support rampant degradation of, well, everyone. I NEVER, EVER excused this kind of behavior, as I said he SHOULD have been fined, he SHOULD have been suspended and he SHOULD have apologized to the team. All of those things happened. This was NOT excused. But if you are going to demand respect and decency, then you need to demand that Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson start being decent and respectful... Music needs to be taken off the shelves and not be allowed to be sold for degrading people, some television shows need to be taken off the air, books need to be burned because perhaps they are not respectful or decent. You mention at the end of your sentence: Why not support decency,respect and tolerance? Tolerance...So where is the tolerance towards Imus and his stupid mistake. Where is the tolerance and acceptance for his apologies? Where is the apology from Al Sharpton for inciting riots and violence? Why is the "Reverend" Jesse Jackson still the head of the Rainbow Coalition after he admitted to having an extra-marital affair, fathering a "love" child and lying about it and then paying the mother of the love child (whom he took to the White House while she was pregnant as he was counseling Prsident Clinton about his affair with Monica Lewinsky) who worked for the Rainbow Coalition severance pay of $35,000 out of the organization's coffers? Why didn't he get fired? Apparently because Imus doesn't deserve to have *his* apology accepted for a bad three-word comment, but it's okay to destroy lives (Al Sharpton) and lie to he world (Bill Clinton and Jesse Jackson). Remember Jesse Jackson's 'Hymietown" comment? So where was the outrage then?

You do have MANY of the classic symptoms of sleep apnea which *could* explain your memory loss, lack of attention and tiredness. I would urge you to mention it to your MD and ask for a referral to a sleep doctor for a sleep study. I work with a few people who said their lives are changed dramatically with their CPAP. They are no longer tired all the time and their families say they are much kinder, no longer short and snippy and their memory seems to be returning. Good luck!

He is not banded, he is a little overweight (has the belly fat thing men get). It is improving with using the CPAP and as he is losing some weight. Controlling sleep apnea with CPAP and/or weight loss does help the memory loss (if that is the cause, but it frequently is the root cause in a lot of cases of memory loss in younger folks). Do you sleep soundly? Do you snore (he didn't, so that isn't always an indicator)? Do you wake up with a dry mouth? Do you wake up with headaches? Do you wake up feeling well-rested?

And how about the illustrious (or rather, despicible and infamous) "Reverend" (where is his church, anyway?) Al Sharpton: "1987: Sharpton spreads the incendiary Tawana Brawley hoax, insisting heatedly that a 15-year-old black girl was abducted, raped, and smeared with feces by a group of white men. He singles out Steve Pagones, a young prosecutor. Pagones is wholly innocent -- the crime never occurred -- but Sharpton taunts him: "If we're lying, sue us, so we can . . . prove you did it." Pagones does sue, and eventually wins a $345,000 verdict for defamation. To this day, Sharpton refuses to recant his unspeakable slander or to apologize for his role in the odious affair." Yet he stomps around and calls for the firing of Don Imus, and it happens. Why wasn't he off the air? Why wasn't the back lash there for his comments? They were meant to actually incite anger and did, and ruined lives! Calling a group of lovely young lades, who worked hard to get where they did, a group of "nappy headed hos" is NOTHING like incensing a nation with the stories of a false hate crime. Should Imus have been suspended without pay for two weeks? Yes. Should he have to apologize to the ladies he insulted? Yes. But that's it, drop it, it's over and done with. I think it's ridiculous to take the man's job for that comment. Fine him, suspend him, fine his production staff, but firing him is over the top.

It is VERY likely sleep apnea. My husband has significant memory loss and we have seen about five neurologists, four pulmonologists and two internal medicine docs and they've finally traced it to his mild obstructive sleep apnea. Which sounds odd that mild apnea would cause such profound memory loss, but they believe it has. He does have better recall and mathematical ability if he uses his CPAP.

I haven't seen that philosophy in all of my research, either. My surgeon' practice uses the little bits at a time philosophy. If you are losing 1-2lbs per week and are not hungry, you don't need a fill. But if you are ether not losing 1-2lbs per week, or if you are truly hungry (not head hunger), then you need a fill. Since I'm not a band surgeon, I can't speak to whether this is dangerous or not, but it seems like a very uncomfortable way to do a fill. I suppose it could also be dangerous since in order to test if you can even drink Water, that will cause you to throw it back up. And every time you do that, you are at the very least irritating your pouch. I hope Dr. C wanders through this thread. If not, wll you go to his site and ask him? He encourages questions over there if he isn't around here. www.thebanddoctor.com

Julie, thank you so much for writing that very inspirational and phenomenal post!

Welcome to LBT, tammydam! Congrats on having your band. I'm sorry this wasn't reviewed with you by your surgeon's office and/or your nutritionist. It should have been. You will likely not feel restriction after the swelling goes down. This is the period referred to so lovingly as Bandster Hell. You have no restriction and you are on mushies or soft foods and want to eat and eat and eat. Be forewarned that the first fill will likely not get you to your "sweet spot" either, most folks say it takes two or three (sometimes more) filld before you get good restriction. You can make it!!!

Ah, a very popular question. Most say it depends totally on how you feel. You'll want to take it easy, and maybe have to use some pillows to support you. You may also have to switch up your positions.

Hello and welcome! Here's a link to another poll like yours, I though you might be interested to see what some responses have been out there. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/did-you-tell-t19294.html To tell or not to tell is a very frequently asked question here. It's a very personal decision. I have chosen to tell only my DH and my parents. Two friends who are also considering it have been told I'm thinking about it. But when it comes time to be banded, I think only my DH and folks will know. I almost wish I hadn't told my mother, she's a hard one to keep quiet. :confused: I chose not to tell because I personally don't want someone policing what I eat (even trying to be nice) and I don't want to have someone asking me every time they see me how much weight I've lost, or why I am not losing as fast as Jane who had bypass did, etc... But again, it's a personal decision. I know lots of folks wanted to shout it from the rooftops, and I give them loads of credit! Every other aspect of my life is a wide open book, you can ask me just about anything, and I'l tell ya, but for some reason, I'm keeping this mum.