Cota129

You might want to check to see if they will continue to cover any procedures that were done prior to the cut off date of coverage. Insurance companies are callous, but I would find it hard to believe that they would not continue to care for the medical needs of someone they had previously covered.

After my second fill I had some port pain and a little bit of swelling. It went away after a couple of day

I am certainly going to have PS. Personally, I'm not at old fart stage. My son keeps telling me I'm young and hip!! I'm not losing all this weight to have loose skin. My last half of life is going to be spent looking hot

I took out a home equity loan to pay for mine. Sure, surgery is expensive, but I needed to take care of myself. I had to look at the cost of how much food I was eating, the cost of my meds, the cost of healthcare for the problems I was having and compare it to what the long term benefits of weight loss are. I'm now off all of my meds, I no longer have horrible acid reflux, my knees don't hurt, my grocery bill has plummetted, and I have energy like I haven't had in years.

Don't write her off. She needs to get through her head that you are the same person, just thinner. My best friend of 40 years made the comment to me that I was going to "look funny" as I lost weight. I've always been the fat one, she the really skinny one. My response was "get over it". I know that she didn't mean to be hurtful when she said that, but I told her that was not the type of support I needed. If she had nothing nice to say, then to STFU. It came down to the fact that she didn't have a good understanding of what I was doing (surgery wise). I sent her a lots of stuff to read, we talked a lot about the changes I would be making, she asked lots of questions, and then we were good. She's one of my best supports and is actually excited by the fact that I'm a food picker like she has always been, and we can save money by sharing meals!! Give your friend a chance. People say things that are hurtful often when they don't understand. Include her in your journey so she has a better grasp of what you are doing to have a better life. Good luck.

I started chewables right away. They dissolve into liquid

My port sat about 2.5 inches below where the bottom of my bra set after my surgery. I used to wear the heavy-duty Playtex 18 hour bras, but last week-end got some very pretty underwire bras from Cacique because the girls are considerably smaller. What I didn't realize until I started to wear my new bras, is that my port is now higher and the underwire keeps bumping into it. The only thing that I can figure out is that because of exercise and my muscles getting stronger, that the port has moved up because of the muscle being more fit (?). I have to adjust the bra a bit on occasion so it's not riding on the port, but otherwise I have no problem.

My first fill was perfect. Unfortunately, I had to have a partial unfill because I was sick, coughing alot, had some irritation, and couldn't even swallow liquids. I had a fill last Saturday back to where it had been, and it's finally kicking in. I don't think a perfect fill the first time happens often, but it does happen. You're lucky!

As the queen of "cottage cheese" thighs, all I can say is that I am so thankful for capris, skimmers and bermuda shorts!!

I was trying on smaller (and sexier ) underthings today, and noticed that my port has shifted about 2.5 inches upward and can now be felt. I just had a fill on Saturday, so I know there is nothing wrong with it and when I lay down, it is by my scar. I am surprised that it has moved. Is this common with weight loss and reshaping through exercise?

Tums are recommended by my doc as a good source of calcium. NatureMade also makes chewable calcium. Look at your pharmacy. There are lots of good sources for chewable calcium and many other vitamins/minerals.

Happy big 4-0!! Tell your doctor that you need a small unfill. You recognize that you are having difficulty. Don't risk dehydration or lack of nutrition. If you know there is a problem, your doctor should be listening better. A week is a long time to have difficulty eating.

I have BCBS of IL. My own doctors told me that I also met the criteria, but BCBS of IL would make me jump through hoops for several months and then still deny. I didn't want to do all they requested to be turned down. I ended up taking out a loan and being self pay. For me, it was a good decision.

I just went through this. Per my doctor, the stoma got irritated from all the coughing and vomiting. I needed a small unfill the other day because nothing was going down including liquids. I had 1.5 cc taken out. Enough to be able to eat/drink, and to let the irritation calm down. I still have plenty of restriction. You might want to give your doc a call and see what is recommended. Feel better

Interesting question. I spent my entire childhood and teens years being told I was fat by my mother. As a young adult I gave up struggling with my weight because I was never skinny enough (according to her voice in my head :smile2:). Looking back at pictures, I was certainly not fat. As a teens, and until I was in my early 20's, I wore a size 10-12. That sure isn't fat! Both my 2 sisters and I have all had significant struggles with weight. All of us being told we were too fat and finally giving up to never being "good" enough. One sister lost 80 lb. with diet and exercise, another has GBS 5 years ago and looks spectacular and I had LBS 11/07. NOW my mother bitches because she thinks my sisters are too skinny (They aren't. Both weigh about 145.) Through lots of hard work, we have learned to tune her out.

Not that I'm happy that you're having trouble with sweetners, but it's nice to hear it from someone else. I can use sweet and low (in coffee) with no problem, but since surgery, I can't use anything with Splenda. My stomach blows right up and I have horrible gas pain, so bad that I double over and can't move. Not sure why being banded has made Splenda intolerable, but it has only been since then. Oh, well. If that's the worse that happens, I'm ok.

I'm reading the Duodenal Switch Forum. Why on earth would anyone do that to themselves after reading some of the stuff on there? :regular_smile:

I've watched briefly a couple of times. The host is annoying as hell, IMO.

15 TV channels? For the longest time, we only had 3 channels. And only black and white TV . My mom had to cook EVERY night :puke:. No fast food or frozen stuff. We had to actually shovel snow, because no one had a snow blower. Cutting the grass was done with a rotary mower. Who owned a power mower? The funny thing is, I find myself doing the same things now, except the TV thing (I like my channels).

Check with your surgeon. Mine told me NSAID's in moderation are ok. I use the chewable jr. Motrin if I have need for it. I'm allergic to Tylenol, so I'm glad I can still use the Motrin.

I take Prozac which is a capsule. I've not had any problems taking them.

Yea, you!!!! :cursing: That is one of my goals for the coming year. Right now I know I couldn't do it, but I am already walking and getting in shape to be able to do it next year. Good luck!

My band hasn't affected my social life at all. I still go out for dinner with family and friends. I eat much less, but the upside is that I have great leftovers to take home for lunches. I go to the bar occasionally and order a drink without carbonation. Having a band only affects you negatively if you let it.

I never used pain meds. I never felt bad enough to need them. I had surgery on a Wednesday and went back to work the following Tuesday. I'm a school based therapist and am on my feet a lot and do lots of stairs. I was tired the first few days back to work and would take a break every once in a while, as needed. Everybody responds differently to surgery, though. Your recovery time is an individual thing.

I have tried many shakes, and my favorite, hands down, is Atkins Advantage. I like all the flavors.