Cocoabean

The first night I needed help to sit up in bed. After the pain meds wore off, I woke up and could not get myself upright. I had to wake my hubby to get me more meds and help me to sit up to take them. Otherwise I was fine getting around the house. If it is convenient for your mother to come, it couldn't hurt to have help. But if not, you should be OK. Mainly changing from prone to seated positions is the hardest part, and I could do that after that first night. I was released from the hospital the day of my surgery. If you are doing an overnight you probably won't have much trouble.

Hey Leigha, good to see you again! I know I am on the road to recovery, but I am still a mess! :smile: I am glad to know that the pain now is due to healing and not from further infection. I figure by the end of the weekend I'll be much better. Yesterday was a VERY long day due to pain. However even with all the face pain, I found $10,000.00 that was tied up in our budget by mistakes of others this past week. I was able to free it up. Maybe I should take uber-painkillers every day! You are welcome all you taxpayers! :bored:

Hey Melody, sounds like things are falling back into place for you! Yay! Just sent you a friend request on FB. Thought I already had you, but guess not! Ok, so get this...between the fill and the mouth surgery I've been on mushies and liquids for nearly two weeks. I lost 1.5 lbs after the fill, but I've put that back on!!!! GRRRRR!!! :smile::cursing::bored: If I were posting to someone on here I'd remind them that it is most likely due to antibiotics (which I am on AGAIN after the surgery), as they can mess with fluid balance. But it still ticks me off! Wah. One of the stitches in my mouth is driving me crazy. It is near the soft palate and tugs when I swallow. Then the threads move around and sometimes rest on the roof of my mouth. Quite annoying! My cheek is still swollen and slightly bruised. Face it...I am a mess! How many other people do you know that have been on antibiotics three times in a year, ended up with C.Diff. once as a result of one of the antibiotics, get a gum infection that two dentists don't think is the tooth only to find out it IS the tooth. Sheesh...think I'll crawl back in my hole now! :w00t:

Thanks, that's nice of you to say. I hope it all goes well with you. Seems very unfair. They can pick and choose which weight they use. Sounds to me the one at class was a typo. Might be the way to argue if you have to appeal. Did you speak with them today?

Dottie! Welcome back, no shame necessary at all! None. We all got bands cause we know how to gain weight! We are here to pick you up! As for me? The bad news is it WAS the tooth. There was a small cavity below the gum-line, and the decay went through the root nearly all the way up. It didn't show on the x-ray. So, it was decided to extract it as there was no hope for it. The periodontist could not explain why I had no tooth symptom. He did say it was good I hadn't, because if I'd have done a root canal I would have lost the tooth anyway. So he did a bone graft, and wants me to do an implant, which I am not inclined to do. I really don't have another $3000 to put in my back molar. (Crystl, I believe it is #2). So, all that just to end up with the tooth gone. :thumbup: My cheeck is all swollen. I have stitches in my mouth. I am just pitiful. Wah! I could not even call in sick today because we are nearing the end of the fiscal year and I desperately need to be at work.

Glad to hear the 4 pounds are gone! Sometimes there is no explaining it. This forum is good and also the post-op forum. They are the most active in my opinion. You can also use the search feature to find new posts since the last time you were here or posts that have not been answered. You can search, too, for key words and phrases. One you get the hang of it, this is a great place to be for support!

Sitting at peiodontist's office.....wah...waiting...wah wah

Yay! Glad to hear they are re-submitting it! I don't know the answer to your question. But it sounds like the surgeon's office is hopeful, else they'd not resubmit. Do you know if they are saying the first submission was an error or is it an appeal? I know when I was denied, my denial letter explained the appeals process. Sounds like your situation is a bit different. Seems to me, my opinion only, that if they are saying the other weight submitted was an error, then it should not matter if it is on record. In my case, I asked what happens if after I am approved my BMI dropped below 35, would I be canceled. He said no, once I was approved, I was approved. Not to worry. Keep us posted!

I was able to appeal the 6 month requirement by submitting tons of Weight Watchers records, a Hospital Supervised Plan I had done, numerous personal journal entries, and things like that going back years. Fortunately I had kept all those records. I explained that doing another program was not going to change my obesity. I won the appeal and did not have to repeat it. If you have any records like that, you could give it a shot!

