jewels41

I know that my doctor told me that I should go on liquids for the next day or two after I get foods stuck. Everyone does try different things when foods do get stuck. My doctor told me he would unfill me to get the food unstuck if necessary. He said 30 minutes is way too long to be " stuck" . So this is helpful as well. You can try pineapple juice but with that sore throat that would burn like heck. I think just go on liquids for now and see if that helps .. Other things I know personally if I were to eat the day after would also not go so well. so liquids work very well for me.. keep us posted

yes its very normal to think that you want to eat what they are eating ... When you get to eat solid foods be very careful and chew chew chew. I am sure that we all get sick of hearing that but its really true. Congrats on your weight loss of 20 lbs. And yes you will know when you are full, perhaps not until after your first fill, at least for me it was that way. I could eat alot of things before I had my first fill, then I felt the restriction and did get stuck 4 times. each day is a new learning experience. What you could eat yesterday you may not be able to eat tomorrow. It is frustrating at times when you could eat chicken and the next day its a no go, or perhaps broccoli ... its odd on what you can eat one day and not the next. I wish you the best of luck on your journey.

I sure have had alot going on since I have had my lap band on december 19th. I currently weigh 169 lbs on the clinic scale, we all know that our scales at home are different but Im so proud of myself. I wouldnt change this surgery for the world. I started out at 215 lbs. so a total weight loss of 46 lbs. I FINALLY HAD MY FILL YESTERDAY.. I can now exercise more since my surgery. I can ride my bike again and use my wii fit but if I get sore I have to stop. And I can do leg lifts.. lol and I can go for longer walks and I can lift 15 to 20 lbs. My goal that I set for myself was 140 lbs. so not that far to go. But I should really be 128 or less. But we will see how it goes. Thank you everyone for being so supportive .. Nice to know that I have friends here who are going thru the same thing. Oh and Im going to be having a support group at my clinic here in town and the doctors are going to give me the list of patients who have had the lap band etc... will be super nice to be able to share our experiences with one another.. :wub:

Great Job!! Keep up the good work...

Hi, I started my journey at the end of april of 2008 (orientation first). They told us that it could take up to 1 years to be banded, insurance requirements etc. Well for me I went to see the nurse first where she explained the whole procedure to me and asked If i was still interested and of course I said yes, then I seen the dietician and spoke with her. They told me that I needed to have a psyche eval at the orientation which that was done in june and I passed it.. it has 500 questions on it its called MMPI 2 test. I had to see the dietician a total of 6 times thats what my insurance required. I completed all of those things and they sent out that info to my insurance company and i was approved in 2 days ( super fast) I was excited when I got the letter from them that I was approved for surgery, I met with my surgeon and he asked what type of surgery I was having ( lap band) and I signed some papers he had, then I met with his nurse and I got my surgery date which was december 19th. So it took me nine months and it was well worth it to me. this is not a speedy process, i do have friends who only needed 3 dietician visits as well and they had there surgeries a little sooner than mine. You can only see the dietician once a month... i thought perhaps I could do it all in one week..lol Im not a patient person at times. But hang in there I wish you the best in your journey.. keep me posted And I didnt need to lose weight before the surgery at all. Some people do if they are over 450 lbs.

we all have our reasons of having this surgery but Im sure that it was due to your health problems and wanting to lose weight. I know that this was the best decision I made and I dont have any regrets. You can do this I know you can, I know that its tough when ppl are eating around you just leave the room or walk away from them or ask them to leave the area. You can do it.... keep up the good work. Julie

Hi , I can only say from my experience with living with someone with severe depression who stops taking there medications its a rollercoaster all the time. I was with my partner who had severe depression and he would take his meds then stop taking them. They think that they are fine and that they dont need to take there meds. But they really honestly do need to take them and go to counseling as well. I was with my boyfriend at that time for over 7 years and he kicked me out 3 times and I was stupid enough to keep going back for more. He didnt take his meds nor did he get the help that he needed. If your wife gets the help she needs and takes her meds and continues this then perhaps counseling will work for both of you. But I can honestly say this its a tough road living with someone with depression and I was being brought down alot too. And the fights are with herself and not you, they blame people alot for the things that are there own mistakes. So stop blaming yourself its not your fault trust me on this I learned in my counseling sessions and there were many of those. I could talk for hours on this topic but this is just my experience, there is of course more to my story but I got out finally and now I am happily engaged to someone else. In regards to child support, here in wisconsin and even in minnesota you contact your child support worker and they give you the packet to reduce your child support this will take time but it will work. You can request this every 2 years for it to be updated. Goodluck to you and if you ever need a friend let me know Julie

