Shellyac

I got the iband on the 6th and my doctor also didn't put any fluid in my band. I don't think that it is possible to stretch the stomach out, if you did you wouldn't get full quickly, I'm surprised to hear that you get hungry quickly, I find that I don't have much hunger between meals. What stage of foods are you on? I think that one you are on more solid food you will not get hungry as quickly

The iband is different in that in addition to getting the band the stomach is folded into a sleeve shape and sutured which is called plication. It is a newer procedure and not all doctors offer it

I live in Maryland but traveled to Florida to have my surgery. I did this because I wanted to have the band with plication and this was the most convenient doctor for me because I'm recovering at my parents home. I was banded on the 6th and will be traveling back home on the 21st, I probably could have traveled home much sooner. My surgery was covered by insurance and I'm assuming that I can also see another doctor locally but I am planning on seeing my surgeon in FL for the first few fills. My surgeon is also going to try to find the best practice for me to work with near home. I would say that if you want to go the route of going out of state either make sure that your doctor will facilitate finding a local doctor for you to work with, or you need to try to find a local doctor who will be willing to work with you afterwards.

My original doctor did the same to me except she was pushing the bypass because of my diabetes. I didn't feel comfortable with the other procedures but I did consider having the sleeve but it wasn't covered by my insurance and while I was researching the sleeve one of the things I was researching was if I can make the sleeve stretch out so I definitely knew the procedure wasn't for me. Fortunately I found out about the band with plication and was able to find a doctor located in an area that made it easy for me to go have my surgery (I live in Maryland but had surgery in Florida where my parents live so I'm recovering at their house) The biggest downside of the band when compared to the other procedures is that you have to do more work in that you have to change the way to eat (more chewing), the process of getting to proper restriction can be long and difficult, and the weight loss rate can be slower.. It's not to say that you can't be successful with it but I'm sure that all your doctor wanted to do was to make sure that you are aware of the other options out there and to consider what their post-op lifestyles are like. In the end you have to choose the procedure you are most comfortable having and if it is the band go for it

My original doctor was pushing me to get the bypass even up to the day that I scheduled to have surgery, even her coordinator was trying to get me to switch. As a result I ended up doing research about the sleeve and even considered it for a while, but i also found out about the band with plication which showed promising results. I ended up switching doctors and I've been banded for about a week now and I am totally happy with my decision.

I think stalls freak people out because there is always that fear in the back of your mind that you are going to be that rare person for whom the procedure doesn't work and the stall is the first confirmation. Although this is rare for the sleeve, there are plenty of people with the band who unfortunately had fear come true.

If you current doctor doesn't agree with the procedure you want to have switch to another one if possible, that's what I ended up doing. In fact I think I ended up with a better procedure (band with plication) because of my original doctor's doubt

Check out the lap band complication forum on this site and Band to Sleeve Revision forum on VerticleSleeveTalk.com for people to help answer your questions

I was banded last Friday and the pain wasn't bad at all. I was off the painkillers after 2-3 days. I think the worst part was waking up in recovery. I remember asking for pain killers right away because my stomach was hurting but I think that might have been from the plication more than the band. Make sure you have your after surgery pain meds in place, I asked my doctor's office about getting the script to fill before surgery and they said that the surgery center would give them to me after the surgery. Unfortunately it turned out not to be true, and my sister had a hard time finding a pharmacy that had the drug in stock so we had to call the doctor's office to get another script and finally get that filled which took several hours.

I've only seen about 10 or 15 practices that offer the band with plication, my doctor had only done about 40-45 before he did mine. I think that it will become more popular in time and it's up to you and what you are willing to do get it. As for the realize band, I think what your doctor meant about it being more forgiving is that the band requires more Fluid to be filled so you have more room for adjustments. You should have your doctor clarify what she meant to make sure you are on the same page.

