ErikMesa

I've been dealing with this a bit also. Not always when I eat alot but depending what I eat. The other day I had a small square of Godiva chocolate (a treat) and the pain hit within 10 minutes. Yet last night I had a nice dinner (steak and baked potato) and no pain. I agree it is very painful when it hits. ErikMesa

I'm almost 3 weeks postop now and I'm noticing I can eat alot. I am making healthier choices but the volume of food has increased and I am hungry often. I went through some anxiety earlier today thinking "omg I stretched it" but the truth is (I'm sure) I'm wide open with no restriction and thats why I'm able to eat more. Yesterday I treated myself after a very stressful day with a trip to Black Angus. I had a baked potato and filet mignon (7 oz). It took nearly 2 hours to eat it all (while relaxing) and I felt no discomfort at all. It was a real treat for me after 2 1/2 weeks of liquid. I am getting alot better at chewing and put my fork down and chew each bite at least 20 times now. I know when I get my fill it'll be different. I think the anxiety about stretching it is normal I know it is for me. ErikMesa

True Results in Scottsdale, Arizona has started monthly support groups for their patients who have been banded. The next meeting is Wednesday, April 9, 2008 at 6:30pm at the Scottsdale office. The meetings are for people who have already been banded only as far as I know (not prospective patients or pre-op patients - call to make sure). You can call the office for details (480) 305-7380. Hopefully I'll meet some more of Dr. Nirmul's patients from this board there! ErikMesa :regular_smile:

Hello I'm new to the forum. I received my lapband on Monday this week and am home resting for the week. I'm 42 years old and have struggled with weight for many years. I'm very excited to have finally had the surgery after waiting almost three years. I'd researched the band several years ago and also looked into gastric-bypass (no way!!!!) I had my surgery through the TrueResults clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona. They're based out of Texas and are in three states now and do just the lap-band. Their program includes some serious preop and postop followup (for a year) along with alot of support mechanisms so I'm satisfied I'll have the help I need. The surgery was performed by Dr. Gowen Nirmul. Dr. Nirmul has done "100's" of lapbands and I felt very comfortable having him do the surgery. He went to Yale University and did his residency in advanced laproscopy at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Like alot of doctors I've investigated he used to do the full RNY Bypass but stopped to do the band instead. The entire pre-approval process for insurance took from August 2007 until two weeks ago. I had BCBS of AZ and originally they had a six month preop requirement list including 3x a week visits to club, weekly Dr appt to weighin, nutritionists appts and I couldn't gain more than 5 lbs from my original starting weight. In January they dropped all the prereqs then my employer suddenly dropped it as a benefit! I was devastated by my employer agreed to an exception because I had started the preop the year before (I have a great employer and a great job). With that letter I was able to get approval. Once everything was submitted it only took 10 days to get my approval from BCBS of AZ and two weeks later I was in the OR! Monday I had my surgery and was approved for an overnight stay. I went into the OR in the early morning (was number 2 of 7 band surgeries for my surgeon that day) and went to PACU afterwards. I was put in a nice room and laid around most of the day watching TV. I had some broth and apple juice for lunch and again for dinner. I was able to finish about half of it. Around 8pm I started having some abdominal pain so they gave me some morphine. I was on IV most of the day and a second bag that evening. I didn't sleep well but rested and watched alot of TV. The next morning at 10am I was discharged and went home (yesterday). Today I woke up and actually felt pretty well. I'm having some nausea when I take my pain medication (hydrocodone liquid) and thought I was going to vomit earlier but sat in front of a fan and stayed calm until it subsided. I think it started because I was laying down and took the meds so I'll make sure I'm up next time. I'm 48 hours post-op now so I'm having EAS Protein shakes (3 a day) with 2 liquid diet items a day (beef broth and apple sauce). My BMI was over 50 to start and my starting weight was 357. I used to be in shape and played hockey many years ago but an auto accident left me unable to play anymore and the weight piled on after I stopped being active. Other health issues appeared then and made it worse and before I knew it I was "fat". After years of diets and exercise and not being able to lose the weight I started investigating bypass but found it way to dangerous so I settled on the lap-band instead. I'm very happy with my choice. It is nice to be here and I'm gaining alot of knowledge reading the other posts of recently banded members. ErikMesa Mesa, Arizona

