Jodi_620

My nutritionist asked questions about my eating habits like, Do I eat Breakfast, Do I eat out often, What kinds of foods I eat and what kind of Snacks and gave suggestions on my problem areas. But mostly what she did was educate me on what I would need to eat pre-op and post-op. How to eat (small bites and chewing thoroughly etc.) She determined that I am a grazer and a carb addict and told me to try and eat only 3 meals a day and watch my carbs. I actually had two visits with her...first visit was a one-on-one where she discussed my eating habits and my second was a classroom type meeting where she taught us what and how to eat, what products to buy to prepare for pre-op and post op diets etc.

You are still healing. The pain completely went away in about a month for me. For me there was a lot of incision pain for a week or two. Two weeks out, it didn't hurt steadily but if I moved a certain way or bumped it I would get pain inside. Two months out I can twist, bend and poke at it and not feel any pain.

There are reasons why bypass is better for some people. With the Lap Band, you do have to do your part to make it work. The band will get rid of your hunger and keep you from overeating but you still have to eat right and fight the "head hunger". Here are some good points to Lap Band vs Gastric Bypass: Less invasive (whereas with bypass they re-route, cut/staple the stomach and bowels) Often out-patient surgery with small incisions, less scarring, less pain and recovery time. Most bandsters are ready to resume normal activities within a week. Ten times lower mortality rate than bypass Less risk of of nutritional deficiencies and hair loss and no dumping syndrome. Adjustable so you get personalized, steady and healthier rate of weight loss. Works better for long-term weight maintenance due it being adjustable. The band is fairly new in the US so we don't know what will happen in 20 years but the important thing is that it is replaceable, repairable and removable. When you have bypass, if there are complications there is no reversing what has been done.

No there is no dumping with the Lap band. The weight loss is slower with the Lap Band but besides the fact that there is no dumping, the mortality rate is 10 times lower, lower risk of nutritional deficiencies, lower risk of hair loss, less invasive with faster recovery and most important to me, it is adjustable and reversible. If you were to eat your meal in five minutes, you would not be doing it right and risking getting sick. You eat very slowly with the Lap Band, it is recommended that you take 20-30 minutes to eat your meal. You take very small bites and chew well then put your fork down between bites. I have found that most people eat way too fast and a couple times when I went out with family they were done before me.

That is what I was thinking. Two ounces is 1/4 cup, how is that going to be enough for a person who has not even had a fill yet? My doctor also said eat until you are satisfied and believe me it takes more than 2 ounces to get to that. I have only had one fill so far and I am not at my "sweet spot" yet so my weight loss is slow right now but the scale is always going in the right direction. I am eating about a cup of food (7-8 oz) per meal and I have not gained a pound since surgery.

The psych evalutation is not always the same for everyone. For me there were two visits. The first visit I took a psych evalation test. I spent a couple hours filling in the little dots answering yes or no to statements like "I love my mother", "I want to be a fireman", "I like to torture small animals", "I am a supermodel". The second visit was about an hour. I sat down with her and first she went over the results of the test. She was pretty much able to describe my personality based only on my answers to the questions on the test, it was pretty interesting. Then she asked me specific questions about Lap Band surgery and how it works to determine whether I understand what I am getting into. She asked questions about my eating habits to see what triggers my head hunger and gave me tips on how to beat head hunger. She gave me a food journal and a bunch of brochures on stress and how to deal with it. She had me sign an agreement that if after surgery, my surgeon determined that I needed further counseling to deal with weight loss that I would seek it. And that was about it.

I agree with shamrockgirl. I would say it is fine to use lozenges but only suck on it for a little while and be SUPER careful not to swallow it. You could also try popsicles or shaving some ice and sucking on that...cold stuff really helps.

Welcome!!! It really depends...mostly on insurance unless you are paying out of pocket. Your surgeon will probably require bloodwork/EKG/sugery release from your regular doctor, Upper GI from the radiologist, psych evaluation (2 visits for me), nutritionist (2 visits for me) and perhaps a sleep study. Depending on how much free time you have you could get all of this done comfortably within a month...I work full time and did it all within that timeframe. Now if you are using insurance you may only need the above to be approved or you may need to provide weight history going back to as much as several years or you may be required to go on a supervised diet for up to six months or show proof of prior weight loss attempts. You may also have to wait for approval and that timing depends on your insurance too...a few days to a few weeks. Once I was approved I was given a surgery date the same day surgery was 2 weeks and 3 days from date of approvel.

Yes, if the pain is troublesome definitely call your doctor. It would help to know when you were banded, I had various pains for about 1 1/2 -2 weeks which is normal. For the first few days, incision pain while changing positions is very normal. Port incision pain will be the worst and last the longest.

Isn't that just awful? Don't eat anymore solids until it gets unstuck. Try drinking some acidic juice like pineapple juice to see if it will help break it down. Until then, do liquids only...adding food will only make matters worse.

No, you probably are only going in for a follow-up. Two weeks is way too early; you shouldn't get a fill until six weeks because the sutures holding the band in place need to heal first. I had my first fill two weeks ago and it didn't hurt much...the needle prick is about the same as when you get blood drawn.

Protein based baby food is good when you still don't have much of an appetite. Other good protein mushie choices: Refried Beans blended (or any kind of beans) Canned chicken or tuna blended in blender with with FF mayo or dresing Oatmeal or cream of wheat cooked in skim milk instead of Water ( I also saw on this site somewhere, a suggestion for canned chicken and Tostitos brand spinach dip blended together and I thought that was pretty yummy) You can still supplement with shakes but try to get your stomach accostomed to thicker foods as much as possible. Don't worry about stretching your pouch, just eat a little at a time and you will be fine. This it a time to learn to listen to your body & retrain yourself to eat slowly with small bites. I could only handle about a 1/2 cup of food at at time when I first went on mushies. Measure that much out and eat slowly and the band will tell you when you've had enough. Your pouch is not going to stretch unless you consitently ignore the full signals and continue to overeat.

