RestlessMonkey

Again, you were SO SMART to call the doc! you really did save yourself a trip to emergency room, and a lot more suffering! Glad to know you're doing better today!

Good! glad you called, sorry you had to go to emergency. Dehydration happens FAST. It is REALLY important to get that 64 oz of water in each day; and as we get dehydrated the band actually gets tighter, so it can become a vicious cycle. Cheers, everyone !

DEV03...Your growling stomach is normal, and most likely so are the "spasms" in your chest. The top of your stomach is almost right between where your breasts are (roughly) so it makes sense you'll feel a little discomfort there. Your "innards" (great scientific term! LOL) aren't used to being moved around and bothered with and they're still complaining. You'll heal and settle down. If you are in pain, though, and worried, call your doc tomorrow!

HH as usual makes a good point. I wanted the band in 2003 when someone I knew got it and lost tons of weight (she had plastic surgery in 2007) However, my insurance wouldn't cover it. And I wasn't SURE enough to pay 15K or whatever for it. And through the ensuing years I would think/rethink about it until by 2008 I was readier than ready and have never looked back. I didn't have post op blues. I didn't mourn the loss of food. I WANTED the band. I am not saying that a person can't come to the same decision way faster than I did! LOL AND I'm not saying that a person who has post op blues was wrong to get the band. But like HH said, if you aren't sure, wait. Think it over. It is reversible but like you'd think no one would get married thinking well I'll dump him/her in a year if it doesn't work, the band is supposed to be for life. Take time; it's a big decision.

Good luck tomorrow! I'll be thinking of you; post when you can!

Good for you! There's also a forum on here for 20's bandsters that you might like. You can probably navigate through here better than me, but if you click on home and then scroll down, you'll find it! I hope you do great; I know you will!

Great! Good start! and call your doc. (get your car into that mechanic LOL) You'll be at goal before you know it!

the only band website I really frequent is this one. AND please...again....interesting though the info is here, and helpful as everyone is and tries to be, that is NO replacement for you seeing your doc, making sure your band is ok/intact/not slipped/not eroded/not leaking, and so on. Ok? Professional medical advice is what you've been missing and what you need. This is supportive, but don't consider it a source for info on how you should live your banded life. Get your doc to help you there, ok?

A PB is a bandster term for "productive burp" which happens thusly: Usually once you have good restriction, but possible any time, if you eat too large a bite, don't chew well enough, or are overfull, the bite of food can't fit through your stoma (hole formed by the band between your "pouch" or upper stomach and your lower stomach) and it has to go somewhere, so it comes back up. The esophagus isn't built to have things just sit there, it's a conveyor belt that likes to move things along. So it will spasm...and if the food doesn't go on through, the body produces a lot of mucous (called slime here) which lubricates the esophagus and offending bolus of food and helps move it up and out. it is different from vomiting in that there are usually no stomach spasms involved, and there is no stomach bile/acid expelled. It can be dangerous if you PB too strongly or too much at first, before your band is healed, and later on even if healed, if you PB a lot (some do it daily as a way of life) it is very hard on your innards and can cause the band to slip. An occasional misstep/PB, however, especially if it happens after you've healed from surgery, isn't really a cause for concern but it should be a lesson to be learned. They are almost always caused by "operator error"...not chewing well, bite too big, or overeating. Occasionally, though, a PB is caused by being too tight (too much fill) and if that's the case, you need to get a little saline removed quickly or risk poor weight loss/weight gain, problems with your band, etc.

If you go to amazon, they have customer reviews and you can pick a couple up-to-date ones that sound like they'll fill the bill for you. Since you already HAVE the band, you probably want something that doesn't really address the "band or not" issue...but there are bunches. Call and find out how much it would be to go back to your w/out insurance. Having a band and not getting followup is like having a car and keeping it parked in the garage. it is pretty much pricey and useless. And just another thought...your surgeon may be great, but if in 2005 he let you get out without any guidelines, even if you WERE 20, I would wonder about him. If you were old enough to get the band, you were old enough to understand it. There are 2 different band manufacturers, and even in '05 different sizes, so you need that info too. Call and have them look it up for you!

Welcome and good luck! The world (and women) will be glad to have you back! Seriously, good for you taking this step. And lucky you aren't unhealthy otherwise; maybe now you won't ever be!

call the office tomorrow, see who's taking your docs calls, tell him/her you can't get 64 oz of fluid down each day and how you feel.

Buy a book! Amazon has tons of them...and if you don't want to pay the shipping etc, get some names then go to a local half-price store. AND...find a new surgeon and go get checked! You may have a slip, you may need an unfill... Good for you taking control! Reading on here is great but much of the "factual info" presented here is actually just anecdotal and what works for a newly banded person may not work for you. Do you know what type band you have, and what size, and how much fill for example? Welcome to 2009...your band will help you lose the rest of the weight (and hey, you're down 70. That's better than gaining, which is what I did every year until the band!)

Find another surgeon/center. Especially in a large city like Phoenix (and it's environs) you have a choice. Use it.

If your insurance does NOT require that program, why not just find another "in network" surgeon? I have insurance and my surgery was done in about 1 month...from seminar to recovery in the hospital. I didn't get my band the 1st time but that was my fault, not the process....

you need to get fluids. For one thing, you need the liquid to help keep your mucous thin. For another, your body needs the liquid to perform properly. If you will make yourself drink, you'll feel better. In fact...going a few days without the Protein will NOT hurt you as much as going a few days without adequate hydration. Seriously...dehydration usually kills before starvation. Odd, isn't it? That liquid is very important. Hydrate yourself.

What foods make you PB? And you can drink up to a few minutes before meals, can't you? What does your surgeon say? PB's are almost always caused by a person eating too much, too large a bite, not chewing well (or eating a food that won't be chewed well) or eating too fast. Are you SURE you aren't doing this? How large are your bites?

Gaining 3.5 pounds would not make your band tight to the point that you can feel it when you breathe. Please just check with your surgeon if you don't feel "normal" by tomorrow. That you are cleared for regular foods already is a little aggressive. Check with him; it's why he gets the big bucks.

You're awesome.

I know! but you know a month from now, you won't think "I WISH I'd stayed home and kept the heating pad on" if you go, but if you don't go, a month from now you may think "I WISH I'd gone to say bye and give my love". ?

Sure! I cheated on my preop diet. I lost 15 pounds anyway. I didn't get the band because my liver hadn't shrunk.

Check with your doc when you get back home and take it easy for the rest of your vacation. If you are only 4 weeks post op, at that point many of us are just moving from mushies to soft foods. A toasted sub doesn't fall in the "soft food" range. Don't know what your post op diet was like but you may have hurt yourself a little. (don't freak! You may just be a little swollen). Just run it by your doc.

You KNOW you should go! (sorry, LOL) but if they are going into the military, this may be your last chance. Hope not, but life is short and uncertain. And the cramps are going to bother you whether you stay home or go. Distraction may do wonders for you!

Since this is apparently worrying you because you've even started another thread about it....here's the link to surgery day stories. PAGES and PAGES of them, enough to satifsy even your immense curiosity! http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f178/surgery-day-stories-64287/

dedumplinz....you keep asking this! LOL Here is PAGES of answers for you! http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f178/surgery-day-stories-64287/