kacee

I take 40 mg of Prozac, which is a large capsule. I have NO problem taking it. I've been taking rather large pills since about 3 months post op.

Ya know what...for some of you who are anticipating getting the band and paying for it, you might start with tests BEFORE you go for your consult and start the "bandwagon" rolling. I was having trouble snoring and went to an ENT (then had a sleep test), which was covered by insurance. I went to the GP and had bloodwork done, (which I do several times a year anyway because I am on BP and cholesterol meds) which was covered by insurance. I had had a kindof tightness in my chest for a few days and wound up at a cardiologist having a stress test...all covered. And THEN I decided to get the band and ALL my testing I'd had done in the last three months was just sent over to the surgeon, which fullfilled all the pre-op needs.

From what I can tell, ALL bands are sutured in place to hold them on the stomach. The healing period right after surgery is most important because that is when the scar tissue from this is forming and settling the band in place.

<p>And if that were to happen.......? Your point is?????? Do you get up every morning and fear you will be hit by a bus and killed in the way to work (or school)? Do you enter a swimming pool figuring you have a 50-50 chance of drowning before you get out? Do you aniticipate someone breaking into your house in the middle of the night and shooting you dead? Do you hide in a closet when it rains because you might get struck by lightening and killed? You could die on an operating table, on a street corner, at home in your bed in your 90's... However, that being said, you are in capable professional hands of people who study and work YEARS and YEARS to perfect the skills they have. These aren't just sckmucks off the street digging around in your gut. They do this day in and day out, like you or I might use a computer, or cook a meal, or iron a shirt. It is a skill learned and practiced and honed to perfection. Contingencies are covered. Is this about fear of death or fear of losing control? They are silly fears...and we all have them from time to time, no matter how idiotic they feel. Let's just say that the odds are REALLY with you that things will come out FINE.!</p>

First of all be PREPARED for hunger when you start feeling better. You will still have a capacity to eat quite a bit. Eat to FILL yourself (I ate a LOT of jello around that time....every time I felt the munchies I headed for a cup of fat free jello. At 10 cal per cup, I could load up). I actually had a really good post-op experience. I knew everything that was happening and what to expect so when it came, no surprises. Understand that you are NOT expected to shed weight like a maniac right after surgery. Your band won't work for you until you get restriction (and that means RESTRICTION, which doesn't necessarily mean "first fill"). The most dreaded thing you can do at this time is get disappointed and feel hopeless. This is a process that may take some MONTHS, so understand this. These are the first few weeks and months of the rest of your life and things will change, sometimes faster, sometimes slower. DO NOT GET DISCOURAGED. Professional dieters are always getting discouraged. This will be different. The changes WILL come.

Also makes a difference what time of day you are eating. Sometimes I can barely eat anything before noon. My band feels like a vise. By dinnertime I feel like I can eat "a lot" (if I can get 3/4 of a cup of something down, that is a LOT). You've got to make sure the easy stuff is introduced when you are closed up and you can get more varied when you feel looser. It's trial and error. That's the big learning curve of the band. At 6 months I feel like I am just now starting to get a grasp on it.

Don't give it a second thought. This is TOTALLY NORMAL!!!! First fills are usually not successful....second fill may not be either. I didn't get a REAL restriction (and believe me, it comes as one of those big "AHA!!!!!" moments when you DO get it!) until my 3rd fill. It will come with time. Do the best you can for now and get back in for another fill when your doctor lets you.

You can do this and you WILL be successful. I guess I am different from most people. They only stress I had pre-surgery was "Let's get on with this and get it done!" I was about to bite myself with anticipation and looking forward to starting my new life. And......my new life is WONDERFUL!

I was kindof backward....I actually learned about the band while sitting in the waiting room at the ENT's office (which resulted in a sleep study because I was snoring so much I wanted to find out how I could lessen it). By the time I went for my surgery consult I had already had a sleep test (Kindof interesting really....they hook you up to a zillion electrodes and you sleep overnight at the sleep study place while they monitor your breathing and blood pressure)... Chances are probably good you may need to get one, especially if you are going through insurance.

HAHAHA Kindof like a "Sleep Number Bed".....I've heard about it too.

I didn't start losing the hair until the fourth month. I THOUGHT I was immune to it after hearing everyone else agonize, but I found out I am JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE (WWWHHHAAATTT????????) so you can hope all you want, but chances are good that you may become part of the LapBand Hair Club in a little while. Just don't be surprised if it happens.

Oh boy, now that I see the picture, I see this is totally a jealousy thing. Dump her like a hot potato. She's blaming you for everything. HOGWASH!

Double BINGO. This is a classic co-dependent response. Like some people who are is in a realtionship with someone who is an alcoholic. They are enablers because they don't WANT the person to get well because they are in a SAFE zone as long as the person relies on them and needs them and they enable the very vice that makes the person weak and needy. Your friend is sailing down the river of Denial. Want2beme is DEAD RIGHT. This is TOTALLY NOT about you and I feel rather sorry that your friend is masking her true feelinigs under the pretence of worrying about you "multilating yourself" (NOT). If you feel it is worth it, you can try to sit down with her and explain your feelings. She may very likely balk and deny everything, but at least you gave it a shot...or you can write her a nice long letter when your head is sompletely clear and you have time to put your thoughts in order. Either way, what will be will be.

