JaimeSTL

I saw Dr. Minkin today for my first post-op. I've lost 27 lbs since I saw him on 2/20. He was very pleased and said everything looks perfect. I'll see him again in 3 weeks and we'll discuss a fill. My band went on very tight and I do have restriction already. I'm okay'ed for purees then soft foods next week.

I was banded by Dr. Minkin on February 28th. I went to a seminar on October 24, first appointment was on November 28th. I could've seen him a little sooner but had scheduling conflicts on my end. Had my day of testing (psych and nut consult, EKG, stress test, pulmonary function test, chest xray) on December 17. Saw dr again on 1/9 and got medical clearance. They didn't submit to insurance until about 1/29-1/30 because I needed a letter from my PCP, which they received that week. Submitted to insurance, approval on 1/30. Insurance can take up to 30 days, mine is just super fast. Surgery was on 2/28, again my choice for scheduling purposes. He said it takes 2-3 weeks to get on the schedule once they have insurance approval.

I felt the same way about 3-4 days post-op. I have a really busy life, with a full time job, full time college course load, and 2 kids. I had no energy, then the hunger kicked in and it really hit me hard. I was also having a hard time getting in all of my Water and Protein each day, and now that I am, let me tell you, it makes a difference. I'm now 9 days post-op, on full liquids/ starting very thin mushies, and things are much better. I'm still wiped out after a shower, though. You are only 3 days out from surgery. You need to give yourself time to rest and relax. It will get better.

One of my goals is to no longer let food have such power over me. As far as I'm concerned, all food is the same and if I want it, I'll eat my allotted 1/2 cup meal and be done with it. Now, I definitely won't go back to my fast food 10 times a week routine. In the last year or so, I've lost all desire for that crap, except pizza and nachos. Those are my favorites and I'll have them occasionally in the future. That thought comforts me, which I find sad. I refuse to think about all that I can't have, though. I'm centering my thoughts on what I can have, and all that I've gained because of my surgery. I've only lost 22 lbs and I feel better than I have in at least a year. I have read some posts and thought, wow I cant believe they are eating that at this point in the game. Especially when I was pre-op and then 2-3 days post op before the hunger came. These last 3 days or so have been a struggle. I've been in tears, cursing myself for doing this, completely lost in my obsessive food thoughts. We all have food demons, or we wouldn't be here. Those demons don't go away when we get banded. One reason I chose the band is because it is a lifelong tool to help me fight my demons.

OMG, nachos would do me in. So when can we have chips again? LOL

I'm not a grazer, either. I eat huge meals, when I eat, which would be like 2 times a day. I had a really bad habit of not eating Breakfast then I would be starving by lunch. I also used to eat a lot late at night. Now I'm making a point of getting up and eating right away, even just a carnation instant breakfast.

That is my philosophy on this whole thing. I CANNOT stick to something if I feel like I am denying myself. I don't plan to cut out anything unless it makes me sick. I'll just eat less of it. Of course, that's after my initial pre-op period, because I am sticking to that. I am terrified of band slippage or something getting messed up. I also hate puking. I did, with dr permission, start mushies a little early (yesterday as opposed to Monday) but I'm only doing the mushiest, almost liquids right now. Even when I do "cheat" (and I hate that term also), I won't let myself feel guilty. If I wasn't a compulsive overeater food addict, I wouldn't be here right now. Now, I will say, this has been the hardest time of my life. I am a full-fledged food addict and I miss food soooo bad. The other day, I wanted to lick saltines with my broth because I was too scared to eat one. Today, I actually did lick my daughter's McDonald's cheeseburger patty (well mostly because I was teasing my kids, but yuuuuummmmy). I felt really desperate a couple of days ago and just wanted to give up, eat and tell my doctor to take the band out. I have serious health issues, including sleep apnea, PCOS, high BP, and a weight related surgery trauma (not during my band surgery, a past one). I HAVE to lose weight. I started at 350 and I'm 5'6. Today, I was 328. I know that I may always be on the heavy side...I'd be happy to be under 250 because when I was I had no co-morbidities and had energy and felt good.

