The.new.g

I was denied for my band to sleeve revision twice by Aetna last year. I met all of their criteria listed in our revision policy at my employer, but they still denied me. After about 4 months, I finally reached the 40 BMI threshold again, and they approved me on 2nd appeal. But I did have surgery finally, 12/29/12.

I am a band to sleeve revision. I was happy with my band for a long time and lost a good amount of weight. Then it malfunctioned after my pregnancy and never worked again. I can tell you that in my experience so far (6 years banded and now 11 weeks post sleeve) that it is much easier to eat around the band than the sleeve, and my weight loss is faster (so far at least) even though I have always been a "slow loser". I think personally that the sleeve is a better surgery. The band is safer if you are worried about major complications like leaks. But long term people seem to have more problems with the band and the most recent research I have heard indicates that more than 50% have the band removed by 5 years post op, mostly either due to slip, erosion, or inadequate weight loss. Of course, these are my opinions based on my experience and what I have heard from other band folks. The band is an attractive idea but doesn't seem to work as well in practice. Good luck to you.

My doc said 4 weeks. I have a 2 year old, like others have noted sometimes you just can't avoid picking them up (in and out of car seat, etc). I did change her diaper on the floor for a few weeks and kept my lifting as minimal as possible but I really only made it about 2 weeks. Just do the best you can, you'll figure out some workarounds.

You should check in the self pay/Mexico forum. Most folks who go to Mexico for surgery have to fly there and back.

Once you are cleared to eat seeds, try some chia seeds. They are great and work very well.

I was only NPO after midnight (no food). You will probably be fine. Good luck.

That's true if you are on an ultra low carb plan. I'm not. I just track it in MFP and make sure I am within my guidelines.

No guilt. It's not the easy way out. And you do know that most of the Biggest Loser contestants gain back most, all, or even more weight after the show is over? It is one of the unhealthiest ways to lose weight! Numerous studies have shown that the old "diet and exercise" has a relapse rate of 95%. The sleeve isn't magic and it isn't easy. Don't feel guilty. Most of us do this because we want to be healthy for ourselves and our families, and the eternal dieting left us even less healthy, and disheartened. If you think this is the right thing for you and you have really researched what it involves, try not to let what others might think dissuade you from what you think is best for yourself. Welcome, and good luck.

Congrats to you! Speedy recovery

I have a 4 as well...there is a tiny wireless bluetooth dongle that fits in a USB slot so I can sync it on my PC. I just don't have to take it off to do it. (I wear it in my bra.) Also it syncs on my iPad. Someday I'll get a newer iPhone, but not yet.

I love mine. I do think it is pretty accurate. I like that you can sync it with My Fitness Pal. I looked at a lot of these types of monitors before buying the Fitbit, the Fitbit is the only one I found at the time that syncs via Bluetooth. The Nike Fuelband has to be connected to your PC to sync. The Fitbit also monitors your sleep, which I don't think any of the others do. It is great for increasing your incidental activity--at the end of the day I can see if I need to do more stairs or go for a walk to increase my steps for the day. In April the Fitbit Flex is supposed to come out, which is similar to the Fuelband. I am getting one of those and giving my One to my husband. I also have the Fitbit Aria scale, kind of pricy but I really like it. I really don't work for them, I just like these two products. I swear! LOL.

Over in the Food and Nutrition forum there is a sticky for where to get protein samples...you can try a lot without putting out too much cash. I was surprised by some that seemed like I would like them, but when I tried them I was glad I didn't buy a whole tub. I like vanilla & choc splendor Unjury, and choc and vanilla Trutein. I have some RTD Premier from Costco, but not my favorites. I like some of the RTD Oh Yeah drinks, but most of them have to be diluted with milk for me, too sweet and too much aftertaste. Mixed with milk they are better. I add half a pack of Starbucks Via in the morning (caffeine is okay on my plan). I also have some sugar free syrups that I add sometimes, but I have to use more milk or it gets way too sweet.