hi sunshinekissess, I too was nervous about eating solids, and for my first fill. but you really dont need to be nervous. golden rule for food" chew chew chew and concentrate on eating. Everyone can eat different things but I can tell you this I can eat chicken, tuna, salmon, hamburger , watermelon,fish, grapes, banana's, potatos, broccoli, carrots cooked,potato salad, egg salad, I dont eat rice, bread but do eat some noodles ( the bigger noodles) I dont eat spagetti ones at all. Your appt for your fill goes like this: they have you lay down on the table ( ours is low and closer to the ground) the doc feels for your port ( i can feel mine ) they have you puff out your tummy with air and hold it, they put ladocaine on your port site to numb it a bit then he puts the needle in your port filled with saline) my doc adds 1 cc at a time. Then you sit up and you drink 2 cups of water and you burp ( they want you to do that). Then you go home. Took a total of like five minutes to do... and it didnt hurt.. One word of advice while eating ( dont talk on the phone, dont read a book, dont talk to others while chewing , just concentrate on eating, it should take you 20 minutes to eat your food .. dont rush and all will be well. If something does get stuck you will know it and if it does pineapple juice will help ... If its stuck quite awhile then call your doctor and he will unfill your band a bit so that way the food will pass thru the band. My doctor asks me everytime what was the longest you had something stuck I told him 45 minutes and he goes call me if that happens again, and I said ok... didnt matter what time of the day or anything... goodluck keep me posted

It is getting better everyday but tomorrow I see my gynecologist to ask why Im having the pain on my left side so much. But I can say today was a great day.. Congrats on graduating my fellow hystersister.. lol

I felt better after 3 days, but my friend lisa was feeling better at seven days. Have you been walking enough, did you use the gas x strips or chewable tabs and did you take your pain medications? But the total heal time was four weeks for your body to heal from the surgery. I think that if you are still walking over hunched up that perhaps you should go see your doctor to see whats going on with that..

I say explore all options, lap band, gastric sleeve ( mini bypass) and the gastric bypass. There are alot of things involved in all of them. With the lap band foods get stuck at times and at times you have alot of saliva coming back up. Those moments are unpleasant but most of the time its my own fault that something got stuck such as not chewing enough, talking to others while eating, just plain not concentrating. Now the new gastric sleeve Im sure has some complications as well, I do not have this nor did I have this option when I was looking at weight loss surgery, for me the gastric bypass is super invasive nor did i want that at all. I know that if the band has to come out I would choose the gastric sleeve, ( my surgeon had this done) this is done laproscopically as well ( just like the band) . So check all your options out first before you make your final decision. sounds like you need to ask your friends if its because there food is getting stuck happens perhaps alot to them due to them doing something wrong. I have learned the foods I can eat and the foods I cannot eat with my band. The band is a tool and if you use it incorrectly then it wont work for you.. I am very happy with my decision and would do it again .... I am down 50 lbs thus far.. goodluck to you

I had my abdominal hysterectomy on may 11th 2009 and Im still in quite a bit of pain yet but I know that it will be a long healing process 6-8 weeks. Once I heal I can then finally be filled and Im excited about that. I have only had 1 fill and that was in january. I have lost 45 lbs now and Im happy with that. I started out at 215 lbs and I cannot complain. I have bought new clothes and I am totally pumped that my pants are no longer in the plus sizes. My tops are an xl still but once im healed from this surgery will be able to exercise again and continue on my journey to reaching my goal. If anyone else has to have a hysterectomy give me a yell because I understand what your going thru. there is a web site called www.hystersisters.com but nobody there seems to have the lap band but thats ok, I can post it here and share that journey with everyone here. they took my cervix and my uterus but left my ovaries because my ovaries are healthy and Im young yet and they want me to go thru the normal menopause stage, which is an excellent idea. It will be odd not to have my period though but at the same time a blessing as well. I would have my period for a month at a time and it would wear me down. goodluck all in your lap band journey I have no regrets at all, it was the best decision I could have ever made for myself...

Hi I was banded december 19th but since then alot has been going on. I had a biopsy on my cervix in feb, and on monday May 11th I had to have an abdominal hysterectomy. i have only had 1 fill as they wanted me to maintain my weight for these procedures. I am currently at 173 lbs but as soon as this surgery is healed in six weeks I can finally have a fill. Im sore from this latest surgery but doing well. sure hope all other bandsters are doing well. take care and I will try to keep posting as I can. Julie

congrats to you!! keep us posted on your progress...

