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You can use the following website to check out Centers of Excellence in your area. Medicare will only approve the surgery if it is done at one of these COE's. The list is updated all the time. I know that it takes a long time to get approved as a COE. Bariatric Surgery I had my surgery at at COE in December and the hospital's and doctor's bills have yet to be paid. They keep going back and forth with the coding to get it right.

I had my surgery with Dr. Scott Steinberg with DeKalb Medical Center and I am very pleased with him. I attended seminars at Emory and at DeKalb and the docs at DeKalb blew my socks off with their knowledge, professionalism, approachability, etc. I had a hard time choosing between Dr. Menacherry and Dr. Steinberg. I would have been happy with either. They assist each other in surgery so you get both anyway.

Lilburn here.

I am having a good day so far. We leave in 30 minutes for the airport to begin a 19 day adventure in South America and Anartica. We will be cruising round trip from Buenos Aires to Buenos Aires and going around the horn. This will be a good test of my band although I actually lost weight on my last two cruises without the band. I still seem to be eating a lot of soft foods. So far fish is the only thing that gives me any problems and I don't know why. See y'all on March 7th.

It was me - remember my pre-op diet lasted 10 months. I had to lose weight to even have surgery.

Check out the following website. It will give you a list of Medicare approved bariatric facilities. Bariatric Surgery

I drank nothing but Optifast for 8 weeks but was on 5 shakes a day and it was less potent - I think it was Optifast 800. Make sure you have plenty of liquids a day - it makes a big difference. I was told to have at least 64 ounces of sugar free beverages a day like crystal light, decaf tea and coffee and water. Try that and see if it makes a difference.

I had my first episode of getting something stuck this past weekend. I realized ir as soon as it happened. I took a small bite and chewed it well but the spinach I ate still had some string in it. Yes, it came back up but I did not vomit. I just regurgitated it. All in all it wasn't too bad an experience. Just some minor pain and only lasted about 5 minutes. I know that I will be super careful in the future to make sure it doesn't happen ever again. I would hate to experience an episode like some others have written about. Just pay attention to your body's signals and you should be all right. Don't eat or drink anything more after you get that signal.

The NSV's keep coming. Yesterday, I had to order new bras. I have gone down another size. I started in a 44D and now will be in a 38D. I also found two more pair of pants in my closet that I can now wear and both of them still had the tags attached. Had to have bought them 8-10 years ago. Also had a box in the bottom of my drawer that when I cleaned out one of the closets in the beginning of my journey were too small and needed hemming. Well, one pair of the jeans fell off me when I tried them on Right to the charity bag they went.

That's quite an accomplishment, Chris. Good job.

Papaya enzyme and pineapple juice are supposed to break down foods that get stuck. I read that in several posts on this website. I also read that they break down proteins so if it's bread or pasta that is stuck, it might not work. I plan to take it everytime I get stuck and see what happens. It's supposed to help the sliming also.

I was 66 when I had my surgery. I breezed right through it with no pain or complications.

My fill point was about 1 1/2 inches above my port incision.

I know this is a thread for NSV's but I just had to share with someone my great news. I began my weight loss journed the middle of February last year. I didn't begin pursuit of the lap band until the summer. I dieted on my own from February until the end of May. I joined an Optifast program at a local hospital on June 1 and ate nothing for 14 weeks, just drank their shakes. Then I spent 7 weeks reintroducing food, losing along the way. I finished that program in the middle of October and didn't have surgery until December 6 so I continued to diet on my own. Prior to surgery I had lost 68 pounds. Today when I stepped on the scale I had reached 100 pounds. I could scream it from the rooftops. I would never have believed it a year ago. I finally have less to lose than I have lost already. I am halfway there.

Heather, I feel so sorry for you. I know it must have really hurt, and not only your pride. I had not had even a slight stuck until yesterday. I was at home eating with my husband. I had fixed some fish and some spinach for us to eat. I had fixed him some other things too. Well, on my first bite of fish I told my husband that I could not chew it well enough. It was just too tough to break down. I don't know if I overbaked it or what. I chewed and chewed. I decided to try the spinach and I think it is what got stuck. Luckily I recognized it immediately and stopped eating. I only had a slight episode o sliming and PBing. The spinach did come back up. But on a scale of 1 to 10, the pain level was just a 3 and only lasted about 10 minutes. Taught me a good lesson. I did take a papaya enzyme tablet which I had read on this board that works. It is easier to carry around than pineapple juice. I got a bottle of it at GNC for less than $2 and it's chewable. Bottom line, I am now wary of anything I put into my mouth.

