RestlessMonkey

I don't have any questions, I just want to congratulate you! How wonderful your loss is!

Arnissha..it may be hard for you to find a surgeon who will do fills on you; you might want to make the appt. with Dr. Jay and then cancel it if you find someone else. I understand that you are anxious but if you've had the band since 2002 you know what to do and can start getting "restriction ready" in the next four weeks. I read over and over about people having problems finding fill docs if they have their surgery away from "home". Barring that, can you fly back to wherever/whomever WAS doing your fills all this time? Good luck!

Not a young guy but welcome and good luck anyway!

Actually the shoulder pain is usually "referred" pain from the diaphragm...and the diaphragm can be discommoded by gas, or swelling, or can just be "upset" post op. Rubbing the shoulder muscles can help (because the pain source is the diaphragm, not the shoulder, but those muscles spasm). Walking, breathing deeply (even if it hurts a bit) and following your docs orders will help you feel better quickly! :bananalama: Welcome and good luck!

How exciting for you both! My first fill didn't give me an iota of restriction but it was still exciting for me because it felt like I was progressing. Most don't have any pain/issues with fills and either way, it is WORTH it! Good luck!

I don't know about the seizure disorder but if it helps, from the seminar I went to, my surgeon's biggest issue was people with autoimmune disorders, so if I remember correctly, that won't pertain to you! I too have done WW....I've lost 40 pounds about 10 times! LOL Always gained it back plus plus until I topped out at 405 and realized I had to have more in my arsenal than what any current "diet" offered. So welcome and good luck!

Hello and welcome! You're doing well hanging in on the liquid diet; it will get worse (bandster hell) but then it will all get a lot better as you get restriction, get full on so much less, and drop the pounds. Good luck to you!

Let me add my voice to "check with your doctor". You don't want it sticking out like a hernia so even if things are fine it may need to be repositioned. It is more common for the port to be HARD to find in us overweight people. Please get it checked out! :bananalama:

Just wanted to point out that as you age, unless you get your weight under control (and you don't say how tall you are; that makes a difference...) odds are that great cholesterol etc will tank. It happened that way to me...each year the numbers got a little worse and the weight creeped up. I agree that until you've given diet and exercise a shot you shouldn't contemplate surgery (no one should take any surgery lightly) but I have news; losing weight (and keeping it off) is hard at ANY age. And from where you are, it isn't going to get any easier. You have the good luck of being able to face this problem now before those nasty "co morbidities" get you. Use the chance the best way you see fit.

I need some advice, please. I know nurses (and I'm sure many other positions) only get 30 minutes for a meal break. I'm still a student and am expected to work when I'm on the floor for a clinical...no malingering to drink Water, take breaks, etc. This is fine with me (I want to learn all I can) and have, in the past, used the one 30 minute break that I AM allowed to rehydrate and eat. However, now that I'm banded and feeling some restriction (4 fills) I want to follow my doc's requirements of no liquid 15 min before (no problem there) during, and 15 min after eating. This leaves me with a dilemma...I can eat, or I can rehydrate. How do you handle this? Since I'm a visitor in whichever hospital, I don't have a locker or facility to keep, say, a bottle of water. I'm thinking that maybe I should just have a Protein shake as a meal; that way I can drink 16-24 ounces of water too during my break ...but then come time to go home I am literally STARVING. Any ideas? Ideally I'd get to stay hydrated during the "shift" but while I'm still a student (and with joint commission rules about no drinks at the nurses' station) I don't see that happening. Help?

I think Plain made some really good points; my surgeon emphasized over and over that if you are a grazer or a snacker, the band will fail unless you can curb that. I personally did a year of behavioral therapy before I got the band (just on my own) to try to figure out why and when I overate, and how to stop it. If you are a person who eats when you aren't hungry, the band may not help you. I love my band and realize that only you will know if it is right for you or not. I don't want to sound sanctimonious either; I didn't get to 405 just by having an extra serving at dinner. For my band to work I must essentially quit grazing. Having said that, once you have restriction (and I finally do, YAY!) it is easier, most times, to not snack. I'm sure whichever you decide will be the right choice for you. I toyed with the idea of RNY bypass because in some ways it seemed easier but in the end, they both require work, dedication, commitment. They both are just tools, not miracle cures. Neither choice is easy, but the results can change your life.

Why can't you do both? Submit the stuff, but keep at it and do your 2/09 appt with doc. If they deny you, then you'll just have 3/09 and can resubmit.

Perhaps the band wasn't the best choice for you? A therapist can perhaps help. I've seen several posts from you about how you're struggling and aren't losing and have other issues; the band unfortunately does not work for everyone. I'm shocked that your teeth have been ruined in just six months but if the band is costing you so much, you perhaps need to have it removed and try to find another path to weight loss. Good luck to yoU!

They call the first few weeks post op "Bandster Hell" and this is the reason; no restriction yet, for most of us, but HUNGER! And it is hard to assuage hunger with liquids; our body doesn't recognize liquids as "food". Hang in there! As long as you are following your physician's guidelines as to what you're eating (ie no solids too early) you'll be fine. Once you can eat, and then as you get restriction, it WILL become much easier. Just hang in there, do the best you can, and use this time to heal. And once you are on softs and solids follow your instructions about chewing well, restrictions on drinking with meals, etc. You'll make it!

You'll probably do this anyway but if it happens tomorrow (or if you're still nauseated) you should call your doctor!

You'll make it L. J.! Good luck! I bet you breeze through!

An exclusion to the policy means that the service is excluded...it is NOT covered. Either your employer elected to exclude WLS or the insurance company never offered coverage. It would be as if you went to buy a new car with cloth seats and then decided to sue because the seats weren't leather. The deal never included leather seats...you bought "cloth". This is the same thing...the payment for your coverage does not include WLS. SO ...no, appealing won't help you. Sorry!

It's really up to you. My doc recommends eating Protein then veggies then fruit then grains/pastas and avoiding refined sugar and white flour products, BUT....he says his goal for each patient is for them to be able to eat normally but less. Some posters here are avid calorie counters, others don't every even bother. Personally I won't "diet" because I've done it a million times, lost a bit, then gained it back plus plus. When I diet I think about food ALL the time. Part of what drew me to the band was actually being FREE of thinking about food; not having to weigh each serving and calculate the calories for each meal. As one friend I met on here put it "I didn't go through all this to eat cardboard the rest of my life". I agree with TQUAD64 that you should follow your doc pre and post op but once you are healed, it will be up to you. It is YOUR tool and you will use it with your own style. I can still eat pizza. I don't like it as much as I did, but I do get full faster and one piece fills me up now where before I could eat 3. We got burgers the other day and I ate half of mine (and part of a small order of fries). I'll order from the kid's menu next time....and we don't do fast food as often; it's not worth the trouble to me any more. So you will find your own way; whatever works for you!

How many fills have you had, and how restricted are you? I struggled and gained back some (not quite half!) of the weight I lost early on pre and post op until finally my 4th fill is providing me with the restriction I heard so much about. For me it makes it MUCH easier to make those healthy choices because I get full and don't want junk.

I totally understand being dismissed because I'm fat...and not just in the doc's office, either! So I do feel your pain. Maybe I don't even expect much in situations like that any more? I know I've successfully dieted many many times; keeping the lost weight off is the hard part and the band really really helps with that. My start has been slower than I hoped but it is happening. My best advice to you is to use the 6 months however you see fit...but if dieting=struggling, don't let it get you down. You do have to work with the band, but it helps immensely! Good luck!

My doc's office gave me a prescription for phenergan to have on hand. Honestly? I think that person needs an attitude adjustment. They could've called you in an antinausea med and asked you to come in, say, Thursday to check your band. Are you sure it was the nurse? If so I would complain. Actually I would complain regardless. If you are sick, you can't drive. And rather than an UNFILL, a medication to keep you from vomiting would make more sense. I'm not a doctor, but still...

My port is tilted and two of the four times I've had fills, my Doc has needed to mash a bit to find it. Personally I don't find it too miserable. I don't expect to need fills forever and like another poster said, as I lose it will get easier to find. The little pain involved (and I've had lots worse!) is minor compared to the misery the band saves me, so I just ignore it. It hasn't ever been so bad that I've needed pain killer afterward etc. If the port is too badly tilted you can require surgery to reattach it so I mostly am just glad he can access it at all.

Once you have restriction gum can get stuck...if so they can remove it but you have to go in to a doc's office. Safest to just use sugar free breath mints!

Atkins is a long term diet that includes an induction phase, and so on... I followed a diet prescribed by my surgeon. It was low carb low fat, it was not Atkins. Some surgeons may prescribe the induction phase of Atkins...? but your doctor will direct you.

I'm not sure what you wanted. What doctor was this, your surgeon? Or your PCP? Do you not want the lap band? You've done WW many times with, I assume, limited or only short term success. There's no magic diet they can give us, I wish there were. If you want the next six months to count, you can surely make them do so. Establish a pattern of exercise; don't snack, eat healthy, get ready. If you've been to WW a lot, you know what is healthy and so on; there's nothing stopping you from taking charge and taking care of yourself. If you are unsure of the band, or feel forced into it in some way, then this six month period will be a time for you to research it, think it over, and perhaps find it isn't for you. Either way, you're in control, so you can use the time as you see fit.