I want to ask about the insurance part of it. You've had great answers about the fills. I've been overfilled, too, and it was no fun. Many doctors will not do fills less than 2 weeks apart. They want any swelling that may have occured to go down and sometimes it can take a while for retriction to kick in...why I have no idea! The way my insurance worked is this...I have an HMO. They contract with my surgeon since the HMO does not have a bariatric doctor on staff. My surgery and post op care, as much as I needed, was covered for one year. I had to pay office visit co-pays each time I saw the surgeon. After the one year, when I want/need to see the surgeon, whether for a check-up or fill, a pre-authorization from the HMO is required. So, I call to make the appointment, and the surgeon's office submits the request. When they hear back from the insurance they call me to finalize the appointment. I pay my office visit co-pay and receive the service. So during the first year I just had to call and could be seen quite easily. Now it is not so easy, but it doesn't cost any more. If your surgeon is billing an office visit for the fill, yours might be similar.

I agree with Jen. 1-2 pounds per week is what we should expect. Some times we lose more, but not regularly. To lose 5 lbs per week you'd have to burn 17,500 calories excess. That is a lot of extra calories. Sorry, I don't think it is a realistic goal. Especially not at your BMI now.

Poultry breast meat doesn't go down well for me. Dark meat is fine. Doughy breads are not a good choice for me, but drier breads are good. Finger foods can be bad because I tend to take bites that are bigger than if I were eating with a knife and fork. Hamburger, whether cooked loose or in a patty has caused me considerable trouble, also. Sushi rolls are sometimes a problem for me, sometimes OK. I never know for sure. I have been known to pull them apart, which is quite messy! Today is my first day on solids after my last fill, so I am not sure what the future holds.

I think you mainly want to be sure that you don't have a leak. I have read that some Fluid loss over time can occur, but if you are losing large amounts of fluid, you could have a problem with the tubing. But, if you haven't experienced a massive loss of restriction, I'd not be overly concerned.

Restriction feels like I am satisfied with less food. It has to do with hunger. I don't get hungry as often, it takes less food to fill me up. The green zone for me is that I can eat most foods if eaten slowly, chewed well, and small bites are taken. It also means that I get hungry, I mean physically hungry, every 3-4 hours. I still fight my appetite, but that is different. You cannot say if the weight loss is from the band or the exercise. It is from burning more calories than you consume. That is a simplistic view, of course. Sometimes our bodies hang on to pounds even though the math says we sould be down. The BAM, it lets go. When I was actively losing, I'd lose a few pounds one week, then nothing for two weeks, then down two, then stay the same, then up one, then down three. It was not steady from week to week, but was a downward trend overall.

Most doctors put us on liquids after a fill because there is swelling due to the fill procedure. If we eat solids it can cause more swelling. If we get stuck, even more swelling. If we get too much swelling, we might need to have an unfill, thus negating the purpose of getting the fill. I know it sucks, but an emergency unfill sucks even more. I had a fill last Tuesday. I am just getting to mushies today. It hasn't been great fun, but it was what was ordered, and with the holiday weekend here, I didn't want a trip to the ER for an unfill. You can search "port flip" for information on the twisted port. It happens. I can also be fixed. Most people don't feel much restriction from the first fill. I felt it on my second fill. I think it was my third fill that I ended up a little bit overfilled and had to have a bit removed. Sometimes it takes a couple weeks for the restricition to kick in. I have no idea why. It seems to go against what you would think. I'd think that if there is potential for swelling right after a fill, then how in the heck could you feel tighter in a couple of weeks? But many people have posted that it takes a bit to feel it. It's always best to follow Dr's orders, not that we always do. But I am looking forward to real food tomorrow. :thumbup:

I've read it happening to others. I've also read of folks who don't feel the fill kick in until a couple of weeks after the the fill. Although it hasn't happened to me, I don't think you are alone. As to the gain, it could just be coincidental. A bit of bloat? Were you on liquids after the fill? Maybe some full salt broth or something? 4 pounds of fat would be a huge caloric increase. 14,000 excess calories to be exact. Did you go that crazy on milk shakes after the fill? I sort of doubt it. :thumbup: The board has been kind of show this weekend. Hopefully someone who has had this experience will offer some advise soon.

In California, I was told they have 30 business days to respond to the submission. Mine was submitted just before Thanksgiving, I heard in mid-January that I was approved.

Hi and welcome! You probably don't want something that will give you the muchies post-op! Just a thought! :-)

