Kissmygrits

Why does the risks of cysts growing go up after surgery? Yikes, knowing that makes me want to get to my gyn asap.

Well, I for one definitely did the last supper thing and I don't regret it. From the time I heard back from the insurance company and I got a surgery date scheduled, I really did it up. I gained about 4 pounds over the course of 2 weeks- so I didn't go nuts or anything, I just had my favorite foods each night (esp. the Pasta, bread and other things that I figured I wouldn't have for a long long time or never because some bandsters don't tolerate them). I stopped to start the liquid pre-op diet 13 days before surgery. I followed that religiously and pretty much lost all that last supper weight plus some more before surgery. I think as long as you don't go completely nuts AND it's for a limited amount of time (not months long), last supper is not a horrible thing. I think it did make my liquid diet harder, though, because I was probably much hungrier than if I had started tapering off my portions beforehand.

Lachica, Yes, you can do low(er) carb with the band and a lot of folks on LBT do. I certainly will be as soon as I'm into the solid food stage. Right now it's mushies, and unfortunately, most mushies are carbs. I know enough about how my body works to know that I really have to watch the carbs if I want to lose weight. I think the bandster rule about eating Protein first, then veggie, then carbs, kinda forces you into a lower carb way of eating anyway. There's hardly any room left in your tummy for carb by the time you get to it.

Yeah, 4jin, don't be a tease! :-)

Hello Georgia Peaches! I haven't joined this thread yet, so I wanted to introduce myself as a fellow GA bandster. I guess all my vitals are in my signature- so I'll just leave it at that. Hope everybody had a Merry Christmas and other holidays!

Hi. I have a question: I got approval, got banded, now what? How do I know whether my insurance will pay for my fills? On my approval letter, nothing was mentioned about adjustments-- only placement of the band. Do most folks have to make a seperate request of the insurance company each time they want a fill? I guess I could call the insurance company, but they are usually not too helpful on the phone and when I say the word "Lap Band" I hear crickets in the background.

Alright! Sounds good. If/when you get the gas pains just walk walk walk around the house. They are by far the worst part of the post-op surgery, in my opinion. After thinking about it for so long, isn't it great to actually be in band land? Congrats!

I'm so glad i'm not the only one. I was on liquid phase during Christmas dinner. I had a spoon full of gravy and then sat on the couch with my unjury chicken Soup. Blah! I wanted to cry. Everybody felt sorry for me and I was looking at their plates like a rabid dog. A friend told me that right after being banded, I wouldn't even want to eat that food-- but boy was she wrong! Only the fear of being in the emergency room kept me away from that dinner table. Yesterday was my first day of purees and I was sooooo glad to not be on liquid anymore. It's amazing what a difference a little volume/density makes. I am paranoid about stretching my pouch so I only eat about 3-4 teaspoons at a time and surprisingly, I'm satisfied with that. I do need to drink more Protein, thought, which is hard because I feel full most of the day.

LOL. I think that pretty much covers everyone! I heard that the official all-inclusive holiday greeting is "Merry Chrismahanakwanzakuh".

Sades, It's so weird! I actually have had the exact same problem (allergic hives) each time I go to the hospital for an overnight stay. I always end up breaking out in hives when I get home. I don't know what it could be, but it I think it must be some detergent or something they use on the linens because I got the hives once when I was given absolutely no medicine. My docs know but when we ruled out an allergic reaction to medicine, I was just told to take benedryl and come in if it got worse. It never does get worse, but boy is it irritating when it happens! Now, I just make sure to take a good bath or shower the second I get home from the hospital and that seems to prevent a big outbreak. For the life of me, i don't know what is causing this outbreak!

