soonergirl

I am a runner and have finished a number of races banded. i would NOT recommend getting fills before you start traning. Especially when you are building your fitness, you will need more Water then a normal workout, even a heavy one. The other thing is that you will be running for hours at a time and you need to deliver your body what it need. Even a more important factor is food and fueling for long runs. you have to eat before long runs. Ideally Peanut Butter sandshiches, bananas and the like. these foods are not fill friendly. I just talked to my doctor today about running/banding issues. He has many patients that run and marathon train. He really prefers for us to stay on the light side of the fill spectrum. Still there as a reminder, but will allow you to get what you need in your body. I noticed that you are newly banded. Make sure to talk to your doctor about your port and long runs. I have been banded for years and it still givves me problems and pain on anything over about 10 miles. compression garments are a good idea. get used to them on short runs so they don't bother you. Good luck!! You can do this!! Nothing will ever feel as good as crossing that finish line!! Let's share stories if you would like!! not a lot of support out there for running banded!

I actually chose the band because of my PCOS/fertility issues. I also only had 2-3 periods a year. I lost all of my weight and got to goal weight. I got pregnant on my own and miscarried twice. All of my hormone levels were ok including no signs of insulin resistance. I chose to see a fertility specialist and they monitored my follicles and then I did one round of clomid (they think in some cases with PCOS the egg is not maturing leading to loss). We got pregnant again and they put me on daily metformin throughout my entire pregnancy. I did gain a significant amount of wieght (over 80 pounds) and they did take out my fill. I have a wonderful healthy baby boy now and it seems like a million years ago that we went through all of that! I am back down 70 pounds of my baby weight and planning to try again early next year! I will probably do liquid metformin for this next pregnancy to hopefully keep in a fill (wish they would have had that the first time!! :blushing: All of my doctors contributed a lot of the successful pregnancies in PCOS patients to getting to a healthy weight. Good luck, I know how hard it is!! I would be happy to answer any other questions that you might have. I know when i was in your shoes I had a lot!

Well, I don't think that I was at all typical but I gained over 80 pounds. I was at goal wiegh and became very anemic which all but halted any activity. I did get my fill taken out because of medications that I had to take thoughout my pregnancy. I will not have it taken out on my next pregnancy if I can help it. I have lost 70+ since the birth of my baby, but it has been very hard! I would not be paraniod about keeping my fill in next time around. Please don't let my story scare you, but I know that I wish i would have kept a closer eye on it myself. Good luck with your pregnancy!!!

What a great thread! I was actually doing a search on the band and "fueling" for long distance runs with a new fill (hard to eat enough). I only started running about 4 months ago. When I started I could not even run for 100 yards. I am now training for a series of 10K, Half-marathon and 20K races coming up. You ahve all shared such great tips and encouragement! I started with a modified C25K that was designed for distance running. The first was a 10/10/10 walk/jog/walk. There was no way I could jog for 10 minutes. I somehow made it through the first few weeks and then every week there after became a new milestone. My runs now are about 5-6 miles during the week and 7.5 on the weekend. My advice - run slow!!! you will be able to get more distance in if you pace yourself. Once you get used to the distance you will be able to work on your speed. If you want to go for longer miles - JOIN A GROUP! check out your local running store, they will know where you can find one. The support and encouragement you will get is like no other. Many of them have a Walk 2 Run program or even walking programs. You will have good days and bad days - don't let the bad ones get the best of you! Cross training is also Great! Just another good tip that you can do anywhere for shin splints is a toe tap. Think of the way you would just tap your toe up and down as if you were mad at your husband :blushing: or wife. now do this for one minute on each side. Sound easy?....try it. Does wonders for shin splint prevention. I hope that everyone continues to share their successes on here no matter where they are in the process. I have a 10K next weekend don't think that is as impressive to me as it was for me to run for 20 minutes without stopping for the first time!!!! BTW - once you get to 30 minutes without stopping, you are ready to start adding the miles!! You will be shocked how easy it will feel to move from 30 minutes to 5 or 6 miles in a matter of weeks. Much easier than going from 10 minutes to 30!! Keep running!!

I have had my band for 14 months. I am at a BMI of 25 and am in a size 8 down from a 16. I would like to keep going and get my body fat at a better ratio for my health. I have had many ups and downs. Being banded is not the solution, it is a tool, reminder and sometimes just hard. I am just now after a year getting used to being banded in the sense that my behaviors that are band "friendly" are becoming habits. I have finally stopped challenging my band, my appetite, my struggle with getting used to my new reality about eating. I am so happy to put on clothes that I haven't worn in years, and they are too big. I have had to work hard to lose 60 pounds of fat. I eat healthy now, work out 5 days a week. It is really worth it though For those of you that say there is so much negative feedback on here, I sympathize, I stopped reading everything for months and had to figure it out on my own. I feel like I know enough now to revisit others experiences on some issues. Stick with it, it can be hard. Did we really expect anything else.... well maybe. I stalled out for months, was ill and they wouldn't let me get fills, learning to eat was frustrating. It was all worth it to get down to the size I am supposed to be. One of my Dr.s told me the other day that I was a "healthy weight". wow!!!! Plus I am looking pretty good!

There are two other ways to get a tax break on the money spent on a lap-band. If you are in a high-deductible as defined by the IRS, you can save money in an HSA with tax-free dollars without itemizing and use the funds in your HSA to pay for your surgery. You will not be able to put the full amount away in one year, but the law will allow you to reimburse yourself with future funds from your HSA as long as you were in a "high-deductible" medical plan and had an HSA open down the line - in other words you can reimburse yourself over years. Also, you may have the option of putting money away in your FSA through your employer and that would allow you to put away money for your lap-band tax free as well. Good luck!!!

Valley girl, i came on here tonight looking for an answer to this exact question!!! I have had three fills - two at the surgi center and then one with my Dr. because the other two weren't doing anything. This one I FEEL almost every bite of food going down. I CHEW!!!!!!.... and CHEW and then I am with you, when I chew so much, then I can eat more. I will have to say that I can't eat hardly anything in the morning still, VERY little for lunch and then dinner I can eat more - but many meals are still very uncomfortable as well...... and believe me, I am chewing to the point of nothing else to chew!!! Is it just me getting used to this thing???? someone help us!!!

If you are talking about individual policies, this will never happen. Individual policies will not cover the surgery for exactly the reason that you are thinking about. Insurance is a pay as you go contract, therefor anyone can get a policy, have something done and then cancel it. This does not make any economic sense for an insurance company to cover this type of surgery for less than they are expecting to bring in for premium. This is an abuse of the insurance system, which is why they will not do it. The previous post refers to a company policy for someone that is self-employed. A lot of carriers in a number of states have stopped covering the surgery for these types of policies as well. If you changed companies or went onto your spouses plan, they might cover it. An individual policy will not. Good luck

I paid cash in Dallas - 15k with fills for a year. I highly considered Mexico, but after much math and condieration, we decided to spend the money to have it here. When we started running the math, there wasn't as much $$ difference as you would think. So, most of the places in Mexico that I would consider were about 10k + flight (about $300) and about at least another 50-75$ in misc. expenses for the trip. If my husband would have gone, add another 400$ or so. Then, when you take into consideration the fills - with mine in TX, they are included for one year. If I would have had to go back - $250-300/flight at about 4-5x = another 1-1.5k If I would have had to pay for fills here - they were about $150 at the least with no floroscopy - mine here includes it. I have had two fills already and I still am feeling little to no restriction ( I know that most people say that Mexican Dr.s are more aggressive with their fills, but I have 2.8ccs in a band that holds 4ccs, that is not at all conservative), so I would have been recking up fill expenses already. My biggest concern was aftercare if something were to happen. i am only in my 30s and I am going to have this thing for a long time - long after the Dr.s in Mexico, or here are still practicing. I know that because of liablilty issues and malpractice, it is only going to get harder to find Dr.s that will take a serious complication for a patient that is theirs, much less for a surgery performed out of the country. SO - as i mentioned, I don't doubt the competency of most of the Dr.s in Mexico - this was just my personal line of reasoning when making my decision. Good luck!!

Well, if you do a search on beer - you will see a lot of threads from me pre-banded. Beer was my very favorite! I was scared about the thought of having to give it up forever. Well, now it has been 3 1/2 months and I really don't miss it. Ya, I think about it sometimes, but it isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I talked to my Dr. a lot about drinking, he didn't have a problem with it in moderation. Carbonation is the big issue - not really errosion unless you have too many, too often. hope this helps.

I will look into this, but I know that shelters will need it down the road - please stay posted and I will try and get more information on sending clothing later on!!

Sorry to post this on the general discussions page, but I really wanted it to be read by as many people as possible! I have been volunteering with the Katrina relief efforts in Texas - many of the evacuees in San Antonio, Dallas and Houston are in need of PLUS SIZE clothing. Although they have shut down clothing donations at Salvation Army and other centers - they are still in need of Plus size clothing. I know that many of you out there have had great success in getting down to smaller sizes and might have some clothing that no longer fits - they could really use our help right now. In Dallas - please drop the clothes off across from parking lot E at Reunion Arena - make sure to let them know that they are plus size- as many other clothes may be tured away. PLEASE - to make it easier on the voluteers and so the clothes can get to the people that need it as quickly as possible, seperate the clothing into men's, women's and sizes and bag and label them accordingly - taking 5 minutes to do this will save volunteers HOURS!!! Thank you to everyone for reading this and doing what you can!!!

I wish that I would have watched that video of the live surgery - it really drove home to me the importance of your pre and post op instructions and WHY they are so important. Luckily nothing has gone wrong with me, but I would have been much more strict about all of my instructions!!!!