threedogpeople

Mark's surgery was $9,950 for everything (pre-operative screening & physical, nutritionist, surgeon, surgery center, anesthesia, everything except post-op meds.). He had the surgery done December 2007 in Denver. He has his fills done at NW fills in the Seattle, WA area. The first visit was $250 (if I remember right); his last fill was $150.

Hello, All, Hubby was banded in Aurora, CO on Dec. 19th by Dr. Kirshenbaum (self-pay $9950 US). We had some trouble finding a fill provider nearby (we live on Vancouver Island). But, we just went across the border to NW Fill Center and they were GREAT! First visit was $150 US and follow-up visits adjustments are $125 US. :frown: If anyone needs contact info, please let me know. He's down 40 lbs. (wow! Easier for men, huh?) and has 60-80 to go. Judy

My hubby felt terrible for about 3 weeks, then all of a sudden he turned the corner. Try sugar free ice pops, they were his best friend during that time. Something about the cold. Also, are you drinking your Protein shakes? You may want to visit the doctor to make sure that you don't have an infection somewhere..... Hope you get to feeling better soon.

I talked with their office about 2 weeks ago and their first new patient appointment is in 2010!! Plus, Dr. Amson doesn't want to maintain fills for anyone other than his own surgery patients.

Hubby is in the mushies stage moving to the real food stage (banded 12/19). He's asked me to pass on some of what he calls "free foods". These are all Atkins friendly, lower carb/cal and they go down easy: asparagus canned green peas mushrooms zucchini (with tomatoes if you can find them) and, the ever popular... sugar free popsicles and even Dreamsicles (5 cal. more)

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It would have made me angry too but you made a decision that you were important enough to invest this amount of time, effort and money in. Be proud of yourself, hold your head high and don't let someone else's weakness take away any of your positive motivation. You are too strong to let someone slow you down or hold you back because of their weakness. Who knows what her motivation was but, in my experience, people that break confidences do so because they have insecurity issues. They tell other people's secrets because it makes them feel important or feel like they have power. Judy

I'm in San Antonio visiting Mark's family and I just saw a short about it on the news. From the news report, my understanding is that it is only "just now" in clinical trials so it is a long way from being approved by the FDA. BUT I don't know much about the approval process in the U.S.

I created this a few days ago for my hubby. Fat free, sugar free instant chocolate pudding mix. 2 FULL scoops of chocolate protein powder 2.5 (two AND a half) cups of fat free milk. It will take it a little longer to set but it will. The pudding is great and the protein powder gives it more substance than "just" the pudding. Next time I'm going to try 3 scoops with 2.75 cups of milk, then 4 scoops and 3 cups but I'm sure that there will be a point where it won't set because the pudding ratio is too low. ONE MORE: Clean a head of cauliflower, cut into small pieces of roughly the same size. Put in medium saucepan, add enough chicken broth to cover about 2/3rds the way. Bring to a rapid boil, reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until the cauliflower starts to fall apart (very, very mushy). Remove from heat. Using a slotted spoon remove cauliflower and put in mixing bowl, using your electric mixer mash the cauliflower adding back the hot chicken broth until it is the consistency of mashed potatoes (or softer if you want). Add 1-2 tablespoon(s) of reduced calorie Miracle Whip. Salt & Pepper to taste. YUMM! I've served this to friends and they have no idea that it is cauliflower. You can add a dash of red pepper, Hungarian paprika or curry powder if you want to change it up.

