running_scared

Good Surprise: I am not as tired or exhausted as I used to be 37 pounds heavier. Bad: I have a lot more gas pain than I used to have.

I still have the odd glass of diet coke (usually only as a vodka mixer). It makes me gassy too, but I just burp more (attractive, I know!) But, I waited until I was 6 weeks post-op to try.

Not too much longer

I have a few drinks a week. I can still have some carbonation, but it makes me more gassy than it used to.

11.6% lost so far

Woohoo!

Congratulations on the kiddo, and on your success. My husband and I were very careful about birth control, because I've heard a lot of people get pregnant right after surgery

Woohoo!

One of the causes of pancreatitis is gallstones stuck in the billary duct between the gallbladder and the pancreas. Perhaps that's what is going on with you? Anyway, I hope you are able to get answers, and some relief.

I bet all you'd get from e-mailing him, is some spam!

I know that gallbladder issues are common after anyone loses weight, but I've never heard anything about pancreatic disease.

I paid $17,000 plus all my travel costs.

I would stick to non-weight baring things, like the recumbent bike.

~ how big of pills can you take or have you switched over everything to liquids? (I'm on Zoloft, a tiny pill) I am currently on what seems like horse-pill sized antibiotics, and I am getting them down without issue, 4 times a day. In the first 3 weeks after surgery, I had everything in liquid form, but I started out with quick dissolve tylenol when I ran out of the expensive liquid stuff, and I haven't looked back. I have 6ccs in a 10cc band, and I think I'm reasonably close to the green zone. ~ Do you ever drink soda? I'm worried I will miss the bubbles of my diet Dr. Pepper. How does drinking carbonated drinks feel with a lapband? I have the odd diet coke now (sometimes even mixed with vanilla vodka!) and as long as I'm not eating at the same time, I'm fine. I burp a lot, but I haven't exploded yet It makes me feel full, but only for about half an hour. And I'm not having more than one can, spread out over an hour. However, I waited until one month after surgery, before I even tried it. You really need to master burping again, as silly as it sounds, before you try anything carbonated again. ~ what specific questions about my surgeon's experience should I ask? I asked how many lap bands he had put in, and what his rates of complication where, for infection, band slippage, and erosion. ~ Why is it so critical that everything be sugar free? It seems many of the sf foods are higher in carbs to fill in flavor. I think it's all about limiting our overall calories. Carbs aren't the end-all, be all. But if you are talking about things like sugar-free yoghurt/chocolate, where they've filled it with something else full of calories, it might be best to avoid it all together, or really limit the portion and how often you eat it. ~ my go-to yogurt is Dannon Light and fit toasted coconut. Is there something I can add to it to make it "drinkable"? Can you mix it up with milk? We don't get coconut yoghurt here in these parts (Canada) so I'm not sure if you mean that it's just flavoured like coconut, or if it actually has chunks in it. I wouldn't be eating anything with chunks until you are at the approved stage in your doctor's post-op diet. But, I can't see why you couldn't thin out any yoghurt you wanted, and drink it, provided that it's within your doctor's recommended diet. I can't answer the insurance questions at all though, since I'm in Canada, and I was self-pay.

I also wonder if it might be the beginning of gallbladder issues.

I asked if I could have a copy. They said that they don't save the electronic recording to tape, unless there are complications, so no one has a copy. I do, however, have electronic copies of some pictures my surgeon took with his iPhone.

I'm at 6 CCs in a 10 CC band, and I can still chug water easily. You just need to let yourself heal, and you should be good to go again in a few weeks.

I paid $17,000 for surgery, all pre-op stuff, and 5 years of everything after. I've also seen some people say that their insurance was billed upwards of $30,000.

Make sure you are weighing and measuring everything. Try tracking it using Myfitnesspal.com and see where you are at.

There are always going to be people who have things better or worse than we do. I don't think that is an acceptable reason to dismiss people's feelings about their own situation though.

I'm glad that surgery was so painless for you. For some, it wasn't. And some people have had complications as well. Telling everyone that they've got everything so easy/good doesn't do much, other than reflect poorly on you.

Everyone has their own battles, and what someone is going through personally, is going to be important to them. I think you ought to get off your high horse.

So I am also having some, albeit unrelated, medial issues at the moment, that are frustrating me. I got a bug bite in the back of my leg last week, and it got infected. I am now on a 24 hour antibiotic IV at home, from a portable pump. I have a super fantastic fannypack to carry the pump around. I have to go back to the hospital tomorrow, and hopefully I can get this thing off!

Are you having the whole band removed, or just the port? I'm sorry this is happening to you.

Are you sure the doctor didn't say 3 weeks? My doctor does fills every 3 weeks.