1. I can tie my shoes without losing my breath. 2. My eyes don't shut when I smile. 3. My big hips have less bruises. 4. I can see my feet. 5. I can see my cheek bones. 6. I can walk much further without getting tired. 7. I can cross my legs. 8. I can shave my legs in the shower! 9. I can get out of the bathtub without 911 on speed dial. 10. I can bend over and..... GET BACK UP!<!-- google_ad_section_end --><!-- / message --><!-- sig --> 11. I'm not snoring like a bear anymore.

Sounds to me like you need a fill. When was your last one?

stomach first, then face

GACK! You'll wind up looking like Beth on Dog The Bounty Hunter! I think the funniest thing I ever saw was the South Park character of her. All it was was two HUGE boobs with two eyes and a bunch of blonde hair peeking over the top.

At least she isn't telling people you ARE deceased! Of course that would throw a kink in the information when you answer any phone call to your house....uh....no, this is a recording....Actually since she is so knowledgable, you should drop her a note and ask her if she has been privy to the exact date of your demise so you can be proactive and get your affairs in order. Now THAT is helpful! Plus, it gives you the opportunitiy to cancel any long-term hair appointments you might have outstanding. See...there is an upside to this!

Don't feel bad. I've been flirting with the 160's for over a month....down to 170.0 and then up again. Then for my birthday I slid to 167 and WHAM within two days I went back up to 174. Back down now to 170.2 again. Still knocking on that 60's door, but they only open it slightly and then slam it in my face! But dammit, I'm not going to change that "167" on my signature....I'm going to shame myself into getting there!

My surgery was on a Wednesday. Though I was up and around within several hours, there is NO WAY I could have gone back to work the second day or even third day, and I have a desk job. I went back on the 6th day after surgery and still had to leave work early because I was so whipped, and I eft about an hour early that entire first week back. You need to be REALISTIC here. You CANNOT push yourself. It's all fine well and good to know you have just a day or whatever to get over it, but that is not practical. You need to be prepared for the eventuality that you may very likely HAVE to take more than a few days off. Everyone is different, but you ARE getting over SURGERY here, and surgery ALONE takes a lot out of the body stamina-wise. You absolutely need to be aware of this.

Take your pain meds!!!! That is what they are THERE for! I LIVED on mine for the first week, and it really helped me get through. Take them on a regular basis why you are still in a lot of discomfort....don't wait until you are aching all over to take something...take it at the end of the four hours, or whatever, based on the drug you are using. I too had liquid vicodin. I knew the times of the day when I would be feeling worse and I would set my alarm if I was asleep, get up and take my meds and then go back to bed. When I woke up, instead of being in agony because I had slept all night without anything and gotten so sore, it kept the pain to a minimum. There's no such thing as being a sissy. Everyone has a different threshold of pain. It doesn't pay to be a martyr.

Well, yeah, the ARE incisions. They can't just drill a hole in you and be able to get in all the instruments to move around, etc. Two of my incisions are about 1 inch (one of those is where the port was put in), and the other two are less than 1/2 inch, and there's one in my bellybutton somewhere, but I swear I have never been able to find it. Welcome Zip! You're on the downhill side now. Just hang on until you get some restriction and do NOT be surprised when your hunger comes raging back in a few weeks....don't get disappointed and bummed. It will pass. That first Bandster Hell period is a bitch, but it does pass and there is total light at the end of the tunnel!

When you first heard about bypass, they would only touch you if you were a minimum of 100 lbs. overweight. I've never really gotten to that point, but by the same token, I've remained upwards of 80+ pounds overweight for YEARS. It had even crossed my mind about ten years ago just to go for it and GAIN the weight so I could be within the acceptable range. I had never heard of the lapband before March of this year when I read about it in a magazine at my ENT's office when I went in to talk about getting tested for sleep apnea. I had no idea that people with a lower BMI could be acceptable for the procedure and I had renewed hope. At that point in time, they were still trying to adjust my BP meds up to where they would work. My GP was threatening that I was going to get diabetes if I didn't lose NOW. My sleep apnea test came back positive and I though, "This is IT. I HAVE to do SOMETHING." I'm a person who once I make a decision, it's full speed ahead, ZERO regrets. I have never looked back and I am SOOOOOO thankful for this opportunity. My life has literally started over.

NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER TRY TO "WASH" STUCK food DOWN WITH LIQUID!!!! This is the cure-all for taking too big a bite for NORMAL people (we've done it all our lives....especially those of us who gulped our food on a regular basis). This is a recipe for disaster and I leanred it the hard way. There are only two things you can do when something gets stuck: 1. Stick it out, stand up and move around, stretch, don't eat or drink a THING until it is completely clear and there is NO MORE DISCOMFORT. or 2. Head for a nearby bathroom and let it come up. Those are your choices. Period.

I wouldn't go hanging your hat on your first fill. There is an outstanding chance that there will be no reaction at all....or very little. I didn't even begin to notice a change until the third fill. You don't have really any say-so in how much you get. It is based on your body reaction to the band and what your doctor considers appropriate for a first fill. Wow, that's too bad you only get one fill! I hope they are reasonably priced after that. The only thing I would request is that they fill you using a flouroscope to judge. That will be the only way to get it exactly right. And that being said, just because they get a good fill on you does not mean it is going to work. There is just something about that first fill....