One thing that we shouldn't lose sight off is that there are ways that the band can fail that aren't the fault of person who has it. There are things like leaks, slippage, and erosion, which although rare do happen. I found it useful to read those stories because it let me know that even though the rates are low it happens to people. Also those stories are important because it gives you examples of what to look out for as a sign of potential problems and that you need to be an advocate for yourself because unfortunately sometimes your sudden change in restriction can be put down to, "oh you need another fill"

Where are you located? There aren't that many doctors that are doing the band with plication so if you really want it you may need to either switch doctors or possibly travel (I live in Maryland and had my band with plication done in Florida) Also another thing to keep in mind with those stats is that they probably include people who failed the band or had the band fail them. I'm sure when you just look at successful banders the EWL at the one year mark is probably higher

You may want to also to consider the band with plication. Although plication as a weight loss procedure is relatively new, initial studies show that you get much better EWL when compared to the band alone (I'm only 4 days post surgery and I've unofficially lost about 16 pounds and about 24 pounds since my pre-op clearance appt). In case you haven't heard about the band with plication (also called iband) it is a procedure when in addition to getting the band your stomach is folded into itself to form a sleeve and sutured. As a result you have a sleeve and similar weight loss to a person with a sleeve without having your stomach removed. In addition plication should help prevent lab band complications like erosion and slippage, also you usually need to go for fill less often if at all.

If you do get denied, you can appeal based on a recent ASMBS position paper which now recommends the sleeve as a primary surgery. The position paper came out in October of last year, so there is a chance that BCBS hasn't updated their policy requirements yest (the 50 bmi is based on a previous position paper) Good luck

Hi, I was banded with plication yesterday. So far things are going ok. I've been surviving on water, sugar free popsicles, and the occasional bit of wonton soup broth with protein added. i just had a minor vomiting episode, it hurt a little but wasn't too violent so i don't think i damaged anything.but i definitely needed some pain meds afterwards. Other than that the pain hasn't been too bad. I'm looking forward to full liquids tomorrow

If you read the sleeve board you will find people who haven't had great weight loss or who have gained significant weight back. No WLS is perfect, each surgery has positives and negatives and each will have people who are successful with it and those that will fail. Some of those failures will be in the control of the patient and some won't. The best we can do is research what is available and chose the procedure that you a most comfortable having

I did consider the sleeve for a while because my original doctor thought I would be more successful with the bypass. I thought if I was going to do something that involved cutting my stomach I would go with the sleeve because it kept the rest of the digestive intact. I ultamately knew the sleeve wasn't for me when one of the things I wanted to find out was if I could stretch it back out. In my research I also found out about sleeve plication which creates a sleeve by sutures not cutting. Plication for weight loss is relatively new but a form of the procedure has been around for about 40 years. Although plication alone can be a stand alone procedure, it's mostly being done along with the band and is covered by insurance (that is if your insurance covers the band) The benefit of combining the procedures is that they serve as a backup to each other and they help to minimize the other's complications and drawbacks.

I belive you anatomy will determine the band size. I believe that the standard sizes at 10 and 14cc

I just finished my last appointment with my doctor and surgery is tomorrow morning. There was a chance that my surgery was going to be postponed because there was a review board issue with doing the iband at the hospital and the doctor had also decided to put a hold on doing them at the surgical center where I was scheduled until the issue was cleared up which could have taken a few weeks. Fortunately he decided to go ahead with the iband at the surgical center since I'm an out of state patient and getting here is not that easy for me

The way my doctor put it to me is that he could tell me to eat a small meal three times a day and I could lose the weight but after a while eating so little would drive me crazy and I will eventually start to eat more. What WLS does is that it allows you to feel satistifed with that small amount. Now you should keep in mind that you will still have to make some changes because no WLS will work with those changes, but WLS will help to make those changes easier

I'm scheduled to get the band with plication on Friday. I'm really excited about the potential results but nervous about surgery overall

Have you read up on the other procedures available like the bypass and sleeve? Are they something that you might consider? If you're sure that you want the band but are concerned about the after care costs, you may want to consider getting the band with plication or iBand. One of the benefits of the iBand is that fills are needed less often and for some people they don't need to have a fill at all or since you are self pay you can opt to have plication on it's own (the only down side is that you don't have the band as a back up if your weight loss with plication slows down)

You best bet might be to see if they deny you because of not having a history, then appeal by stating the AMSBS has stated that pre-surgey supervised diets don't have an impact on the effectiveness of surgery and in addition BCBS has removed the requirement in several states as a result of the position paper. More information can be found here http://s3.amazonaws.com/publicASMBS/GuidelinesStatements/PositionStatement/ASMBS%20Position%20Statement%20on%20Preoperative%20Supervised%20Weight%20Loss%20Requirements.pdf If the link doesn't work, go to www.amsbs.org and look under resources for the position paper