mommykristie

I was banded a little over 100 days ago on March 15th. So far, I have had two fills. The first one at my 6 weeks appt. On my May visit, decided no fill. Just had my second fill last week.

It could also be scar tissue. I have a large area about the same size. I had assumed it was my port since it was right above my large incision. It turns out that my port was actually below my incision! What I was feeling was simply scar tissue.

Congrats! The first step on your new journey! Best of luck!

It is approved for BMI of 30 or more now; however, most insurance will not pay unless you have a 35 BMI with two or more comorbidities or else 40 with no comorbidity. Also, you must have had this BMI for 3-5 years. For example, if you had a 30 in 2010, a 38 in 2011 and a 42 in 2012, you probably wouldn't qualify to have the insurance cover it. There are several people on here who are self -payers who could point you in the right direction.

Congrats!! I am signed up for the Warrior Dash in October! Can't wait!!My personal trainer is working me HARD trying to get me ready for it. Mission: to complete the race alive!! LOL!

Most everyone has to go on some type of liver shrink diet before the surgery, so maybe that is what they are having you do. Every surgeon is different in their approach to this, some require a percent loss, some strictly liquids, some low carb, etc. The main thing is to shrink the liver so that it will make it easier to complete your surgery successfully. Good luck!!

Since you are eating so little is there enough nutrition going through your body to ensure you are relatively healthy? (are vitamins required, I have heard of hair loss If you get enough protein, this shouldn't be a problem with hair loss. I am over 100 days post op and haven't had any issue with this. Some people have minor hair loss the first few weeks or dry hair, but that is due to the general anethesia. As far as a vitamins, my doctor just has me on a chewable kids multi-vitamin daily. · If you drink water does that fill you up similar to food or does it pass through you?water passes right through. The protein shakes on the other hand fills me up. I have trouble in the morning with breakfast sometimes, so I will substitute a protein shake. My trouble isn't getting stuck, just I have never cared for breakfast before 9! LOL · Anyone have excess skin or have they found with continued exercise that this is not that big of a problem?I think this is an individual issue. For myself, I work with a personal trainer so I think that it has helped with my excess skin so far. I know several that have had the band. The extra skin depends on how much you have to lose, how hydrated you stay, and how much you exercise,. There are some people that I know that do the above things, andhaven't had an issue even with 100 lb loss. My husband is approaching his 85 lb mark (11 months) and has zero sagging skin. On the other hand, I know a few that have lost , but did not do any exercise and are planning on cosmetic surgery. · Can you feel the band does it interfere with another aspect of your live At the beginning, I was more aware of my port area especially the scar tissue. As far as the band, no I don't "feel" it, but the general area around where it is will feel tighter on occasion. I haven't had any problems with interference at all. There have been a couple of instances when doing ab workouts that I can feel my port but that is all. · Does the gas subside or is it a constant side effect?The gas is a byproduct from the surgery. It will go away fairly quickly. It is a different type of gas, than from stomach/intestinal gas. This is a gas that forms in your muscle walls after surgery. The best way to alleviate it is to move around as often and as soon as they will let you up. Some people swear by beano and gasx, etc. after surgery; however, my surgeon ( along with several surgical nurse friends) told me that since it is a different kind of gas, the best way to get it gone , is to get yourself in gear. I walked those hospital hallways so many times! When you get home, do the same thing. walk, walk, walk

Right after surgery, usually the band is empty or else a very small amount (depending on your surgeon). My surgeon goes the empty band route. The reason behind this is to allow your body time to heal and recover. Therefore, you will have little to no restriction at the beginning. Focus during this time on following your doctor's orders and learning to chew properly and portion control. This time is very much a mind over matter. In other words, you are the one working during the first part. However, even afterwards, you will still be the one working. The band is just a tool to aid you in your process. It doesn't have an on or off button, so you will learn to work with your band. As far as changes on the scale, again everyone is different and so will lose at varying rates. At the beginning, I had rapid weight loss during the liquid and mushies stages. Once I began solids, the loss slowed down to a steady pace. The best of luck to you on your journey to a new you!!

A lot depends on your surgeon and your insurance requirements. My surgeon does not set a date for surgery until the actual insurance approval. At the initial consult, they scheduled my nutritionist and physical therapy appointment. I received my 6 month diet plan sheets to give to my primary doc, so that he would know exactly what information needed to be included in his monthly report. Once the 6 month diet and the other appts were completed, my surgeon's office sent the info to the insurance. As soon as I had the approval, they quickly set up my surgical visit and the actual date of the surgery. Good luck!

By the time you try to count to 10, you will be waking up in recovery. I think I made it to 3.... lol!

Each person's recovery is different. I know some people on here who took 2 weeks off from work and others who went back the next day. For myself, I stayed in the hospital overnight, had the weekend to rest and went back to work on the Monday. By the end of the week, I had even taken a group of students on a field trip. My husband was home with me over the weekend. So I think three days will be fine for your mother to stay. Try to move around as much as you can tolerate. It will make the recovery much easier on you. Good luck

From my personal experience, the farther out from your banding date you are the less time you spend on the forum. At the beginning stages (preop, intial banding, first few weeks) everyone spends much more time on the boards. I know I was more apt to check in throughout the day several times. As time moves on, I find myself busier with exercise, spending more active time with my family and overall enjoying my life again. So I spend less time on the forums. However, whenever, I need reassurance or a question answered, this is the first place I go to. It is kind of like having family. When we are younger, we spend lots of time with our relatives (cousins, aunts, uncles, etc). As we get older, we don't rely on them for our daily social life but we know we can count on them to be there if needed.

I thought the same thing, but like you , I didn't want to come across as unsympathetic.

