eyevory

I am 6 years post-surgery, but have had 3 years of unfilled time in the middle due to pregnancies. I also lost my doctor, then I moved to another state. I am currently filled, have lost almost 100 pounds total, but struggling and have another 100 to lose. Have acid reflux and am worried I have a slippage or stretched pouch. I am looking for a new doctor in Ann Arbor (where I live) or Dearborn (where I work) or somewhere in between. Someone who makes face-to-face appointments. Please post any reccomendations, or thoughts about Dr. Jonathan Fink in Ann Arbor or Dr. Daniel Bacal in Dearborn I would also be interested in support groups, meeting for coffee, etc. with other bandsters. Thanks!

My surgery was before the changes in the credit market. But, for what it is worth: I was self-pay. I used care credit. My total cost was about $14,000.00. I asked a lot of questions at the hospital and asked to be released at 23 hours so I was not charged for an overnight. I think I checked in for surgery at 7 am, stayed that night, and then they "checked me out" at 6:30 a.m. but let me stay until 10 am or so until my doctor made his rounds. My doctor was at the Wish Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, but it closed a few years ago

I have seen Dr. Andre Nunn in Ypsilanti for fills 3 times. I am really disappointed though. I have never actually met the man. The appointments are scheduled with a nurse who does everything herself, including the fills. I don't feel like she really answers my questions. I feel like I am put into the patient machine and am "one of the fat patients" and not a real person. They do have weekly support groups at that office though. I haven't tried them, but they may be what you are looking for. I am considering an appointment with Dr. Jonathan Finks at the U of M in Ann Arbor to see if that works out better for me.

Carrie, I am in Saline and noticed you said you had your band done at the U of M. Do they have a support group there? I recently relocated to Michigan and need to connect with some bandsters.

Has anyone gone to the Barix Clinic in Ypsilanti (Forest Health Medical Center)? I have a band but I need an adjustment doctor. The other option I am considering is the U of M's program but I understand they are new to lapbands. Any lap band support groups in the Ann Arbor area?

I love Luna bars and the 1 oz ones are great for bandsters. Good Protein and Vitamins and yummy. I can't believe this deal on amazon... [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Variety-Chocolate-Caramel-Brownie-1-Ounce/dp/B0019MSTO2/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1220580616&sr=8-1]Amazon.com: Luna Minis, variety pack (Nuts Over chocolate, S'mores, & Caramel Nut Brownie), 1-Ounce Bars (Pack of 36): Health & Personal Care[/ame] It's certainly "bulk" buying but good deal if you need a work or school or purse snack. I keep them in my car too so I can have a small snack if I need.

It is a clearance, it says it is 95% off!

Sidenote: ugh, this website just ate my thoughtful response. Let's see if I can recreate : Yes, I believe you can get a fill if you are pregnant. In fact, you can just leave it filled if you aren't having issues. My doctor said there was no need to unfill for pregnancy or breastfeeding unless I wanted to unfill for some other reason. I had mine unfilled for each pregnancy because I was sick and didn't want to deal with it. Yes you will eat more than you were so you may gain weight. Just be reasonable and try to eat veggies and drink your Water, like you should be for the baby anyway. Maybe try the gestational diabetes diet if you are gaining too much. You can lose it after the baby comes, try not to stress it.

I can feel the port if I want to, but it's definitely not in the way if I want to lay down.

For fills, I always lay on the table and feel around with my hand to find the port myself to give the doctor some guidance. I joke about having a target tattoo, lol. He usually does a numbing shot. Then, I do a crunch (lift shoulders off table) and he finds port and sticks it. When I have had trouble, he put a pillow under my back to arch my back. Once he hit the side of the port and bent the needle, but I don't think it was a big deal, I trusted that surgeon. I think it is supposed to get easier when there is less flab in the way!

what is "sliming?"

