JudyAnticola

Hi, I am not from Long Island, but was banded by Dr. Aaron Hoffman who was trained by Dr. Geiss and did quite a few bands there. Anyone know him? He had a great teacher. Post op, I was back to work in 5 days. Never had pain, unless I eat too much. No surgical pain though. It is different for everyone. I was about 200 pounds and I roomed wit a lady that was about 400, she had a real hard time compared to me. I did have bad post surgical nausea though. I am down about 13 pounds.

5% of your total body weight. You might be able to get away with 4%, sometimes they seem flexible. It also depends on your insurance company.

When were you banded? I can only eat about 1/3 cup. I think it is pretty hard to break the band, but be careful so that you do not stretch out the top, your new stomach! You need input from others, as I have only been banded two weeks, and I would not get past one sausage.

Seminar was about 2.5 hours I think. They have signs up that they do not want children to come, but some ignore it. How old is your daughter? You have to bring your support person to the seminar. If your daughter is over 18 that would probably work.

You have to lose 5% of your body weight and keep it off until surgery.

That is such good news for all of you that are waiting!!! Your Journey begins!

If you want quick weight loss the bypass is what you want. But your body is remade forever. I myself would go with the band as you would still have the bypass option, the reverse is not true. The doctor will tell you what is best I think. This is work, but not much pain for me at least. I still have to take an active role in my eating and exercise habits. I did not consider the bypass as I only had 50 pounds to lose. Did you go to a seminar? They presented both surgeries. I can only tell you I think the trend at BGH is band, but I am sure they will give you information and assist you with an option. Type in Hoffman on the search field and you will find a whole bunch of us from buffalo talking about our surgery. Take care. PS, a few of us walk in Delaware park Saturday morning at 8 am, join us there. We meet at 8 at the old juciery which is now an ice cream place or something like that. Hope to talk to you soon.

Bloom, congratulations!! yes, I am the test case for bad behavior, or at least the only one who foolishly admits to it. It is not bad, but once you get that slight feeling of fullness, stop, and put down that fork. The next bite will cause you considerable discomfort! I have been able to eat in restaurants and socialize with friends, because I do not want to make a fool of myself and eat slowly and heed all warnings from my band. I was going to try a glass of wine, but did not do so. Will probably test the waters for alcohol over Labor day weekend as I will be camping with friends and not driving. I am not a big drinker anyway, but I do miss having one or two. Your head still wants to overeat, but it will cause instant pain. So I am hoping that the head will learn not to make the body hurt. As far as post surgical pain, I had virtually none. My "innards" have never felt pain, and minimal from the surgical spots. If I flop on my port during the night it hurts, but as the swelling goes down it seems to happen less. I have my nieces convinced that it is an alien ready to hatch. OK, hope I do not offend anyone, but because of the port do you have to always be on top for sex, LOL?

Linda, do you have other comorbidities, such as hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol or sleep apnea? This will lower the allowed BMI to 35. I think even arthritis is considered a comorbidity. The other thing is, we were told that you could weigh in before the 3 hour appointment and then your weight loss would be part of the required 5% that some insurance requires. Try not to stress too much, each person you talk to at the clinic has a different take on what the "rules" are. At my final weigh in I was told that my insurance would not cover my surgery, which I had a week later and it was covered. Just continue the process, stay healthy. Slouch when they take your height, that will raise your BMI, LOL. Wear a lot of clothes and put rolls of quarters in your pockets if you need to. We can talk more on Saturday, but in the meantime, collect documentation on any co-morbidities you may have and get a firm list from your insurance as far as their requirements. Many insurances have different requirements. Take care.

Debbie, check out our Buffalo NY Delaware Park thread and let us know if you will come this Saturday. so far two of us has comitted to being there. Hope to meet you.

Bugs, I would call in a week. Have you been to a seminar yet? If not it does not appear that there is one scheduled yet, so you may not hear for a while. I think 859-1168 is where you call to see if you have everything in and to see when there will be a new seminar.