I've only been banded a week so thats not really long enough to rate my decision. Still I think it's one of the best decisions I've ever made for myself. I look at the comorbid conditions I dealt with (hypertension, arthritis, severe sleep apnea, borderline diabetes) and think anyone of those could've killed me. I work in a hospital and see diabetic patients come in with missing limbs. I see cardiac patients come in 100 pounds overweight with 95% stenosed coronary arteries. Even with my folks I see my dad with sleep apnea and a knee replacement not even able to get around anymore (he's lost weight finally in his late 70's). I see all this and it's my motivation to do this. I have only myself to take care of me when I get old. I don't need all these medical problems. When you talk about "imposter" it made me think right away of something else. The imposter is the life I've lived for 13 years as someone who is morbidly obese. It's that jolly happy cheerful guy who smiles and has a great personality. It's that guy who looks in the mirror in the morning when he's alone and is disgusted by his appearance. I've never had hangups about being fat however that doesn't mean I've enjoyed it. The imposter is the guy who just grins and says "thats not polite" to a little four year old kid in the store when he says "you're really fat" and whos mother just smiles and says "sorry" and looks away. I view that as the imposter. This fat body that got in the way of who I really am. I was once in shape. I was in the navy. I played senior hockey and was pretty darn good at it. While weight was always a challenge I was physcially active enough to keep it under control. That ended when I was hurt and couldn't exercise and skate anymore. So the imposter is the fat body that attached itself to me and prevented me from being "Erik" all these years. I view the lapband as a tool for kicking out the imposter from my life once and for all. Now "Erik" can reappear and be himself again. Honestly the psychological "high" I get from knowing that in a year or two I'll be like I was before and be able to do the things I did before is enough to keep me going. Clearly the lapband was the right choice for me. ErikMesa :regular_smile:

This is strange I was out tonight in my car and saw a pizza Hut and could almost psychologically taste the thin crust meat lovers (my favorite pizza). I actually had a craving for it. Then I come home and find this post! :thumbup: I've been giving alot of thought to this topic anyway (eating normal food) since I've noticed I'm able to drink alot more at one week band post-op now compared to right after the surgery. It is a battle of willpower and I like so many others did the band so I could be "forced" into behaving. As said above if I could've done this on my own by willpower I wouldn't have needed the band. From what I've read they don't put any fill in at surgery time (I thought they did) so I'll truly have some "open" time to misbehave if I choose to. I'm already having cravings at a week and it's tough to resist but so far so good. I'm still on liquids (pureed starts tomorrow) so I can't exactly go have a burger. I know in a week or two I'll be able to eat more solid foods and without restriction will have to watch it. I'll just have to force myself to behave until the first fill on April 30th comes up. I'm actually encouraged to read that when you take that "extra bite" after feeling full the band will remind you that was a bad decision. That's what I'm looking for. I used to be able to sit and eat that entire medium thin crust meatlovers pizza. If after a fill I can only have three bites of one slice I can deal with that. I think what bothered me was the fact I thought I'd be missing out on all my favorites. Once I put my mindset in the category of "portion control" thought it made me realize I could still occasionally enjoy my favorite foods but it would be in moderation and eating very small portions. This makes me happy. ErikMesa :regular_smile:

I'm near Broadway and Power so the same area as most of you posting from Mesa! We'll have to get together sometime for Protein shakes! :thumbup: ErikMesa :regular_smile:

I had a question on liquids. I was banded Monday so this is day 6 for me. I've noticed yesterday and today I'm able to drink quite a bit more than initially. I'm assuming the swelling is going down and the band is losening up the restriction a bit. When you drink liquids do they pour right thru the band opening or do they stay around in the pouch any significant period of time? I guess I'm concerned about drinking to much and stretching the pouch above the band. I'm not chugging or anything but I was able to finish a Protein shake yesterday in about an hour when several days ago it would've taken me an hour to finish half (and I'd been full). I guess I feel "full" but am still taking in some liquids just because I don't want to get dehydrated. Is this normal? ErikMesa :tt1:

I've had 4 friends who have had gastric bypass surgery. While all are losing weight they've all had some form of malabsorbtion issues post-op and have to take alot of liquid Vitamins and stuff. One also has problems where she will just suddenly throw up for no reason. They were all laid up for almost a month after surgery and 3 required open not laproscopic due to their size. I took a serious look at gastric bypass but in the end the mortality rate scared me. Also another thing I did was find a message board for gastric bypass. I was looking around one day and found a Memoriam page after having made some posts there. It was a list of all the people who had died who had posted there. There were alot of names on that list. I looked up their posts and saw the hope and comments like "I can't wait for my surgery and my new life!"..... then a few days later there would be an admin message "this person passed due to xxxxx" after surgery. There is no comparing the two procedures. I've had some people say "well bypass is reversable". No it's not. They can hook the plumbing back up but it is NEVER the same imo. With the lapband it's completely reversible and they're not rearranging anything. It's a much much much safer procedure. I'm on day 6 post-op and feel great. By comparison if I was post-op for bypass I'd just be getting out of the hospital today and would have 4-5 weeks of hometime before going back to work (what they told me). Instead I'll be back to work on Monday. Like I said no comparison. Just follow the doctors directions, get on your feet and walk as soon as after surgery as possible to prevent DVT and drink plenty of fluids as tolerated. If you do what they tell you to you'll be find and the risk of the unknown will be greatly reduced. Yes it's an elective surgery but I view it as medically necessary. Cormorbid conditions WILL kill you eventually. This surgery can stop those conditions in their tracks and set you on the right course for your life. ErikMesa :regular_smile:

amsderb posted: Are you walking? you never mentioned having any gas pains from surgery...good for you! I'm walking a bit. I really haven't had gas pains at all (although alot of gas the first few days). The only pain I'm having is on the lower left abdominal area where I assume the port is. It'll go away as it heals. The other symptom I have is hiccups. When I change positions (for example I'm laying down then I get up) I have 2-3 hiccups and I'm fine. It isn't really pain but it's very uncomfortable. Same if I'm sitting down then go stand up. It's bizarre really. Athinnerdenise posted: Hey the three of us should get together in Mesa when I come there in May. It's always nice to talk to someone who is banded in person. Absolutely! I think it would be nice to have some friends who were banded at least we wouldn't have to worry about going out to eat all the time. kayabitim posted: I work for BCBS GA and I did not even know that covered the procedure My previous employer was insured by BCBS of GA and they had an exclusion so it wasn't covered. My new employer has BCBS of AZ and they did cover it. I work in healthcare myself so I'm no fan of insurance companies and their ever-changing rules. I had someone explain it to me once that the reason so many insurers don't cover the bariatric surgery procedures is because the cost is so high and most people change jobs eventually. The old thinking that an employer needs to keep people healthy is gone because people don't work 30 years for one company anymore. Sure you might end up with heart disease or diabetes later on in life but the odds are you'll be working somewhere else and have another insurance company thus the risk to the current insurer is low. Thats why the argument "it'll cost more later if I don't have the surgery" really doesn't work with most insurance companies. They figure you won't be insured by them forever. The other reason is as this coverage is really company contract by company contract the giant increases in healthcare costs the last several years means employers are shouldering a larger percentage of the cost of insuring employees. They're looking to cut corners and save money any way possible. Bariatric surgery is a "luxury" item in that way. I'm just very fortunate I have a great employer who was willing to basically pay for this. ErikMesa :regular_smile:

Well it's Saturday morning. I've had a bit of a physical setback this morning (just exhausted) after feeling better on Friday. I guess I forgot how anesthesia really takes it out of you. I hate sitting around. The nausea that hit me earlier has mostly gone. I've also noticed what I think is a losening in the band restriction (swelling going down) because I'm able to drink more. My first fill appointment is 4/30 which seems like a long way off. I have a followup appointment for 4/15 though. I guess they wait a month for the first fill so you're back on regular food? Makes sense. I'm having some concerns about not drinking enough yet I don't want to drink to much. How much does the band stop for liquid or does it really just pour right thru? I still feel "full" which is good but I noticed for example I can eat a little more apple sauce or broth then before. I'm also finishing a Protein shake in about 45 minutes whereas immediately after surgery I wasn't able to do that and would only drink half. The swelling must be going down. My weight is down to 341 though which is good news. 11 pounds now in 2 1/2 weeks! I'm very happy with that. A typical day for me is like this for food: 2 Bottles of Diet Snapple Peach Tea 2 EAS Protein shakes 1/2 Can Campbells Beef Broth 4 oz Apple Sauce Lots of Water When I look at that it isn't much at all. I need to make sure I get in enough protein and Vitamins so I don't starve myself. It's tough when you're never hungry to eat. ErikMesa :tt1:

Good luck to you! ErikMesa :huh2:

If you go from one insurance directly to the next (with new job) there should be no pre-existing period clause. Cobra is expensive but it's almost a necessity because of that. A couple of years ago I had a three month lapse in my coverage after being injured at work and changing careers. The new job had insurance but they slapped me with an 11-month waiting period for preexisting conditions. How 3 months without insurance equals 11 months preexisting exemption I still don't know. ErikMesa :huh2:

I started my BCBS of AZ preop in August 2007. They had 3x a week to the gym, weekly weigh-in at the doctors office, nutritionist visits and I couldn't gain more than 5 lbs over my start weight (ever). I was almost done with the six months in January when BCBS of AZ dropped all the prereqs! Anyway I was able to get approval about 10 days after submission after that. I had to supply one progress note from my doctor for each of the last five years showing my weight (to show a chronic problem) and other notes about hypertension, sleep apnea and everything else. Since I was almost done with the six months anyway when they changed it I had all those notes as well which probably helped me get approved so fast. I was on weight watchers (sort of) during the six month period and my weight seemed to stay between 355-365 the entire time. ErikMesa :huh2:

That sounds very frightening! I'm glad the ER was able to help you. How did they remove the Fluid with a suction tube or some other method? I know they're big on no NG tubes ever with a band so wasn't sure. What type of eggs did you eat? I was told once you get past a month scrambled are OK but fried are not. ErikMesa :huh2:

I decided to just do a running journal like this in addition to the blog I'm putting together. Hope you don't mind me journaling my experience like this! Last night (Wednesday) I had alot of trouble with nausea and was certain I was going to throw up. I called the clinic and spoke with someone and the doctor called in a prescription for me for an anti-nausea drug. I went to pick it up at Walgreens. The Pharmacist said "it's great stuff" as it's what they give chemo patients for nausea. I put one pill under my tounge and within ten minutes the nausea was about 90% gone (it was really bad for awhile before that). I noticed the pills they gave me cost about $10.00 apiece!!! Co-pay with insurance was only $10.00 but the Walgreens receipt says "your insurance saved you $108.00". This for 12 pills! Time to buy pharmaceutical stock I guess. I was able to drink half a Protein shake and some Water and went to lay down. This time I didn't have nausea laying down (which was nice) and slept a bit. Like the nights before I've been up and down a bit and haven't slept through the night. I was able to lay on my right side tonight (normal) which helped. I remember after my gallbladder was removed two years ago it was a month before I could do that. I fell asleep almost immediately then which was great. I woke up about an hour ago and can't get to sleep now (all those naps yesterday) but I'm getting tired again. I'm sipping some diet snapple tea and relaxing a bit and feel pretty good. Nausea is about a 2 on a 1-10 scale which is good and I'm breathing well. Pretty happy this morning compared to last night. Has anyone else had issues with the nausea like that? What worked for you? I was thinking maybe it was something I ate or drank but I'm still mostly on liquids except for some apple sauce. I had some yesterday and literally 1/4 cup filled me up (amazing!!!). Even though it was sugar free I'm wondering if it was to sweet and set off the nausea. ErikMesa :huh2: