Cindy2013

I just purchased the Kirkland brand at costco. The one I chose is Performance Multi Energy Formula. It seems to have all the required Vitamins, except I also take a Calcium and Vitamin D supplement. I was told to take 1,500mg of calcium daily and this only has 165mg. This particular vitamin contains Panax Ginseng Extract, which is supposed to be good for inflammation, weight loss, and energy. I have been taking it for a few days and I feel much improved. It does make my urine very yellow though. I was told that any multi-vitamin is okay, so I don't buy the expensive stuff. My previous multi was from Walgreens, and I ran out a few weeks ago. I got real sluggish and just felt crappy, so I'm excited to see that this one is helping me now. My advice, try it before buying the bariatric ones. Save your money for a new wardrobe!

I was stressed out about the psych eval. As a chronic pain person with depression, I worried that they wouldn't let me have the band. It was not hard at all. I just went in being myself, was honest, and the psychologist said all was well. I told him I was worried about it because I had a work comp case and their psychologist report came back absolutely ridiculous. The lapband psych said it was their job to do that. His job was to take care of me, not save work comp money. So if you are worried about the eval required before doing the lapband, don't sweat it. Just be yourself and it should be great. I also had to prove a history of all my previous weight loss efforts. Listing every diet or plan you have ever been on, with the length of times and any weight loss/gain satisfied my 6 month supervised diet requirement, but I had worked with my pcp on several different diets. Just list everything you have ever done. Each insurance company is different though. Also, with the weight loss plans in the past, I was advised that if I showed I could lose 50 pounds WITHOUT surgery, they would probably not approve me. It was not an issue for me because I could never do that. I hope these points help you out. As always, we can't say what your insurance will do, but sharing our experiences is what it is all about, isn't it? I was stressed out about the psych eval. As a chronic pain person with depression, I worried that they wouldn't let me have the band. It was not hard at all. I just went in being myself, was honest, and the psychologist said all was well. I told him I was worried about it because I had a work comp case and their psychologist report came back absolutely ridiculous. The lapband psych said it was their job to do that. His job was to take care of me, not save work comp money. So if you are worried about the eval required before doing the lapband, don't sweat it. Just be yourself and it should be great. I also had to prove a history of all my previous weight loss efforts. Listing every diet or plan you have ever been on, with the length of times and any weight loss/gain satisfied my 6 month supervised diet requirement, but I had worked with my pcp on several different diets. Just list everything you have ever done. Each insurance company is different though. Also, with the weight loss plans in the past, I was advised that if I showed I could lose 50 pounds WITHOUT surgery, they would probably not approve me. It was not an issue for me because I could never do that. I hope these points help you out. As always, we can't say what your insurance will do, but sharing our experiences is what it is all about, isn't it? I was stressed out about the psych eval. As a chronic pain person with depression, I worried that they wouldn't let me have the band. It was not hard at all. I just went in being myself, was honest, and the psychologist said all was well. I told him I was worried about it because I had a work comp case and their psychologist report came back absolutely ridiculous. The lapband psych said it was their job to do that. His job was to take care of me, not save work comp money. So if you are worried about the eval required before doing the lapband, don't sweat it. Just be yourself and it should be great. I also had to prove a history of all my previous weight loss efforts. Listing every diet or plan you have ever been on, with the length of times and any weight loss/gain satisfied my 6 month supervised diet requirement, but I had worked with my pcp on several different diets. Just list everything you have ever done. Each insurance company is different though. Also, with the weight loss plans in the past, I was advised that if I showed I could lose 50 pounds WITHOUT surgery, they would probably not approve me. It was not an issue for me because I could never do that. I hope these points help you out. As always, we can't say what your insurance will do, but sharing our experiences is what it is all about, isn't it?

I'm interested in the 22 and 20s. I don't have a lot of money, but I would like to know what you have and prices. Photos would be great. Please let me know, because I am coming down and needing some size 20 things. I still have very fat arms and so I have to wear the 22s on some of the tops. Dang those flabby wings--they WILL go away soon. my email is cindy.swainston@gmail.com if you want to send me info. Thanks!

Me too. I just don't want to mess up a recipe. I'm not worried about the added fat from the whole egg. It has a lot of Protein which is what we banded people need. I was banded in 2013, but did not follow the program at all and consequently lost a little at first but gained most of it back. I've been hard at this again for about 3 weeks, and I'm not quitting this time. Just want to do it all correctly, so I'm a little stressed out about finding the right foods to eat.

I've been trying to figure out practical meals to cook. We have a dairy farm with fresh milk, eggs, beef, etc. I have given up the fresh milk, but still like those whole eggs. In perusing over hundreds of recipes, most of them call for egg whites or an egg substitute. My question is will using a whole egg ruin the recipe? I've never used egg substitute and seldom use just egg whites. My doctor encourages eating whole eggs, even suggested keeping boiled eggs in the fridge, having an egg for breakfast, or an omelette for lunch. I haven't been very successful at this lapband thing, but I am back on track now. I need to keep the momentum going. Is it okay to put the whole egg back in a recipe that now calls for egg white or substitute?

As one who struggles with getting enough Water, I understand! My nutritionist just this week told me about MiO drops. You add them to the water, and it works much like Crystal Light. I am not a fan of Crystal Light, but the MiO Orchard Apple is delicious. The berry Pomegranate is good too. She did tell me not to use the MiO Energy drops. http://www.makeitmio.com/~/media/Makeitmio/com/Images/Carousel/hero_home_Energy.jpg My goal is to drink 32 ounces of plain water and 32 ounces of flavored. Hoping that breaking it enough with variety will help.

At 2 weeks out I was ravenous and it didn't make sense why we couldn't have food. My assumption was that the reason we couldn't eat solids was that food would get stuck and it would hurt. The two times I cheated, that didn't happen so I was thinking maybe I would be okay if I skipped the blended foods and went right to soft foods. So me being new around here and not educated enough, I asked the question of why we couldn't eat solids. I was shocked that I had made it all the way through surgery without being told the why. Apparently the band is stitched to our stomach. Everything we put into our stomach, causes the stomach to move. Clear liquids are easier, full liquids requires a little more work from the stomach, and with each stage the stomach has to work harder to process that food. When the stomach works, it moves, and that can cause the stitches to fail. So at one week, when the band has not scarred in at all, we can only have clear liquids. The band gradually scars in more and more, which is why we gradually eat different textures. By 5 weeks out, it should be secured in place well enough that it won't slip when we introduce regular foods. Well, the light bulb went on for me! In my mind, I could handle a little discomfort or pain from eating the wrong foods, but I certainly didn't want to damage my band. I agree with the ideas the others gave you, other than the Greek Yogurt--nasty! Yuck! But give me other yogurts and I like them. We each have our own tastes. I enjoyed puddings (some sugar free, some not). When I didn't know what to eat, I would rely on a protein shake until coming up with something more nutritional. Blended soups were good during the third week. I enjoyed blended raviolis even. That first 4 weeks post op were difficult to come up with things to eat. I've only lost a total of 25 pounds since I began this journey, but I go weigh again next week. I've struggled with just not feeling well, no energy, and so I'm not getting much exercise in. It is difficult to lose when I'm laying in bed all the time. Gotta get on top of that. I'm afraid that your June goal may be a bit unrealistic, but by that time you should be able to go down a couple of sizes and buy a fabulous outfit for your birthday. Just not a bikini yet.

My center in Idaho is doing the same thing. $7,500 for cash pay includes everything unless they have to do a hernia repair, or something out of the ordinary happens and you have to stay in the hospital longer. Includes psych eval, surgeon, anesthesiologist, hospital, bloodwork, nutritionist, physical therapist, etc. Maybe the more competition happening, the doctors are having to lower their prices?

AJ, what you have done is helped those of us who think we are the only ones who cheat know that everyone does. And what you've done is helped yourself get recommitted. Your last sentence shows your dedication to staying thin. Don't beat yourself up over this. I'm so impressed that you made it this far. I'm way behind where you are, but I'm looking up at people like you who have gotten to their goal, and telling myself that if you can do it, I can too!

Also, my card shows the name and phone number of my doctor, what size band, and says to use caution when doing any abdominal procedures, or something like that. You could probably all get one from LapBand.com if you haven't got one yet.

I received a card in the mail from LapBand. Did none of you get one? I'm keeping it in my wallet with my drivers license. But a bracelet is a great idea. I like the one shown above too, but $86 is way too pricey right now for me.

To answer the questions: I have a 14cc band. He didn't put any in at surgery, so the 6.5 is all I have in it at this point. This amount is enough to tell me that I need to stop eating after only about 3/4 cup. I get hungry within a couple of hours though, so I have to work hard at not eating again. How much weight have I lost? I just had this fill on the 2nd, and I won't weigh again until tomorrow. I do feel like I have lost some though, because I put on a pair of pants that didn't fit the week before. Yay! I tend to get a lot of leg swelling so the weight is hard to tell from the Water gain in the leg. From the time I began the pre-op diet, I have only lost about 18 pounds, and not really anything post op except for this week's weight loss. But my issue was complicated with a 2nd surgery after the lapband (unrelated) so this set me back quite a bit. It was NOT wise to do the 2 surgeries so close together because I am just now getting to where I feel like I can make it through a few hours without having to go to bed. But the good news is that I know I've lost this week from the way my clothes are fitting. Weigh in is tomorrow. Soon I'll get my sewing machine out to take in some jeans, and that is so exciting. I had no idea what would happen during a fill, which is why I posted the details. Perhaps other doctors do it differently, but I thought I'd share my experience. It wasn't painful, the needle stick wasn't bad, and the post fill diet wasn't hard because it moves so quickly to the next phase (at least with my doctor). Good luck to you ladies about to do your first fill. Add me as your friend, and message me how it went. I need some lapband buddies to keep me motivated, and I'll try to motivate others as well.

I had my first fill last week (4/2) and I'm so excited with the results thus far. I thought I'd share the experience so that others who have no idea what happens in a fill will not be so worried. My doctor had me lay on the table. He looked at my incisions, talked to me for a minute about what he was going to do, then got right to work. He first felt where the port is supposed to be. Mine tended to move around a bit the first few weeks, and that created a bit of a problem for him hitting it (took him 4 sticks). He prepped my skin with a cleanser and offered to use Lidocaine, but I declined. The needle is attached to a syringe holding the saline. I wasn't really worried about the needle, so I didn't notice how long it was. He had me raise my legs while laying on my back. Apparently that does something with the abdomen that allows him to feel the port better. Once he got in with the needle, he had me sit up. He put in like 9 ccs at first so that I would know what it feels like to be "stuck." Not a pleasant feeling, but he then took some of that saline out to relieve the pressure. It didn't really hurt, just pressure that made me feel like burping and I felt it in my chest and back a bit. So once I understood what it feels like to be stuck, he then took some of the saline out, and experimented with the correct amount to put in at this point. I ended up with 6.5cc for my FIRST fill. I am excited that I have more than 1-2 as I have read from some of you.. He had me drink a bottle of Water and tell him how I felt with each adjustment of the saline. When I felt like I could feel the pressure but it wasn't painful to drink, he stopped and said we'll make another adjustment in 5 weeks. At this point it is definitely working to keep me from eating a bunch of food. I had to go on a 4 day post-fill diet, which wasn't real hard because it is basically what we did post-op, just one day at each phase. Now I am able to eat all textures and types of food (as long as they are healthy). I can only eat a few bites at this point, but the swelling will go down and that will change. I do get hungry within 2 hours of eating, but I've been drinking lots of water and that helps. So, that basically tells the story of my first fill. I am so excited that I have this tool. It was a bit frustrating to have had the surgery and wait for 7 weeks before getting any help from the tool. Right now though, I'm a happy woman! 6.5ccs in the first fill and it is working to keep me from eating much at a time.

This may sound dumb, but I've found chewing on ice chips to be satisfying. I just finished my full liquids yesterday. My doc allows yogurt on full liquids, as long as it doesn't have fruit in it. I enjoyed V8, Premier Protein shake, Unjury shake blended with a lot of ice, puddings, and jello. I'm on blended today, soft tomorrow, and then regular foods from there on out. I'm glad the post-fill is diet is shorter than the post-surgery! Do you feel like this "fill" is going to help?

Hello everyone. I'm so ready to move forward and get this lapband tool working for me. I go for my first fill tomorrow. Up to this point (7 weeks post op) I haven't really felt like I have a band, although for the past 3-4 days I seem to be feeling some restriction. Strange that I never have before now, so I don't know what changed. But I go for a fill tomorrow and I'm so excited. I hope the doctor will put enough in that I get some results. It has been difficult these past few weeks (as it is for all of us) to not have any restriction and go through the bandster hell eveyrone writes about. I guess I wasn't ready for it to not work in the beginning. I thought it would be beneficial from the start so it was disappointing to realize that we don't get a fill for 6 weeks. I've had another unrelated surgery, with some complications afterward, and I feel like my body is just ready for a break. My energy has been extremely low, and so has my willpower. I think I've maintained most of the weight I lost pre-op, but I haven't lost any significant amounts since surgery. I'm almost embarrassed to go to the doctor tomorrow because of this. What if I have gained? That would be awful. But I am just getting back to feeling more like myself and now I'm ready to get going on this weight loss stuff. I meet with the trainer tomorrow too, so I'm sure she'll give me an individualized plan for exercise. I've been walking on the treadmill some, and that seems to help, although my left leg swells up a ton with Water weight. I'm also getting that checked out tomorrow. So I have an 11:00 appointment for the vascular stuff in my legs, 3:00 with the trainer, 3:45 with my pain pump doctor, and 4:30 with the lapband doctor for the fill. It will be a busy day. At least they are all in the same building. So did anyone else all of a sudden start feeling the band after 6 weeks with no fill?