Kim_in_SF

Good luck with the insurance approval. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!!!

Hi Carolyn, I was banded at the beginning of October and when I went in for my first fill 6 weeks later, my doctor couldn't get the fill in... he figured it was probably a kink in the tube, sent me to x-ray, confirmed it to be true and told me to come back in for a "repair" surgery. I went in the day before thanksgiving and was out that same day. It was very reminiscent of being banded at first, had pain in my port area because my doc moved my port a bit in order to straighten the kink out and my stomach in general seemed sore. After a few days though, I had recovered MUCH faster than when I was banded and I was back to my normal self. I, too, was my doctors first "kink". Lucky me! haha All in all, it wasn't a bad experience, my doc even did my fill when I was in the OR to make sure everything was fixed properly. Out of all the complications that can happen with the band, this seemed pretty easy and trivial. Hope this makes you feel better and let me know if you have any questions!!! :regular_smile: -Kim

Hi all! I live in the Redwood City area and had my surgery done at Kaiser South San Francisco. Great experience all around and my fills are done at Kaiser, too. I unfortunately have a deductible plan, so my fills cost me $100, however, I know others that are on co-pay plans and they only pay $15, $25, etc.

Hi Angelica, I had my 2nd fill about 2 weeks ago, and I personally find it easier to follow "the rules" now that I have more restriction... I'm not saying that I'm a saint by any means! But things REALLY started looking up for me after that 2nd fill. I wanted to comment on how you said "the nagging monster in the back of my head telling me 'you need to lose weight' 24 hours a day has shut his stupid mouth." Hallelujah! Me too!!! Isn't it great?!?!!!!!!! I never thought that voice would go away, and it finally has. It's a huge relief and I just wanted to tell you that I know EXACTLY how you feel. The weight loss for me has been slow, but it IS happening, so I'm hoping that monster is gone forever! :whoo: Best of luck with your weight loss journey!

Paragirl, I'd be careful doing Pilates so soon after surgery, because it's all about using your stomach and stomach muscles. Maybe you should ask your Doc just to be sure. My doctor told me not to do sit-ups for at least 6 months, and it seems to me they are similar. I'm just concerned for you and want you to be careful not to do any damage to your new stomach. Just one bandster looking out for another. :-)

Hi everyone! Thanks for the well-wishes!!! It's been one week and 3 days since my "fixer-upper" surgery to repair my kinked tube, and I'm doing MUCH better now. The first few days after the repair surgery brought back a flood of memories as to how painful my stomach was after the lap-band surgery. I got really bummed out because it took so long for my stomach to feel somewhat "normal" again after LB, and the day after repair surgery, I thought that it was happening all over again. :-( BUT, I was only uncomfortable for a few days... I'm back to sleeping on my side again and have resumed most of my normal activities. I'm still not wearing jeans yet, but I'm certainly not complaining about getting to wear sweats all the time! haha Anyway, I wanted to thank you ALL for your support. I KNEW I would get it here! You are all truly a blessing!!!

Hi everyone... I haven't been reading or posting AT ALL due to life just being crazy busy, and of course with the holidays here, it won't be slowing down any time soon! However, I knew I had to get online for the wonderful support that everyone here gives, because I have a complication already... only 6 weeks out! I was banded on Oct. 3rd and went in for my first fill last week. My doctor said the fill wasn't going in and came to the conclusion that I have a kink in my tube near the port. (he did an x-ray to make sure, turned out to be true) So now I have to go back in tomorrow... yes, the day before thanksgiving, for a small surgical procedure to have it fixed. Yikes! Apparantly, he will be moving the port up a bit to straighten it out. The only thing I'm bummed about is that the port took the longest to heal, and now it will be moved and I'll have to go through that part again. ugh. I'm not worried about the actual surgery itself, (I LOVE my doctor!), it's just kind of disheartening with the slow weight loss that I have a complication so soon. :-( I'm keeping a positive attitude though, hey, could be worse, right?!?!?!?! LOL (I'm not even all that bummed that I won't be eating Thanksgiving dinner. SOOOOO not like me! haha) And the good thing is that my doc will try to do the fill after he fixes the kink. So here I go again. I just felt I should let everyone know what was going on with me, especially in case anyone else is going through or may go through the same thing. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

My doctor said no coffee because of the caffeine... he believes that caffeine may be a cause of erosion. Decaf is totally fine, but I was put under strict orders not to consume caffeinated coffee or tea. I've seen other people on the board talk about drinking coffee, so it's one of those "every doctor is different" things. I stopped drinking it, because I think the theory sounds like it makes sense. I didn't stop until the morning of surgery though, I figured, I'd go through withdrawal on all those wonderful pain meds! It worked like a charm! :-)

Lizziee, Tylenol with codeine is the same thing as hydrocodone, which is what I was taking. Give it a few more hours, try to eat a tiny bit, then you may feel better. That's exactly what happened to me this morning....

lizziee, do you think it could be from the prescription pain meds? They were starting to make me dizzy and nauseous this morning. I haven't taken any more and I'm feeling a lot better. What kind of pain meds are you on? I was taking Hydrocodone.

Hi all! I was banded on the third and am doing quite well now. Haven't really had many gas pains... just gas "noises", it's pretty funny actually! They're coming from my stomach, my mouth, and well, I'm sure you can figure out where the other noises are comig from. :rolleyes The day after surgery was the worst for me... pain in my port area mostly. It was really hard to get up from a laying down position, it was pretty painful. On day 3, I took full advantage of my pain meds and slept the day away! I'm doing MUCH better today, which is day 4. I was downstairs washing dishes, and have fully weaned myself off the prescription pain meds. Yesterday they were a Godsend, today they were dragging me down! Now I'm just taking Tylenol and it seems to take the edge off nicely. As far as hunger, I'm not famished or anything. When I do get hungry, I drink either a Protein shake, or cream Soup, or add some unflavored protein mix to some yogurt. I think that's key to keeping hunger at bay... protein!!! Also, I have my Water bottle right next to me at all times to make sure I stay hydrated. All in all... I'm happy to be banded! To those who are waiting... don't worry, it will be here before you know it! To those already banded... WAHOO!!! WE DID IT!!!

Hi everyone! I apologize I haven't been active here on the board over the last couple of weeks. I moved over the weekend... yes, I moved 3 days before my surgery! Crazy I tell ya! I'm so glad to see that I've been included on the roll call, even though I haven't shown my face here in a little while. Anyway, my surgery is tomorrow (wednesday the 3rd), and I was wondering if we've heard how any of our October 1st banders are doing? Any last minute words of advice they can give? Or are y'all still too drugged up to be typing on the computer? Personally, I'm going to take full advantage of those pain meds! :-) I haven't had time to be nervous about surgery, but now that it's coming tomorrow, reality is starting to hit me! But I think I'm more nervous about the catheter they said I'll have in during surgery and overnight, more than the actual band and incisions! LOL I'm such a baby!!! -Kim