Toddy

Normally this kind of thread is very off-putting in my opinion. However, in this instance, I think you will have the last laugh... they say for every 10 pounds a man loses, he gains an inch... You go, Oladad!

I was in the 50ish zone for weight loss when I started having complications. Now I'm just in the 40ish zone and hoping I don't gain any more before my revision surgery!!

I think self-administering fills and unfills is ridiculous. If you can't afford the after-care and fills, etc. don't have the surgery. Everyone should know going in that this surgery is not a one time thing and you're done -- this is an ongoing process REQUIRING maintenance.

I had my first colonoscopy and endoscopy at the same time. Easy peesy is right!! The worst thing was a slight sore throat for a couple of hours. My daughter had an endoscopy and didn't even have the sore throat.

I've never understood how people can hate Water?1?!?! I LOVE IT -- plain with no ice. The unnatural too sweet mix-ins I can't tolerate at all. Before surgery I was a Diet Pepsi-aholic. I haven't had a carbonated drink since January 17, 2012. I might have missed it in the beginning, but not now. My son brought home a 24 pack and put in the fridge last night... not even tempted! It actually turned out to be one of the easiest things for me to give up. The hardest things to give up was aspirin and ibuprofen;-)

The "good food" is what caused you to need the band. If you go back to eating the "good food" you will not lose any weight, banded or not.

I'm sure they'll do the surgery. However, it is really important that you follow your doctor's orders. If you're not compliant on the pre-op, will you really be compliant on the post-op? You will have to diet after this surgery in order to be successful. They say the pre-op diet is important to shrink your liver... however, I've always thought it was a test of how well you'll do post-op, too.

I only go to buffets when I'm going with friends, because it is a big waste of money. That being said, though, I always pull out my lapband card that says I've had weight loss surgery and to please let me order a child's portion. I haven't been turned down yet. I feel a lot better about wasting $5 or $6 than $10 or $12!

I'm definitely going for the plication. Was your slipped band removed, new band placed and plication all done in one surgery? My biggest fear is not being able to have it all done at once!

Every doctor has a different pre- and post-surgery diet. A lot of people are on full liquids the week before surgery.

My doctor charges $16,000 if you have insurance coverage. For self-pay they have reduced the cost to $12,000. If you do decide to travel for your surgery, make sure you've got someone lined up for your aftercare and fills and lock down what that will cost if you didn't have surgery with them. I have heard of some clinics that have a large up front "program fee" to do your fills if they didn't do your surgery.

I didn't have the typical symptoms of a slip. I had a couple of incidents of vomiting (not to be confused with regurgitation) followed by very severe and intense pain that required a partial unfill the first time and a complete unfill the second time. Before we started refilling this last time, I had a berium swallow test that revealed a pretty significant slip. It is not interfering with my ability to eat or drink so surgery is not emergent, but basically it's like having a band that is doing absolutely nothing for me. Also, it could possibly start causing problems which would make surgery emergent, so I've decided to go on and have surgery and this time have plication with it to hopefully prevent or greatly reduce the possibility of future slips.

Sugar free popsicles were a life saver for me in the all liquid phase. Gave me something to chew on anyway!

In this case I'm glad they differ -- I hate milk!! But thank you for clarifying! Just FYI, once you're back on solid foods you should be able to enjoy wine again. I know a lot of doctors discourage alcohol consumption because it is empty calories and full of carbs, but I just count my wine in my allotment of calories and carbohydrates and have been successful with my weight loss.

I am a wine drinker myself, however, a couple of glasses of wine when you've had nothing in your stomach but liquids could spell big trouble. At the very most I might take a couple of sips only for toasting purposes. A better option would be to toast with sparkling Water, surely they'll have something there for the non-drinkers. And what is this milk diet? This is a new term on here and lots of us are curious!

I had surgery on a Tuesday and went back to work the following Tuesday. I didn't have any pain, but I was so weak and light-headed I literally thought I was going to pass out. What made it worse is no one knew I'd had surgery and I sure didn't want to have to explain it after the fact!! I managed to make it through the day and felt better the next day. My band has slipped and I have to have surgery again. This time I'm going to take off a week and a half at the very least.

Not sure what a pre-op milk diet is. Every doctor has a different diet they want you to follow. I was allowed to have the high protein, low carb version of Slimfast.

You're only four days out from major surgery, you're supposed to feel bad. My WORST day was the seventh day post-op. Then it just got better from there.

For the short amount of time I was in the green zone before I started having complications, I could only sip water. It stayed down fine, but small sips only -- just like small bites!

I hope you followed his advice and are posting this from the ER! This is NOT something to ignore!

Is the pain in your chest and shoulder area? If so, that's the gas and it can last for a week or so, but it does get better. Unfortunately there's not much else that can be done for it other than pain meds and heating pad.

Everyone has a different threshold to pain. Have you ever had surgery before? If not, this could likely be the most pain you've ever experienced and it's scary. The gas pain to me was worse than the incision and abdominal pain. Keep taking your pain meds and using a heating pad and call your doctor. He's the only one that can tell you whether what you're experiencing is abnormal and if you need to come back in. If you can't even keep down water, it's obvious you need to go back to the hospital so you don't dehydrate.

I didn't have any of the "classic" signs of a slip. I had two episodes of being too tight which resulted in vomiting, followed by severe pain, which was relieved by a partial unfill the first time and a complete unfill the second time. My doctor didn't believe I could have a slip after just two episodes of vomiting, but scheduled me for a berium swallow more or less just for my peace of mind. Turns out I have a pretty bad slip, enough to require surgery.

Yep, just found out yesterday that mine has slipped and is going to require surgery;-(

I was unfilled last month and the slip was just diagnosed yesterday, so apparently the unfill didn't help. To be honest, when he started explaining about the slip, I was pretty shocked and didn't really take in what all he said. Only being eight months out from surgery, and knowing how well he stitches in the band, plus only having two incidents of vomiting and not having any of the usual symptoms of a slip, a slip was the last thing I was expecting!