Cocoabean

You said your last fill was a mont ago, and you've lost five pounds? That is a bit over a pound a week. Bandsters can expect 1-2 pounds per week. You are losing an average amount of weight. That said, if you cannot eat regular foods and are resorting to highly processed, easy to eat foods, you might be too tight, especially if it is uncomfortable when you try to eat heathly foods.

Fingers are crossed. You can always call insurance company back and speak with someone else, or ask for a supervisor. I spoke with a couple different people at my company, the knowledge level does differ among representatives. Best wishes!!

Oh Elfie, anyone who's followed you on here knows you've given it the best try anyone could! If BCBS doubts it, send them here! I'll set them straight! I have BCBS also and my PCP told me a while that they are now paying for revisions for someone having problems as well. He indicated they won't pay for non-compliance issues, and that certainly isn't you! Please keep us posted! I soooo hope the unfill helps your arm pain!

Over 2 1/2 years out, doing grand!

Chances are you did not cause a slip. BUT, a pancake is a likely food to get stuck. Are you allowed solids yet? I don't ask from an accusatory stand-point, every doctor's orders are different. But pancakes are something I still have trouble with, they are just so dense. The density can explain the tightness in your chest. Any doughy food like that seems to reform upon swallowing, even if small bites are taken, then sit like a lump for a time. I was lucky that I did not have children to feed...I can't imagine that. I was so hungry during the immediate post-op period that I'd have eaten my dog if he didn't move faster than I could. But seriously, take it very easy today, and tomorrow when you see your doc, tell him how hungry you are -- maybe you'll be able to add some better choices to your diet.

Yikes to the $700.00! Thanks for the clarification. Just wanted to be certain that the fact that you can now swallow after the unfill means that you were not slipped (I know that is what you indicated above) for my own knowledge, as I post here quite a bit, and want to be able to help other folk. I am glad your stomach is feeling better, sorry it cost $300 as it was. I can understand the stress. I do wish you all the best for your upcoming surgery. Will you undergo chemo after that, or is that yet to be determined?

What exactly does your insurance require? I appealed the 6 month requirement of my medical group with Weight Watchers records and personal journal entries and won. Don't take the doctor's office's word for it. Find out from your insurance company exactly what is required.

Howdy, Neighbor! Just down the road in La Mesa!

You should be able to call your provider and ask. Or they should have your coverage online. Mine has member benefits online. It states plainly what obesity surgery is covered and what the requirments for coverage is. Call the member services number on your insurance card. I did a search for HIP insurance, but it came up with New York, Indiana, Washington, Heath Insurance Partners, and some others. It is possible that the surgeon wants you to do a 6 month program, even if your insurance does not require it.

What does your insurance coverage say? Generally speaking if a band is covered, a BMI of 44 will be covered with no other co-morbid conditions needed.

Hi Mark, I was pre-diabetic about 7 years ago with fasting sugar in the range of 111-112. In the intervening time I've gotten my band and lost around 70 lbs. Now my fasting sugar is around 99-104. So, it is slightly elevated, but did not progress. My endocrinologist was thrilled (I left his practice for a bit due to insurance changes, but am back now). But, my sugar has not gone all the way down to normal, either. I can also tell you that my bariatric surgeon will not do a band on a full-blown diabetic, due to the remission rate achieved with bypass. It doesn't exactly answer your question, but I hope it helps a bit.

Glad to hear the unfill helped. Did he do an upper GI to check the band at all? I don't think an unfill would help a slip. I wish you all the best with the upcoming surgery and treatment.

You meet the definition of obese. That's it, end of discussion. Tell them thank you for your input, the decision has been made. If I could do it on my own, I'd not be this unhealthy or look like this, thanks. As to someone dying over the weekend from having a band? Details, I want details. Seems everyone knows someone who.....fill in the blank...... The most quoted rate for mortality for band is 1 in 2000. For Bypass, 1 in 200. The last band death I am aware of in the US is May 2008 in New York. STATE PROBES WEIGHT-LOSS DEATHS AT NYU | Medicine & Health > Medical Treatments & Procedures from AllBusiness.com "Rebecca, 27, was found dead in her Stuyvesant Town apartment two months after NYU gave her a lap band in May 2008. The young lawyer, who wanted to lose weight she'd gained while studying for the bar, couldn't swallow food or Water for days on end, lawyer Howard Wexler claimed. He claimed the band was cinched so tight - despite adjustments made during six post-op visits - that solids and liquids did not reach her stomach. " Gimme details, folks...details!! :thumbup: If they make a claim, they'd best be able to back it up.

Did you feel anything rip, tear, or pop? The port is stitched to the abdominal muscles. Any swelling or bruising? You might have just pulled it. Try an ice pack and see if that helps. If it isn't too late to give your surgeon a call, check in, just to settle your mind. If it still hurts bad after a couple of hours, call in anyway. If you see any sign of bleeding..same thing, call in. That's why we pay our surgeon's big bucks..even if through our insurance. If you're scared, check in! Let us know how you are feeling!

I never knew a shower was an aerobic event! :thumbup: I thought I was the only one. The first night I had trouble sitting up in bed after the pain meds wore off. Hubby got me more and helped me to sit up. After that night I was able to get around OK, I was sore and moved slow, but I could move under my own power. I was tired, too. I didn't do much the first week. Just did laps up and down the hall. After the first week, things got better and better every day.