Maybe I just go out of my way to predict every situation that could go wrong (I guess that's why I'm a lawyer), but I was actually very concerned about anesthesia awareness. I made sure to thoroughly question my anesthesia team about the anesthesia awareness risks. I know it's very very rare, but so is dying in a plane crash-- that's not a reason not to take precautions on the front end. I think they tried to blow me off at first, but it soon became clear that I had done my research on this issue and I expected real answers. In particular, I wanted to make sure that brain monitors were available in the hospital, what the hospital's policy was on using the monitors during all surgeries, and most importantly, WOULD THEY BE USED IN MY SURGERY. I made it very clear that whomever was on call that day, I wanted the monitors used. I actually had them write this in my chart. In the end, I was thoroughly satisfied with the answers I got and that helped me to feel more calm on surgery day. I just believe in being a good consumer. Hospital visits are very expensive and although we don't pay directly if insurance covers this, we do pay indirectly through premiums and such. Don't let doctors or anyone else bully you into thinking you should not have or raise a concern that you believe is a valid one, no matter how rare or unlikely.

Nana, Could it be gas pains that are bothering you? Does it move around your belly when you switch positions or do your hear gurgling inside?The gas has been by far the most terrible part of this surgery, in my opinion. For me, it feels like somebody is standing on top of my band. It has made it impossible to eat more than half a cup of anything all day (that's a day's total), for every day since surgery. When it builds up, I feel like I'm already stuffed to the gills and uncomfortably so. Lying down seems to make the gas worse or trap it somehow. I have had to wake up in the middle of my sleep to walk around just to get it to move. If it's not gas pains, but rather surgical pains, I think you should take your pain meds or call your doctor. We're all different and heal at different rates, but i'm sure your doctor would not want you to be so uncomfortable that you couldn't rest, since rest is so integral to your recovery.

My last straw came when I realized that my food addiction (that's what it is in my opinion) had pretty much caused my infertility. I had PCOS and couldn't control my diet enough to make it go away. My doc said she would try with meds, but everything seemed to aggravate my ovaries and make a bad situation worse. The thought of missing out on my opportunity to have children forever is enough to scare anybody into surgery. I will always see my problem as an addiction, and I will have to treat it as such even after the band. The problem is in my head and I will always have to work on that.

I took my BC pill on my 2nd day after surgery (I had to or else my period would start and not even liquid Vicodin would be able to help that pain). I crushed it up and took it with a little liquid Protein and everything was fine. Even though they are tiny, I'm still crushing them. I have PCOS and actually can't lose weight unless I'm on the pill (the pill keeps my hormones in line by preventing new cysts from forming on my ovaries). Any tri-cycle type pills make me crazy (too much hormone shifting)-- but I'm on Ovcon 35 (a pill that's been around since the 60's I think) and I love it. I also love Yasmin, but it was too expensive so I went back to Ovcon.

Are you asking about post-op gas or just regular gas? I'm on day 3 post- op and I'm just now feeling like the gas is leaving. I just had to walk and walk and walk. Since I got discharged from the hospital, I probably paced about 20 miles around the inside of my house. When I didn't feel like walking, I just stood and shifted my weight from one foot to the other. Nothing passed then, but I think it helped to push it down, because when I finally lied down, it started to pass. Who knew such a crass bodily function could provide such relief! And I thought peeing was pure heaven!

Thanks for the prayers and well-wishes. They must have gone straight from your lips to God's ears because I thought surgery was a snap! I got banded yesterday at 8:30 am and got to leave the hospital at around 2pm. I'm so glad the doc let me go home early (there's nothing like being in your own bed when you're not feeling well). I was most concerned about anesthesia awareness (I know, I know), but after grilling the anesthesiologist and actually seeing the BIS monitor, I only remember taking a deep breath and five seconds later some woman saying, "surgery is over." Anyway, I have found all this to be a million times better than I thought it would be. sure, I'm sore, etc. but not unreasonably so (feels like I did a million situps and have severely sore muscles). The gas is painful, but not much more so than the gas I normaly get from PMS. i've been walking a lot around the house and trying to drink. I got stuffed on a popsickle! A popsickle! I felt like I had eaten a huge plate of pasta. 4Jin-- keep your head up, the waiting period to hear back from insurance feels like forever, but like childbirth, once you get approved, you'll forget all about it. Good luck! Buttercup-- 4 pounds is awesome. it's good to know that you have done so well already! Gives me hope!

