lizzy h

sometimes I can, sometimes I can't. My band is funny like that ...some foods are a always yes.....some are a damn new always NO......and some like hamburgers are occasional.....If it is an occasional day i can usually eat about a 1/4 of the burger....and then strangely out of the blue like every 3 months I will be able to eat the whole thing - and these are real burgers. Mind you it takes me an hour, but I enjoy every cholesterol full bite. It is a rare treat...i NEVER have fries though

Faithstep what I was told is that once the reflux is that bad expect it to take months to go away.......for me it was just shy of 3 months. I became a huge grouch some days with the frustration of never being able to get anything down....I had an RX for prilosec and eventually it worked. It may have taken 3 months because I was even throwing up the meds......It takes months because your esophegus is chewed up and basically swollen. Everytime you eat or thowup it is like rubbing us against an open sore - harder then heck to heal......get the meds - even of you use the OTC's and start over. Just know it will be a few more months. BTW Tumms did not work for my reflux. and I was convinced I would die in my sleep from choking on my own, well you know

yep.....but it took me breaking the 200 lb mark, and 90 lbs lost to get that way. All of a sudden it was taking me a lot longer to get ready. I knew what I was going to wear clothes wise, but I was always switching shoes, and coordiating my jewlery. I also was putting on makeup everyday, and yes showing the cleavage that I used to hide.....sadly I am just over 200lbs again and I am back to trying to blend into the background....the daily makeup has slipped to occasional and I only toss on stud earrings..... I will be back to being a girlie girl by the end of the summer. It felt too good to look good and be pretty

Lunabeane can i borrow your mirror and scale?

as with all insurance companies you start a letter writing campaign. You have to break through the secrecy with Kaiser and find out for your area who are the doc's that are on the panel that approve or deny requests. Keep in mind every thing you write will live in your file forever. Consider carefully why you were denied. Tread lightly if it was for phsyc reasons. This is typically a battle you cannot win.....also make sure your primary is on board with your cause. He/She can also champion your cause. I was initailly denied by Kaiser, but then 3 months later without an appeal I was approved. I did not ultimately do my surgery there, but I am now back for the fills. This is not a good palce for lap banders. The RNY'ers I know however are all happy with Kaiser

1st out of curosity where area of the country are you in? I am a life long - since birth 43 years ago today Kaiser patient. My rants are about their lack of understanding of bariatrics....that said I was referred to the program in approx March 2003..... after doing a handful of support meetings and the nutrition counseling and phsyc eval I was denied - approx Sept 04. For open enrollment in Oct of that same year I added a second carrier and when it was effective on Jan 1 04 I went outside the Kaiser family and to a different surgeon.....3 months later Kaiser sent me a letter saying they had reconsidered and I was green lighted. It would have taken me 9 months, at best, from that date to have been given a surgery date, so I stayed with the private doc - best and right decision.....mind you I never appealed their denial, this letter came out of the blue. I am back working my way through the Kaiser system to get the right fit for my fills and it is worse then ever. I personally think Kaiser is great for everything except bariatrics and phsyc...Tell me what region you are in and I may have some pointers

I went to the diet pill doc last week and am on day three of phendimetrizine. I understand it is very similar to phentermine. When last on phentermine (approx 15 years ago) I do not recall any effects - good or bad. This stuff definately has me a bit shaky about 2 hours after taking. Day 1 and 2 I was not obsessing about food, and I was not hungry, and for the 1st time in ages I had a sensation of fullness after a very small amount of food and I had no trouble stopping my eating. This is promising. Today is day 3, and the emotional baggage of yet another disappointing birthday has me eating "chocolate rocks" from a well meaning friend, while visions of pasta dance in my head. Your interest has been a delightful gift today, who knows my guardian angle must have tapped you on the sholder - thanks

hey WHO ARE YOU CALLING MENTAL??? Just kidding this is what my RNY friend call ourselves when we can't get life right all the time