Could be that your body is replacing fat with muscle which weighs more since you are working out. I would ditch the scale for at least a week then check again. Hang in there "this too shall pass" and you'll be on your way to your ideal weight. Try drinking flavored water - that may help turn off your hunger. Plain Water doesn't seem to help as much. Hubby has been drinking tomato/veggie juice mixed with chicken broth (about half and half). It's very low calorie and helps fill him up. Judy

Hi, Nancy, Having your hubby to talk with in the lobby made the day go much faster. Tell him thanks for me. I sent you'all an email with a poem I promised him for the girls. Did you get it? If not, let me know since sometimes things can get filtered out as spam. How are you feeling now? Better I hope. Mark is on the straight and narrow to recovery. He's been very compliant (down 26 lbs as of 3 days ago) but has had some trouble with nausea and constipation both of which were solved with medications. He moved to mushies yesterday - really enjoying an avocado. My Mom also made him some "soup" by mixing tomato juice and chicken broth. That was a hit too. Judy

Sooo sorry to hear that you've been having such a rough time, very glad that you're feeling better. Hubby is right on track although he's had some problems with nausea and constipation (thank goodness for stool softener). Last time he weighed (3 days ago) he has lost 26 lbs. That's over 20% of his goal (100-120 lbs). His surgical wounds have been healing pretty well although he had one of them that bled off and on for several days. It finally stopped. We called Dr. K's office about it and Natalie told us that he probably had a small bleeder vein and that if it got worse or didn't stop in 5 days to come in. He's been very strict on himself as far as the diet is concerned. He just moved to "mushies", adding avacado and pureed mango to his food list. He's had most trouble with juices and finally gave up all except tomato juice diluted with 50% chicken broth. We'll be back in Denver in February for his 1st fill, although if he keeps up this rate of weight loss I'm not sure he'll need one. Does anyone know about that? :ranger: Happy New Year! I hope this one is the skinniest one of all for everyone (me too since Mark's change of eating habits is helping me too). Judy

Hubby found that 1 teaspoon of Milk of Magnesia in the morning beginning on day 2 was very helpful. Also, infant Gas-X (only liquid we could find), adjusted the dose for adult but it causes burping not ... you know. Plus, walk, walk, walk and the breathing exercises (the spirometer) also helped move the gas along.

Anyone experienced very frequent green diarrhea (less than 1 week post-op)?

We were in Dr. K's waiting room after 4:00 on the 18th AND I was in the waiting room at the surgical center from 11:00 - 5:00 on the 19th. Are you Nancy? I had a long conversation with John while we were waiting. Judy

One of the lowest interest rate credit cards is through USAA. www.usaa.com A line of credit on your home will probably be the cheapest way to go. Check with your accountant and see if the interest will be deductible on your taxes. I would GUESS that the interest would be if you go the line of credit on your home route but the credit card one???? Mark had surgery on 12/19. His first and second day were terrible but today he's feeling much better. He has some bleeding from one of the incisions and we have had to change the dressing on it; today it seems to have slowed down. Not much nausea and he's gotten his 64 oz of Fluid down without much trouble. He tried Rice Dream today (he was getting sick of chicken broth) and loved it. No problems with nausea, either. Hope everyone is doing great. Judy

Hubby got up early; asked for a wake up call so he could take his meds on time. Good news is that he is feeling much better! Best news is that the gas in his belly has started to move (didn't think I'd ever be happy that he's able to pass gas :>)) The pressure from the gas in his belly has been one of the most uncomfortable parts for him. Surgical wounds look really good today; I did have to rebandage one of them last night so having the clear surgical patch handy turned out to be a good idea. In case you missed it, I got it at the pharmacy at Dr. K's office. It looks like we might be able to leave tomorrow and make it to my mom's for Christmas afterall. Judy

If you are worried about the sodium, try switching to a different one like Bovril (a liquid) or McCormicks (a paste). I think they have much lower salt content. We just used plain chicken broth (comes in a carton like a juice box).