I think it's pretty normal for a partner's fear about your safety in surgery to come across as being unsupportive. My husband did the same thing both when I was banded and revised to sleeve (6 weeks post op). Once I got through safely, he has been very supportive. But he was scared for me to have surgery and at times said similar things to what you report.

That is awesome! What a great victory!

Holy crap! That is scary. My band was unclasped when they went in. What you went through sounds miserable. I'm glad things are much better for you now! I do think that each surgeon decides whether to do a revision in 1 or 2 procedures based on the damage they see in each patient. That's why we hire our surgeons, for their experience and surgical expertise. Same goes for bougie size. There's no real way to say that anyone's revision in 1 or 2 surgeries was "safe" or "unsafe" if we weren't the surgeon looking at the patient at the time of the surgery. My surgeon told me he would try to do it in 1, but that he couldn't guarantee that until he got in and actually saw what was there. I'm glad he was able to do it in one, but if he had to do it in 2 I would have been grateful to have had his expertise to make that decision at the time of surgery.

Amen sister!

Thanks! I just downloaded it, it looks really cool!

LOL. I'm glad I'm not the only one! It's not always bad, like Alabamasleever points out...but sometimes I just surprise myself with how different my emotions can be. I think some of it too is that eating often kept me from feeling emotions at all...so now, there they are! There are so many changes to get used to that seem to have happened almost overnight. This is one of them, I guess. I think if someone else was explaining all this to me, it would seem very obvious, but when it happens to me it is a lot harder to be objective or to see that it's a normal response to such a huge change to body and mind. I prefer feeling like I'm more in control and I know what to expect from myself. But now I'm getting a little too philosophical. Thanks for the input y'all.

I had another 2 week stall, then my weight dropped 8 lbs in one day! It was related to TOM so I wasn't super surprised. I'm down 28 lbs now in 5 weeks. I'm wondering if anyone else feels kind of...I'm not sure how else to put it..."crazy" sometimes? Sometimes I just say something that is totally out of character for me. I even did it on this forum, which was terrible. Anyone else notice that they do or say stuff that is out of character? I think losing food as a mood regulator has something to do with it, and hormonal changes with weight loss...or maybe I'm just rationalizing and I'm not as nice a person as I think I am? Anyone else?

So far the hard part to me seems to be what to do with stress and emotions that isn't eating. Dealing with the emotional reasons that I became fat (again and again) is the really hard part. I didn't have problems with drinking either.

Holy moly, you look amazing! Thanks for the inspiration!

I think it is really individual. I had very little pain with my band surgery, and less with my revision. I used 1 dose from my PCA, and never filled my Rx for oxycodone. I did get toradol and IV Tylenol in the hospital. I stayed 1 night. HTH.

That is a very interesting question. In a way, I don't think I ever did get over thinking it's crazy, either when I was banded or now...I guess I just got more comfortable with the idea that I had a serious problem and it called for a serious solution. The data is compelling to me. I see the statistics for non-surgical weight loss (what all of us tried before WLS) and surgical weight loss and the data is compelling. Of course, it's also hard because the data that was available when we were banded wasn't exactly how things turned out for many of us. But I didn't want RNY then and I don't want it now...so I get over the "crazy" part by looking at the numbers and my own history and my family history of obesity. I hope that helps. Interesting "food for thought!"

I was having a bad day and I guess I took it out on people I don't know. That's pretty appalling, but that's what happened. No excuses, I'll just try to be a better citizen around here. I really do hope we all have success and the better health we are seeking.

I think this looks pretty good. I know what you mean about ruts, and about eating too much artificial food. I try to find a balance between keeping the nutrients we need, and keeping my calories down, and not eating too much artificial stuff. It's tough. I figure I do have time to figure out what works best for me in the long run as far as trying to eat more "real" food. Your weight loss stats look pretty good! Great job.