RestlessMonkey

I agree with KimmyV call your doc NOW NOW NOW. Don't wait. Lortab/Vicodin/Hydrocodone (same drug) makes me nauseated but surely if it had that effect on you, they'd have discovered it in the hospital. Either way, move now, call your doc. please!

Even if someone else has CIGNA it doesn't mean their coverage is the same as yours. You can wait and see, or call Cigna and ask the requirements for Lap band surgery! Good luck!

I am truly glad you are happy and I'm sure this will work for you! I read that aggressive fills at the start give a person a higher chance of esophageal spasms and subsequent slippage and/or erosion SO what they are trying isn't new and it didn't work in the past; but I'm sure they are trying it differently. I'd be scared to do what they say but you are apparently a pathbreaker! good luck. Let us know how you do!

Personally I'm in this for LIFE. If I'd HAD to have fast WL, I'd have gotten bypass. No thank you. 10 years down the road, 20, I want to still be successful. I assume we ALL want that. The point isn't "couldn't I lose this without the band", for me, but "could I EVER keep it off without the band?" answer for me is NO NO NO. I got 1 1/2 cc in a 14 cc band. My doctor explained his philosophy once I gasped in horror (LOL) and I have to say I agree with him. He feels he is setting me up for success years down the road, He wants me to eat only 3 meals a day, no Snacks, NO CALORIES in between. I go back in 4 weeks and if I've mastered that (regardless of what I am eating during meals) then he'll fill more. He did tell me he'd give me more right now but in his experience his patients are very successful doing it his way. I trusted the man with my life, twice. I trust him on this. SO just remember you trust your surgeon. It is a long process but 5 years from now when you are (still) trim and healthy, this wait for restriction will not even be a dim memory. Hang in there.

Tricare standard has a catastrophic cap of $3000 per family per year so if her doc is covered that's the MAX out of pocket she'd pay even if she had no other bills (yet) against tricare. Her doctor supposedly IS an in network doctor with tricare. She confirmed that. She is supposed to pay, if Standard, only 20% of the fee tricare approves, on each service, after paying a $150 deductible. Once she reaches the cap, tricare covers at 100%. So you can see even if tricare standard, since he IS in network, he's at the least trying to overbill her.

I may be misreading but I understand your surgery will be Monday Oct 13. If I'm right, here's a link to bunches and oodles of surgery day stories that will more than answer your questions! I will say to take shoes that are easy on/easy off that are good to walk in because you will need to walk around a lot. AND take lip balm because they give you an anticholinergic and that dries up "secretions" and your lips! After you nose around; please post if you have more questions and we'll try to help! http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f178/surgery-day-stories-64287/ good luck!

Just wanted to reiterate Meschultz makes good points! BUT If your pain is truly unbearable and you need to cry out when you move, PLEASE call your doc's office. Either something is wrong or you need a new pain med. Pain at that level is contradictory to healing etc. You need to be walking to keep from gettng clots etc. So please call NOW!

I suggest talking with her, but I wouldn't accuse her of jealousy. You may be coming across as demanding, because the band IS "all about you". Of course it is; you are the one getting surgery etc. But her life has changed a lot too with you and grand daughter back at home. You've made it sound like she forced you into the surgery; do you resent that? Is it spilling over into how you ask her for help? You may have issues you aren't aware of, and so might she. Does she know you are proud of how well she's doing? Have you told her you wish she could get the surgery too if she wants it? It may not be jealousy, it may be exasperation. She may miss her more uncomplicated life when you weren't home. Maybe not! I can't read her mind! LOL BUT then, you can't read hers and even is she is a mother she can't read yours. You two need to talk. Good luck with the band, by the way!

You both are. I was more like your husband, but many people have a harder time bouncing back after surgery. If your pain meds weren't helping you should've called your doctor! Dont' judge yourself by your husband, nor he by you. You're both individuals with different experiences. If your doc has an emergency line, call it and tell them you are in unbearable pain.

Hello Terri and welcome! Your insurance sounds like mine; just about the time my husband and I decided to self pay, I discovered that my insurance did indeed cover lap band (I'd called them twice already this year and was told no; apparently I was misinformed each time!) Sounds like you are off to a wonderful start!

I'm just at 6 weeks and in all honesty I haven't had any problems. No restriction. No nausea. If anything, I feel like I don't even have the band and THAT is a problem because I can (and have, once I was on "solids again) eat anything. The 2 weeks post op where I had to be on liquids (and week 1 was just water, SF jello, SF Popsicles, and broth. no protein shakes no nothing) was hard, but I've done diets in the past that were as hard or harder. Everyone IS different. I've taken to this as if I were born to it. I got a fill today and still no restriction but the band IS there. Doc said we'd take it slow and hopes I won't have the issues of PB'ing etc.... So for me there is no downside. I feel happy and hopeful. Some people are depressed. I haven't been at all. I feel optimistic. I know I can probably eat anything I ever could, but once I've lost what I want to, I'll be satisfied on way way less. To me, that sounds wonderful. I'd rather eat a junior burger and a few fries than a double, large fries and a shake. So for me, there's no downside so far.

Are you sure? could it be water? Or are you weighing at different times/different scales/different clothes? How many calories a day are you getting? Could it be monthly bloating?

I'm sure it's not fun, but in a way you're lucky. no countless fills etc etc. You'll start losing faster! :smile2:

Mine didn't. HOWEVER at my annual check up (not my ob/gyn, but my pcp) he always writes morbid obesity as a diagnosis. You should check; your doc may have that. However, I agree; they are just being pizzy.

I'm with MYTURN0421. I had to shower with Hibiclens. They've found that having patients do some type of anti-infective scrub at home (with a product like hibiclens) helps reduce the chance of contacting MRSA. It's good that your surgeon had you do that! :smile2: They will still clean you, too.... but even after a time or 2 using an antibacterial, some remain. So the more you scrubba dub the op site (and adjacent areas) the better your odds of remaining free of those nasty opportunistic infections like MRSA. :wub:

Just wanted to welcome you, Trench123. I'm a female resident of San Antonio; a Texas native and married to a retired Army man...I'm a nursing student at UTHSCSA and my husband was a nurse. You got good care at Wilford Hall! If you need any help that can come from a rational female perspective (LOL that Is NOT an oxymoron) I'll be glad to help!

Right now credit is really tight. Can you clean up your credit? That would help you.

You'd think that he would know about Tricare. In order to be part of a PPO you accept that what they pay you is what you get. Even I know that and I'm not a surgeon. It's his income; I'd bet dollars to donuts (ok make that protein shakes LOL) that he knows. He is just trying to get more $$ out of you. Sorry, but that's how I see it.

Don't they make you drink before you leave? Mine does.....

He won't dare harm you. His malpractice insurance would go through the roof! They'll probably give you extra special care so you don't come back to haunt them! If he is the ONLY tricare bariatric surgeon in town, can you go to another town and get the surgery? They are all correct; he is actually trying to steal from you.

I wanted to say, too, that I love my Doc. I said "good grief 1 1/2 cc's is hardly worth the lidocaine you used!" and he said he truly would give me more restriction RIGHT THEN! if I wanted it. He said he thought he shouldn't and explained why but said "It's your health and your body; you know yourself best. I'll do it if you want". What a guy, huh? I told him no, I'd trusted him with my life, twice, I figured I could trust him on this too. Which is the truth.

My weight loss stalled but honestly I expected it to while I was recovering. I gained on liquids (Water weight because of all that salt in the broth, the Soups, etc) I've had NO restriction, felt fine, and been hungry so it's almost been the old status quo for me. I now have 1 1/2 cc in a 14 cc band (LOL hold me back LOL) but doc said to QUIT snacking. When I go back in 5 weeks if I have managed to quit snacking he'll be more aggressive. But he told me that if he BOOM restricted me and I was struggling with that and getting BACK out of the snack habit I'd be miserable and that's not what he's after. He said "you did the preop diet for almost 6 weeks. I think you can cut out snacks" and he's right of course. I was kind of just testing my limits if that makes sense. I'd pretty much discovered there weren't any (although I didn't ever try anything carbonated) and now I'm ready to get down to business. I'm actually having a Protein shake for lunch (skipped Breakfast but I bet I don't tomorrow LOL!) and hope to have the gain vanish by next week. AND Maggies I KNOW they are going to approve you. They have to.

I'm sorry your surgeon wasn't very informative! They are all really different! I'm SURE you're find and will do great!

DO you teach or just attend classes? Like temmaddie I had pretty much no pain. I slept on my side nite 1, tummy nite 2. I think it helped keep me from getting adhesions. I did take tylenol for a few days, as needed, just to keep things cool. I was banded on Friday and went to class on Tuesday but my thinking was still a little fuzzy. I did MUCH better on Thursday. We all heal differently....based on surgeons, anesthesia, our own outlooks, expectations and metabolisms. To be safe, assume you'll be out a week. You may need longer, you may feel ready earlier, but a week is a good rule of thumb. There are scars but they are small. Steps would've been no problem to me; just no lifting about 15 or 20 pounds (depends on surgeon) for first few weeks. THese are questions that you really should ask your surgeon. S/he will know what is standard for his/her client base.

Honestly I'm kind of shocked at what you weren't told! Good grief! Your surgeon needs a refresher. I was told NO Water 15 min before, never during, and none 15 min after eating. It can wash food through more quickly and "bypass" the band(in which case, why bother getting banded if you're just going to wash the food through it?) and it CAN stretch the pouch, eating and drinking at the same time. So I say you need to really try to STOP THAT! LOL One poster here said her doctor told her "If you continue drinking and eating the band will fail. Period" That scared her straight. Where did you get your surgery? Maybe you can go to another seminar there? Sounds like the one you attended skipped a lot of stuff that you need to know!