2012

How can you tell you are too tight? I can tell you, I had my first fill today and it was a 2 hour horrible experience. They put in 2 ccs as it's what they always do on a first fill, I swallowed the barium, nothing was trickling through the band (did flouroscopy), I wanted to vomit. Then the nurse thought something went wrong, stuck me in a room to spit up, walk around in circles, and constantly do little burps to try to alleviate the uncomfortable feeling in my throat. The little cup of water they gave me, I took some sips and no more, nothing was going down. Finally she laid me down, pulled out some of the saline and realized I had too much initial primer and gave me 2 ccs which threw me up to 5 ccs in a 10 cc band. Ugh, if they always go like this, forget about going for more fills. But I'm not giving up this easy, I had to take out a loan to do this since my company could care less about people needing weight loss surgery, and I'm going back in a month.

Hi texas-bandette, how did they rule out that it was not gas pains? I have had this pain on my left side under my ribs for 2 days and I can't get it to go away, even with Gas-X and my port is on the right, so I don't believe that's it.

I was really anxious and a little scared up to the time of getting surgery and what helped get me through is that I kept thinking of the future, get through this little step and you will get this weight off. Just keep the end result in your mind. Also, it helps to be confident in your surgeon, I know mine has done over thousands of lap bands and devotes his life to this, he even has the band himself, so this helped too. You will have pain, but you will get through it, it does get better, I'm 3 weeks out and all those aches and soreness are gone, except for my food journal I keep everyday, I would forget I had this surgery .

When I get there, I'm afraid I won't be able to find the normal clothing side of the store Just kidding, but I can relate, in my early 20's I lost 80lbs and could not believe when someone called me skinny, I had to ask the person, like are you talking to me? And when you walk through a tight spot, thinking still "am I going to fit through there?" But you have to admit it is probably fun to try the plus and misses in the dressing room, whoops that plus just fell right off .

You are welcome and you will be fine. I was a nervous wreck up to the time of surgery, I wanted it bad enough, hence self pay (I'm not rich or anything, he he), but it will all work out. Good luck!! Also, when you meet with a nutritionist, ask them if they have a manual to follow, they forgot to give me mine and the surgery staff asked me about it right after surgery, so I called and got it the following week, it had all kinds of information about what to do before the day of surgery, like no deodorant, well I was wearing deodorant because I had no clue.

I had to do a questionnaire for the psychologist (almost 300 questions), meet with all of the staff (doctor, nurse, psychologist, and nutritionist) all in one day, did a separate 2 hour nutrition class, and one blood test that I never got results from and did not fast for it, so I'm not sure what they tested for, but I know it must have been okay because I had the surgery . I did not care about the results since what I'm concerned about is only tested on a fasting blood test. And then did a 2 week liquid pre-op diet to shrink my liver. Took about 1 month from the time of my consultation (meeting with the staff), nutrition class at a separate visit, and then the surgery.

Can you only buy this from the unjury website? And has anyone tried the chocolate in coffee?

I have spent more initially bulking up on foods that I normally did not keep in the house, but I imagine it will turn around in the near future and cost less, especially as I eat less with fills, but then again, I'm only feeding one mouth

I was not charged extra, but I was told upfront that this was automatically taken care of if it was found when doing surgery and I had to sign a paper that said this again. It's been a month and no bill. Although, I read on here recently that some guy got a surprise bill for the hernia repair, so it might be best to just contact them. I found the article, hopefully this link works: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/151744-insurance-wont-cover-hernia-why/page__hl__hernia%20bill#entry1798567

On another post on here someone suggested Pearls probiotics as I experienced constipation the week after getting surgery and I did not want to run into major issues as I have always had stomach issues. They are tiny capsules to take and can survive getting through your stomach and into your intestines better than most probiotics supposedly. It took about a week to a week and a half and I have been regular. They are not too expensive and have been good for me. Before surgery I loved Sustenex, but I was afraid to take it after the surgery as the pill is larger than a "m&m", which is the guide I was given for taking pills.

I agree with SageTracey, it's all about the long term. Yeah I lost 40lbs with adipex, but could I realistically keep up that kind of eating without the pill, no and I ended up gaining a lot more back, so I made my decision to get lapband to live this as a long term change and keep the weight off this time.

Does the stuck feeling have anything to do with me feeling like food is stuck in my throat? I have read on here it is painful, which this experience is kind of, but not that bad. This is new for me so when this happens I run to the bathroom (work in "cubicle world" where you can hear a pin drop sometimes) just in case I'm about to have a problem.

MemphisFan, if you like, send me an email through this website and I will scan my "adjustment" (as they call it) diet for the day of the fill and diet after the fill for you. I had to take a 2 hour nutritionist class 2 weeks before my surgery and this is where I got the information from. Use your nutritionist to their fullest, I have called or emailed them about a million times since my surgery .

Walking around and gas X help, it took about 6 days until all of the shoulder pain was gone for me.

Thanks for the feedback. I thought that you had to do liquids for 24 hours after a fill, 1 day of mushy, and then regular foods again? I believe it's because your stomach is swollen after a fill and sensitive.

How did it go, I go for my first fill in a week?

I have not had a fill yet, but I would like to also know what Shannon was told by her new person doing the fill, would you mind sharing pretty please?

Thanks silly-weasel, the bloating is what is bothering me the most. I've lost 20lbs and can't even tell when I bloat up after eating my mini meal. My dad has colitis and just told me about Charco Caps at Wal-Mart and I'm going to see if these are okay with my dietician and give those a go if they are okay.

I'm glad you posted this, I was actually wondering if anyone wanted to start a regular meeting or something, for example, Sunday's would be best for me, but time of day would have to depend on who would be joining, I'm on EST time in Kentucky. I was just banded 09JUL2012, my surgeon's office only has monthly meetings, and I only know 1 person that has had lapband, which I can drill for questions and believe me I have, but it is still good to get different opinions and a good support group. This website is awesome and has drastically helped me, but live communication is good too. Let me know if there is interest and we can set this up, or even start a new post to get more people.

For you July bandsters, anyone still dealing with gas? I was banded 09JUL2012 and have gas every day, called the nutritionist today and she is telling me it may still be gas from surgery.

Thanks

What is BS chicken?

Sorry I can't make any suggestions, just newly banded myself. But if you don't mind me asking, are you not eating per the plan? Are you eating over the 1 cup portions 5-6 times a day?

Thank you 123crod, I wish I knew about that before because I really need to be on it. Looks like I'm going to the Little Clinic to get back on this again. But hopefully as I lose more weight (just banded 09JUL2012) it will get a lot better. Thanks so much!!

Now if only they would only come out with a generic, I stopped taking it due to cost. I have an HSA account and for 3 months it cost almost $400.00.