Luvmy2 dogs, I'm in Sterling...near Dulles Airport.

I didn't get a shot to deaden the area. I had fluro done for my first fill. First I went into his office and we discussed my weight loss and how much I am eating to determine if I needed a fill. He didn't think so but I ask for one anyway so he agreed to a slight fill. Went into the fill room and lay down on the table. He had me lift my feet up in the air a few inches-this makes your abdominal muscles push the port forward so it is easier to get to. While I held my feet up, He located the port and put the needle in. It didn't hurt much...no worse than a blood draw. He put in a little saline then had me get up with the needle still inserted and go walk over to the fluoro machine (sounds awful but it isn't). He had me swallow just a bit of barium (the worst part for me...I hate that stuff! but I didn't have to swallow a lot. Then he watched to make sure the barium went down OK. Then he had me drink a glass of Water to make sure I could get it down comfortably. I was fine so I stood in front of him and he removed the needle put on a band-aid and I was on my way. Not a bad experience at all. I am not sure there was a huge change with my first fill. I had my first fill exactly two weeks ago today. I eat a little less and am very uncomfortable for a long time if I overdo it, I don't get stuck any more than I did before the fill. I haven't lost much weight in these two weeks. My surgeon doesn't make me wait a month so I scehduled my second fill three weeks out and I am glad I did. I go in for fill number two next Thursday and hope to get better results this time.

I have had the same issues. At first I worried about screwing up and causing band slippage, port flipping or otherwise damaging my band. Unusal pains during healing would get me to thinking that something is wrong and I will need to go back for surgery. I have failed at weight loss/maintenance so many times in my life that I still have a hard time believing that this will actually work for me. Sure, it worked for a lot people here but we are talking about me, I will never lose this weight. If my scale doesn't move for a few days, I get to thinking I did something to ruin the band. Today is my two month bandiversary, I am down 30 pounds...which is pretty impressive to me yet I am still not convinced that I will be a success in the end. So to answer your question, it is normal to have worries and concerns and you are definietly not alone. :thumbdown:

Welcome! It sounds like the lap band would be a good choice for you. Your BMI is not too terribly high and you seem to understand the concept of watching what you eat which you will still need to do...the band will just help you be full on small amounts of food and keep you from overeating. It is safer and less invasive than gastric bypass. For me there was the seminar then a one-on-one consultation with my surgeon where I weighed in, had my insurance submitted, discussed the process leading up to surgery (tests, diet/nutritionist, psych eval, sleep study etc.) and discussed what to expect with the surgery and afterwards. Made my appointments with the in-house psychiatrist and nutritionist and that was about it. My surgeon gave a cost breakdown at the seminar. The cost is different depending on your surgeon and where you live. I am Northern Virginia the cost of living is fairly high here and the surgery is $17,500.00. If your "orientation" is the same as my "consultation", I can tell you that I was charged a $375 non-refundable fee which I paid out of pocket...this is included in the above figure.

Congrats Samantha!!! :thumbdown: You probably won't want to go on a rollercoaster for a few weeks but there should be no reason why you can't go on with normal activities once you heal. Answer to your ticker question...After you create your ticker at tickerfactory.com or wherever, you get a bbcode and an html code. Copy the entire bbcode then come back to this site and paste it into your signature section.

I wish I has some advice to offer. I just wanted to say sorry that you have to deal with this and wish you a speedy resolution. Why are they waiting a week to check it out?

Congratulations!!! :thumbdown: Your birthday?...now that is just seems so appropriate to me. I was approved by my insurance for a 23 hour stay in the hospital too, that is just something they allow for in this surgery. The 23 hrs. vs 24 hrs. is a cost thing. 23 hours would be billed as outpatient whereas 24 hours would be billed as an overnight stay. Really it is the same difference for you though. My surgery went fine and I didn't want to stay in the hospital any longer than necessary so I chose to go home.

Just wanted to say Welcome! I was nervous too, it is a bit of a journey from start to surgery but very much worth it.

I was told by my nutrionist to avoid eating before going to bed but it doesn't have anything to do with the band it is just a good idea when trying to lose weight...burning fat while you sleep vs burning calories. I am an early riser and go to bed at 9PM so I am usually still good to go from my 5PM dinner but I do wake up quite hungry and have to wait an hour to eat because of my thyroid meds!

My surgeon gave me anti-nausea scripts and told me that it is very important that we avoid vomiting especially during healing because it can cause the internal sutures to come loose.

Smoking can cause breathing problems while under anesthesia and Smoking after surgery can cause difficulty/delayed healing.

Seminar: Find bariatric surgeons in your area and get a schedule for their seminars (I would check out at least two different surgeons if possible). Consult: Once you choose your surgeon schedule a consult. They will weigh you, discuss the surgery with you and walk you through the next steps. The next steps are not always the same but in general: Psych evaluation, Nutritionist visits, upper GI, sleep study, bloodwork/EKG/Surgery realease with your PCP. You will probably be put on a pre-op diet and a post-op diet. The nutritionist will educate you on what your surgeon requires...I was on liquid Protein 2 weeks prior to surgery date and 2 weeks after then 2 weeks of mushie food. You will probably have a pre-op visit with the surgeon about a week before surgery to review the results of the above and discuss the surgery, check-in instructions, after care etc. ...then surgery.

I would call them...it can't hurt. Like I explained last time we discussed this, I had bought out my local Walmart and was wondering if they would re-stock. Low and behold, went there last weekend and they had indeed restocked.