RxTracy

Willsmommy- I am a Pharmacist and Diflucan comes as a liquid formulation as well. Your doctor can call in the strength he wants and just indicate that he wants that and they can fill if for you. If for some reason they don't stock it, there is no reason you can't crush a Diflucan tablet and take it that way. It may taste bad but it would be worth it. Yeast infections are so miserable. My mother-in-law had no trouble with tablets after her surgery, but even months after I couldn't take an over the counter Ibuprofen without getting stuck. Good luck. Tracy

I thought I had a 14 cc band but I have a 10 cc band. He said larger AP band (as compared to previous band), I heard Large AP band. I have what I am figuring is about 9.75 cc in my 10 cc band (I was at 8.75 at my last second to last fill and I didn't specifically ask this last time because I am close to full and I didn't really want to know but it looked to be about 1 ml added 3 days ago). I am TIGHT. I lost 8 pounds last month and 10 pounds this month, which I think is good. Before my fill this last week, I could still eat most anything. I felt like most of my weight loss was still what I feel is "muscling it" or old fashion dieting. I am feeling really restricted this weekend. My clinic says they have many people at or close to full and have a few people "a bit overfilled". I don't know how that exactly works, I will explore it if and when I get there. I am not going to stress about it, it is what it is.

I think that you are doing great and maybe being too hard on yourself. I think you need to be so proud of yourself for your exercising, even if it isn't steady. I haven't been good about exercising, and for being able to identify your emotional needs and address them. As far as foods, I find low fat cheese, yogurt, and fruit easy and satisfying. For some reason I crave eggs. Maybe the Protein, so I keep some boiled up. Good luck.

I have 8.75 cc in a APL band and I have finally got some restriction. I was getting worried about it. I am going in for another fill on the 21st for a little bit more, but not much. I have to chew really well. I am a firm believer that everyone is different because I was so convinced that something was wrong because everyone seemed to be having restriction with so much less fill. The 21st will be my 3rd fill.

Second fill today of 2.5 ml to a total of 8.75 ml. I didn't have any restriction at 6.25 ml and I am on liquids for 2 days so I will see how I feel when I am back on solids. My provider says some people have trouble telling with liquids. I don't think I am very perceptive about how much restriction I am feeling during my fill appointments. Unless the water actually comes back up, it all feels the same to me.

I agree with Wendy. The neomycin in the Neosporin has a high potential to cause an allergic reaction with continued use and that could further slow your healing. I used it when I had a tattoo removed and had a horrible topical reaction. She is also right about the steriod injections. Some people form keloid tissue when they scar and steroid injections limit the raised bumpy scar formation.

It does sound like and allergy. Weird. I used the Curad Scar bandages. They are like a gel bandage and I am very happy with my scars. They are all very thin but of course still bright red.

That is horrible. I would follow through with PALS for sure. That is awful that they provided the surgery couldn't support you. It seems that in September they would have know that the Senior Consultant was leaving and should have warned you. From my experience when a provider changes locations and services, that is something that is known well in advance, unless they were fired. Good luck and hang in there.

There is a ARNP at my office that does the fills. She did great. I declined the Lidocaine and she had me take and hold a very deep breath and bear down like I was giving birth. She located my port without a problem. She said it was deep, and I had no idea that was even where it was. I thought it was closer to my largest scar. She filled it bit by bit, having me sit up and drink after each amount. I never got to a point were I couldn't drink fast and freely, but she put in 3.25cc and we both seemed comfortable with that for a first fill (14cc AP Large band with 3cc fill at surgery).

3 cc at surgery and a 3.25 cc fill with no restriction so far. I am going to go back in this week or next for some more fill. I like that she told me to call in a few days if they felt the fill was not adequate. My ARNP also gave me a Rx for some Adipex (prescription diet pills). She says that she finds it helpful for some who are "starving" like I am until they get proper restriction. I thought that was nice and unexpected. I haven't filled the prescription yet, but I like that they are approaching it from different angles.

I have a 14 cc Large AP Band and I had 3 cc of fill at surgery and had a first fill of 3.25 cc with no restriction that I can speak of yet. I have not experienced any of the pain described and I would have them take a look at it for sure.

LightenUp-Yes. I would make frequent trips to try to get to the Sweet Spot. My doc has an ARNP who does the fills and she said don't wait a month if you know it isn't right. I found out my initial fill volume from my surgery report. My ARNP keeps a running log of the total fill volume. She said she used to pull out all the saline on a fill and then refill it and add...but she said she found it inconsistent. She would have 3 pull out 2...add 2 and the next time pull out 6...she said she found it caused a lot of unnecessary worry on the patient's part thinking they had a leak when really different factors cause you not to be able to pull out the entire volume. I am making an appointment to bump up my fill.

I had my first fill on Friday. I had 3cc in from surgery and I got a 3.25cc fill for a total of 6.25 in a large AP band (I was told this is a 14cc band but have see other volumes posted here). My post fill directions were 48 hrs of warm clears. The fill wasn't bad at all. I declined the lidocaine because I think the shot to inject the topical anesthetic hurts as bad as the shot sometimes. I have found this to be true when I have had IVs so I stuck with it and it was not painful. She had me take a huge breath, hold it and push (like giving birth) to elevate the port and she was right in, no problem. She filled it slowly and I sat up and drank a small cup of Water each time. I didn't feel any restriction with water, but she was feeling like 3.25cc was a good place to stop and I did too. I told her I was fine to come back for more if it wasn't enough. The office is just a 10 minute drive from where I live. She gave me a prescription for a months supply of Phentermine (Adipex). She says she uses it a lot so people don't starve until they get their restriction right. I told her I felt like I was white knuckling it like the "old days" of dieting and that was uncomfortable. I have taken the Adipex (aka Fastin) before and I didn't like the way it made me feel (like I am having a panic attack and buzzy) but I got the 37.5mg and that strength can be split and I will try taking 1/2 the dose. I was worried, because the fluids went down so well, that I was still unrestricted but I ate mushies this morning and I'm feeling a bit full. Time will tell. Hope this isn't too detailed, but I am always curious about details when I read posts so I am over-sharing : ) I feel like we sould take up a Frequent Flyer Miles donation or something for Lizzie. It is horrible to come this far and have to wait.

