Cocoabean

I can do Saturday or Sunday 10 AM, or could do a short coffee (like 30 minutes or so) at 10 AM Mon-Thurs in the Mira Mesa area. I work near Miramar. Mon-Fri 6:30am to 3pm, but cannot get out of the office on Fridays. Shay, what time to you walk after work?

I think the best way to start a local support group would be to just pick a day/time/location and start it up. One or two people would have to commit to being there each time to ensure continuity. Then put out the word and see if it grows. Do somewhere like a Starbucks on a weekday evening at around 5 or 6 pm? We could just get together a chat. Or even Shakespeare Pub on India Street. Are you all thinking about a weekly or monthly gathering? Thoughts?

A BMI of 40.9 is obese. Anything 30 or more is obese. Is 40.9 where you were at when you asked your medical plan to cover your surgery? Also, I am now at a normal BMI, but my insurance continues to cover my fills. They paid for my band placement, though.

Do you have a primary care doctor who can refer you to someone? I have a friend who used True Results, but she was a bypass patient. You might also check here at lap band talk. I believe there is a listing of doctors somewhere. My actual fills take about a minute or two to do. I never had a fill under flouroscope, but I do have an upper GI annually and just had an esophogram to be sure everything is OK. it is just a part of aftercare that should be done. As to fill level, my surgeon says the amount you need is the amount you need. CCs don't matter. I don't know how much is in my band, I have a rough idea that it is between 6.5 to 7 CCs. My surgeon tracks it in my chart, but says I should not really worry about it, because it is how I feel that matters most. All that said, the band does not work for everyone. As with any medical treatment, there are times when it will not work. I do hope you can find a doctor who will work with you and help you to find the proper fill level. Not all offices offer the experience you had at your current center. I wish you the best.

Use a small spoon and wait between bites to see how your band reacts. For me, "full" is a whisper of satiety. As soon as you feel a lack of hunger, you are done. When I was on full liquids, i could eat more than three times a day. It is a big learning curve for eating with a band. Take your time and get to know your new partner.

My port feels like a little rock under my skin. It is a piece of hard plastic. Totally normal for it to feel so.

What Jess said. If liquids will not go down, call your doc ASAP. If you can get hydration, then you can wait a bit to see if swelling goes down.

My surgeon says that the amount in the band doesn't really matter, it is the effect that counts. I don't even really know for certain how much I have. Somewhere around 6 to 6.75 cc. I just had a tiny top-off yesterday, he didn't even talk about how much I have, just how I feel at this level.

Sometimes I will take small sips when I eat, but it comes at the risk of causing a stuck episode for me. I was hardcore against stopping drinking with my meals, and I still have something sitting there--but it generally sits there until I am done eating and am sure the food is settled. Then I will drink it. It's usually just a few minutes after my last bite before I can drink with confidence. I have experimented with waiting for 30 minutes after a meal to see if it makes a difference for me as to when I get hungry again. For me, no it doesn't.

Did your doctor say why? For a frequent traveler that would be quite a lot of fills and unfills.

Great attitude! Keep up the good work. Well done on the pre-banding weight loss!

FMLA only protects your job. The leave is unpaid unless you have a paid leave program. So, even if it applies to this employer the OP wants to earn money. The employer is not saying that her job will not be available when her restrictions are lifted, just that until then she'll be working modified hours. It is sad that they won't let you do parts of your co-workers' jobs while they are doing parts of yours, or that they won't work with you to modify your duties to avoid the restriction. You might check out the Americans with Disabilities Act and reasonable accommodations. I am not sure if it applies to a short-term thing, but if you can come up with a way to do your job without the lifting and present it as a temporary accommodation, they might go for it?

How long ago was it? I think manufacturers have changed the way they size things. Designer duds are sized different than less expensive stuff as well.

liquids just don't satisfy for long. They go right on through. It's like a funnel. It fills up quickly, but runs through quickly as well. I was ready to eat my dog at 3 days post-op, What you are experiencing is normal. Some are not hungry, some are. When I told my doctor that my dog was in extreme danger, he let me move to a full liquid diet earlier than planned. Lucky for my dog!

If you need a fill, you need a fill. I know crossing the border is a pain, but the band doesn't help much if you don't have a proper fill. I had an unfill once, after all the irritation was gone from the vomiting, I was able to go back after a month and have double what I'd had removed put in. After the swelling was gone, and I'd lose more weight--there was room for more fill. You have a 4cc band right? Just remember, with the smaller bands, teensie amounts of fill make HUGE differences.

If liquid is going down now, you are most likely not stuck, but irritated. chicken breast is one of the most notorious foods for getting stuck. I'd stay away from it, if it were me. In fact, I do stay away from it. For now, since you are irritated, go to liquids (not carbonated) and take it easy tomorrow. I'd suggest liquids in the morning and maybe mushies in the evening if all goes well with liquids. If you cannot get liquids down, then call your surgeon right away.

I can't say I remember dreaming while under. Hiatal Hernia repair can cause a bit longer recovery. Talk it over with your surgeon as to how much time off you'll need to recover. It does seem to be very individual, though. I did one week off and one week half-time. Some people have surgery on Friday and are back to work on Monday.

Those posts were from 2009. Your best bet is to check your insurance to see what coverage you have and what their requirements are. A 6 month supervised diet requirement is very common.

You should be able to look at YOUR coverage online. Most providers have their policies available. You put in your member # and can see exactly what their requirements are for your policy. That is where I started. I don't have UHC. But they do have a website: https://www.myuhc.com/member/prewelcome.do

My thoughts...if you are vomiting daily, but following bandster rules of small bites, chewing well, eating slowly, and all that..then you are too tight. Eating should not be a painful experience. I was too tight once. I could barely get yogurt down. I got stuck on mashed potatoes and a cheese stick. So, after a week of that I went back in. I had half the fill amount I'd had put in taken out. It was immediate relief. My weight loss was not hindered at all. I was able to eat a wider variety of foods than just sliders. What made my decision was trying to get a cheese stick unstuck at the Las Vegas Speedway in a very busy public toilet while missing the drag races. The cheese seemed to form a very tight plug and did not want to come out. Yeah, good times! A month later when everything had calmed down, I was able to go back and have another fill that was double the amount I'd had removed. I stayed at that fill level for about a year, I think. Vomiting puts us at risk of a slip, so we should do our best to minimize it. If that means a slight unfill, get a slight unfill. For me, it is a simple solution.

Well done!!!

Your band did not dilate..this means they think that either your esophagus has stretched out to hold more food, or your stomach has "slipped" up through the band and created a larger pouch. The following is from lapband.com's website. There have been some reports that the esophagus has stretched or dilated in some patients. This could be caused by: Improper placement of the band The band being tightened too much Stoma obstruction Binge eating Excessive vomiting There are also problems that can occur that are directly related to the LAP-BAND® System: The band can spontaneously deflate because of leakage. That leakage can come from the band, the reservoir, or the tubing that connects them. The band can slip There can be stomach slippage The stomach pouch can enlarge The stoma (stomach outlet) can be blocked The band can erode into the stomach Below is a link from my surgeon's website that explains a slip, which is what I think you are referring to when you say they told you that your band moved. http://www.thinnertimes.com/weight-loss-surgery/lap-band/lap-band-complications/slippage.html

Once I discovered this exact thing about myself, I started a habit of pausing before my first bite to remind myself I am banded and that I need to eat slowly, take small bites, and chew, chew, chew!!! It really helped me to stop that first bite symdrome!

OMG, HB, Love that thread! Especially the one about the family asking "is it stuck" just by the look on my face....how true is that?!?!

If you tell anyone outside of your immediate family, be prepared for word to get around. Tell one person, they tell one person, who tells one person. Next thing you know, everyone knows. People may tell about you to someone because they think they are being helpful. "OH, you are thinking about lapband? So and so has one......Oh, shoot, I wasn't supposed to tell anyone, please don't say anything!" Word gets around. The only person I did not want knowing was my mother-in-law, and only because she was such a worry wort and fuss budget. So, the whole family knew, but I asked that they not tell her. They understood why. She could barely hear, so we could talk about it at the kitchen table with her sitting there...she'd not be able to follow the conversation. So, if you want to keep it private, think VERY carefully about the people you share the info with. I am very open about my band. I told someone about it in my office. He travels quite a bit. Next thing I know, I get an email from someone who works in a similar job 90 miles away, "I hear you have a band! Me too!" He'd got to talking to her about her weight-loss. I didn't care, as he was not sworn to secrecy. But word travels, yes, it does!