We arrived in Denver safe & sound. Hubby had his pre-op appointment with Dr. K on Tuesday (he lost 14.6 lbs in 14 days on the pre-op diet!). Surgery was yesterday. He had a complication when he reacted to one of the post-surgical pain medications so they had to give him a big dose of Benadryl. It made him extra sleepy and delayed us at the surgical center for an hour but otherwise no significant issues. He still had lots of drugs in his system from the surgery last night. They wore off at about 5:00 a.m. Today he is very, very sore. Moving like a very old man. We went back to Dr. K's office because them was some discoloration (normal) and one of the surgical wounds was bleeding under the plastic cover. Dr. K said to leave the wound alone unless it started to leak from the dressing; then I would need to remove the plastic dressing and re-bandage (bought the surgical plastic bandage at the drug store in his building today). He has needed maximum pain meds today and based on info from several people that's not unusual for up to 5 days. He's still itching (because of the reaction) and we got an OK for adding liquid Benadryl. None of the gas is moving yet, except for a few burps. One of the patients getting a fill today suggested trying some Gas-X (I found the same medication in a baby version and adjusted the dose). Dr. K said it was OK to try but he didn't know if it would really help. His BEST friends right now are Dryer's Splenda sweetened fruit pops (only the strawberry and raspberry) and cool (1/2 from fridge and 1/2 room temp) organic chicken broth. We got lucky and ran into MissT on our way out of Dr. K's office today she looked great and said she was feeling wonderful (she's got a couple of extra good things going for her in the healing department - first she's female and second she's at least, my guessing, 15 years younger than Mark). Dr. K said the surgery goes easier with females because where the fat layer is generally located; with men it is within the abdominal cavity around the internal organs, with women it is outside the abdominal cavity under the skin (which is why we got cellulite and men generally don't). Oh, the name of the powdered mix containing caffeine is "Spark". I got it at WalMart. Thanks for all the good wishes. Judy

Hello Everyone, MAL so sorry about the young one. I'll remember the family and friends in my prayers. Mark and I are on our way, we have made it from Vancouver Island, BC all the way to Amarillo, Texas. Tomorrow we'll store our travel trailer (way to cold for it in Denver) and then head for Aurora. We won't be there until Monday late afternoon but Mark's pre-op is Tuesday. He's doing great on the Atkins (very dedicated). Fear of his liver being floppy/fatty and difficult to retract have been a strong motivator. He's having more trouble with getting off the Diet Coke (and I'm afraid I'm not a good influence there either). We found a water supplement, sweetened with Equal, that has caffeine that should help with kicking the soda. We are finding out that eating out isn't as hard as we thought as long as we are careful (portions are too big but we take home a doggie bag). I had a strange experience at Denny's last night (closest thing to the hotel). I ordered fish with a salad & baked potato. Mark had a steak, salad (hold the dressing) and steamed veggies. I couldn't finish my salad or my potato and I realized that in a few weeks we would be sharing a single meal. It was a powerful moment! I'm going to miss the romance of cooking together (being in the kitchen together creating a meal can be really romantic) but I'm looking forward to skinny sex (OHHH! can't believe that I said that but it's true). :huggie: Mark's re-girthing day is going to be December 19th. Our 20th wedding anniversary is Dec. 27th. Judy

We are from Vancouver Island and hubby is being banded on Dec. 19th by Dr. Kirshenbaum. The surgery is finally available here BUT there is already a 1000 patient waiting list. We're probably going to have to go to Vancouver for fills, at least at first, but there will be someone in Nanaimo sometime after the first of the year (Feb. or March??)

Hello, We'll be in the clinic around the same time; pre-op stuff on the 18th, surgery for hubby on the 19th. So, we might cross paths. We've booked a room at the Holiday Inn Express in Englewood (because they allow pets, we'll be traveling with our 2 dogs). I'm a chubby (BMI of 31) 5'8" red head with a Southern accent, colored by living in Canada so.... Oh, and my name is Judy. PS Everyone - what does PB stand for???

We called and left a message. His coordinator called us back and set up the initial appointments with us (phone consult), pre-op test date, AND gave us a surgery date at our request. The coordinator asked health questions, etc. Judy

My hubby`s surgery is scheduled for Dec. 19th but he`ll do pre-op on Dec. 18th. We may run into you. We`re coming all the way from Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. Judy

Hubby is getting banded by Dr. Kirshenbaum on December 19th. Five years of talking about it, planning for it, saving for it and it is finally coming true. Anyone going to ge at Dr. Kirsh`s office around the 18th, 19th or 20th Judy:whoo: