mini_me

hey sister girl! dont be discouraged. I have actually gained a pound this week. do not compare yourself to people who lose a great amount of weight the first couple of weeks. Many of those are starting with a larger amount of weight to lose. Some are our size too, but you must remember that we are all different!! My doc released me to 24-48 hours of liquids, then mushies as tolerated for four weeks. So we are in very similar situations as far as diet. compare yourself to me...we weigh the same, built the same, same age, same height....and guess what? We have lost approx the same amount of weight. and fyi, my ticker reflects my consult date for my beginning weight. On surgery day, I was 203.7, so since surgery day, i have lost five(and gained one back that does not show on the ticker). You do the math...it is four lbs lost for me, and i am 12 days post op. concentrate on healing, not losing weight right now. girlfriend, we have our whole lives ahead of us now, and we have plenty of time to lose our weight. We are all here with ya!!

i gained a substantial amount of weight on surgery day also!! I am pretty sure it is normal! It was gone by the weekend, 4 days later. Good luck, congrats, and remember the rules!!

good luck, the 7th will be here before you know it!!!

my old man works in that airport a lot, i will ask him. he will be home tomorrow... bump this thread tomorrow to remind me...

Way to go sister girl!! The scales slowed? 96 lbs in 9 months? That doesn't look very slow to me!! Looks to me like you need to recognize how outstandingly well your efforts are paying off! You are doing great!!!!

well, grandma should be banded by now!! Has anyone heard from her yet? I was still not good for anything at 2 pm on the day of my banding. I hope all is well for her!! Ethan, this time next year, Grandma's gonna be HOT!!

you typically must have a bmi of 40 or higher to have your insurance cover the procedure, that is, if they do not have an exclusion for obesity--but this is definitly NOT my area of expertise. I was self pay as my insurance would not cover it. It cost me $15,000. I am in Texas. PhotoNut is in your area, and i am sure she would be glad to put you in touch with some sources of information in Idaho. You can find BMI calculators in lots of places on the net, but i am certain you can find one at www.bandmd.com this is my surgeons site. just look for the BMI tab near the top of the page. If you keep exploring on this board, you will learn more and more. You will find answers to questions that have not even occurred to you yet. How old are you? Height? Weight?

Good Luck Sister! I was banded last week by Dr. Spivak at the SurgiCenter in Houston. Welcome to LBT, this is a great community for support. Keep us updated on your experience, btw, did insurance cover??

hey bups, I haven't had pain meds since thursday last week or so. I really do not have any pain left. ( other than those HELLO port pains, when the dern thing just wants to make sure you havent forgotten it is there ) I am sorry, I do not have any advice, but I am sure the wealth of knowledge on this board will produce some suggested explanations for your concerns. I hope you start feeling better!! ((and don't worry, we are all ready for question number eleventeen thousand and one...))

Hey Mia, gosh, we sound like we are in the same boat. I was tiny before having my first child at 18. i was a cheerleader, still have my old uniforms. the skirts fit around my thighs now...lol. how tall are you??? I have to lose 80 lbs or so also, but I am thinking I will be happy at around 60 lbs of loss. I have big hips, and when i was tiny, I always thought my butt was too big, but when I weighed 135-140, I thought my junk was just right! Besides, my goal here is to be Phat, not fat. well, good luck girl! This place is the BEST support system I have found. I have lots of fun on LBT! Another "by the way", I was just banded on 3/13/06....and I have been married 14 years this october, with three kids!!

The procedure is laparoscopic, with minimal scarring. I will be posting my scar pics this evening. My last steristrips fell off last night. I was banded on 3/13/06. I have 4 tiny scars, and one that is about the diameter of a quarter. The fills are the magic potion for weight loss with the band. There is a port attached to the band with a small tube. My port is very small, a little bigger around that a quarter. It is implanted under the tissue in your abdomen. Mine is directly below my breastbone, and hardly noticeable, even with my current swelling. When the doc does a fill, he uses a small needle to inject the port with saline, which is delivered to the band. The band inflates like a balloon, restricting the opening between your new, smaller stomach pouch, and the larger old stomach. The fill does not cause scarring. Looks like you just began looking in to this procedure. Good Luck!! You are definitely in the right place to find good information!

i ate lunch about an hour ago, and since i stopped eating, i have a constant, dull pain under my left lower rib, right about where i suspect my friend is. This pain reminds me of a less intense version of the pain i usually get in my side when i walk too much/fast after not exercising for a while. i can also relate this pain to gas pains i have had inthe past. i am on mushies and ate chicken salad for lunch. i pretty much have a steel gut, and probably could have eaten a steak the day of surgery, if it werent for my band needing to heal into its new place.... This pain is puzzling me... Any suggestions?

my doc seems to have a pretty liberal routine for returning to foods. he gave me written instructions. 24-48 hours-liquids( and he listed what he approved ) 2 days - 4 weeks-mushies- his nurse told me he didn't care of you ate chicken, as long as it went in the blender first. I don't actually blenderize it, but i chop it with a butcher knife on a cutting board, I like to play like I am Emeril, chop chop chop chop chop chop. I like to add some ranch dressing to it and eat it as a chicken salad. After 4 weeks-regular diet as tolerated. I haven't had any restriction that I can feel. I do get full when I eat, but I really do not feel the fullness until I have stepped away from the table. I make myself a small portion, and when I finish it, I leave the table. Otherwise, I think I could eat a whole chicken. I think I could drink 16 oz of Water at once. I am afraid to try it, but I can drink at least 4 oz at once. gulp gulp gulp. I am scared to try any more than that. I do not think I had ANY swelling of the tummy under my band. I am really concerned that my band won't imbed in scar tissue. How can the doc check for that?

Well, lets just start a new one. I am now10 days post op, and the steristrips are off. I can show some pics!!

thanks sherry, the pain did subside around 5 or so. i think you are right, and i may have been too full. i am having a hard time interpretting these new sensations.

Why wont anyone help meeeee-hehehe-eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?!!:help:

WoooooooOOOOoooooOOOOO HooooooooOOOOoooooooOOOOOO!!! Way to go, sister!!! Keep up the good work!

Dont leave me hangin guys!! I need some advice!

The other thread indicated that this was not a problem for others. You should call the Pre-op nurse just to be sure. It sure would be a disappointment for you to get up in the am, go to the center, only to learn that you will have to wait 3-5 days until your Aunt Flo retreats.

:pirate Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.......the croation feller, KOVAC, paging Dr. KOVAC, STAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gonna clean the the whirlpool with jets, and hopefully if i can rid the funk, we can enjoy a blindfold in the Water....OOO LALA:pirate (no blindfold smiley):knockedou I am so glad someone else knew what TWITTERPATED was!! I was beginning to think that my extensive knowledge of Disney Trivia was an illness. And I dont think a cowbell could cure it!! Thanks for the advice buddies! (ALL of the advice...)

:whoo: rockin' on...

i dont know why, i just really wish i would have gone and played bingo tonite. i am really tired of being couped up in the house. my band is a big secret, so i have tried to stay out of site, out of mind, until i am back to my old self...GOSH I WANNA SCREAM BINGO!

This might be old news, but check it out.... Wish center surgeons, lap-banding $10,700 in san antonio. http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/wish_center_lapband_special.html

welcome willybe, this band is great. i had been looking into this procedure for two years. i just found this community in january. i learned as much since january as i was able to learn in the two years prior. i followed through with the consult in early february, and was banded march 13, a week ago today. i have a lower bmi, starting at 38, i weighed 207 @ 5'2" on the day of the consult. i need to lose about 75 lbs or so. i was self pay, so i didnt have to hassle with insurance and unnecessary pre-op testing. this place is a, a, (someone help me with a word...pnut? gimme some of that word bank!) this place is an information explosion. if you do a little research on here, you will find about anything you could imagine concerning the band.(or your love life, or your preference for walmart vs. target, or _________you name it!!) fyi, there is a forum for newbies to gain a foundation for navigating and interpreting this board. it will be very helpful if you find yourself having trouble with our throwed off abbreviations. welcome to LBT!! Good luck on your band journey...and play nice. be careful what you ask for, cuz you just might get it here! I love PHAT PHOLKS

back from the walk...met my 30 minute goal...