afw

I had my surgery 2.5 years ago, and lost 50 of the 100 pounds I wanted to lose. Then I got pregnant, and delivered my third child seven weeks ago. Right now I am 20 pounds higher than I was when I got pregnant - 70 pounds from my goal. I had my band unfilled right before delivery since I had a c-section and spinal anesthesia makes me vomit, so I am literally starting from square one, though with slightly less to lose than the first time. Which brings me to my question - I'm curious if anyone else has been through something similar? Maybe not with a pregnancy, but with a complete unfill after an extended period of not losing? What were your experiences?

I was banded nine months ago, and lost 52 pounds in the first five months. But since then, I've been pretty much stuck, and I still would like to lose another 50-60 pounds. I'm happy about the fact that I have not gained weight over these four months; it's been really quite effortless to maintain where I am - I think I have gained two pounds, but even that fluctuates. But I'm not really happy with where I am. So for those of you who've gotten off-track, how do you get back on? I probably need a small fill, I know that, but I'm trying to figure out how to recapture the motivation and the dedication I had last summer and fall.

I have 6 cc's in a 10 cc band, and had great restriction for about two months. But it's gone, and I feel looser than I have since I got the band. I got .5 cc added a few days ago, but that caused me to be so tight I couldn't swallow Water. I've come to the conclusion that fill is an art, not a science, and it's totally trial and error. Hang in there, and get another fill next time. You will find your sweet spot, and it might be closer than you think. Who would have thought at 6 I could eat anything, even hard crusty pizza, and 6.5 I can't even swallow water? (BTW, I do not have a leak. All my saline is still there - we checked. Most likely I have lost a bit of the visceral fat around my stomach and in my band, making it looser.)

Assuming you had a doctor's diagnosis of a medical condition, including obesity (and you would have had to, to have surgery in the US), your surgery should be deductible, but only the amount that exceeds 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. So: if your AGI was $50,000, 7.5% of that is $3750. If your surgery cost $12,000, you could deduct $12,000 minus $3750 = a deduction of $8250. Disclaimer: I am not a CPA or a tax attorney - I'm just really good with Google. I would suggest using TaxCut, TurboTax, or another software program to do your taxes, if you don't want to hire a professional. That way you'll be sure to get the math right.

WOW! That is so scary. Although, part of me can sympathize, I was over-filled and totally blocked for about 12 hours overnight, and was waking up every fifteen minutes choking on my own spit, if there had been a needle in the house I'm not sure I wouldn't have at least stared longingly at it for a while...

I use straws all the time. I've never had a problem with them. That's the only way I can get the protein drinks down.

I've had my band for six months, and I've lost 56 pounds so far with 6 cc's in a 10cc band. My loss has slowed dramatically the last few weeks, and I've been quite hungry, and able to eat a LOT more than I could a few months ago. So, get a fill, right? On Wednesday I got .5 cc in my band, and about 12 hours later I could not swallow my spit, nothing - I was completely closed off. I went in first thing Thursday morning and had just that .5 cc removed. Now I feel even looser and hungrier than before. We took the kids out for pizza for dinner on Saturday, and I was able to eat the crusty part at the end! I haven't been able to eat bread in seven months - and I don't want to! So my question is this - this doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, that I'm half a cc of saline away from being completely closed off, but able to eat literally anything. Nothing gets stuck, everything just slides down. Has anyone else been in this position? Should I try getting a tiny little fill, maybe .2 cc? That seems like such a tiny amount that it hardly seems worth bothering with, but where I am right now isn't going to fly. I've lost only three pounds in the last month, and I was losing at a solid 10 pounds a month for a long time.

I've been banded a little less than five months, and I'm at a pretty good level of restriction at the moment. Starting a couple of hours ago, I started vomiting - not the kind where you get rid of a little food that's stuck above your band. I keep heaving and heaving, but nothing comes up - it feels like the food I ate for dinner got past the band, into my main stomach, before the vomiting started, and now my body is trying to dump it, but the food can't get past the band to get out. Has anyone else experienced this before? Do I need to be worried? I'm sure it's just a minor stomach virus; my two-year-old was vomiting on Sunday night but was fine by midday Monday, so I'm not really that concerned about the virus per se. What is worrying me is that I keep vomiting, really hard, heaving vomiting, but nothing comes up, just saliva.

Well, the vomiting has calmed down; it's been about six hours since the last episode. I'm not going anywhere near solid food until the stomach cramps stop. My doc's office is not open yet, but I'm going to call when they open in a little while. I vomited like crazy from the anesthesia after my surgery, and they gave me Phenergan - that stuff is a miracle. My husband was just banded less than four weeks ago, so I might ask our nurse for drugs for him - he hasn't shown any nausea yet, but I am afraid vomiting for him would be more dangerous since he's not had nearly as long for the needed scar tissue to form around his band. If I learn anything else interesting, I'll post it here. Thanks!

I kept mine on for surgery, but I got a French manicure before. No problems at all.

I also have BCBSNC, and I was approved in three days, as was my husband. We both had BMI's just over 40 (mine was 42, his was 41) and zero comorbities. BCBSNC is not one of those policies that search and search for some reason to deny you - if you give them the paperwork they want, and you meet their published guidelines, you should get approval. My bet is that the problem was exactly as stated, and when your psych provides a better letter, you will get approved. Count yourself lucky - from all I've read, we are about in the best position of anybody from an insurance coverage standpoint. Besides my surgeon's $500 program fee, I've paid one $20 copay at my first surgeon visit, and a $20 copay for each fill, and that's IT.

Your tubing holds about 2 cc's also, so I'd wonder if those 2 are being counted in the 9 total. I'm curious if the $1100 a fill is a typo also - mine are 100% covered by my insurance, but my doc bills $500 and my insurance pays about $220.

Get a fill! I also was banded in July and have had four fills. My NP uses about the world's tiniest needle and I feel almost nothing. It's over in about three seconds. You will not BELIEVE the difference it will make. My bet is, you'll see 4-5 pounds fall off the first two weeks after your fill, maybe more. Good luck!!!!

You may also have lost some of the swelling inside your band - your stomach tissues swell in reaction to the squeezing, but eventually the swelling goes down. For me, it takes about two weeks after each fill for the swelling to go away. My NP said I'd probably need to get slightly over-tight (but only a little!) and then after the post-fill swelling went down, I'd be in a good spot, and she was right. As of my 4th fill, I was too tight - I could still eat, but I PB'ed a LOT - but now, 3.5 weeks out from that fill, I'm great; I can eat pretty much anything I want but only about 3/4 cup of it.

I have always lost in a stairstep fashion - both with and without the band. I think it has to do with your body's setpoint - it decides, I am going to weigh 210 pounds, and I don't care what you feed me, I really mean it this time... oh all right FINE we'll go to 205 but I really mean it this time! Oh, you're not going to eat that croissant? Well, I don't care, I like 205... Typically for me I'll lose nothing for two or more weeks, then drop a pound or more every day for 5-7 days. Then the cycle begins again.

I just had my fourth fill this morning. I was feeling great after my second one, then it started to fade... got a third, had almost no effect at all. Got my fourth today. I now have 6.0 cc's in my 10cc band. It feels pretty tight so far - I've had to slow down my drinking - although I haven't tried any solid food yet. I think the surgery is a science, but fills are an art. You just try it until it feels right.

Hello, I am wondering if anyone who might work out at a Curves gym has had the opportunity to use the new Curves Smart electronic equipment. I just joined a Curves about a week ago, and I'm enjoying it; it's definitely good hard work and a very easy, non-judgmental atmosphere, and lots of cheesy 70's music that I love. :-) For those who aren't familiar, with the Smart equipment, you carry around a little card and put it into a reader in a little electronic monitor attached to each piece of equipment, and it tells you if you're working hard enough, and keeps track of your workout. Then you put it into a computer at the end of the workout and it tells you which machines you did well on, which you need to work harder on, and how many calories you burned. But, I'm not so sure I believe the calorie numbers that the computer is telling me I burned. Today was only my 4th workout, and I worked hard, but I just don't believe I actually burned 475 calories in 30 minutes. 225 I'd believe, 475 just seems dramatically too high. Does anyone else have any experience with or knowledge of this equipment?

I don't know why you'd have trouble getting your information from your old doctor just because his nurse practitioner left. All your information is going to be documented in your files. If you call and ask for your information, you can be sure your actual doctor isn't the one getting it all together - one of his staff will pull the records, write the letter, and the doc's involvement will be limited to his or her signature.

