SpecialK

BrandNewLisa - I was getting worried about ya! Hadn't see a post and was hoping things were okay so glad you checked in and used us as a shoulder to cry on -- we're here for you. I had my fill this week. You'll do great once you get yours too. I was hungry enough to eat whatever but I was really trying hard to keep it under control.

Thanks Niki and Heather - I definitely am happy with progress at 18 lbs in 6 weeks or about 3 lbs a week. It may have just been my perception from nervousness that I had heard others saying they've lost 30 lbs and 40 lbs and I wish I could say that. Plus, I think Melissa does see alot of the gastric bypass patients who easily drop 40-50 lbs in 6 weeks so I just need to remember this isn't a race...I'm so competitive :thumbup: P.S. It took me 18 Months to lose about 15 lbs on WW so I'm thrilled for this tool to be working.

I'll post the one they took before the fill with and without the arrows to help you orient what you are looking at and then a third picture post Fill where you can see the barium has emptied down into the intestinal tract. The band is tilted on a 45 degree angle just as it should be. Thanks Dr. Price!

I have to tell you I think Melissa was a little disappointed with my loss of about 18 lbs from surgery day to yesterday but I didn't remind her that I had voluntarily done pre-op liquid diet and lost about 8 more lbs and by my scale I'm at about 28 total so I'm fine with that and my primary care doc was thrilled with what I lost. I did mention to Melissa I had knee surgery in the middle of this first 6 weeks and thought that could have affected things plus the last 2 weeks had been really hard to stay low on calories. I'm like Greg where I could just get up this a.m. and have coffee for my first hour or two, I had a protein shake at about 10 or so and now I'm wanting something else. I'm on my way to our cafeteria to see if they have some soup that will work for me. Last night I just had my Unjury chicken soup (broth) and was fine.

I got banded March 17 and have an AP-L band and got my first fill today of 4.5cc's in a band that holds 14 total. They said I can schedule my 2nd Fill for 6 weeks from today.

Yes I agree with KTBugg - the fill process is pretty painless and quick once they get you into the xray room where the fluroscopy machine is. I asked if I could take a picture of my band placement and the technician said Sure! so I'll get it uploaded off my camera and share. Melissa is really sweet and does a great job working with you so anyone who hasn't been through this yet should be fine. They started my fill with me standing up behind the fluroscopy screen and when she didn't hit my port at that point, they tilted the fluroscopy/x-ray table to have me lying down and she hit the port very quickly at that point. Then they stood me back up while Melissa actually did the fill. Had me take sips of barium while she watched how it went down. Once she thought she had a good restriction level. She said All Done! They handed me a small cup of maybe 8 oz of water to drink right there and see if I was holding that down. No problems at all. I left and went back to work and nobody here in the office is any the wiser I had something done over lunch...so yes, you can keep this quiet if you want. I'll be anxious to hear how GregW, NurseNiki and others who also got done today think. I had visions of the fill needle being 5-8" to get down through the layers of skin, fat and things to get where the port is but it was only about 3" long and I didn't think it felt like much of a stick at all. I found out I have a APL (large AP) band and they put in 4.5 cc's in a band that holds 14 total. I am anxious to see how this will work. I'm doing liquids today as instructed and doing fine hunger-wise.:w00t: We found 2 more Shrinking Shamrocks for Mt. Carmel sitting in the Testing Center waiting room and gave them the lapbandtalk.com web info to join in and get information. I hope we'll see them chime in.

I saw my PCP doc yesterday and she was thrilled with my 25 lb loss so far and asked lots of questions as I am her first patient to ever have lap band surgery. She even made herself a side note right while I was there to do more research on lap band to get more up to speed on the procedure. Anyway, I asked if I could get off my Cholesterol medicine (Zocor) and she said YES!! she said let's take a baseline blood check today and then I'll see you in 3 months so we can see how you are doing. :coolgleamA::tt1::cool2:

I saw my PCP yesterday and said I'm eating healthy and exercising much more than ever and asked if she didn't think I could give up the Cholesterol medicine and she said YES! let's take a baseline blood check today and I'll see you in three months. Yea! P.S. Plus she is thrilled with my 25 lbs loss progress - I'm her first patient to ever have lap band surgery so she took alot of time to ask me questions to learn about the process and even made herself a note to go and do some research to get more up to speed on it. Yea!!!

Here here! I can't wait until Tuesday. I'm thinking about taking my camera so I can get a picture of what it looks like to get a fill... if they will let me. I'll play it by ear and see how it goes. Was wondering for the Feb/March bandster buddies if you've encountered any food at all before your first fill that you couldn't get down or had trouble with? I haven't but I have not done anything 'stupid' either like eat something obviously doughy or stringy. I do recommend the cedar planked grilled tilapia at O'Charley's - had that last night and 1/2 of my dinner salad and a few bites of my baked potato and that was really satisfying and the fish is lean and has lots of Protein. I'll definitely try that again when I think I could handle it with restriction. Seebs -- yes, I got over the idea of just leaving the rest of the fish and salad and having them take it away to throw it away because I knew I'd enjoyed what I had and the leftovers wouldn't be good. That is a NSV for me. Greg - yep, not gaining but losing has slowed to a crawl so I am totally with you on bring on the saline!

WOW! impressive list of Vitamins -- do you have super powers once you down all those! Just kidding. Have a great day.

This is a different kind of NSV -- I got out one of my pretty spring/summer dresses to wear to church this a.m. because I know I won't be able to wear this size again soon. I have been avoiding wearing dresses because I just didn't feel pretty due to my weight so I splurged yesterday and got a manicure and pedicure, got my nails done in a pretty hot pink and I'm stepping out in style this morning holding my head high. Hope everyone has a great Sunday!

Saw this today on my food tracker web site and it fit right with what you need. Hang in there. "Don't Give Up What You Want the Most For What You Want at the Moment"

I guess I maybe hit the Maximum days I was allowed to edit the original post so I'll just add onto a new post...where there is a will there is a way! :thumbup: 248. TGC - March 20 249 Andrea1 - March 4 250. Shaunni78 - March 10 251. Hazel-eyes - March 14 252. Shoop3010 - March 25 253. JulieC - March 25 254. Boadicea - March 18 255. Tess415 - March10 256. Dosh - March 25

Welcome Call Me Joy! We have a few 'grannies' on this Mt. Carmel thread and everyone is doing great so it looks like those in our 50s and 60s are still kicking it with lots of years left to live and enjoy after we lose weight with our band. Good luck! Keep us posted when you get a surgery date. Hope you can drop in Polaris sometime for the local Columbus bandsters and bandster-in progress friends meeting. See the thread under Ohio as well as the Mt. Carmel specific thread.

Yes, there is a whole shamrock patch of us that got banded on March 17th and I was one of three of us at the hospital on the same day and it was funny that we were lieing on beds side by side in the pre-op waiting area! Check out the Band surgery dates thread I created for the heck of it to see who all got banded in March. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f114/march-2008-bandster-dates-57036/

I am scheduled for my 1st fill on April 29th and I truly need it. I am getting hungrier and hungrier trying to stick to 1200-1400 calories a day and that sounds like a huge amount compared to the post surgery weeks when I could easy do 800-1000 or even less. I am really active and feel great so its nothing physical other than just hunger. I am trying to watch portion size but its definitely not just 1/2 cup for me at this point, closer to 1 cup and even 1.5 cups but I'm making it high protein choices and limiting carbs so I feel what I'm doing is Healthy Eating which is my ultimate goal - getting healthy and staying there!

Yes, it seems pretty common that they are using what is called Steri-Strips to seal the incisions in many hospitals now. They will eventually come off as you shower but don't "encourage" them to come off early. I like the other person's idea to trim off the part that is hanging loose so they don't snag on clothes.

Just a warning that they give you alot of IV fluids in the surgery and overnight in the hospital so I'd wait at least 4-5 days before hopping on the scale or else you might see a surprise gain followed by a loss then. Congrats on your banding.

NDWife - Charlene called me and let me know when it was submitted to my insurance and she called to let me know when it was approved. Nice to hear from you again. I'll say a prayer you get your May band date!

I'm not sure why the doctor didn't do the 1st fill with fluroscopy to begin with. That's what our doctors/hospitals do. I'm glad to hear you did get a good first fill and that they are going to work out the insurance snafu with you too.

Here's some steps of things I did and I was using Insurance to pay: 1. Schedule and attend free doctor/hospital bariatric program orientation session to learn about their programs, doctors, etc. 2. Usually they give you a packet of information to fill out and mail in to them to see if you are a good candidate for surgery. 3. Check with Insurance company and find out specifically if they Exclude Bariatric Surgery including Adjustable Gastric Lap Banding and/or Gastric Bypass/RNY, etc. and what the qualifications are to get insurance coverage approved. What BMI and what co-morbidities do you have to have to qualify - i.e. sleep apnea, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, etc. being co-morbidity examples. 4. Many of the Insurances will require: Surgeon consultation visit to see if you are a candidate, 5. Cardiac clearance - most of us are overweight enough they want to make sure you are okay. 6. Sleep study/clearance - if you haven't been cleared for sleep apnea 7. Psychological study/clearance - its pretty basic but they want to be sure you are mentally and emotionally ready for this life change. 8. Diet and nutrition counseling - at least 1 pre-op session with the doctor/hospital 9. Primary Care Doctor supervised weight loss effort - as noted in other posts - sometimes 6 months consecutive evidence in the doctors' progress notes - not just that they weighed you but that you discussed weight loss issues. Some get by with 3 months - varies by insurance. 10. Any other 'hoops' to jump through the particular doctor gives you or their bariatric program for that hospital.

The answer is YES - many of us had to show at least 6 months of supervised diet and exercise program to get insurance approval. I used an online food tracking tool and would meet with my doctor to discuss the kinds of things I was eating, calorie levels, etc. I'm glad I actually got into the good habit of accounting for portions and what kinds of food I was eating, especially Protein levels as its a big help to me post surgery now to keep doing it. I've heard a few different online tools that are out there. I use My Food Diary :: Online Calorie Counter w/ Diet Journal & Exercise Log and its $9 a month, I've heard people talk about FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal and also Free Diet Plans at SparkPeople but whatever method you use, good luck!

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone add to their tag signature line how many fills they are on and how many cc's each fill and total cc's. It is funny to see really how fast in 2008 we all went from clamoring for Insurance Approval (January) to clamoring for a Surgery Date (February), then First Fill...(April) aren't we the smiling bunch ... due to losing weight finally and forever!

I am almost too embarrassed to ask but I'll have some 30/32 items I could bring to the May meeting if there is someone who is needing those. I know alot of you are way below me on sizes but I'll get there some day soon! Personal Message me for more details:rolleyes2:.

Grammy-->Yes, it seems the Dr. office is always very very busy but I've never felt rushed when it was my turn to get to see him. I'm a cat-mom too of 2 kitties!