Linda, Val, Nicki, and everyone else: I started a new thread under fitness and exercise (Buffalo NY Delaware Park Walkers) so that anyone who is going or wants to go can let others know on that thread. If you are going and want to let us know please enter it on that thread. Thanks.

1 cup an hour for 8 hours is 64 oz, seems doable, however, I am lucky if I get half of that in. I have 8 hours to drink, I just dont have 8 hours to pee. Actually, as I am telling you 1 cup per hour, it does not seem too bad, maybe I will try that. I have two cups of coffee, that only leaves six more to go. Doesnt sound too bad when you put it that way, right? I have never been a water drinker unfortunately. But I am trying! Have you tried eating popsicles or something?

they are usually the first Wednesday of the Month, so if you have not heard then there is not one in August. Dr. Hoffman is off for most of August and Dr. Forbes is leaving, so they will probably not have seminar at least until September when they would have Drs. available to give the seminar. Are you calling 859-1168? I would think they would have to answer since that is the number we would call in an emergency. I sent my application in February and did not get to a seminar until May.

I am confused, what staples did you have? Is the band helping your or not, I could not tell. Just wondering what is causing the weight gain? could the band have slipped?

Yes, I am so curious how the recent banders are doing, NoPBJ, Brubear, RainWi? I am doing pretty well, but let me tell you--they say NO CELERY, DONT DO CELERY. I skipped the wings and thought I would do safe, healthy celery. I thought I would die. I bloated so fast, OMG. Dont do Celery.

He was a tough interview, but honest and fair. I may go back to him if I still need eating counseling, which I might. I am 10 days post op, have lost 12 pounds, have choked 4 times, went back to work 6 days post op and am doing fine. This is my first trip out of town, so not sure how the restaurant thing will go, but I feel confident. I ate almonds today which Hoffman said I could do, and they went down surprisingly well. Am still sticking to pretty soft stuff though. Take care everyone!

Big gurl, you are going to the psych a second time? He did not have me come back, perhaps he saw right away that I was crazy!!! Let me know what happens the second time.

Loraine, the book is, Mindful eating. I am not sure of the author.

I will be there next week. Short, chubby, frosted hair. You were in the right spot, sorry you missed us.

I am so glad that I have you guys to turn to. That is exactly what is happening to me. I was not prepared for how small the amount of food is that can be eaten so soon after the placement of the band. I should know better because I have the advantage of learning from you. I have to slow down, I was so miserable tonight and I threw up which I did not want to do. I am so happy that I did this though. Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday.

Linda, I forgot you asked about protein. I bought Designer protein in vanilla and chocolate at Vitamin Shoppe on Walden Avenue. this was a Whey protein, but they also had a whey/soy combo, but I was not sure if it would give me gas, so I got just the Whey. It was $13.00 per can, that will last me quite a while. It is good, I mix it with everything, milk, coffee, yogurt, water, it blends well with everything. I also bought benefiber, just in case and I mix that with everything too. I have also been adding bananas and peanut butter to the chocolate protein. that brand has a great flavor, I was worried because usually protein drinks taste gross, to me at least. It is what I will have for dinner since I can not trust myself with food, LOL.

Linda, the side effects are unpleasant!! You will receive a warning from your body. I will let you know in a few days if I am listening to the warning, LOL. I am also considering counseling for it, Dr. Lelito does it, I was just not sure if I warmed up to him or not, but he was very direct and helpful in his evaluation. Do you know anyone else who counsels for food issues?

It has gotten faster, mine was only 5-6 months from start to surgery. Daniella, it helps to vent here, that is what I did for months as I waited. I am having trouble with the semisoft foods and may go back to liquids or at least thick liquids. I have tried to eat fish for protein for two days and have had a lot of trouble. I tried again and it just came back up and so I hope I have learned my lesson. I just fed what is left of it to the dog so I am not tempted. It is hard to kick this overeating thing I guess. So everyone, remind me to go slowly.

Sounds like I need to add it to my agenda! I made out like a bandit last year when they did this. Thanks for the heads up. I am already into clothes that did not fit me two weeks ago! See you at the park. Thanks for the info, I am eating too fast I think, as you say. May go back to liquids today. It is so uncomfortable when it happens.