I got banded yesterday at 8:30 and I was back home from the hospital by 2pm. I am so glad that doc. let me go home early! I hate hospitals, and that's the last place you want to be when you're uncomfortable. I have been doing fine-- the gas is painful, but not as bad as I thought it would be (feels similar to the gas problems I get with PMS). I felt stuffed yesterday from a popsickle! LOL. My incisions hurt (feels like I did a million situps) and I have to walk really slow, but I'm feeling a lot better than I thought I would. Obviously, I"m on here already, so I can't be feeling too bad!! Good luck to everybody-- and don't be nervous, I think the waiting in the pre-op area was the scariest part, the actual surgery/recovery is not bad at all.

Hi folks, Just checking in after a little break from LBT to say hello and that I'm getting banded on Thursday morning (20th)!! This liquid diet has been horrendous-- I have been starving the entire time. I'm so glad that this pre-op part will be behind me soon. Thank the Lord I didn't have to follow this pre-op diet during Xmas because I'm sure I would have cheated! How're the newly banded folks here doing?

I'll be banded on the 20th (Thursday morning)! I'm so excited and a little nervous, but in a positive way. This pre-op (Protein liquid+soups) diet has been a killer for me! I've been hungry constantly and I don't think I was getting enough calories because I've been bitchy, weak, tired, plus I've lost more weight in 12 days on Atkins compared to this crap. Oh well. I'm hoping the healing process will give me a break from the constant hunger. I'm hoping I don't have too tough of a time during bandster hell. Here's a non-carbonated champagne toast to us!!

Apple, My heart breaks for you and the pain of your difficult childhood. I'm sure many of us, myself included, can relate to the countless heartaches that have unfortunately contributed to our weight problems. I love this forum because we can talk about all the reasons we're in this struggle to regain control of our lives... and many many of those reasons are emotional. I sometimes wish there was a lap band for my heart and my mind too.

LAPinND, Regarding your question about pre-op diets, I have a little anecdote. I actually did a trial run (partially) of the liquid diet a couple weeks ago (just to see how I would survive the real thing). I did a shake for Breakfast and lunch and a light dinner (this is a deviation from the real pre-op diet I was given- which includes only shakes and soups). Anyway, I lost 4 pounds in a week. I think even with PCOS you should lose on a low carb diet, especially and extreme low carb one line Atkins or Optifast/protein shakes. Yes, PCOS makes weight loss very difficult, but without the carbs to fuel the problem, you should be able to lose, at least in the short run. Plus, you'll be banded before you have a chance to give in to carbs again. It is definitely scary what your doctor said, but I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Donna, that is HILARIOUS!!! I can totally relate to the insanity. My life completely revolves around food. For years it's a cycle a periods of thinking about eating followed by a period of trying to think about not eating. This stupid diet/binge cycle has eaten up so much of my time it's not even funny. I know my core problem is a head problem-- and I'll have to work on that before, immediately after surgery and for the rest of my life, I'm sure.

PCOS makes weight loss really difficult and gaining weight REALLY easy. Way back before I even thought about the band, I followed South Beach diet at the suggestion of my fertility doctor. I really worked hard on the diet and worked out for about 5 months and lost only about 10 pounds. It made no difference in my cystic ovaries. It was so frustrating i actually cried. The doc. explained that I could spend a small fortune on more invasive fertility treatments-- or find a way to lose a significant (50 lbs or more) amount of weight to greatly improve my PCOS (and chances of conceiving and carrying to term).

Slimshady, Congrats on your recovery. 11 pounds is great progress! Georgia Girl, I'm sorry to hear that your doctor is not cooperating with you. Really-- isn't the whole point of the band to make it a little easier to do your part with diet and exercise? If you have to starve-- there's no point in being banded in the first place. I'm sure this must be so frustrating. Hopefully- dr. will change his/her mind soon and make life easier for you. In the meantime, you should really be proud of yourself for all your discipline and hard work!!