Afterglow

I was banded last Thanksgiving week and have only one problem: terrible gas. I never had gas before being banded and I never had the gas shoulder pains others have right after surgery. But every day, shortly after lunchtime, my abdomen starts bloating and rumbling. I used to try to hold it in until I got home but, the past month or so, it's gotten so bad that I cant. So I go to the ladies room; the gas is so explosive that people on other floors have commented on it. I'm mortified (no one at work knows I'm banded). I use Gas-X but it doesnt work totally and I dont want to have to use it everyday for the rest of my life anyway. I'm eliminated dairy (which I was able to eat pre-banding) and all other foods known to cause gas. I dont drink carbonated beverages. But I still have large amounts of explosive gas every day. Does anyone else have this problem or have any suggestions?

Thanks so much! I'm going to ask my doctor for a prescription for Simethicone. I dont think I'm too tight. I havent even had a fill yet. I'm planning on scheduling one next month IF I can get a handle on the pb'ing. I still pb a couple of times a week, although it's not for hours and hours like it was a couple of months ago. Other than pb'ing, I have no discomfort at all, except for the gas. I can -- and do -- burp A LOT (also something I never did before being banded). That's very embarrassing too and I'm hoping it will eventually get better. Thanks again!!

Syntrax Essence Vanilla Flavor! No Sugar - No Fat - 90 calories per serving - Promina Whey Isolate - Lives up to its claim to be the best tasting Protein on the market. I drink it just for the taste. (Can too much protein be bad for me?) I order mine from drugstore.com, although you can probably buy it at health food stores. Go to www.drugstore.com if you want to read up on it. I dont like most other Protein drinks because they all seem to have an aftertaste -- even Ensure, which so many bandsters recommend. I understand that Syntrax makes another Protein Drink too, so, if you buy this, be sure to get the Essence.

I think there are a lot of posts on this forum about hair loss after banding. It's not the band; it's supposedly the anesthesic that causes the hair loss in many people. I'm going thru the same thing and I didnt have a lot of hair before, so I'm really having a tough time. BUt I keep reading that any hair lost will come back. I hope so!

I buy Syntrax Essence thru www.drugstore.com. I dont know if you can buy it in stores but I'd be surprised if you couldnt find it somewhere. You might try doing a google search to see if there's a Syntrax website. And I think Syntrax may make more than one variety, so be sure to get the Essence. I love the Vanilla flavor.

I've tried a lot of Protein drinks and, by far, the best-tasting is Syntrax Essence (Vanilla). Sometimes I mix it with a 50/50 ruby-red-grapefuit-and-Water mix but it tastes so good that I often just drink it with water. I have to be careful not to drink too much because I like the taste so much. I tried other Protein Drinks suggested here but I didnt like the aftertaste. Syntrax Essence has no aftertaste. And it smells as good as it tastes. You can check out the ingredients, etc at drugstore.com.

--Are you self pay, partial insurance covereage, or full/most insurance covered? SELF PAY --How long have you been banded? (in number of months) 2 --What is your AVERAGE weight loss since banding? (total weight loss divided by number of months banded) 8 LBS PER MONTH --Have you had any complications? NONE --Have you had your band removed? NO --What country was your band placed in? USA (HOUSTON TX) --What is your age? (I know...touchy. LOL But it does go along with the question.) 59 <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

Roni, the SurgiCenter is great and is close to Dr Spivak's office. One neat thinig is that the SurgiCenter will pay for two nights' stay at a wonderful hotel that's about 1/4 mile away (all rooms are suites, with two TV's, a fridge and a microwave). I live only about 12 miles from there and the SurgerCenter paid for two nights' stay at the hotel for me -- the night before and the night after (since I didnt have a ride home the day of the surgery). You can get the directions from mapquest.

I was also banded by Dr Spivak. He uses (as do all lapband surgeons, I believe) general anesthesia. If your surgery is done at the SurgeryCenter, you'll get a prescription for a painkiller with codeine to get filled after you leave. I didnt realize the painkiller would have codeine and, since I threw up codeine years ago, I was too nervous to take the painkiller after I got it. (I didnt really need it anyway, though.)

Banded 11-21-05. Dr Spivak, Houston TX. No fills yet.

I'm newly banded (11-21-05) and my banding was done in Houston. What I know about erosion is only what I've read on these boards. But I wonder if maybe you might want to include the date of first fill in your survey too. Could something related to getting a fill before healing be a factor?

I may have registered at Inamed's website. I dont recall because I did so much researching on the internet at that time.

I didnt make any selection either but received the same pedometer described by others above. I was banded in late November and received the pedometer in late December or early January. What a nice surprise!

I've had quite a few surgeries over the past 12 years and never had a moment's discomfort. I truly could have walked out of the recovery room after my ovariohysterectomy and gone back to my office job. Same for sinus surgeries and carpal tunnel surgeries. So I sure wasnt expecting to have any discomfort after a simple banding. Wrong! I was fine the first day but the 2nd and 3rd days were killers; the 3rd day was worse than the 2nd. My port area hurt 24/7, especially when I tried to get in or out of bed. I whimpered so much my dog got stressed! I couldnt believe how much it hurt and I was even regretting having had the surgery. I couldnt imagine how people say they went back to work on the 3rd day. But we're all different. It was better on the 4th day and, by the 5th day, I was feeling fine (although still somewhat tired). About two weeks after banding I was sitting at my office desk and started getting sharp pains that didnt go away. I called the doctor the next day and learned that's normal. They were some kind of muscle spasms and finally did go away a day later. So today and tomorrow may be your worst days but you WILL feel better and you'll be as happy as I am about being banded. Good luck!

Hi, everyone. I was banded in November and havent yet had a fill. I'm losing 1-2 pounds a week and havent planned on getting a fill until I stop losing. The main reason I'm not anxious to get a fill yet is because I seem to be pretty restricted as it is and cant imagine being MORE restricted. The foods I can eat are very limited: watery mashed potatoes, Soups (which I avoid because of the salt content), packaged chicken of the Sea brand salmon (it's very moist and it the only kind of fish/meat I can eat, so I eat it 3 times a day), watery cottage cheese and jello/pudding. I can also eat very soft chocolate, but I've lost my taste for it and other sweets totally since being banded. I've tried eating other foods and, even though I chew well and eat slowly, I PB on most any solid food. Even some of the above foods give me problems at times; I can eat the packaged moist salmon pieces one night and the next night I'll PB on it for three hours. Even Jello can make me uncomfortable at times, although it's probably the only thing that hasnt ever caused me to PB. I'm not really complaining because I feel fine, look good, have healed well and am glad to be losing weight. However, PBing for 2-3 hours several times a week is getting old. Too, I'm nervous that I'll have to PB at work. I have a very high-profile job and eat only mashed potates and jello at lunchtime so I wont have to worry about PBing for hours at the office. I thought about calling my surgeon but what can he do? Since I've never had a fill, there's no way to make my band looser, right? I appreciate any and all comments. Thanks so much!

Thanks, DeLarla. I was banded on November 21, 2005 -- a little over two months ago. I'll call my doctor Monday so my restriction can be noted in my file. His office is only about 12 miles away, but, in Houston, that's an hour's drive.

Hi, chicken. PB stands for Productive Burp. If you havent PB'd, though, you cant understand what it REALLY involves. For me: First comes the unpleasant golf-ball-in-the-chest feeling. Then comes the mounds and mounds of slime and burping, some of which includes pieces of whatever food has gotten stuck. That can last for anywhere from a few minutes (for some people) to 2-3 hours (for me). And that 2-3 hours involves sliming the entire time, not just here and there. It's a miserable way to spend an evening and is one of the best negative reinforcers of all. Before banding and PBing, I was a true bread-aholic (I'd buy cheeseburgers just for the buns); now just the thought of pizza or any other formerly-irresistible bread makes me start to produce saliva (and not in a good way).

I cant tell you how relieved I am to hear that there are others with so much restriction from just the band. Whew! Thanks again!

O, DeLarla, thanks so much for this info!!!! I feel so much better knowing this is normal. Did your band-alone restriction finally relax before you got your first fill? If not, I cant imagine getting a fill and being even more restricted. Thanks again!

Thanks, Paul and Michelle. Yes, I try to do liquids the day after PBing but I PB so frequently that I think I'm on liquids too much. I never heard of a dry unfill but I'll definitely call his office on Monday and see what they say. I knew, before the banding, that I swell up a lot and the swelling always takes a l-o-n-g time to go down after surgeries/injuries and I've been hoping that's what's going on here. If the PB sessions lasted only a short while I wouldnt be so concerned but they last a minimum of two hours and are usually three hours long.

I was banded by Dr Spivak on November 21 and was self-pay. His fee for self-pay is $15,000. That does not include any pre-op testing but it does include fills for 1-2 years. (I cant recall how many years of free fills that includes; someone told me one year, but someone else said that, if you lose a certain number of pounds the first year, any fills the second year are also free.) You can do a google search for "Hadar Spivak" and find his webpage; he's one of the few doctors who posts his prices on the internet. I got financing through Capital One and Dr Spivak's office took care of all the paperwork. I understand that Dr Spiegel charges more for self-pay, but cost is not the reason I chose Dr Spivak. I wanted the most knowledgeable surgeon and I felt so fortunate to live in the same city as one of the best in the country. Dr Speigel advertises, on TV, that he's done more lapbands than anyone else; however, after a doctor's done a few hundred lapbands, I dont think it matters whether he's done 5,000 or 10,000. What matters is his knowledge and his artistry. Dr Spivak doesnt pat himself on the back and he doesnt brag about himself; someone who works at the Surgery Center told me that almost any surgeon can do lapband surgery successfully but that it takes a really good surgeon to do bypass successfully. Dr Spivak is recognized as an expert in bypass surgery nationally and that's the experience I wanted in my lapband surgeon. Maybe my lapband surgery wasnt complicated but I wanted the best doctor in case something went wrong. Too, my personal experience is that Dr Spivak isnt in this JUST for the $$$. I was willing to have bypass and even told him that I was open to it. All he had to do was say "ok" and he'd have pocketed an extra $10,000-15,000. But he gently advised that he thought the lapband was better suited for me. I dont think Dr Speigel does bypass so I'd have expected him to say that, but I was very impressed with Dr Spivak's willingness to "bypass" the extra $$$ because he felt I could lose my weight with the less invasive procedure.

P.S. Dr Spivak didnt put me on any special pre-op diet. I was just told to avoid high-fat and white-food-types for a week before surgery to ensure that my liver would be as small as possible.

I cant even imagine Dr Spivak employing such unprofessional people. He's the consummate, caring professional himself. In my consult with him, I offered the suggestion that I might want bypass but he told me the lapband would be better for me. I'm healthy and dont have any issues that would make bypass any more dangerous than it already is so I'm sure other doctors would have been glad to take the extra $$$ for bypass. Dr Spivak's employees are busy, but not too busy to make you feel important. And, if you check references nationwide, Dr Spivak is one of the most respected, best educated and most experienced in the WLS field.

I'm sorry for what you're going through too. And I hope it's ok for me to post this but I just looked at your webpage and OMG your jewelry is BREATHTAKING! You're truly gifted. I'll be contacting you later this month with some orders.

I'm so sorry for your sadness. I cant offer any suggestions except for one way to deal with such insensitive clods as in that doctor's office. You can tell her that her announcing why you're there is a violation of the federal HIPAA right-to-privacy regulation and that a formal complaint can be filed against the office for her behavior. You can say it politely and let her know that you're only telling her that to save her and the office from problems in future cases where the patient might not be as nice as you are. I'd also recommend telling the doctor what happened and what you told her. Believe me, they dont want to have to deal with HIPAA investigations. Because of HIPAA, my doctor's office has even stopped calling out the patient's name when the doctor can see him/her; they give the patient a number instead and announce the number.