ndtman

I am glad to see there is a large number of fine folks to ask questions to on the good old interwebs.. I started at 400 pounds in Dec of 2011. I had enough and decided it's time to do something. I had talked to my Dr about it many times and he would say yeah yeah its a great idea but I had never pushed him. That December I made an appointment to specifically discuss getting the lapband and I am really glad that I did. Once I sat him down and told him i was serious he was ecstatic and seemed to pop to life. We talked about it for probably an hour and a half and he could not tell me enough how proud he was that I was taking the next step. He told me I have been telling you for a very long time you can do it and you need too. However until you make up your mind and put forth the effort there wasn't much he could do. At that point I started my journey with the support of my favorite doctor. 2012 was a very busy year for me I had to do a ton of travel for my work. It seemed I was on the east coast at least once a week. I started looking into whom to use and going to seminars ect. It seems everyone that does lapband surgery has their own set of rules and classes ect. I started with Via Christi and attending their seminars I went to both the HMR and gastric surgery. I filled out countless forms and found out that my insurance did cover the procedure but I had to jump through many burning rings of fire. Just kidding but it sure looked that way. I found out I had to do 6mo of supervised dieting, do a psy eval, see a nutritionist, sleep study and countless blood works. Of course I have a copay for each of these and time out of my day. In the end it took me a year to get everything completed. This is mostly because of all my traveling. I lost 70 lbs total and had a slight increase during the holidays. I was banded 1/17/2013 in Overland Park and seem to be feeling ok. I am prone to infections for what ever reason. However I seem to be doing ok thus far I let my surgeon know my issues with infections and he took precautions. The night before last I ran a really high fever and was intensely cold. The next morning the fever had broke and I sweat my butt off. That evening ended in cold sweats and a very low grade fever. I have a Dr. Attp this morning were I am certain to get even more antibiotics. I am glad to say my hunger is gone. I mean I do not have an appetite at all since the surgery. My surgeon said a large percentage of people who get the band have this effect. So far I am very excited as this was one of the ultimate goals I had for the surgery. For years I have been hungry even after eating until I was bloated. I was always hungry and no matter what I did I was never satisfied. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this does not change. Don't get me wrong I can hear and feel my stomach growl and knot up but I do not have any hunger that makes me search for food. Since the surgery I know I have to eat and that is what has directed me to do so. All in all this is the start of my story and I hope I am able to receive support from you fine folks and intern be able to give it back. Cheers, Adam

Yummy I am so going to add this to my list of goodies.

Good luck and please let us know as I am interested as well.

I don't know about the rest of you but before my band hiccups would hurt once in a while. Now I do everything I can to not hiccup if possible because they really hurt. I know I am still healing but I hope the painful hiccups go away. banded 1-17-13 Does the pain stop?????

I am newly banded 1-17-2013 but my surgeon told me that it is very common to have them moved. I will most likely have mine moved at some point at he put it a few inches bellow my breast plate (where both sides of my ribs meet in the middle. It seems to me to be a bad location as I seem to bump it at work. As well as it pokes out and my wife is not to happy with the placement either because it looks funny. Cheers,

+1 I am not 9 days post op and yes the pre op diet SUX but I lost almost 20 pounds on it and that kept me driving on. Hang in there it gets better and easier as your stomach shrinks the hunger starts to no go away but you start getting satisfied longer between meals (lol I mean drinks ) I have always loved everything about food. I missed the taste more than anything. I was allowed to start eating some poached eggs and my wife laughed at me yesterday because I was talking to my eggs. I have found a whole new love for food now. It is different than before I am enjoying it more now that I ever have. Take your time and everyone has slip ups don't beat yourself up. Remember you did not get this way over night. You are not able to change your habits in one week. Keep looking at the positives and walk walk walk because it does help. Best of luck to you, Adam

I don't have the same insurance as you. I have Coventry here in Kansas but it sounds like we have similar requirements, My insurance required among multiple labs: 6mo supervised dieting sleep study psy eval (ended up being 2 visits) lol they have to do a pre assyment and submit it to insurance in order to get insurance to pay for the auctuial. 2 visits to a nutritionist (something I really enjoyed FYI) I learned a lot BMI over 35 with comorbidity thyroid check pepsid ulcer check (either treated or ruled out) Dr. tried to simply rule it out insurance said no so I had to have a blood test for this. Pulmonary Function Test That seems about it, I know there where more labs but heck I don't remember what all they were lol. I really think insurance does this to weed out the people that are not willing to put a little hard work in to get all this stuff done. I was discouraged a couple times but I had made up my mind to change my life and remembering that pushed my to do it.

My surgeon was Lawrence Drahota. I personally liked him but mostly because out personalities aligned. I am a don't beat around the bush get to the point kind of guy and so was the surgeon. We did not discuss my ideal weight as I use the local clinic here in Wichita and we discuss that type of stuff here. All in all I was pleased with the services they provided. It was clean and the day shift nurses were very nice. The nurse I had on the night shift was ok but I didn't like the fact when what she had to say contradicted what the surgeon said. She put it off like I should still listen to her rather than the surgeon. Other than that I was very satisfied. I went to my PCP the next Monday and he took a look at the incisions and said the surgeon had done a very nice job. It is healing nicely and it doesn't look like it will scar or at least be overly noticeable The hotel they put you up in the first night is ok and only by a fine line. It was clean and the people friendly. With my profession I do a lot of traveling and lets say it's not my typical hotel but it was not bad enough to make me use my points for a nicer hotel somewhere else.. Regards, Adam

Ask away I will do my best to answer...

Darn these were mine as well with the addition of being able to run again. I use to love to run and have not been able to in years. I was banded 1-17-2013 so the long road has begun. Cheers, Adam