kdlee

Hey there. I don't remember being given a specific amount to lose on his preop diet just that I had to follow it. My husband said he was told to lose 10 lbs. Dr. Kaplan's exact words to my husband were "I want your liver to look like steak, not cake" after those 2 weeks. :thumbup: I lost 15 lbs on the 2 week diet and my husband lost 18. He did tell my husband that if he did not follow the pre-op diet he could tell by the liver and if his liver was not how he wanted it, he would not do the surgery at that time. The diet is difficult, but it's only a short 2 weeks out of your life. You'll be really motivated by how fast you lose. My husband was obviously in ketosis while on it because his breath smelled like it does when you do Atkins induction levels. It's not dumb to worry about it :frown: I was worried, too.

No, everyone does not have the same size band. There are 4cc, 10cc and 14cc sizes. Kaplan told me he doesn't like to use the 4cc because there is not much room for playing with fills on them because obviously they are smaller. I have a 10cc band. It's based on the size of your stomach and the amount of visceral fat (fat around your stomach) that is present. My husband has a 14cc band because Kaplan tried a 10cc and decided it was too small. He does put some fill in at time of surgery, or at least he did with me. At my first fill, he pulled back 2cc before adding anything and then gave me 1cc to make what I thought was a total of 3cc. However, at my fill yesterday, they got back 4cc so I guess there was an extra cc hanging out in there that he didn't get back on the first aspiration. So...if you're following me :tt1:...that means I had 3cc in at the time of surgery because I've had 2cc added but I'm at a total of 5cc now. Hope that makes sense!:bolt:

Kaplan puts them all on the right side. Mine is right above my waist line, but I believe he is now putting them a little higher. My husband was banded 2 months after me on 8/25 by Kaplan and his is on the right 1/2 way between his breast and waistline. I can not see mine yet but I can feel it when I push on that area, especially when laying down. It was tender for about a month after surgery, but now I can not tell it is there. Every once in while when I bend over it bothers me when my pants hit it. But, it's not a pain or anything--I just realize it's there when that happens.

First, I'm sorry that you had to be part of scene like that. I know that I would have been embarrassed. But, that said...I have gotten a subway sandwhich and took the toppings off the bread. Their 6 inch subs are only 2.50 or something like that. I don't think it could get much cheaper. I choose not to single myself out when eating out. It's not the restaurant's fault I chose to alter my stomach. They make sub sandwiches. That's off limits to us. If you must go to Subway then get it in a wrap or a salad.

Wow, that's impressive! I'm glad there's someone out there fighting for us!!:bolt: Congratulations!

Elizabeth- He doesn't do the fluoro fills at all. Dr. Shank (radiology) and Jeannie do them and it depends on Dr. Shank's schedule. Are you in nursing school? (I think I read that on here.) I'm an RN if you ever have any questions! :thumbup:

I'll be flying for the first time after being banded in 3 weeks. I was told not to eat or drink on the flight so as to avoid complications.

Jennifer- They made us pay our out of pockets too before they would even do the EGD. It was about $1500 for the 2 of us. At least they gave you somewhat of a warning. They told me 1 week before my EGD and I had to whip out $750. I was like...ok...so much for the savings! lol. I have a picture from this Christmas where I was hiding behind my 13 year old step-daughter who is the same height as me and weighs 130 lbs. Like she was really going to hide me!!! Elizabeth- I added you to Myspace. Thanks! I understand how discouraged you are. I was so down last week after he couldn't get my fill in. My very first fill visit back at the end of July, he wouldn't fill me because he said I had lost over 20 lbs since my pre-op visit. That's fine, except that I lost 18 lbs on my pre-op liquid diet! I was so frustrated. I'm hoping this fill today helps. Up to this point I could eat anything and I mean anything. It was like no restriction. All I've had today after my fill is some Water and a slim fast and I'm not hungry, so we'll see. I'm on liquids for 2 days. I have 5cc in my 10cc band now. He tried getting me standing up last week and it didn't work. It wasn't me that you talked to. I thought the only other person on June 30th was a guy, but I must have been wrong!

Thanks!!! Where have you been? I was wondering how you and your husband were doing. How far are you into your 6 month diet? I will try to take some pictures this weekend and post. For so long I have always been so camera shy and avoided cameras at all cost. We haven't even had a family pic taken in 6 years because I looked so bad in the last one! It just seems weird taking pictures now. :thumbup:

Elizabeth- They're the 4th Monday of every month at 6pm. I would love to see you there! I was struggling for a little while, too. Dr. Kaplan is soooo conservative on the fills that it gets discouraging at times. Hang in there! It does get better. I had my 2nd fill this am under fluoro, because he couldn't access my port last week. I was so discouraged, but am feeling better now. It's been hard because up till now, I could eat anything I wanted and was hungry! Hopefully this fill will help! WVnascarfan- Good luck!!! You're lucky that your upper GI will be standing. When I had mine done after surgery, they weren't sure what they were doing and tried to make me lay on my abdomen!!! I refused and so they made me lay completely up on my sides, which hurt like crazy. They didn't have me stand at all. I complained about it and Jeannie got it all worked out. When my husband had his done in August, they had him stand and it didn't bother him at all. The worst part he said was the contrast he had to drink. WVU-fan - I will post it! I keep googling him everyday looking for it.

Jeannie runs the support group meetings. They are the 4th Monday of every month at 6pm in Jeannie's office. I went to the one in July and there were 3 people there, including myself. I missed the August one because that was the day of my husband's lapband but it was about psychological issues. I went to one this past Monday and it was a recipe exchange. There was only one other person there besides me and my husband. The next meeting is Oct 27th and is about plastic surgery. Dr. Tarrant will be there. I'm not sure why more people aren't going? Jeannie said that she was gonig to try to call all those who have been banded for the next meeting. She also said that Dr. Kaplan is starting up his own website, so be on the lookout for that!

I'm not Elizabeth, but I'll answer. :crying: My pain wasn't too bad. He sends you home with Percocet and Phenergan. I was a zombie the first week on those! It really only hurt when getting up from the bed to a chair, etc. I only took the meds the first week and I still have left overs. I took 2 weeks off work, but probably could have gotten by with 1 week. 3 days would have really been pushing it for me, but I've seen others on here do that. My husband was banded 8/25 and he took 1 week off and did ok.

Good luck! I am 3 months post-op today with Dr. Kaplan. Let me know if you have any questions. :redface:

Hello everyone. I have a couple of questions for you. I went in today for my 2nd fill. All was fine until the Dr. couldn't access my port. Let me start by saying that on my first fill, he hit it perfect on the first try. This time he dug around for what seemed like hours (may 20 minutes?!!!) and never could find the access for it. I could feel him bumping it and now I am terribly sore. My abdomen is not that big and I can actually palpate my port. He swears it isn't flipped. I go back in a couple of days to have it done in the radiology department in the hospital. My questions to everyone: 1.) Has anyone else had this happen to them? 2.) If yes, was your port flipped? 3.) Also, does anyone have to pay out of pocket for their fills under fluoro? My insurance doesn't cover fills, so I'm wondering how dang much this is going to cost me!!!:tt1:

Not all BCBS PPOs require the 6 month supervised diet. I have BCBS PPO and did not have to do the 6 month diet. You need to call the customer service number on your card and ask for them to send you in writing a copy of their policy on weight loss surgery, specifically gastric banding. That way, you'll know for sure. Each insurance policy is different, despite being the same insurance company. The coverage and specifics depend on what your employer bought into. Good luck!:crying:

What part of WV are you in? I had my psych eval done in Parkersburg and it took every bit of 4 hours, too. That's 4 wasted hours of my life that I'll never get back!

Don't worry too much about it. The psychologist that did my psych eval said that I had a border-line obsessive compulsive narcissistic personality disorder :tongue2:, which basically means he thought I lied and answered the questions the way I thought he would want me to. I will admit that I am OCD, but narcissistic...yeah, whatever...just finish my dang test, take my $800 and leave me alone!

I had the same issues when I quit prior to being banded. You just need to bite the bullet and do it. I was exhausted for an entire week. I was in bed every night by 7:30, 8pm. I took a nap on my lunch hour every day for a week. I have an hour drive to work also, and had the same issue of feeling like I was going to fall asleep. I kept cold water with me, as well as peppermints, which helped. That enitre week was bad, but by week 2 I felt back to normal. By week 3 I actually had so much more energy than when I was drinking caffeine. It was weird. I haven't had any caffeine now since March and I don't miss it. I won't lie and say it was easy. It was really hard for me. But, you can do it. It's just another hurdle!

Thanks everyone for the replies. I am getting more sore as the evening goes along! I feel like someone punched me in the abdomen. It will be interesting to see what fluoro tells!

My 3rd week after surgery I was having extreme left sided rib/shoulder pain. I didn't have gas pains after surgery. It didn't start until I went to mushies and went back to work. I think the increased activity combined with the increased food was the problem. I limited myself to 1/4-1/2 cup at a time about 5-6 times a day. Plus, I really took it easy at home and work. My port is on the right side of my abdomen, so I think it was all band related as the pain was on the left. It did go away after about 1 week and hasn't returned. I found that if I laid on my left side and wrapped my right arm over my stomach/band area and kind of squeezed when I laid down that it helped. I hope you start feeling better. I know how bad I felt when this was going on.:embaressed_smile:

I have a desk job, but I am up and down all day and walking. I took 2 weeks off and it seemed just right. I was sore and had a lot of shoulder pain the 3rd week after surgery (my first week back) but it wasn't too bad.