If your question is whether the band will help with emotional eating of creamy/sugary foods, I'd say no. Those types of foods do not slow down as they pass through the band, so you don't get the signal from your stomach that you are full and should stop eating, unless your band is very, very tight. It doesn't matter how much food I've eaten, there is almost always room for ice cream, a milk shake, or chocolate bar. Emotional food issues need to be dealt with in other ways than with a band.

Here is a study published in 2010: Long-term results and complications following adju... [Obes Surg. 2010] - PubMed result Abstract This study was performed to assess our long-term results with laparoscopic gastric banding in patients with an observation period of at least 9 years calculated from the date of operation. Between January 1996 and December 2000, a total of 276 patients (83% female) underwent laparoscopic gastric banding at our institution. Mean preoperative body mass index (BMI) was 44 +/- 6 kg/m(2). BMI after 1, 5, 7, 9, and 10 years was 33 +/- 6, 30 +/- 6, 31 +/- 6, 32 +/- 7, and 31 +/- 7 kg/m(2), respectively. Mean excess weight loss after 1 year was 57.1 +/- 23.0% and after 5, 7, 9, and 10 years 73.2 +/- 29.6%, 65.9 +/- 29.3%, 61.8 +/- 32.8%, and 64.0 +/- 32.1%, respectively. Median completeness of follow-up was 80%. Of the study population, 146 (52.9%) patients had at least one complication requiring reoperation. Presently, only 148 (53.6%) patients still have their original band, 49 (17.8%) had their original band replaced with a new one, and 79 (28.6%) had their band removed. Thirty-three patients had no second bariatric operation, a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass was done in 39 patients, and six patients underwent sleeve gastrectomy. Our long-term results are good with regard to weight loss in those patients who still have their band in situ. This is accompanied by a high complication rate and a 29% band loss rate. It does not say the volume of the bands that were studied, or what placement technique was used. You will not lose weight fast with a band, it is restrictive only. 1-2 pounds per week is expected. You can totally undo that with highly processed slider-type foods, for which there always seems to be room. If you want rapid loss, bypass is the way to go. With bypass also, 30% of patients experience dumping sydrome when they eat surgary foods. It is a great aversion therapy to stop you from eating those kinds of foods if they are a problem for you.

If you cannot get liquids down, call your doctor immediately! Dehydration can kill you. A band that is too tight can lead to another slip. 25 lbs is nothing to scoff at. It is a good loss. Perhaps not as fast as you want it to be, but it is 3 pounds per month. Slow loss is still loss, and on the way to a healthier you. Better that than losing a second band.

Even though I take a multi-Vitamin daily as I am supposed to, I ended up Vit. D and Iron deficient on top of that, determined by my PCP on a blood test. So now I take my multi, iron, and Vit. D. It is just very hard for us to get in all the Vitamins and minerals we need through our diets. Getting a work-up is a great idea. You might also get a thyroid panel run, if you haven't had one in the past.

Welcome! This is a great place to come for support!

I agree it could be a slip, call your doc ASAP! If you cannot get liquids down, it is especially important that you get in right away! Please call your surgeon, now.

My surgeon runs a blood test to check for nicotine to be sure you've quit. If you haven't, you don't get surgery. One to two weeks recovery is average. I took off one week and did half time the second.

Ok, so even more of the story revealed! Men! Can't live with them, can't shoot them, but I love mine!

I have mostly questions for you to ponder. I am sorry he feels this way. You are healthier now. I expect you did not get to a BMI of 22 without exercise? You will be around longer by being healthier. As to the pelvis thing, there are positions that do not involve your grinding together at the hip. Is he willing to try? Boobs can be replumped (ONLY if you are unhappy with them as well!). Could it be that he is dissatisfied with other parts of being married, and is laying the blame on your new body? Is he threatened because you have grown and changed through the process and he hasn't? Or has he joined you at all in the process? Is he afraid you don't find him attractive now, and are going to look elsewhere? Perhaps he is looking elsewhere, is feeling guilty and laying the blame on your body? Is he willing to go to counselling? Are you? It is a fact in marriage that we all change and grow at different rates. It's the hope of all of us that our partners can adapt to the changes. Sometimes they cannot. If it were me, I'd wait for him to make the statement that he wants out, if you can put up with it that long. But you DO need to take care of YOU. If he is being mentally abusive to you. Take care of yourself. Do you have young children? Take care of them. They don't need to see their parents fighting constantly. Final question....do YOU want to stay married? Best wishes to you.

You give a bit more insight to the story here. You say you are expecting now (congrats!). So this of course will delay the surgery. He's probably seeing it is as never ending obsession, and that you might not go through with it after the baby is born. How far in the future is your surgery? A year, maybe more? That's a long time for him to listen. Yes, I understand you have listened to hunting stuff for years. I've been going to drag races for years, too! I excused my hubby from Harry Potter watching this year. He's so thrilled he doesn't have to go to ONE movie....When we normally make a day of it. Meeting up with friends, doing brunch, movie, then dinner. But my freind's hubby couldn't make it this time, so I gave him the out. He's over the moon! You also say you've been on zoloft (I am on it now), your symptoms will need to be under control before most surgeon's will proceed with surgery. Many insurance companies/surgeons require a psych eval as part of the pre-op work up. Mine was no big deal. Just a chat with a psychologist. We discussed my mental history. It wasn't anything that would cancel my chances, but if my symptoms weren't well treated it could have.