ShannonRT

I think everyone is different and nothing particular is expected. I was 6 weeks from surgery yesterday without a fill and I'm down 26 pounds. And I'm getting a fill on Monday.

Oh...and I don't think Mexico would be very fun at all in August. I was there before in May and was miserable, except when in the water.

Regarding fluoroscopy: It is my understanding that it's used for 2 reasons....needle placement if the port is hard to access and also for watching barium go through the band to see how fast it moves. This gives the doctor a better idea how much to put in or take out based on that. Regarding the cruise: I am also a member of a Disney cruise line forum and lots of folks there who have cruised Alaska recommend Princess. I also got a first-hand report of a Princess Alaska cruise from a doctor I work with a couple of years ago. But I'm not picky! Just my .02.

Alaska would be great for me. I've been wanting to go forever. DD isn't that interested yet so this would be a good excuse for Mom to go!

Is anyone else losing weight in their breasts??? Mine is coming off other places too, as I can tell in my clothes, but my boobs sure are getting saggy! I mentioned to DD11 the other day and then the next time she saw me naked, she goes "Mom..you're right...your boobs are getting saggy!" I told her to help me save for that breast lift I'll be needing!

Oh! Almost forgot. Even though I'm cruising in May I would still be interested in another one with you guys. I'm with Frustrated about you guys. You "get it" more than anybody else.

Kirajh, you are not the only one banded in July not to get a fill. I was banded 7-30 and am having mine 9-17. I've really come to realize how much I need it these past few days. I feel like I'm eating almost as much as I was before surgery! Looking forward to some restriction. Motivation for surgery? Lots of things of course. Be healthier for my daughter, be able to fit on rides easily, not shopping in the plus sizes, etc. But what really helped solidify the decision is a vacation I have planned next May. My daughter, mother and I are booked on a 15-night Disney cruise through the Panama Canal. I've been on 2 Disney cruises before and for this one, I really wanted to be thinner and be able to enjoy all the water activities and shore excursions. Not to mention buying a super-hot formal dress!

May I ask how long it took you to get to goal?

Hi all Tennesseans! I am in Knoxville. I don't think my surgeon (Boyce) will do fills from Mexico, but I'm not sure about his partner Dr. Williams. He's fairly new to the area. The office number is 865-694-9676 if you want to check them out.

Well, I really appreciate all the advice. I admit I've just really started (within the last week or so) a consistent exercise program. The 24 pounds so far hasn't really included much exercise. So I think it's ok to eat a little more, I just don't want to get back into the old habit of choosing the wrong foods. The dietician won't let me eat any bread or starch for another 2 months! I'm dying for a cheeseburger (on a wheat bun of course)! I think I'll try waiting it out at least another week or two before the fill. I'll see if I continue to lose weight or not. If I stop losing or (GOD FORBID) start gaining, I'll get the fill ASAP. FYI-The Biggest Loser show returns next Tuesday night. It's extreme, but I found it very motivating, even before the band. I'm even more excited now that I'm finally losing weight and exercising too!!

Thank you for the words of advice, Lynette. I do think I'm getting 60-70 grams of protein per day and very rarely have a problem getting the water either. Just curious...how many of us Lucky 7's have not had fills yet?

Hey guys! I'm a little ove 5 weeks out and need some advice. I'm scared to get a fill! My dr told me everyone's different in regards to fills. Some need one at 6 weeks, some not till 6 months. I can't imaging going 6 months! So last appt he told me to call if I feel like I need one before my next appt (which isn't until the end of October). I think I'm too hungry and am eating a little too much. I get really hungry in between meals, especially between lunch and dinner. I feel like my willpower will fail soon, but I'm still losing weight. So should I get a fill or not? The other issue is this: I am self-pay and only 1 fill is included in the surgery price. So if this one doesn't do it, I'll be forking over the cash for all subsequent fills. But my dr does do it under fluoro, which I believe helps get it "right" in less fills, since you can actually see how tight it is.

I can eat one with a slice of cheese on it (just the patty-no bun) with some broccoli. But I haven't had a fill yet.

Who in the world operates on Sunday except trauma surgeons???

Hi all. My post-op outing went well I think. I ate 3 chicken wings for an appetizer. I ordered this Mexicali chicken thing with broccoli and cole slaw. The chicken had cheese, onions and peppers on it and it was pretty spicy, so I only ended up eating about 4 bites of that. And I ate about half of the broccoli and a few small bites of cole slaw. I don't really like cole slaw that much, but I wanted to stay away from the fries and potatoes! I had a good time with my neighbors and enjoyed the ball game even though we lost. I did pretty well not drinking with the meal, but the chicken was so spicy I did have a few sips of water. Then after an hour I ordered some iced tea and accidently found myself drinking it through a straw. But it didn't give me any problems. I haven't had a fill yet. Does that have anything to do with it?

Wasn't sure what to make of this one: Co-worker pre-banding (skinny) said, "Wow, Shannon, you're going to look like a totally different person!" What's that supposed to mean?

Hey guys! I wanted to share that I'm going out to a restaurant tonight for the first time since surgery. Almost 5 weeks! This from a person who used to eat out at least 3-4 times per week before. I'm going to watch a football game (GO VOLS!) at Wild Wings Cafe with a couple of my neighbors. Wish me luck!

I had them too, but found them very annoying. Didn't hurt, just made noise and kept me awake a lot. And someone would have to come in and help unhook them every time you wanted to get out of bed. They're called Plexi-pulses and help prevent blood from clotting in your legs and traveling to your lungs, which as well all know can be very bad. So it's important to use them even if we don't like it!

I had a friend of mine who also had a c-section ask me the very same question. The c-section was definitely worse. I didn't have gas pains after the c-section, so I can't compare the two in gas pain, but I had a lot of incision pain with the c-section and almost none with the band. I remember not being able to stand up straight for a couple of days and it being pretty hard to move around. The actually slice through abdominal muscle during the section, the band was only 6 little holes. I did have a really hard time at home the first night after the band. I spent one night in the hospital and getting out of bed to go to the bathroom was easy because I had the siderails of the bed to pull on. The next night at home, it was very hard to get down all the way on the bed and then to get back up since there was nothing to help pull on. With difficulty I would finally get on my side and push up from there. However I'm single. If you have a significant other, wake their a** up to help you out of bed!!!

More than likely, they will give you Versed and you won't even remember going to sleep. I don't even remember being in the OR room at all. When I woke up in recovery the tube was out and I was breathing on my own. To the previous poster about awake intubations: I saw that on Big Medicine too. I've also seen 1 or 2 in my hospital career. They look really awful, but the patient won't remember it when they wake up, even though they're awake at the time. Versed is a WONDERFUL drug!

About the restaurant cards...mine says I had Lap-Band surgery and for me to be allowed to order half-portions. Anybody else have this and what experience have you had at restaurants? I'm 4.5 weeks out and haven't eaten in a restaurant yet. I kinda figured if they were to give me a hard time, I would just eat half and take the rest home for another meal later.

Thanks for the info.

Would you mind telling me approximately how much it cost?

I've seen posts stating from bandsters, depending on their restriction, can't really eat much earlier in the day but as dinner rolled around they coud eat more! Why is that? Some even said they couldn't even drink water in the mornings. What's different about the pouch, morning vs evening?

Yes, I was pretty miserable! But I haven't had a fill yet. If I had, I think I would've been vomiting even before all that food!