Good going Chris. I thought I was the only one that had to go shopping in my own closet for new clothes. I have been doing that since the beginning - rediscovering old clothes from up to 15 years ago. That's pants mainly. Drum roll, please. My NSV occurred last week. I fit in the airplane coach seat and the seat belt fit with room to spare. No more seat belt extenders for me. Yeahhhhhhhhhhhh. I have been using one for almost 10 years. I was and am still so excited. I have been gaining and losing the same two pounds for 3 weeks now but I do notice that the inches are melting off anyway. I get my fill at the end of next week which will be 8 weeks out.

And I bet you have stopped drinking your water. Right? Don't give up, just go back to the basics. You are not a failure. You are experiencing what all of us bandsters will go through at some point. Work the band. You will do much better when you get the proper fill. Just watch now so you don't gain too much. Try gettting in more water and more protein. I have not been gaining but I have not been losing the past two weeks. I will be getting my first fill in about 3 weeks. I hope I can last that long. Each day is a new start. Perfection is not always needed. Just do the best you can an strive for at least 80%.

I began my weight loss journey 11 months ago (Feb 07). These pictures were take of me on June 1 after I had already lost 18 pounds on my own. They were taken at the beginning of a 21-week Optifast diet at Emory Hospital that I enrolled in on my own. I lost 50 pounds on the Optifast plan before I was banded on 12/6/07. I have lost an additional 26 pounds since surgery

Mermaidpuppy, your problem was trying to go from lunch to dinner without anything in between. We are supposed to be having at least 3 meals and two snacks a day. Are you getting enough protein? Are you drinking at least 64 oz of water a day? Try to eat every 3 hours. I have a snack every afternoon with lots of protein like a protein drink, yogurt, cottage cheese, applesauce or v8 with protein powder, hot chocolate, etc. It helps me not be so hungry just before dinner. I have a snack around 9:00 too.

Good luck tomorrow, Citygirl.

Rochelle, is that 32 pounds since surgery or from the beginning of your journey?

Is that what is causing your insurance holdup? Here is what my doctor suggested and who I used. I didn't exactly think much of him at my visit but he leads Dekalb's support group and I liked him at the meeting I attended. Dr. Ritz - 770-270-5488 Tucker, Georgia He sets up his own appointments and calls you back.

I saw the doctor one week post op and he had me schedule an appointment for 4 weeks later which is next Friday, Jan 11. He said at that time we would discuss if a fill was needed. It depended on whether I was losing weight or was hungry. I know he has a busy schedule and if he schedules me for a fill with will be 2 to 4 weeks later. I was discouraged in that I went a week without losing anything but this morning the scall moved again. I have been averaging around 1000 calories and don't feel deprived at all. I ate too much at lunch yesterday but other than that I do try to stay reasonable.

I so glad to hear others are just like me. I had lunch with friends today and ate way more than I should have. I have been trying to hold things to 1/4 to 3/4 of a cup but today I got out of control. I ate 2/3 of a vegetable and cheese omelet, about 5 small potato cubes and 1/2 English muffin with butter and jelly. I felt no restriction and I think that that is why I did it. I was testing the band. Felt no discomfort at all. I can't even say I felt full although I have felt full with less in the past. I guess I won't be eating out until I go to the doctor on the 11th. I can really control it in my home environment. For one thing, I don't have all that much on my plate. I do not get hungry in between my meals. I try to hold to an eat every 3 hour schedule. I am getting in all of my required protein and liquids and vitamins. Guess that is why I am not hungry but that is a good thing.

1) Would you do it again if you could reverse time? absolutely - just wish I had known how easy it was and that I had done it years ago. Dr. suggested it and I nixed the idea as it was repulsive to me. 2) Does everyone have such bad pain after the op? I had no 'pain' at all. Yes, I could feel things but on a scale of 1-10, most of the time it was a 1 and never got above a 3. For some reason, I had no gas pains at all and I know what they are from previous laprascopic surgeries. If you follow orders and drink lots of fluids, recovery is fast and easy. 3) How long would I need to take off work after the op? I had surgery on Fri, went to the grocery store by myself on Mon and went to the mall by myself for 3 hours on Tues. 4) Does everyone have problems with bad breath, dry wretching, nausea, vomitting, leaking ports etc? I have had none of these. 8) Does it really help much more than trying to restrict portions yourself? Restricting portions by yourself if only going to last so long before we slip into old ways. The band is automatic and there for life as far as I am concerned. I can't answer the other questions for you. This surgery was the answer for me and I did lots of research before committing to it. Now I am fully committed. Do your research and don't be put off by other's comments. It's all how you deal with it and work with it. Good luck.