Ahhhh you are speaking my language. I am not a fan of therapy, but something that desperately needs to be studied with banders are "slippery foods" and how we will gorge on these when the band is too tight. In fact with me I started eating non stop because with no protien I never felt satisfied (sometimes I was even full, but not satisfied) so I ate more and more and more. When I was unfilled I could eat a whole pound of bacon without getting sick. As a matter of fact the only thing I could eat with out throwing up was bacon and toasted french bead slathered in butter. I could not even drink coffee or water without throwing up, so bacon was my friend for 4 months. Fast forward to getting refilled. I can now eat non slippery foods and have weaned myself off the bacon, but the compulsive eating is haunting me. I got fat overeating and being sedintary. I was not a compulsive eater. I think compulsive eaters always have something within arms reach that they can munch.....that is what I have become...... I clear away the food, take walks, brush my teeth and call friends..... but then the other 20 hours of the day I obsess about food......ahhhhhhh get out of my head

They did not work for me either 20 years ago, but then I expected to pop a pill and then hop on the scale and be thinner....... I am nearly 4 years out of my banding and now I think about food and eating almost constanatly. The battle is killing me and I am losing. I also seem to have lost my way to the gym. Older and more realistic now I was wondering if phentermine will give me the prod I need..... just looking to see if others have any opst op experiences

You have to vent, and you have every right to be frustrated and whole lot of other feelings too. Your mom is lucky to have you and in all truth you are damn lucky to have her, as difficult as life is. So buck up and keep being the perfect daughter. Years from now when you no longer have your mom you will have no regrets, you might have a guilt pang here and there that you were human every so often, but you will know that you have done the right thing. Also take a lot of pictures of your parents. The age as fast as our newborns become teenagers and before we know it days have slipped into weeks, months and years. And finally and I think most importantly remember that you are young and have a great life ahead of you. Balance is essentail - goog luck

Hey thanks for asking - its a data dump here... My current insurance is not who put the band in. That surgeon was all about the patient. He wants you to be successful for you. So if you need 45 office visits in 20 days to get the band right he would be all hell ya........Kaiser however - my current insurance is not at all tolerant. I should say I even had Kaiser when I had the band put in. But because they were and are still mired in the simplicity of get your head straight, move your rear, and put down the fork. Any lack of success is a failure on the patients part NEVER the procedure. I should also mention I interviewed 4 surgeons before picking the one I did. The backlash in medical records from subsequent docs has been palpable. They do not like being screened, or competing for the job. So here I am after almost 4 years of success backsliding. Needing a band adjustment does have some play with what is happening (I have had 1 fill post op, one unfill 3 months ago, and one .25cc fill 3 months ago thats it!), but the sabotage is coming from me. I am "eating around the band", although I have minimal restriction. I am not moving and my motivation is in the toilet...heck if it was in the toilet I would go and get. The real prob is that I don't know where to find my motivation. So I am just lamenting that I can't go to my doc and simply say this isn't working for me know, is there another tool I can use? What is new, what are my options this week? He will and did 2 months ago tell me to diet and exercise....not we should work on tweaking your band, we should consider changing your band, hey we have a weight loss discussion group you can join, anything, something...nope it was all back on me and damnit if I could have done it on my own I would never have been in this position in the first place. like an alcoholic I will always be a "foodie" but an alcoholic can live without booze, I HAVE to eat

So here is my story....Banded nearly 4 years ago. I was 294 lbs when I decided I was going to have WLS come hell or high water. I had surgery a quick 6 months later. Surgery day my weight was 232, I had thrown myself into starving myself on 900 cals and a 3 mile walk everyday. Post op I did no walks and managed during the next two years to get down to 210 at my lowest. Post op I had developed an insatiable sweet tooth. I was not eating much quantity - just high calorie foods so I was not going to lose weigh without making changes....For the 1st two years I usually did not feel full - I just was never really hungry. I did on occasion eat to the point where it hurt. At the three year mark something snapped in my head and I started working out 2x's a day and back to 1000 cals a day. The results were amazing. Go figure I ate less and moved more and I found myself at an almost sexy 178 lbs......thin by my standards! But then disaster hit....gradually I started to have wicked bouts of needing to throw up anything I ate or drank - even H2O. This led to reflux and 6 months of hell.....finally I had an unfill. Previously I'd had only one fill and I have an older generation band that is harder to adjust. Fast forward to my weigh in today 215 on the nose - yikes nothing fits in my closet and I am back on the + side of 200 lbs...I have done this to myself. The band is not helping me stop eating and I am not working out. My med insurance is such that I see docs that just don't get it. So today I went to a private clinic and opted for diet pills. I am desperately looking for the cattle prod that will get me back on track, the eating less and moving more track. I need medical professionals that understand I don’t have it within myself to eat less and move more without a well equipped toolbox. I do, and will have success, but what works to keep on track today, may not always work. Eating less and moving more will always work - that is the simple truth. So I need a medical partner that is willing to say, hey its time to try this tool to keep you eating less and moving more. Kaiser in California are you listening?

My oldest friend, like me, is a lapbander. I have my own issues but she complains of spitting up saliva after eating. Is this "sliming"? What causes it and can it be managed?

Sue my suggestion is to get into a face to face support group. My favorite (I currently drop in to 2, and know of a 3rd) is at Mills Penninsula, yes Burlingame CA....It is held the 1st Saturday of every month in a basement meeting room - starts at 10:00am...all WLS patients are welcome and its free...... There are more RNXY then banders, but our ranks are growing. Its a judgment free 1.5 hour session (you can leave early without a problem) where you pick up encouragement, and tips on how to succeed, and maybe best what to expect along the way, at every stage - even years out.....drop in in two weeks... On to your Dr and eating issues...... you have to show backbone with your doc....MAKE him unfill alittle, or better yet do a swallow test...I say test is better because I am currently in the "throwing up" group. Early on (up to first year) I had trouble with healthier choices, and became a chip eater, and starting craving sweets (these were new bad habits), At two years out of need I discovered the benefits of PBing. I had not had a fill in 1.5 years.......By year 3 I was PBing with much greater frequency...now at 3.5 years I cannot eat or drink anything without regurgitating, this includes Beans and soups.... anyday now I will be approved for an upper GI and I fully expect to hear that my band has slipped......but I will just have to wait and see and keep sipping this and that

I have 4 thoughts on this and they are all over the board +’s 1ST Like Lap_Dancer said you got a necklace out of this. There is loads of wisdom there. Millions of years ago when I was a sophomore dating a senior I willnever forget what my then college aged sister said to me “that is sweet, but just remember if you break up you have to give it back because it’s his jewelry……Bethie it’s always better to find a guy that gives you your own jewelry, because that is your forever”……So plus one for this guy 2nd H-e-l-l-o Dating… not engaged, not married, not even “exclusive” unless I missed something. Sure it’s easy for me to say that because I am not dating and having to face the reality of being just 1 of two, a few, or many YUCK……but seriously if not promises were made then none were broken -‘s 3RD Here is where I am brutal and bringing my baggage into the picture. Are you even considering staying with this CAD because you somewhere feel unworthy? I know that is what keeps me allowing all kinds of creeps to be part of my life – potential suitors AND poser “friends” If this is the case just swallow hard and move on. Even if your heart does not say you deserve better, your head does - listen to your head 4TH And lastly and this is what does it for me – He is a liar. He committed the sin of omission. OK so maybe there weren’t promises, but when he said slow down – he didn’t mean that he meant see other people. Had he said that it probably would have hurt a lot but you would have known where you stood. What he did was lie, call it something nice like omit, but the intention was clear – deception. I would never date casually or seriously someone that I could not trust, lie to me once and its NEXT please

This was an amazing post. After 3.5 years I am just starting to have trouble with my band. In the event (hopefully not) that I have to have it removed this is definately an option that I will consider. Your candor and thorough comparison was very helpful