Carson's Mommy-I am in the Tri-Cities in the Columbia Basin. I had my surgery at the V5 Medical Center in Richland. I know what you mean about the waiting. It is just too much time to have to think about things, builds the anxiety.

It was a pretty funny thought. Difused the tension a little, but if my doctor didn't appear shortly after I would have been asking some folks for some credentials : ) I was surprised that I was nervous because I have had surgery many time, but I think it is just natural. Good luck and I hope everything goes as smoothly for you : )

I know what people mean about being scared. The day I got my band there was only one other patient and it was very quiet and kind of deserted. My husband joked that the Surgery Center was really closed and that the cleaning staff was doing some procedures to make some extra money : ) I had a little anxiety over that...but everyone was great and everything went smooth. Also agree that it was a good thing that they put me out fast so I didn't have much time to ponder it.

That is cool, a ring would be nice and noninvasive.

I bought the Actitrainer and I like it. It was easy to set up and you can use it for multiple users if you want to share. I liked the looks of the Bugg, but from what I understand it doesn't monitor your heartrate, which is nice to make sure that you are in your target heart rate range when working out. The display on the AT is nice too, if you clip it to your belt the display is upside down so you when you tilt it up to read it, it is right side up and easy to view. It scrolls through all your stats. The Polar heart rate monitor that comes with it is really comfortable. I don't even notice that I have it on. I have found that the diet log leaves a bit to be desired. I have had to enter most everything as a custom food. I am just spoiled by the huge data bases from WW and Calorie King and some others I have used. It seems to have mostly whole foods and not commercial products. I was just banded so it is mostly protein drinks and such that I am having to enter. Even then it take just a minute to add a food and you can save it in you favorite foods for later. I thought I would test myself with the AT and if I used it reward myself with the BB, but I am really liking the AT now. I do understand that the 2008 BB will have a heart rate monitor as well, so would wait if that is something your interested in. I don't think the AT would be as helpful without the subscription but some people do use it that way.

I am 6 days out and my back muscles and leg muscles are really sore today. I agree with the previous post that the back is due to the change in my posture. Trying to keep everything straight and not pulling. I also had to change the position I sleep in a bit and I think that has something to do with it. I am hoping so.

I could take a tad of diarrhea over here. I haven't went since surgery, but I am not feeling worried yet. Been putting the Benefiber in juice. I think it is probably the pain medication that is holding things up.

I have been drinking the No Whey Protein Bombs diluted in juice and sipping on that, 42 grams of protein. Also the Micellar Milk brand protein drink with the Big Train low carb Chai tea is so yummy. I also like the sugarfree popcicles. I am still going to miss texture until I am off liquids. After 10 days pre-op and now 4 weeks post-op liquid diet I just want to chew something! ; )

If you are pre-banding and have a history of post-op nausea and vomiting, ask you doctor about a medication called EMEND. It is a prescription capsule that you take 1 to 3 hours prior to surgery with a small sip of water. I have had breakthrough nausea and vomiting on all of my previous surgeries on 4 or 5 different anti-nausea medications at a time and when I was banded on the 15th of November I took the Emend and one other medication for stomach acid and I did not have any nausea at all. It was such a relief after months of worry. Beware that it may not be covered by insurance and it is about $50 for one capsule, but I consider it money well spent. You just need the one capsule. Just in case anyone else out there is worried about thier history of Post-Op Nausea and Vomiting.

So it is feeling blocked really, not like nausea. I bet it is the swelling. My doctor told me to call if I couldn't get water down. Did they fill your band at all during surgery? I know my doctor said if he thought we had room during surgery and there wasn't much trauma in the placement to cause swelling, he would fill us a few cc's? Maybe you need to be emptied until the swelling is gone if this is the case. How are you dealing with no pain medicine?

Got my band today and am feeling really good. Went in at 8 for 9 am surgery and was on my way home about 2 pm. I have a long history of severe post-op nausea and vomiting and this time I took a drug called Emend. It is very expensive (my insurance didn't pay for it and even with my employee discount as a pharmacist it was just under $40 for one capsule but you only need one) but I am convinced that it made all the difference. I have not felt sick at all. I am sore of course but so happy that it went well and just wanted to wish the rest of the November 07 Bandsters good luck!

Oh good. They have you take it about 2 hours pre-op with a small sip of water. I also got some Phenergan suppositories to take home but I didn't need to use any. I am going to keep them on hand just in case I get a GI virus anything down the road. Take your prescription in early in case your pharmacy needs to order it. It isn't a real common medication. I hope it works as well for you as it did for me. Last time I had surgery, and it wasn't even a GI surgery, I got Pepcid, Protonix, Dexamethasone, Reglan, and Zofran and I still was sick for a full 24 hours after. This time, just the Emend and the Protonix IV before surgery (I think most places give this or something similar) and nothing. Nada. Amazing. Good luck.