RestlessMonkey

Good luck! Toes, fingers, eyes all crossed! :wink2:

Are you going for your BSN or ADN? Either way you'll be an RN, right? Mine is supposed to be 2 years; I just took my time and stretched it a little. I had an issue the 1st semester with the Heptatitis B vaccine (me and 39 other students in that first class of 100! good grief, huh?) and just kept on going at a slower pace. Anyway, good luck and stay in touch!

Jewels68 Thanks! I will cross my fingers for your band date! I too started working at 16 and have mostly worked since then...until Aug 06 when I finally quit to go to nursing school. I've gone part time and have absolutely LOVED every minute of it! I graduate (I HOPE LOL) in May 09 and am ready to get out there in the workforce again. Good luck to you! It's hard; but worth every ounce of time, worry, tears, frustration, confusion because it is also fun, wonderful, and rewarding beyond words. Let me know if I can ever be of any help to you! :wink2:

LOL Sunflower if you work in the hospital and have heard the "post op info" through several times, I'd bet you know as much or more than I ever did about this! But it's sweet of you to be nice to me about it! :wink2: It's sure a process, I'll say that for it. I love my band, though, and have fortunately never had a moment's doubt or regret about getting it. Of course I've wanted one since 2001 when they first hit the USA so I've had a LONG time to talk myself into/back out/into/back out/into actually getting the surgery. My insurance, school load, health, and PCM all managed to come together late this summer and it finally happened! If I can be of help, I'm glad to! Lots of issues are surgeon specific but I love to read other people's stories and share mine!

Welcome and good luck to you! I've had my band since 8/29 and I love it already. Hope you love yours too!

My surgery was 1 month after the seminar...7/10 seminar, 8/11 surgery. However even after a 3 week preop loss of 15 pounds my liver was still fatty so I got the band 8/29, which comes to .... just over 7 weeks total. Self pay people could probably have gotten in a little more quickly...so I guess this month is feasible if they told you it could happen that quickly! My doc's office told us at the seminar the fastest they could make it happen with all the preop tests etc would be 2 weeks. I guess it depends on your locale, surgeon, and situation!

Welcome and good luck! Did they tell you it could happen that fast for you? If so, WOW! :wink2:

Hi Patti! How are you? Nice to see you on the boards! I think your symptoms are pretty normal; Carla (the NP at Dr. C's office) told me my diarrhea was caused by the anesthesia and it would get better...by about 9-10 days post op it was over with! Same with the gas...I didn't have any pain but I did seem to produce gas more easily. That went away, too. If in doubt of course call the office and ask them! :wink2: So glad to see you on the "other side" and also to hear you aren't really hungry yet. I was starving in recovery!

Good luck on your journey. I understand your frustration with insurance but I guess when they pay for the procedure, they get to set the rules. That's why some people don't even bother and just "self-pay". I'm sure you know how to proceed etc so I just wanted to say Welcome! :wink2:

I think the sugar is a no no though! I was told nothing but water/clear liquids from noon on, and then from 10pm NOTHING the night before my surgery. They want you empty. I'm honestly not sure so if you're in doubt you can call the doc's office but I think the sugar is too high in calories to be acceptable! I'm Southern too but drink my tea unsweetened. Not all us southern women like sugar in our tea! LOL :wink2: You're safest to either call the hospital or your surgeon and ask if you can have the sugar unless you use an artificial sweetener.

Yes as long as it is unsweetened or artificially sweetened! Caffeine can be a diuretic so like noosagirl said, make sure you get plenty Water, too. And tomorrow they will make sure you stay well hydrated LOL I went up 14 pounds post op from the fluids; many go up 7-9 pounds. Take a lip balm though; your body will be hydrated but your mouth and lips will be dry dry dry! :wink2: Good luck! Hope you do great. I LOVE my band!

Thank you so much! That means a great deal to me. I try to be helpful and informative, not heavy handed and bossy! LOL But sometimes I think I slip. Your compliment means a great deal to me! And I'm in nursing school as you probably know, so your praise is extra special to me! :wink2:

I had a friend once who said "I would kill for cheese" I always felt sympatico with her viewpoint. Cheese is high in fat but also has calcium (especially many of the 2% milk grated ones like Kraft) and high in protein, too. I can't imagine any lifestyle I could maintain that didn't include cheese. But in my preop, and then early post op phase, I avoided it per my doctor's instructions.

Congratulations! I hope you love your band! I don't know about the "soda" you have to drink. I had to drink magnesium citrate, but it wasn't soda.

I think if you're self pay all that mess about co-morbidities etc doesn't matter. You might start just by calling some bariatric surgeons near your home/city. I know there is a surgeon in Colorado, for example, who does surgeries fairly "cheap" (if you call 9k - 10K cheap LOL) but ideally you want one near you who can give you support, fills, medical attention, etc. I love my doctor but being in South Central Texas, I am sure you can find one equally marvelous close to your home! You might want to check the "doctors and hospitals" forum...while waiting for answers here...and also the "staying local" forum (not sure of the exact name but you'll recognize it) Just click on the forum tab and then scroll through, if you want to locate those areas. Good luck! I LOVE my band and hope you find a physician you trust and find your band as wonderful as I do mine!

Ok just trying to help. I have always paid my bills on time and assumed you would too. Just wanted you to know I did NOT mean to imply that you could get out of paying the bill. Personally I've got cash ready for when the hospital bills me; I had thought I'd be self pay, so I'm kind of in a reverse situation from yours. They didn't make me pay anything up front except my $150 deductible. I'll owe around 1500 when they get around to billing me for it; since they didn't ask me to pay up front for my bariatric surgery, I'd hoped that a similar situation for you might give you time to gather the funds. Sorry if I made it sound like you should not pay; that was never my intention. That's stealing.

Veggies and especially most fruits are high in carbs. Carbs aren't bad. No food is "bad", some are just more nutrient dense and some are pretty useless nutrition wise. Don't assume eating veggies means low/no carb; even 1 cup of iceberg lettuce has 1 gram of carbohydrate! LOL Darci don't feel guilty. The band is a process, not a race. You're aware, you're working on it. Enjoy your vacation, eat what you enjoy but in moderation, and come home and kick A! The other poster makes a lot of good points of course! But for me if I tackle this like a diet, I fail. I get bored bored bored with the regimen and all the "drama" of it. I do better sneaking up on it all. I follow the band rules and I don't even have restriction yet; but for me the point of the band was that when life (like a vacation) interrupts my "diet", things won't go south. I'll be able to go wild a little then rope it back in. I'm sure you will, too. Either way, best of luck to you!

Can't you just pay the deductible and them bill you for the balance? I had 2 surgeries in August and haven't even got the hospital bill yet!

Adam you and your wife know your kids best. But I think, while there's nothing "WRONG" with being obese, it is unhealthy. So is eating a lot of fat, etc! Why can't you tell them the truth; that you want to lose weight and that the operation will help you eat less and be full? I'd worry about the balloon thing one poster told her kid because I was pretty low key but really admired my parents and might have tried to swallow a balloon be "be like they were"...Kids can be pretty literal, even the smart ones! You don't have to imply that being "fat" is wrong, just that you want to be thinner.

I don't chew it...I never swallow it but all it takes is once, and I am human. Someone who posts here just recently swallowed hers and was in a panic that night because nothing would go down, no water, no saliva, nothing. Frankly, I don't think it's worth the risk. I don't want to trade one habit for another...I just let the old mouth and jaw rest.

Sure, with the caveat that you know each doctor has a different MO...LOL. They all tweak the diets etc with their own special spin so just because my doc had me do it doesn't mean it's what you need to do. I am not sure size is the only indicator of a fatty liver...? I think there is blood work etc too. ANYWAY he had me drink 2-3 EAS Carb Control AdvantEDGE shakes each day, 64 ounces of Water (at least) and one meal with 3 ounces of lean fish, chicken or poultry and some green low carb veggies. That's it. It came to about 500-600 cal a day. I used his diet as a "general guideline" the 1st 3 weeks, lost 15 pounds, but my liver was too large still when he went in on 8/11. So I did EXACTLY what he told me (I hadn't realized the importance before; from reading here I erroneously assumed it was just a diet to "get me used" to not eating. WRONG! at least in my case!) for 2 1/2 weeks and lost 17 MORE pounds. On 8/29 I was successfully banded. So learn from me; this place is GREAT but surely doesn't replace solid direction, orders, and info from your surgeon!

How very exciting. Congratulations!

I keep checking back to see if someone has answered you and so far no.... I will say my understanding (and I am FAR from maintenance!) is that we will just keep on keeping on. Once I've lost all I want I figured I'd just make a little different food choices... I have read that some people plan to get all restriction removed but to my thinking if I do that, why bother with the band? I can LOSE fine, it's keeping it off that's been the challenge for me personally. Some get a LITTLE unfill so they can add back in favorites that may have been off limits when totally restricted....but then some don't ever get that much restriction to begin with. I think the answer, honestly, is very individualized. I think it's kind of a non-issue. But I would love, like you, to hear from successful bandsters who have lost and kept it off a while, if they did something special, tinkered with their fills, or just went on with life. It's a good question, hope someone who actually knows answers you!

Sorry for your unfortunate situation. I love my band and fortunately my doc is as dedicated to the aftercare as he was to the surgery; I know the band is the right solution for me and can't imagine going this far just to have it removed. You must be frustrated beyond words. Good luck to you!

I maybe can help, because I was in a similar boat. I have a 14 cc band. I lost 32 pounds preop, (on a 5 1/2 week preop diet) and then another 9.4 post op during the 2 week liquid phase my doc requires. Then...I went nuts. Mushies...oh lord I wallowed in the mushies. And once I could eat "solids" I had EVERYTHING. I had a steak and baked potato, I had a hamburger and fries and a shake, I had pizza. I gained back 11 pounds in the 4 week stage from mushies to my 1st fill. I told myself I was "testing my band" and I guess in a way I was, but I was way over the top. No restrictions, no problems. But I figured I'd get my first fill and things would start to slow down. I did realize it would likely take 4 or more fills to feel restriction but just knew at the first one I'd start to, um "feel the love". NOT. My doctor gave me 1 1/2 CC! GOOD GRIEF. I told him "that's not worth the lidocaine you just used" and he said this. He told me : Go home and QUIT snacking. I don't care what you eat. Just eat 3 meals a day. Period. NO Snacks. No healthy snacks. no junk snacks. NOTHING with calories. NOTHING. If you snack, the band will not do what you want it to. Go learn that and come back and I'll put more in. I CAN give you restriction now but honestly I've learned that you must not snack or the band won't help you. If you try to deal with sudden restriction and no snacking all at once it can set you up to fail. So trust me. ANd I did. I decided to go back on the preop diet for the next 5-6 weeks because once I got past the initial hunger, I felt good on high Protein, low carb low fat. I miss other foods but don't suffer hunger pangs after the first couple days. I know I can't and won't ALWAYS eat this way but I can do it now and it helps my hunger. Guess what? I've lost 10 of the 11.4 pounds I had gained. Tomorrow will be 1 week fron that fateful appt and I may have lost back all I gained in my month of "wild freedom". I am not drinking 15 min before, during, or 15 minutes after I eat, per my doc's direction, unless I'm having a "meal" of those shakes I hated so much preop. (he told me as long as I treated them as a meal and not a snack, it was fine to have them) I am having 3 meals a day and I am NOT snacking. Period. Nothing. I am happy again because I'm back on the way DOWN! I know I WILL get restriction but rather than waiting for that to happen, I'm back in the driver's seat. My point is...you are in control, not the band. I understand your mindset, I think....I think a bunch of us do. But in the end, it really is just a tool. We all say that, but we need to believe and understand it to be successful, I think. Exercise alone won't cause you to lose weight, so going to the gym is GREAT! for you, but it isn't the answer. You have to take in less calories than you use, and for the band to work, you need to follow the band rules. SO..... Follow the band rules. Do what your doc says (he may not prohibit snacks like mine does) Eat protein, then veggies, then fruit, then finally wheats, grains, pastas, bread. Don't drink with your meals Get in the habit. Watch your calories for now (We won't always have to I don't think) Getting the band right is a process; I was waiting for that "miracle" to happen. My doc, who was very kind and didn't lecture me or preach (if he had, I would just have tuned him out. I'm VERY hard headed LOL) helped me realize I am in control, not the band. I know what I have to do to use it. This way, once I get restriction, it will just help me keep on going. You can do this!