Once your have the approval from your insurance, you don't have to worry about dropping below the required BMI. I had to go back and repeat the 6 month diet for too low of BMI. However, once the approval was , I started on the liver shrink preop diet and dropped below again. This time it didn't matter since the insurance had already approved the surgery.

It sounds like you are too tight. Vomiting is NOT something you have to learn to live with. You can develop complications and have band slippage. It is counterproductive to have your band too tight. Think of your body as your car, you have to have oil ( water) and fuel ( food) to run efficiently. The common thread that you will hear is that if you are vomiting, either change your food choices or else the band is too tight. Good luck!

1. As far as pills- I was on Zoloft myself along with prescription stomach meds (much larger) and it was not a problem at all. The good news is that I am no longer on anything! Feels so great!!! 2. soda- both myself and my husband have tried soda. It isn't a problem; however, since the pre-op diet and surgery, it tastes TERRIBLE!! I never thought I would give up my Dr Pepper, but once you are away from it for awhile, your tastes changes. they taste like medicine to me. So, soda cravings are no longer a problem. 3.surgeon's experience- the main thing I wanted to know was how many procedures, any deaths due to complications and how accessible would he be after surgery 4. sugar free- not sure about the reason, however, it does help in kicking the sugar addiction. For me, it is like the soda, it just doesn't have the same appeal anymore. Instead of ice cream, I crave frozen grapes now. LOL! 5. yogurt- I won't be much help here. I guess you could dilute it with skim milk to make it more drinkable. However, you will be able to eat yogurt, so I don't see why you would have to make it drinkable. 6. Insurance- For my insurance I had to maintain above a 40 BMI since I had no comorbidities ( insurance accepted ones). They went back three years for BMI. I actually had to redo my 6 month supervised diet. In 2009, my BMI had dropped to 39. My doctor was great about the 6 month diet. I could not drop below the 40 or else the insurance would deny my claim for the reason " you are successful without WLS". AS IF!!!! Anyways, I would lose a couple of pounds, then have a "set back' and gain a pound. I know it sounds awful, but it showed that I was "trying" to lose but not being particularly successful. It is like a game of jumping through hoops. From my experience, don't let your BMI fall below the required min for your insurance.

After approval, my insurance gave a 6 month window to have the surgery in. I could have been banded the same week as my approval , but due to other obligations, I was banded a month later. Your surgeon's office should be able to work with you.

I would suggest bringing him to your seminar if it is conducted by your surgeon. My required seminar was conducted by my surgeon, his nurse and the nutritionist. My husband was skeptical but after attending the seminar and having all of the questions answered, he actually opted for the surgery too! In fact he was banded 6 months before I was ( insurance issues...grrr). Anyways, 11 months and 80 lbs later, he wouldn't have it any other way!

I tried various kinds of protein shakes. I could not handle the powder so I use the ready made. For me, the rich chocolate Boost high protein is the best tasting; however my husband swears by his muscle milk. I think you need to find one that you can tolerate because you will have a long history with protein shakes. My doctor does not want them to be used on a daily basis, but after you have a fill, you have to go back to them for a day or two, so you might as well get one you like. As far as the headaches, once you get through the carb withdrawal, they should go away. Stay strong!!

Good luck! The vomiting is from the reaction to the anethesia. I had the same reaction, but have not had one vomiting episode since recovery. So don't panic A pillow across the belly helps!

I have BSBS of AL and it took less than 48 hours for approval. I could have scheduled the surgery for the end of that same week, but I had other obligations and didn't want to be dealing with recovery at the same time.

I agree that this is a very personal decision. I chose to tell and I freely try to answer any questions that anyone has. In fact, I know of several that are considering or going through the insurance hoops right now. I think that some felt comfortable discussing it with me and being able to talk to me frankly. I even post a once a month full head to toe shot on my Fbook page to help document. I have had nothing but very positive experiences with others with lots of encouragement. Having said that, the one question that does start to irritate me somewhat is the standard " how much have you lost" For some reason that particular question, makes me pause because weight loss is so much more than just the pounds, but also the increased exercise, the healthier diet, the smaller clothing sizes, etc.

I understand exactly what you mean! I go for my doctor visit tomorrow and had planned to discuss this very thing. I currently exercise 6 days a week walking/run/jog for 45-60 min. I vary the courses to get a difference in hills, flats, etc. On three of those days, in addition to my walk/jog, I workout with a personal trainer doing 30 minutes of cardio and 30 of strength training. I keep to the 1000-1200 calorie count but my loss is very slow on the scale. My surgery was on March 15, and I had my first ( and only) fill on April 26. Since the April date I have only lost 7.5 lbs; however, the inches are definitely coming off and my clothing sizes have dropped. I am just impatient for my scale to catch up!

I have been so busy the past few weeks, that I have not had an opportunity to even check out the boards. However, I had to share a little nsv today. I have been working with a personal trainer three times a week and boy am I out of shape!! Even during a simple hamstring stretch, I could not grab my ankle and pull it up. I was grabbing my shoestrings, my sock, my shoe,...whatever I could manage. Talk about embarrassing! Today, I finally could grab my ankle up!! Silly, I know, but I was determined to get that foot!! One thing I have noticed is that for the past few weeks with ending school, vacation, etc., the pounds have not been coming off. Inches..yes, but the scale is barely moving It would be nice to see those numbers move a little more. I am trying to concentrate on being down clothing sizes since my scale seems to be stuck. On the bright side, it was so pleasant to sit on the airplane without worrying this time. Also, all of the rides were much more comfortable at the theme parks. I even had to pull the seatbelt tighter! WooHoo!!

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