Hi Amber, welcome to LBT! First off, don't let anyone talk you into either procedure. Chose the one that is right for you. Because band was right for me, doesn't mean it is right for you. But it might be. With either procedure, you are going to have foods that you cannot eat. I am not sure what you mean by "real" foods, but I can eat just about anything. The foods I have problems with are chicken breast (dark meat is fine) and doughy breads, like soft french breads and bagels. If by real food you are asking if you can eat junk food. Yes, you can. In fact, highly processed foods go down very easily with a band. Will you successfully lose weight eating them? Eh, they are calorie dense, nutritionally weak foods, you need to make that decision. Many bypass patients experience "dumping syndrome" after eating sugary foods. From what I understand, it is no fun. After band surgery most people return to work in 1-2 weeks. Some less. I've known 2 people who had bypass. One returned to work a week after surgery, the other took 6 weeks off. I am not sure if she needed the full 6 weeks, or if she took it because she had the sick leave available. I don't know her very well. Why I chose the band over bypass? These are my reasons only, they may or may not work for you. :thumbup: They are also my opinion. Please research to find your answers, too. 1. Restrictive procedure only. Bypass is also malabsorptive requiring a committment to high quality prescription strength Vitamins for the rest of your life. With the band, I take over the counter Multivitamins. 2. Reversible. Bypass can be reversed also, but not nearly as easily. 3. Fluid can be removed if more nutrition is needed. i.e. due to illness or pregnancy (the latter is not a factor for me). 4. I am not diabetic. If I were diabetic, I'd have given bypass stronger consideration due to its impact on blood glucose levels and almost immediate remission of diabetes. 5. Gastric bypass has a "honeymoon phase" after which the pouch has stretched and if eating habits have not been fully changed, weight regain occurs. I believe the time period is 18-24 months. This scared me to think about such a radical procedure and the malabsorption. To risk gaining it back. Could happen with the band as well, I know. But I was more comfortable with the band idea. 6. After about 3 years weight-loss between both procedures is about the same. I went with the one that is less invasive in my book. I don't mean that the surgery itself is less invasive, because both procdures are major surgery. I mean that the band surgery does not cut the stomach nor reroute the intestines. I like having my digestive system still intact. 7. I had a "lower" BMI. I started at 36.6. I did not feel I needed the more radical bypass procedure to get healthy. Best wishes in your decision!

Was it on the same scale? I'd appeal based on the fact that most scales are not calibrated and on the surgeon's scale your BMI was 35 and they arbitrarily chose a scale that wasn't. Ask for them to weigh you again. Be sure to be in jeans and sneakers. I, personally, don't agree with the ankle weights. I feel that to be fraud. My opinion only for what it is worth. I'd be horrified if I got on the scale and the weight was noticed. :thumbup: Also, did they check your height? As we age we tend to get shorter, an inch can make a big difference in BMI when you are talking 2/10 of a point!

Pre-op phase is the worst! You haven't had the surgery, you have no restriction, you might have fear of the unknown. You are most likely grieving for your old eating habits. No fun. But remember, it is important! You are doing it to give your body its best chance at a speedy surgery and great recovery. When my surgery was done my surgeon told me he could tell that I had followed the pre-op very well because my liver was small and easy to move around. Hearing him say that made it all worthwhile. Then during the post-op phase, when I was ready to eat my dog I was so hungry, he let me move on to full liquids several days early because I was doing so well. The weight you have lost so far is fantastic, use it as motivation to stick to it! But remember, the real reason you are on the pre-op is internal, to allow the liver to shrink and make the surgery safer for you! I am on another board that has all types of WLS patients, there is a bypass patient there whose liver was in such poor health that it tore while in surgery. THAT can't be a good thing! Keep your eye on the prize of a banded and healthy you! You can do it!

My PCP suggested mucinex when I had a sinus thing. As long as the pills are not too big, no worries.

I think we can all relate to the fear of failure of the band. We have tried so many things, why should this be any different? But it is! Truly, it is! Trust yourself and your decision, trust your surgeon. Follow the rules and be a good bandster. The odds are in your favor!!

Always go with that YOUR surgeon says over what we say, of course. But even with taking small drinks of Water, I believe you will be able to quench your thirst. Your surgeon might not want you chugging the water down and putting a quart in your pouch in 30 seconds. But sticking with the funnel theory, you can add liquid at a fairly constant rate and not have it overflow. Talk with you surgeon about quantity, as in "can I consume 4 oz of luquid in a 2 minute period?" Maybe that will give you a better feeling as to how much is your surgeon's idea of too much. It sometimes comes down to communication and language. My surgeon sees "snacks" as brainless eating. I see "snacks" as anything eaten between meals. When we spoke in depth about the word, I found out he is OK with me eating between meals, as long is it is planned and heathful. Best wishes to you!

Yep. I went for a fill last Tuesday. My record said I had 4cc. I thought I had 5.5cc. The NP loaded the syringe with .25cc and pulled all the Fluid out. With the .25cc and all she could get there was 6cc. Plus whatever she could not get. We looked at eachother and shrugged. She corrected my record to 6cc and moved on. To me the actual amount in the band is not important. It is how I feel that is important. I have decent restriction, I can eat most foods without negative events unless I do something stupid, and I am down 70 pounds. It's all good. :smile: