Mary-2b150

What is alli? Is it a diet drug? There are a few threads about taking diet pills with the band if you are interested you can do a search for it, it might bring something up.

How long did it last for? Is it still there? Keep us informed if you find out what it was!

I have had similar pains, but never for hours at a time. Let us know what your doctor says, I hope everything is okay!

Thanks for the tip! I experienced a lot of naseau after the surgery too - especially as I walked around right after surgery. they gave me some anti-naseau drugs too, though the first dose didn't work, the 2nd one did!

It doesn't sound like a slip to me, but I don't know what it might be. Have you talked to your doc about it since posting? Has it gone away? You can do a search for "band slippage" or "band slipping" for symptoms of a slip (I don't recall them specifically at this moment). I hope all is well, keep us informed!

I have yet to meet or talk to someone on line that it's actually happened to... but I've heard many people who say their doctors have had patients it happened to.. I think it's "real", but don't stress about it too bad, as long as you're following your doctor's orders you should be okay.. goodluck with everything!

Right after surgery your stomach is so swollen it's the same as being VERY restricted.. as the swelling goes down, your stomach pretty much returns to "normal", and you get hungrier and can eat a lot more.. I didn't try any breads, but everything I did eat went down "normal" a few weeks after surgery - after a while i stopped being careful about chewing and bite sizes, and just ate how I ate before surgery.. I think it's the breads that are bound to give you problems... I can only speak from my experience of between surgery and my first fill (which i got today!). I'm not sure if breads being a problem is something that happens only when you're restricted or if it will happen all the time.. according to my nutritionist, doughy type breads kind of "ball up" and act like a plug in your stomach! Wishing you a speedy recovery, hope that helped a bit.

I'm so sorry for you, that was one of my biggest fears.. not the surgery itself but it getting cancelled!! With school and teaching and everything, I knew if I didn't get it done in august I couldn't get it done until December - that seemed like forever.. if they postponed it, it would have been devastating.. That really bites... hang in there! Sounds like your doctor is supportive and is going to take great care of fyou!

Thanks for the info! I will call that number tomorrow, I would love to have a local support group

I had no idea they only did 25 lap bands, I will have to tell her that! Her PCP told her to go to that hospital so I think she assumed it was them or nothing. By the way, your signature made me laugh out loud!

I am so thankful that I slipped by as well - august 20th - I guess the week before her last surgeries!! I would be so upset if I had gone through all that and had to find someone else - I am so sorry you had to go through that, Rosewolf!! I posted some commentary on the two doctors - mcguid and hawasli (or however you spell it), on one of the other threads.. they were my mother's lap-band doctors.. let me know if you have any specific questions though and I can ask my mother. Sounds like Port huron is greatly reviewed - I would really think about giving them a try. Chicago is actually closer for me than port huron, so I might wait until Dr. Deol's practice is set up and go out there, but my mother (who lives out by mt. clemens) is going to probably switch to port huron. Goodluck to everyone going through this!

I don't have any personal experience, but my mother was not impressed with her two previous lap band doctors - mcguid and hawasli. I forget which one was her surgeon and which one she just did follow ups with... Nothing horrible, but they really didn't know nearly as much about the lapband as they did the gastric bypass, and it showed whenever my mother had a question. She was having issues with swallowing food.. it hurt her to swallow even well chewed foods,, but she was still hungry all the time... their suggestions were always to try getting another adjustment... it really made my mom feel like it was all her fault and she had "failed"... When I decided to get banded,, I went to Dr. Deol's seminar with my mother, and my mother was immediately impressed with her and switched to her... Dr. Deol figured out the problem was an esophageol pouch (i''m fuzzy on the details) - and assured my mom that she wasn't a failure! And has been working with my mom to make sure everything is okay... Anyway, if it hadn't been for dr. deol she would have just thought she "failed' or the lap band was another failure.. the other two doctors just didn't understand the issue.. Anyway, that was my mother's experience, it might be entirely unique, but I thought i'd post it in case anyone was interested. I could ask my mom for more details about either doctors if anyone is interested. I'd have her post here but she is computer illiterate! -mary

Being in kalamazoo, going out to troy to see her took me 2.5 hours, so chicago isn't much further - i feel very fortunate! I'm not sure how my insurance will feel about it being out of my state, but maybe I will just pay out of pocket.. it's worth it to know you're in good hands! I feel bad for my mother though, .. her previous lap band doctor was one of the people on Dr. Deol's list.. i think it was mcguid? Not sure on the spelling.. Anyway - she wasn't that impressed with him... Finding Dr. Deol was a godsend for my mother - she had just about given up on the band working for her when we found Dr. deol, and dr. deol was able to actually help my mom figure out what was wrong, instead of always recommending another adjustment!! My mom lives closer to port huron, so chicago is a bit of a drive for her.. but who knows, maybe we will both make a mini-vacation out of it when we go to get fills together! Michigan is definitely losing a great doctor!

Congrats on starting the first steps in your journey - I remember how excited I was as I headed to my initial appointment!! Don't let the hoop-jumping get you down - you'll be in bandland in no time! Goodluck with everything!

Glad to hear you are feeling better!

Lead underwear - that''s funny! I would drink as much Water right before your visit as you can!

I know some doctors ask their patients not to schedule a fill if they're going to be travelling within the week. But it sounds like your fill kicked in one week out, so that wouldn't have helped anything i guess.. Maybe 2 weeks would be a better policy? Sorry to hear about your experience!

Have you had VGB already? I have read about people who had other types of WLS fail and then turn to lap-band, but not sure if anyone on this board has experienced that.

Great post! I know what you mean about being afraid to face the doctor, that happened to someone in my family that got banded, and it kept her stuck for a while too. Good job on the weight loss!

Everyone is different, but I think the average time off from work is a week. I took a week and a half because I could, and then took it easy the rest of the week. By the third week everything was 100% perfectly fine.. Some people go back to work a few days later and are fine though, so everyone's diff!

Wishing you or your wife a speedy recovery! How exciting to be heading into bandland together!!

I kind of know the feeling you're talking about, sort of like a pressure? It doesn't last that long for me though. How long does it last for you?

I think the longer you're on liquids the more weight you're likely to lose. I was only on liquids the first week, and lost like five pounds that week.. then two weeks on mushies where I only lost like 3 pounds in two weeks... my appetite definitely came back at that stage and I was not feeling full! Still a week before my first fill and about 10 pounds total. I'm not complaining, but I hope my surgeon isn't dissapointed.

If it were just a tickle or prick in your throat I might guess it was the tube the anasthesiologist put in your throat during surgery that aggravated something, but if you are gagging and gasping for breath I am not sure. I had some breathing problems at night the first week after surgery... I would wake up and gasp for air like I wasn't breathing enough while I slept.. but it wasn't a tickle.. It went a way.. the doctor said I might have been taking in too much air when I drank.. or possibly the tylenol with codeine she prescribed for the pain.. i'm still not sure what it was, but it's gone now.. I would definitely ask your doctor if it persists or is causing you a lot of problems!

I don't think that's unusual for 6 weeks out from surgery. I was able to start lying on my side around 2.5 weeks afterward, but if I lay on it too long it starts to bother me a little. It gets better every day though. I'm sure someone who's been banded longer will be able to provide a more detailed answer.