feelinggood

Congratulations Hazel! I am also anxious to see the pics. Hope you are doing well.

Thanks for the kind words Missy. It means a lot to me.

I want to start by saying I was banded in Mexico with a 4cc Allergan band and in 9 months have lost 100 pounds and am at my goal weight as of this week (yeah for me). However, tomorrow I will have it removed and hopefully revised to a newer band by a surgeon in the US who I have seen for aftercare these last 9 months. I have been unfilled for over a month now because was having problems with keeping food down and I still do not have any relief. Today barium swallow showed nothing getting through the band. Not even a trickle. I am not sure if my insurance is going to cover revision but hoping for the best possible outcome. So I am eating humble pie right now because I have been an advocate of surgery in Mexico and the 4cc band. My apologies to those I might have steered in that direction and those who tried to tell me it had a high complication rate. Thanks to this board and the wisdom of the long timers for bringing your experiences and advice to the less educated even if we are hard headed and don't want to listen

contact your patient advocate where you got your surgery done in mexico and ask for a list of bariatric doctors in the CT area. they should be able to help you locate one.

congratulations!

there is a really good tasting soup from costco called roasted pepper and tomato. comes in package of 6 cartons.

no worries. it's all in the interest of learning. we all have our opinions and life experiences to bring to the table. at the moment i am liking obamacare because it allows me to keep my son on my insurance until he's 26 so i have a couple years to think about it. hopefully, they will have most of the bugs worked out by then if it's still around. all i know is that we have an extremely dysfunctional congress who are playing ridiculous games at the country's expense.

i understand

Missy, you are most likely then not seeing doctors/ hospitals that accept medicare assignment. If they agree to accept assignment they can only charge you the medicare deductible and coinsurance. I have been dealing with medicare for my parents for years now and they only see doctors who accept the medicare assignment or they would be bankrupt from medical bills.

There is very small percentage of 1.45 of income paid into medicare. Hardly enough to cover more than 15 years worth of paid insurance coverage. The rest is on the employer and the taxpayer. And medicare publishes what they will pay for procedures, which are much less than the rates most doctors and hospitals charge.

there's no easy answer. i pay 600 a month for myself and son through employer and have 20% copay and 7000 annual deductible. vision and dental both extra. plus my taxes go towards paying medicare and medicaid and now obamacare. and i don't get the medicare and medicaid discounted rates but do get the insurance negotiated rates. most hospitals in my area have programs for people who cannot afford to pay their bills. my mom who is on medicare and has supplemental also pays small amount every month to jewish family services and they pay her light bill, 40% of dental, and a few other perks. there are a lot of programs already available for people who are in need of assistance who have low income. i guess i am not happy when i hear complaints about what is given is not enough when it's at the cost of others.

medicare and medicaid are both socialized medicine in the US and they seem to work pretty well. just saying...

i look at it in 2 ways. there are side effects then there are complications that need intervention. side effects are generally attributed to being too tight, taking too big of bites, not chewing well, not drinking enough water or eating enough protein, etc. these side effects are fairly easy to remedy and i wouldn't consider them complications although they the effects might feel like complications if there is pbing, coughing, aspiration, swelling, etc.. But most of these can be taken care of with an unfill or following the band rules. things that need intervention i would consider complications are slippage, erosion, esophageal dis-mobility, band rejection, port or tubing problems, etc. These things can be self induced by not not following rules or can happen through no fault of your own. Bariatric surgery, no matter which one, has it's own set of side effects and complications. We are all motivated to have WLS because we need to lose weight. They all work to help us lose weight but it's reasonable to think you will not be in the small percent who will suffer a serious complication. But we should all do the research and make a decision the risk is worth it or not. And which procedure will best suit your lifestyle.

it's natural to be nervous before surgery. they will take you back to put a gown on, hook up all the equipment to take and monitor your vitals, put in a iv line, anesthesiologist will come in to ask a few questions, you may or may not see the doctor before hand. then will give you some awesome medicine through your iv to relax you. next thing you know you will wake up in recovery piece of cake. good luck!

hmm. call your surgeon's office and explain your symptoms and temp. it would be impossible for us to diagnose what is going on. hopefully they will be able to see you right away.

i have a self imposed rule not eating after 7pm. i was a night time snacker big time. would actually eat while sleeping and wake up with crumbs in my bed! crazy... so it's hard but i just don't allow myself to indulge anymore. if the cravings won't stop i will drink a hot cup of tea with a little honey or take a soak in the tub.

what are your experiencing? please provide a little more information about yourself and how we can help support you.

i don't have the condition but would advise getting clearance from your cardiologist for the surgery.

call your surgeon. they should have someone on call after hours!

you might want to stay on liquids until you can see your doctor. the sliming/vomiting will cause swelling in the band area and make it worse. if you get to a point where you aren't able to keep down liquids or your own saliva either go to ER or your doctor might have someone on call after hours. mine met me at his office at 9;00 on a Saturday evening.

short and sweet... it is normal!

sorry to hear of the problems you are experiencing. glad things are getting better.

all i can tell you is that each doctor has their own set of instructions based on their experiences with their patients. i am on liquids for 2 days mushies for 1 then back to regular as tolerated. and each of my fills has caused different reactions then the previous. i have had my share of unfills due to too much restriction and my fills are pretty small like.1 or .2.

you can put a little topical ointment on them like lanocane. i'm 9 months out and still get the itchies sometimes.

very pretty!