I was also banded on 2/28. My port site is still a bit swollen and sore, but nothing too extreme. My surgeon said that was the incision he would be most concerned about if there was an issue. One of my upper incisions has been very swollen and puffy from day one. It is healing well and not infected, just puffy. You might want to give the doctor a call just to be on the safe side.

I was just banded last week. I started off with a BMI of 56. When I first started looking into WLS, I researched GB and put off calling a doctor because that scared me. I didn't even hear about the Lap Band until last year. My OB/GYN recommended it and I started reading up on it. I chose a Lap Band only surgeon, partially because I didn't want someone to try to talk me into GB. My surgeon's view is that it all depends on you. Both the band and GB are tools and if you eat right and exercise per your dr's orders you will lose. If you don't change your lifestyle, you won't.

I don't have Fed BC/BS, but I do have Empire BC/BS. My copay went up from $250 to $1500 for the hospital stay for my surgery. Plus, that $1500 doesn't count toward my deductible or coinsurance out of pocket maximum. It sucks, but compared to the self-pay cost from my doctor of $16,000, it is a huge benefit.

Call your doctor. I called mine today because all of a sudden I was so hungry today (6 days post op). He said I could start mushies if I wanted to and they went down ok. I hadn't even start full liquids, so I went with cream soup for dinner tonight and didn't even finish 1/2 cup and I'm still full. I'm surprised how much difference the full liquids made over clears.

I was banded on 2/28 so I'm 6 days out today. Hi, I was wondering if you guys are still on pain meds? No. My last dose was Sunday. Also, what are you guys drinking and how much. Water, Propel, broth, Jello, popsicles, Protein shakes. I'm supposed to get 50-60 g of protein a day. I wasn't given a set number of calories, just told I could drink/eat what I needed/wanted. I haven't really been hungry up until today. I'm adding full liquids (cream Soups and such) tonight. Are you all hungry yet? Yesterday, a little. Today, a lot more. I think increasing to full liquids will help that. I should get to go to mushies after my follow up on Monday (well, I can now if I feel like I need it). Do you have bandages over your incisions? Not anymore. I had bandages when I came out of surgery and I was told that I could take them off after 48 hours. I don't have visible stitches, but I do have dermabond. When are you guys allowed to shower? I was allowed to shower after 48 hours. How do you guys sleep? Do you know when we can sleep on our side? I slept on my side from the first night. I only sleep on my side so I'm lucky that wasn't an issue. It was a little painful and I sort of tilted to my back the first night and I've been sleeping holding onto a pillow so my husband doesn't roll into me (after putting him on the couch the first few nights).

Chris, I called Dr. Minkin's office and they got back to me at the end of the day. He said I could start on puree/babyfood consistency if I felt up to it, but I said I was just going to start on full liquids like cream soups for now. I guess maybe I could've had those all along. I'm not sure. I've been sticking to clear liquids, like pre-op. I'm going to have cream soup for dinner tonight.

For Dr. Minkin's people-- when did he let you start full liquids? I'm 6 days post-op, having clears only. I feel like I'm starving today. It is the first time I've felt hungry. I don't see him until Monday and I'm kind of freaking thinking I have to wait that long. I know I'm not ready for purees, but some thicker liquids would help so much. I called the office, they're going to try to catch him between surgeries and patients and ask. I would've seen him in the office tomorrow or Friday but they were booked so I had to wait until Monday.

I think a sleep study is important. I had one in October after I almost died during a routine surgery (tubal ligation). I have severe sleep apnea. My symptoms were snoring and waking a lot in the night to pee. Since I went on cpap, I no longer snore, and I usually don't wake up at all, maybe once to pee. My surgeon puts patients with apnea on their c-pap in recovery to help them when coming out of anesthesia. I would want to know if I had apnea before surgery. I also had two pregnancies, the first with a starting weight of 240 lbs and the second starting at 270 lbs. Both pregnancies, but especially my second one, were full of complications and both babies were premature (4 wks and 7 wks respectively). I would really consider getting as close to goal weight as possible before conceiving. I had every complication in the book just about--pre-eclampsia (starting at 14 wks w/#2), gestational diabetes, etc. So much was related to my weight. Personally, I won't even consider another pregnancy unless I was under 200 lbs because of my history (the tubal didn't happen after all). That seems like a lot of testing and unnecessary appointments. I had all of my testing done on the same day, including nutritionist and psych consults, met with my surgeon 3 times pre-surgery and then had surgery. If you aren't happy with your program now, find another one. I had minor issues with the hospital and let them slide and ended up having an awful inpatient stay. I love my surgeon but I sure wish he practiced somewhere else.

SnowHollow--what did you think of the support group? I wasn't impressed by the nutritionist at DPH that I met on my testing day. I think she's the one who runs the group.

I was banded on Thursday 2/28 and came home from the hospital yesterday. I lost 15 lbs pre-op from the liquid diet. I'm not feeling hungry, but drinking because I know I have to. I'm a little sore, but overall, not feeling too bad. So here is my question. One of my incisions, toward the middle of my abdomen, but not the port site, is puffier than the rest. The doctor said he doesn't think it could be infected since I was on antiobiotics up until I left the hospital yesterday. He also said there is nothing under it that could be bulging or anything. Anybody else experience this? I don't have visible staples or stitches. He said he did a plastic surgery type closure, which I'm not sure what that means. This incision is the sorest of them all, but feeling considerably better than yesterday. Thanks for any input. I'm so glad to finally be over on the losers side now. :w00t:

Sorry for the cross post. I wanted to get as much input as I can. One of my incisions, toward the middle of my abdomen, but not the port site, is puffier than the rest. The doctor said he doesn't think it could be infected since I was on antibiotics up until I left the hospital yesterday. He also said there is nothing under it that could be bulging or anything. Anybody else experience this? I don't have visible staples or stitches. He said he did a plastic surgery type closure, which I'm not sure what that means. This incision is the sorest of them all, but feeling considerably better than yesterday.

Banded 2/28. I lost 15 lbs pre-op (in 5 days!). I'm not sure if I've lost post-op yet. I'm too heavy for my home scale by a few pounds, so I'm looking forward to hitting that point very soon.

I was banded yesterday and I am home now. Everything went well. I lost 15 lbs on the liquid diet (5 days). I was pretty happy about that. I'm having slight discomfort, but overall, I feel okay. I have been really thirsty, after not getting anything all day yesterday and today until about noon. I'm not really hungry though, so I'm going to have to make myself eat and drink.

I was just banded by Dr. Minkin yesterday. At the seminar I attended, he said he charges $16,000, which includes pre-op visits and a year of post-op care. Good luck!

I'm glad to hear you are home and doing well, StLouisGal. I'll be about two weeks behind you. I'm so excited!!

I am having my surgery at Des Peres Hospital, with Dr. Minkin.

Hi everybody! I'm new here. I'm Jaime, 29 years old, married and have 2 kids (6 yr old boy and 5 yr old girl). I live near St. Louis. I am having my surgery on 2/28 in St. Louis. My starting weight is 345 and my goal weight is 160. I'll be happy to be anywhere under 200 though. I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you as we go through this process together.

I had the day of testing back in December. I wasn't overly impressed by the admissions staff and the cardiology department. Oh well, that won't have a bearing on my surgery. I passed the stress test and all of the other testing. I might be having gallbladder issues so I have a HIDA scan scheduled for 2/13 and if it is bad, I'll probably had my gallbladder taken out when my band is put in. How was your experience with the nutritionists at DPH? The one I met for my presurgical counseling spent about 10 minutes with me. I'm so confused on the diet. I'm not much of a cook and not very creative in the kitchen so I am having a hard time coming up with on food ideas. I've read on another board and it seems like other people eat a lot more than what Dr. Minkin recommends. How much do you and your wife eat, Chris? How much have you both lost so far? How long did you have to wait after surgery before you could start exercising? I would like to lose at least 150 lbs, but I would be even happier if I lost about 180. I'm nervous about it.