Sgt Bob

Banded yesterday morning and it was a breeze (except for the intubation). I told the anesthesiologist repeatedly that I was a big problem for intubation, as I have been through it twice before. The worst pain I had after I woke up was the sore throat. In fact, my surgeon finally ended up doing the intubation successfully. They can use a scope to intubate those hard to do patients but I guess the anesthetist was too arrogant to believe he couldn't do it conventionally. My surgeon and everyone else was fantastic though! They have a private room on a real quiet floor, with a very comfortable bed! They were very forthcoming with the drugs (in my case delaudid) if you need them. They said there is no reason for you to be in pain, and for the most part, I wasn't. My surgeon, Dr. March came to see my twice after surgery, and the RN, Cindy Miller, who is the program coordinator dropped be too. What a sweetheart. I can't say the same for Dr. March (people would look at me kinda funny:eek:).:glare: If I had it to do over again, I would definitely go to Hillsdale Community Heath Center.

WooHoo! Good for you! How are you feeling? Good I hope. I'm going to be banded tomorrow and I am dreading it.... I'm gonna have to get up at 5:30am!!!!:tongue_smilie:

One thing I might miss when I lose my weight: Being able to gain 10 pounds and having no one notice!:biggrin::rolleyes2:

I too love my CPAP and and can't sleep without it. If I ever stop needing it, I will probably still use it. As for taking it to the hospital, my doctors told me "No CPAP, no surgery".

I feel sorry for you folks who had a lot of pain. Surgery is different for everyone and the pain affects everyone differently. It really bugs me that some of your doctors were so stingy with the pain meds. A lot of doctors think they know how you are feeling but, you are the only one who knows that. I have been on morphine for a week before, as well as other people I know and they we had no problem quitting it, although everyone handles it differently. I wish doctors could feel the same pain their patients feel, then they might be a bit more sypathetic.

I went to my Pre Admission Testing today and they told me that I should take my Nexium (and only that) the morning of the surgery, as it would help to prevent nausea during and after anesthesia. Do you have anything like that? If you do, maybe you could call the pre-op people and ask about it.

I've had 3 colonoscopies, twice I used Phosphosoda (Ewww!) and once I used Miralax™. The Miralax was extremely more pleasant, both in flavor (mixed with Gatorade it is tasteless) and cause many fewer trips to the bathroom and no cramping, yet was just as effective. If you can, get your doctor to prescribe Miralax. I guarantee you will be glad you did. This is what my GI doctor prescribed for me: 1. Four DULCOLAX LAXATIVE tablets from the pharmacy-- MUST BE THE LAXATIVE PILLS! (over-the-counter). 2. MIRALAX powder 238gm bottle (over-the-counter). 3. 64 oz. of Gatorade or Powerade. Diabetics may use diet soda, any flavor. Drink over a 2 to 4 hour period.

I just found this information at Risk Information Contra-indications The LAP-BAND® System is not right for you if: You have some other disease that makes you a poor candidate for surgery. You are on chronic, long-term steroid treatment. You or someone in your family has an autoimmune connective tissue disease. That might be a disease such as systemic lupus erythematosus or scleroderma. The same is true if you have symptoms of one of these diseases. Here are some posts on this forum about the subject. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f17/anyone-diagnosed-auto-immune-disease-after-being-banded-28872/ http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f78/auto-immune-disease-band-rejection-15372/ It appears that LapBand™ may not be for you.:smile2: I would still look into it though, if I were you. Good luck.

Don't worry about the spelling, once I got through "ankylosing Spondylitis", I was so blown away you could have spelled "hello" like this "movjkdjvhkndfgm" and I wouldn't have noticed!:smile2: I don't know if the actual autoimmune aspect would be a problem but, LapBand™ would definitely be of benefit with the arthritis. Have you ever heard of "Butyoudon'tlooksick.com" or "Healingwell.com"? They both have large and very informative autoimmune forums so you might want to poke around there for some guidance. I found them when I had ulcerative colitis and some other problems which my doctor suspected might have been Lupus. I have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and they are a wealth of information for any autoimmune disease.

Man, I know how you feel. I had a chance at a pretty darn good job (and a hard one to get) driving for Walmart. Excellent money, working conditions with some really nice perks and I ended up turning it down after they called me twice, because I just couldn't stand the thought of sleeping in a truck for 2 or 3 nights a week. Good luck to ya.

I'm glad I could help!

I'm very skeptical about the whole deal. I've known a few truck drivers who had quadruple bypasses and didn't have trouble getting a job. If you can pass the DOT physical, you can get a job. Bob, truck driver of 14 years.

I've driven over the road (long haul) and local for 14 years. We had guys who had heart attacks, emphysema, cancer surgeries, quadruple bypasses who weren't prevent from driving a truck, as long as they could pass the DOT physical. Basically, if you can fog a mirror, you can drive a truck.

You are on CPAP right? As for surgery, you don't have to worry about apnea (which I have too) because you will be intubated and there is no danger from your airway collapsing. You will probably be awake immediately after the surgery before you leave the O.R. (at least I was for my gall bladder) so you should not be sleeping at any time without some sort of breathing assistance.

Thanks for the warm welcome! I'm sorry, I should have shown my banding date. I have not been banded yet but I am going for my surgery a in about a week, April 21st. WooHoo!

Hey! That is too cool! You oughtta copyright that!:thumbup: Michibanders©

Had my pre-surgical appointment with Dr. March today and he said that since I've been a good boy and have lost 18 lbs in the last month, I won't need to wait on my surgery! I'm going in April 21st! WooHoo!!!!!

If the surgeon who did my gall bladder decided to take up LapBand™ and asked me to be his first guinea pig, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

"Cheating" a couple times is probably not going to change anything. However, trying to cheat the whole process is only going to hurt you. If you feel you just have to cheat until 2 or 3 days before the surgery, then go right ahead but, don't come crying to us if your surgeon goes in then decides against completing the procedure. Oh yeah, you will still be paying a hefty bill and it might be out of your own pocket.

I got my surgery date of April 21st!!! WooHoo!

I just got approved by Tricare for my surgery==WooHoo!!== However, I will not have Tricare Standard as my primary insurance for long, as I have to go on Medicare on June 6 :sad_smile: as I'm on disability now. I know Medicare requires the surgery be performed at a "Center of Excellence", but does anyone know if they require the fills be done at one too? I hope not, because the nearest one is about 100 miles away.:scared2:

Thanks Genea! That's good news.

Dr. March is going to be doing my surgery. He's a real nice guy.

Dr. March or Baxter? I have an appointment Fri, April 11 to have my surgery scheduled. Hopefully I'll have it done within a couple weeks! I live about 30 miles WSW of Hillsdale.

Correct, with Standard you don't need referrals. It's a good idea to make sure they got everything, as you do have to prove medical necessity. That's the great thing about Standard. Unfortunately for me, since I'm now collecting disability, I will be required to go on Medicare June 6th, so I want to make sure I get banded by then so I can drive 20 miles instead of 100. Actually, it was covered in May of 2007 but, the change didn't get into the manual until recently. They said they are reimbursing for people who self payed after February of 2007. Hopefully, they will reimburse for surgeries in Mexico, so you should be able to get some money out of them!