snowbird

I was a doughnut junkie preband. I could easily eat a dozen in a day. My favorite food. We were on vacation last month and on the last day I talked my husband into stopping at a Dunkin Donuts, since I grew up in Massachusetts and they don't have them out west where we live. I ate a half of one, felt lousy, felt stuck and uncomfortable, and threw the rest of them away. I have no more cravings for donuts, and don't expect to for a long time. Sometimes I think it is good to give in to a craving and find out that your band really does work for you. Unfortunately, this doesn't work with milkshakes.

I am sure I had a breathing tube, but never knew it or felt any effects from it. For me, it wasn't a major issue before or after the surgery.

Why do you have a NJ plan if you are a resident of FL? Do you travel seasonally between the two states? I have Federal Employees' BCBS. I spend summers in Washington, and while I am there I am under Regents' BCBS in Washington. When I am in Arizona in the winter I am under Arizona BCBS. I just notify them of my change of address every six months. Don't know if that is anything like your situation. If I were you I would call BCBS and ask them how things work in your situation. BCBS ultimately is a nationwide plan, so I would think you could find treatment closer to home.

Try one of the sugar free chocolates from either Atkins or Russell Stover. They taste good but don't make me binge on them. I believe that we should get treats now and then.

Also, since they do the intubation while you are out, you don't know it or feel it. If you have had any problems with anaesthesia in the past, be sure your doctor knows about it. Some people do have reactions to GA such as vomiting, which can be very dangerous to a new band. Your anaesthesiologist would want to know about problems so he may be able to change what he uses on you.

Anita, you said you were banded 1/3/08. Are your saying January 3 or March 1, since outside the US they do dates differently. If you were banded in January, I would think you were back on solids already. If we're talking March 1 then that's different. Either way, if you haven't had a fill yet then you need to look over the forum section on how fills and the band work. Having a band without a fill yet is not going to restrict your appetite much, if at all. It isn't until you get a fill or two that the band starts doing what it is supposed to do. So don't give up! Talk to your doctor and see what he says.

Abdominal surgery is almost always performed under general anaesthesia. I almost said "always" but I'm not enough of an expert to say that. They are slipping instruments under your ribcage, wrapping the band around your stomach, manipulating your internal organs. I do not believe you can do that under a local anaesthetic. The anaesthesia I esperienced with my banding was very light and I came out of it quickly after surgery. Easy for me to say, I know, but I don't think it is something you need to worry about.

My doctor and his nutritionist never said no carbs, but they did say eat the Protein first, then vegies, then carbs. With my band this means I never get to the carbs because I can't handle that volume of food, so I never even prepare them anymore. I'm not talking about green/yellow vegie carbs, but white carbs. They have very little food value and we eat so little with a band, so I don't feel I can afford to fill up on them at the expense of nutritious food. I don't really consider that "dieting" but just eating good nutritious food. If I go out and there are potatoes or rice served with the meal, I may take a bite or two, but concentrate on the protein and vegies part of the meal as I do at home. Many bandsters cannot eat Pasta at all as it often turns into a glooey mess in your stomach and blocks everything up--very uncomfortable.

It's kind of like swallowing Mylanta or any chalky liquid. My husband gags easily and he doesn't like it, but hasn't had any major problems.

Well, he's right, but the band helps you make the lifestyle change if you are willing to work with it. My husband and I are retired and our main source of entertainment preband was going out to dinner several times a week. We still go out once or twice a week, but because of the band there is a big change in what we eat and how much. Often I will just order Soup and be content with that. A couple of days ago we went to a Mexican restaurant. We ordered an appetizer plate for the two of us, no Entrees. We ate less than half of the appetizers and took the rest home, where it became 3 meals for my husband over the next two days. Sweets can be a problem, and we have just decided that we can't buy them and bring them into the house, because once they are here we will eat them until they are gone. If I really want a treat I will buy sugarfree chocolates. I like them, but they don't make me want to eat the whole bag and will cause so much gas if I eat more than two that it isn't worth the hassle. If I am binging on food, I will often eat something on purpose that I know the band will have problems with. Then my stomach feels uncomfortable and stuck, so I don't feel like eating for quite a while. So if you have reached the point in your life where you are willing to give up food as entertainment, solace, and pleasure, the band will help you make the required lifestyle change. If you are thinking you will get the band and it will stop you from eating poorly, you will fail, because it will not stop you from eating ice cream and Cookies. Only you can decide where you are mentally and emotionally, and how much work you are willing to put into your band.

You could have picked up an infection. Call your doctor right away! Take your temp, and if it is elevated I would think about going to an Urgent Care or ER.

I lost a lot of hair years ago when I was on Redux and lost weight quickly. I'm losing a lot again now. Strangely enough, I didn't lose any when I did Atkins and lost 65 lb fairly quickly a few years ago. Protein and fat intake makes the difference? I don't know.

mary, glad you have your band and hope they figure out what is wrong. It made me glad to hear OCC was so good to you for a post surgery problem, even a couple of years past your surgery date. I wondered if they truly did followup care for complications that far out, and I'm very happy to hear they are still there for you.