SHM, I agree! Thanks for your post. I love these forums! :biggrin:

After a few months, I don't see how smoke could effect a bandster any differently. HOWEVER, I would be very careful about substituting other comfort for the food you used to eat. Especially in this early stage. The lap band is only a physical tool, you need to be aware of your psychological food issues and grow in this process or you will be back at square one. If you want to smoke (or drink or use prescription drugs) because you are itching to soothe yourself with food, I would not do it. Let yourself feel every step of this process and be open to what comes up. But if it's just a social one time thing I don't think it's a big deal.

Wow, such a range of costs! I was a self-pay for surgery and have always been self-pay for fills. I am looking for a fill doctor (in Ann Arbor, Michigan area) and the only place I can get a quote from (Dr. Nunn) told me $300 for first one and $150 each additional. OUCH! I hope at that cost he will give me the amount of fill I want and not play the .5-cc-at-a-time game.

I got pregnant with my first child a year or so after my surgery. I was down about 50 pounds. I got unfilled because I was sick sick sick. I gained 30 pounds. I got an adjustment 2 months after she was born and continued to lose. I got pregnant with my second child about a year later. Again I unfilled because I was heaving every day and worried about misplacing the band. I gained 20 pounds and have already lost it (I am unbanded, the baby is 3 months old). I plan on having an adjustment next month. My doctor told me that nursing shouldn't be a problem banded.

I too get headaches if I am not drinking enough water. It's a simple solution worth a try.

Oh yeah, the seatbelt is on my list too! I know these aren't new or unique reasons, but I think it helps to say them out loud to have clear intentions and I am too embarrased to say them to people in person.

Here are my reasons, how about you? To be there for my kids and watch them grow up and have grandkids Better sex life To be able to keep up with my kids To be able to fit on rides at Walt Disney World To be able to go hiking To not have to worry when I am going to get diabetes or other health problems To not have to worry if I die if there will be a coffin big enough To buy clothes because I like them, not because they are the one pair in the store that fit To not be ashamed of having a family picture taken If not now then when?

Can anyone list the contact info for Dr. Finks? I googled but there are several Dr. Finks. Thanks!

The Barix Clinic told me they aren't taking patients for fills only :thumbup:

Nevermind, Barix said they aren't taking new patients for adjustments only.

Hi everyone. First I want to say that the night I found this website I really cried. I don't know a single other person with a lapband and I didn't realize how much I needed support and understanding like this. yay. I have been browsing posts for a couple weeks and thought I would jump in and share about myself and get all those intro questions out there. My name is Rebecca, I am 30 years old. I currently live in Saline, Michigan (near Ann Arbor) and am married with 2 children. I am an attorney but currently at home with my babies. Why am I so fat? In my head I know it is because I consume more calories than I expend. right. Apparently so does every female on both sides of my family. I think I use food as a comfort and a stress management tool. When I see my daughter reach for her binky for comfort I realize its just like me with a snickers bar. Without an almost constant influx of Snacks (even healthy ones) I feel out of control. I basically gained 20 or so pounds every year since I was a teenager. There was a period from when I was about 18-23 that I drank fountain drink Pepsi almost nonstop and ate complete garbage. At that point I had some success with weight watchers. I also spent a lot of time at the gym (with my new husband - working out is his "thing") but I never really felt like that helped. I feel a real disconnect with my body. I never know if the weight I am lifting is enough or too much. I never know if I have done enough cardio. I can talk myself into 1 minute being too much. My first year of law school I think I gained 40 pounds. It was a stressful time for me and I managed in every way that I could. If heroin had been available to me I think I would have used that. At the end of my first year of law school I began to go on job interviews and felt more judged than I ever had before. I noticed people walk on the other side of the hallway when I was coming (really? I am not going to take up that much room!) I knew that I had to do something - if not for my health or vanity than because it was going to be necessary to succeed professionally. I wanted surgery. My Surgery - I had my surgery at the Wish Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. (no, it is no longer there). Dr. Hanafy was my doctor, although he broke his hand the day before and a doctor from the Seattle Wish Center did my actual surgery. I had it done laproscopically. I have a 10 ml band. My pre-op weight (the highest of my lifetime) was 369.5. Three Hundred Sixty Nine and One-Half Pounds! I am 5'10. My BMI was 55. My surgery was on November 19, 2004. I self-paid through a payment plan because insurance denied me. I think the principal was about $14,000.00. (as a note, I had first tried to have surgery in March of 2003 from Dr. Legrand Belnap. I was denied by my insurance because I did not have a history of medical issues (i.e. I don't go to the doctor when my back or knees hurt because I know why they hurt). Also, to be honest, I didn't feel comfortable with that doctor. He gave me a breast exam that I thought was unnecessary and a bit predatorialish and there was a weird energy there). After surgery I was all gung-ho to only eat 1/2 cup of food at a time, drink Water throughout the day but not 1/2 before or after eating. I bought these little rubbermaid cups that were 1/2 cup to use as my dishes. I stopped drinking carbonation and alcohol. I strictly followed the liquids/then squishies/then softies regiment. I remember the first few days drinking the exact amount of Protein shake every two hours because I was worried about getting enough protein to recover quickly. I was in my second year of law school and had a five-day break for thanksgiving and I couldn't miss any other days. Post-Surgery - I lost twenty pounds the first two weeks. I was thrilled. But once I reached the eat-1/2 cup of solid food stage everything went downhill. I would eat one-half cup of food and then I was hungry and distracted within an hour, which was annoying and frustrating. My doctor would only do 1/2 cc of fill at a time. It did not work. I lost my willpower and began to eat more so that I could function in my life. (it is also annoying when you are a self-pay because you pay for adjustments!) I did reach a point at about 2.5 cc that my stomach became irritated and I could only drink liquids so I immediately had it taken back down to 2 ccs. At 2 ccs I was not full after 1/2 cup of food. But what is full? I don't think I really knew if I was full or not. Maybe I was just not psychologically satisfied with that amount of food. There was also the issue of: this is my lunch hour, I have to eat now and I won't have time to eat again in one hour so I better eat as much as I can. My husband called my lapband my "bulimia button" because it operated to make me throw up at will, not really to restrict my eating. I knew no one else with a lap band and felt isolated and alone and frustrated. Oh yeah and the Wish Center closed and my doctor moved away so I had no doctor either. The other doctors around would not see me unless I paid an "enrollment fee" and went through a bunch of preliminary B.S. I lost about fifty pounds in the first year and 1/2. Then I became preganant with my first baby - a suprise. (I don't think I could have become pregnant unless I lost that weight). I was really sick and throwing up and worried about displacing the band. I had a doctor reduce the lapband back to no fill. That baby is two years old now. I did have a fill after the baby, but had it reduced again when I was pregnant with my second for the same reasons. My second baby is three months old now. Where I am now: Currently, my lap band is not filled. I gained about 20 pounds in my second pregnancy and have lost that in the last three months. I have been counting calories and breastfeeding. I calculated my Base Metabolic Rate (BMR) and subtracted 1000 so that I would have a deficiet of 7000 calories per week. 3500 calories = 1 pounds so if I eat 7000 less than my BMR I should lose 2 pounds a week. I did not account for the approximately 500 calories needed to make breastmilk. I try to be active and take my 2 year old and baby to the park and such regularly but I don't account for that in my calorie goals. So I try to eat under 2000 calories a day and it seems to be working. I am currently at 327, I think 320 has been my lowest post-lapband weight. I am thinking about getting a fill and giving the lap band a try. There is a Barix Clinic in Ypsilanti and I hope they will give me a fill without making me pay a lot to enroll in a program. I hope to get support from this website and look forward to connecting with more of you. I want to be a bandster, I just feel like a wanna-be My links: http://www.myspace.com/eyevoryshiny my myspace, updated pretty regularly http://www.flickr.com/photos/rebeccarandom my pictures at flickr I will try to post a before and current when I get a chance.