My surgeon says one year, but not because of the band or the surgery itself, but because you'll have a healthier pregnancy if you've lost the excess weight first, and you need that much time to lose the weight. If you don't care if you lose the weight first, I'd put off the surgery and have the baby now. You'll need complete unfill as soon as you find out you're pregnant anyway.

The part about expanding in the stomach scares me --- sounds like a great way to end up making a trip to the emergency room. They're probably fine for someone who's dieting but has not had weight loss surgery.

Regarding caffeine - I would start ramping down well before surgery, but don't quit completely if you have a bad habit. I used to have about 8-10 caffeinated sodas a day, and over four weeks I cut that to two. One week I tried to drop all, but if I went below two I got terrible headaches and couldn't stay awake at work. Then, I dropped those two after surgery, because the week after surgery I had a whole week at home, by myself, to rest and take naps when I needed them, and it made dropping that last bit of caffeine much easier. And, sodas taste awful to me now - I took a swallow of my husband's diet Coke yesterday, my first since surgery a month ago, and it was disgusting! I thought maybe it was bad, like not enough syrup or something, but he said no, it tasted good. I can't believe I used to drink that almost all day long!

The dramatic change in your eating is probably what made you late. Losing weight rapidly can also make your periods come closer together, since estrogen is stored in body fat, and as you burn it off, that estrogen is released into your bloodstream. I've only had my band four weeks, and have a Mirena so I don't get periods anyway. But the last time I lost a large amount of weight and wasn't on hormonal birth control was about 12 years ago, and I was getting my period every three weeks. Now that SUCKED.

liquid Tylenol, and/or liquid Motrin (try kids') - check with your doc on which they recommend. Also, before you buy 17 boxes of Gas-X strips, remember that they only work on gas inside your digestive system, and the gas that gets pumped into you for surgery is around your digestive organs, not in them. I'd still buy them, but not more than a box. Also, I wish I'd had a recliner. I slept the first couple nights with my legs propped up on two large pillows, so I was almost in a sitting position but laying down. Laying flat was very uncomfortable, and laying on my side was completely impossible. If I make it to goal and somehow manage to scrounge up the money for a tummy tuck, I will also include a few hundred dollars for a cheap La-Z-Boy for that post-op. There's not much else you need, really. Just soft, elastic-waisted pants and plenty of liquids, maybe a good book, and your laptop for browsing the before and after photos on this site when you get to the what-the-heck-have-I-done-to-myself phase.

Hello, I am Amanda in NC, and I'm still very early in this process; won't be attending my seminar for about ten days. I haven't made up my mind about whether to do this or not, but I did want to introduce myself and send out a thanks to the creators and members on this site - you all have been so incredibly helpful in helping me understand what it's like to actually live with a band! I have been about a size 22 for 15 years, since college, and while I've married a wonderful man and had two amazing kids at that size - well, I'm kind of done with it. It aggravates the arthritis I have due to an old ankle injury, and I suspect it's holding me back professionally as well. (Not that anybody at work will admit to that.) So I will probably be just a lurker for a while, since I don't have much experience to share. I would be interested in talking to anyone who's been through the process with Dr. Enochs in Cary, NC and Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC. I'm pretty sure BCBSNC will cover me (I meet all their criteria in their medical policy posted online) but I still would enjoy hearing others' experiences. I'm interested in hearing if you were required to complete a doctor-supervised weight loss program first. I've never done an extended physician-supervised weight loss program, although I've tried phentermine twice in the last 10 years, prescribed by local docs, but I developed a tolerance each time after about two months and I didn't stick with it. Thanks to everyone!

Having one weight in the past five years below the 40 BMI won't hurt you. I wasn't able to show a 40+ BMI every year either. But I had it in 2003, then was exactly a 40 in 2004, then was below it in 2005, then was above it again in '06 and '07. I was approved in 48 hours by Blue Cross of NC, and I also have no comorbidities. Also, if you have multiple documented weights for a single year, they'll usually use the highest one. In 2003 and 2007 I had additional weights documented that were below a 40, but they used the highest number. This stuff is confusing, isn't it! Also, you may want to make sure your employer hasn't excluded WLS from your policy. Even if your insurer offers it, your employer may have decided they do not want to pay to cover it.