I do apologize. My answer was rude and judgmental. Hope the fill works and you are on your way! Keep asking questions and don't let the occasional butthead drive you away (yeah, that would be me.)

Hi Health Ultimate Meal, vanilla bean flavor. 23g protein, 6 g carbs. I mix it with ice and fruit, or blueberries, or even leftover coffee and splenda for a frappucino type drink.

A fluoroscopy isn't an internal gastric scope; it's just an external real time x ray machine. You drink a sip of barium liquid, and the xray machine picks it up on its screen. You can see your stomach, your band, your port, and the barium liquid going through the band on the fluoro screen. You won't need any anaesthesia or sedation to undergo it. It's not any more involved than the fill without fluoro, other than the barium swallow. The barium is a bit chalky, like Mylanta or Maalox, but certainly not horrible. I'm very glad my doctor always uses fluoro for fills, because it helps avoid your experience of being stuck four times! Hope it goes well Thursday; don't worry, it should be easier than your experience today. There are fill "disasters" very rarely; once in a great while a doctor working without fluoro will puncture the tube so it has to be replaced, or the port flips over and has to be repositioned due to stitches coming loose or excess abdominal movement soon after surgery. And those occurrences barely qualify as disasters as they are easily and routinely fixed. Having fluoro with a fill certainly doesn't qualify as a disaster; for many doctors it is SOP. I hate to see new bandsters upset with terms like "disaster" when it was merely a delay of 24 hours in getting the fill.

Umm, I just ate four cookies and ended up puking in the bathroom. I'm not about to point any fingers . . . I'm the type that has to be hit in the head with a lead pipe before I learn, so discomfort and pain are my best teachers. Seriously, you obviously don't have enough restriction yet and these things are going to happen. How long ago was your first fill? You might think about another in a week or two. Restriction from my first fill only lasted about 10 days, but the second one was much more effective for much longer. Of course, see the remark about the cookies above . . .

My daughter uses Fill Management Northwest. She has been very happy with them. They travel down to Port Orchard once a month or once every two months, I forget which. If you are in Seattle their Arlington address is probably closer. There is also Dr Neal in Olympia, although I have been hearing he is less willing to work on Mexican patients than he used to be.

A lot of us flew to get our surgery and flew home again right afterwards, and had no problems. Are you planning on getting a fill before your trip?

Exactly. If you have a 10 cc band or larger, that sounds like a good first fill. Obviously, if you have a 4 cc band, whoa!

Jan 08, have you had a fill yet? If not, did your surgeon give you an fill when your band went in? If yes for either of these questions, have you gone in for an unfill?

Well, we are certainly being negative this week, aren't we? You don't know you will have no restriction for the next 6 weeks; you are assuming it. Some people's reactions to fills change over the first week or so after a fill, and sometimes a fill kicks in a couple weeks later. To quote an old celebrity, "Most people are just about as happy as they decide to be." From both your posts you have decided that this isn't working for you and you are going to have problems, even before you have any evidence whatsoever that that is the case. I thought about being sweet and supportive, but it just isn't my nature. So, stop whining! I would stay away from the crackers. No food value, high in carbs, make you hungry.

My surgeon required 5% body weight loss presurgery. He gave several options on how to do that, from Atkins to a short term liquid diet. I had to lose 11 lb and ended up losing 19 by doing a modified Atkins for about two months before surgery. I had to do a liquid diet for three weeks after surgery. It produced some desires for "real" food but really wasn't that hard, simply because I knew it was for a limited time. I have now had two fill adjustments and food cravings are limited. I was tight enough after the second fill that I had a lot of difficulty eating anything solid for about 4 weeks. That has pretty much cured me of feelings that food is the ultimate pleasure in my life, even though I can eat most things now. I had 80 lb to lose from the time I started the pre op diet. I have lost 61. I have been banded five months. I expect to lose the remainder by the summer, based on past progress. Can't speak to "average" only to myself. My daughter was banded 10/06 and had a total of 168 to lose. She has lost 125 so far. So both of us are quite a bit above the 30-50% figure.

I think you have to reach the point that it is definitely worth giving up your love of overeating to attain a healthier and happier body. It probably isn't a popular stance around here, but I have no intention of trying to persuade you that it is all worth the hassle of surgery. I thought it was for me, and I'm very happy with my decision. but you have to reach that point yourself. If you aren't mentally and emotionally ready to give up your addiction, then surgery isn't going to change that; it is just going to make you miserable.

Doctors differ on how much to give for a first fill. He may want to start slow to avoid irritating your stomach at this early date. My doctor always does fills under fluoro. I like it that way, so he can check the band position and watch the fluids going through the band. An inconvenience, but not a disaster.