YEA PATTI You represented us all well. Although some of us don't have to do the baby bites and chew until pulverized, you did a great job of communicating that this is not easy street. I was also touched how you were able to convey that "fat people are not jolly". Sure we have good days and laugh, but being trapped in an obese body is hell. Keep up the good work

YOU BET I EAT IT - just finished a whole bag of kettle corn. I have no clue what my doc would say, never asked.....here is the plus about popcorn, nothing else stays down right now, not food, not mushies, not fluids, but popcorn does!.....and now for the minus I can and do eat a full microwave bag when I do eat it, that seems like a lot to me given that I couldn't eat large portions of anything else even b4 I started having this current issue of throwing up

wow - waaaaaay cool. What I hope is that with exposure people will stop thinking surgery is the "easy" way to lose weight. Sure my band has made it possible, but it has never been easy

What relief you must be feeling, this is great. What I don't understand is the liquid diet part. Because I am experiencing constant vomiting I am SURE my band has slipped. Since I can't even drink fluids without throwing up so I can't see how going to liquids or mushies would help, any thoughts?

1st I TOTALLY get your fear of being unfilled, I am living with that now. Ok about 3 months ago I started having the same symptoms....I was amazed at what was POURING out of my nose - and then there was waking up choking - its as if I needed to swallow in my sleep and forgot how......I'd never had reflux so I waited two weeks and finally called my PCP. I specifically asked if it could be related to my band and she wasted no time in saying no......She wrote a script for Pepcid - what she did not say is that it would take up to 2 months for the Pepcid to work. Just when it was getting better another symptom, that I had been ignoring, reared its ugly head - vomiting. This was more then just PBing it has become constant and immediate after I eat or drink anything. Needless to say the Pepcid pills I swallow come right back up too. At this point I am waiting for the orders for an upper GI and labs. I am dehydrated, irritable as all heck, sleep deprived and totally convince my band has slipped big time. The Morale of the Story ask for a Upper GI/Swallow test sooner then later.......AND UBER CONGRATS ON YOUR TREMENDOUS SUCCESS, don't worry about those three little lbs, for some of us that can be achieved through a 1/2 leg wax !

my stats banded July 2004 preop highest weight 294 Jan 08 weight 182 112 lost Ok guys when I started this journey I had the surgeon from hell. Very talented but gave new meaning to the phrase "god complex". I learned right away that when he talked about preop weight loss he was not kidding. I was very successful preop - lost 60 lbs in 4 months. Long story short I changed surgeons had the surgery and lost another 20 lbs. For two and a half years I "ate around the band" and gained back 18 of the 20 post op lbs I had lost. Out of nowhere I decided to start exercising and pay attention to the band and promptly lost another 50 lbs.........I NEVER thought I would hit either of these milestones, break 200 lbs on the scale, or lose 100lbs.......and it just keeps getting better, I weight less then what my license says, and well who knows maybe I will lose another 20, or 30 or 40 lbs we will just have to see

Larry I think I am in the same boat - well I'm not sure about an enlarged esophagus, but fears about gaining the weight.....I have been battling reflux and vomitting all fluids and liquids for about 2 months. Presently I'm waiting for my Dr's office to schedule an appt to see what's up (or down). I am disturbed to read in many of these posts that corrective measures start with an "unfill" for a period of weeks, then gradual fill, and then if necessary maybe surgery for repositing. I am very impatient and want this fixed this week, and the thought of any time where I am unrestricted has me freaking out. You hang in there and just get it all fixed. Hold on to the [positive thoughts about all the weight you have already lost and kept off, and you can reclaim the other lbs in no time

I am confused on a couple of fronts - if my symptoms are acid reflux and thowing up everything, liquid and solid does that only signal slippage or anything else....... and if there are no objections to a compound question, why would insurance not cover a secondary procedure? I have Kaiser and I am assuming they will cover a band slip if that indeed is what this is