Your dietician sounds like mine.. Right ON The MONEY...

First rule really is this: Do not Drink 30 minutes before or 30 minutes after a meal... How many people still find themselves wanting to drink something... 2nd rule is Protein First 3rd Rule is Chew Chew chew chew ( till mushy) we all know what getting stuck is like. 4th rule : 20 minutes per meal Just some of the rules that I follow very carefully as Im sure most of us bandsters do. By the way Did you have the lap band Doctor V?

Hi , there is a pocket bookat Walmart that tells you how much protein is in foods. we eat venison due to the low fat but its high in protein. We grew up on a farm and I have spoken to many of them about Soy, and this is what they will tell people about eating soy..... Your body cannot break down Soy it just loads up in your body. Now for me I pay attention to what the farmers tell me. So soy will never be an option. So I find my protein in the everyday foods that I eat. And I do manage to get all my protein in. sorry but just my opinion..

I had an abnormal pap smear and I needed to have a coloposcopy and they found that I have severe dysplasia so they told me they would have to do a cone biopsy and I had that done last friday and IM still a little sore. I found out yesterday that I dont have cervical cancer but I do need to have a hysterectomy and I go back to the doctor on march 16th and we will discuss it all. My gynecologist knows that I had my tubes tied years ago now but he still had to ask me if I wanted children, I chuckled and said NO. I am 41 so no i dont want anymore children. I am so happy that I dont have cancer but I have to see how they need to do this surgery and Im sure they are going to have to talk to my lap band doctor especially if they cant do a vaginal hysterectomy. That makes me nervous, they are not going to take out my band.. no way no how.. Im wondering if anyone else has had to have any abdominal surgeries since there band placement. thanks for listenting Julie

I had an abnormal pap smear and I needed to have a coloposcopy and they found that I have severe dysplasia so they told me they would have to do a cone biopsy and I had that done last friday and IM still a little sore. I found out yesterday that I dont have cervical cancer but I do need to have a hysterectomy and I go back to the doctor on march 16th and we will discuss it all. My gynecologist knows that I had my tubes tied years ago now but he still had to ask me if I wanted children, I chuckled and said NO. I am 41 so no i dont want anymore children. I am so happy that I dont have cancer but I have to see how they need to do this surgery and Im sure they are going to have to talk to my lap band doctor especially if they cant do a vaginal hysterectomy. That makes me nervous, they are not going to take out my band.. no way no how.. Im wondering if anyone else has had to have any abdominal surgeries since there band placement. thanks for listenting Julie

For me it took 8 months from start to finish. I was banded december 19th. I had my seminar april 08, then I went to my first appt with the rn of weight loss surgery who explained it all to me, then to my 1st dietician visit. I had 6 in all with the dietician. I had my psyche eval in june 08 and a week later I had the results of that. Then I received a letter that said I was excepted into the program. I always keep up with my medical so the only thing I needed to have was a blood test called hpylori ( to make sure you dont have stomach ulcers) . I had to have an ekg, a pre-op physical , a pap smear. And that was it for me. But every state and every doctor has different requirements. I have no regrets and I am now down from 215 lbs to 178 lbs and very happy with my weight loss. I would do this again in a heart beat.. goodluck and keep me posted

Hi all I had my first fill yesterday and all went very well. I do although have a question. Do your doctors use flouroscope to find your port? or do they just feel for it and then fill you? My doctor has been giving fills for five years now and over 500 patients. Just curious to see what everyone says .. thanks

the gas x strips worked really well for me and Only 1 time did i have that horrible gas pain in my chest thought i was having a heart attack and I was in walmart.... so i bought more gas x strips and it helped alot. I didnt have much pain but everyone is different. I know things will get better give it a few more days. If its still bad than you had better go back to your doctors office. But have faith you made the right choice... I know I sure did. I was banded on december 19th and I dont regret it one bit.. goodluck keep us posted Julie

b 1 english muffin s none l chicken stir fry no rice s weight watchers yogurt d chili s sugar free pears I get my fill on december 20th cant wait... need some restriction thats for sure.

Hi all my friend called me and told me that her insurance which is Medica has denied her. I told her to call and find out why so she did and they told her that they do not cover lap band surgery. She had called ahead of time to see if they did and she was informed that they do. I told her to appeal and the lady is sending her that paperwork , but the lady told her not that its going to do her any good. Anyone else have a problem like this? Can anyone offer any advice on what she should do other than appeal... thank you Julie