Julia_N

They're made by different manufacturers. I believe the Realize band is a little wider and doesn't hold as much saline as the Lap Band. As for preference, I depends on which one your doctor uses. Mine is also a Lap Band instructor and has done lots of procedures and that's the band he uses. Perhaps someone who has the Realize band can chime in here.

OK, it was probably only a coincidence, but I'd been stalled since the 8/18, actually went up a tiny bit. I haven't had my first fill yet. I'd been eating high protein, 60g-80g a day, but only about 700 calories. And I mostly felt full. But yesterday, I was extra hungry and my tuna lunch was a little smaller than usual, so I searched for some crackers for dipping. Couldn't find crackers in the vending machine, but I got some low-fat pretzels. Used them for dipping the tuna salad and felt really full. Had a normal dinner. Ended up with more than 900 calories for the day. That night my blood sugar was closer to normal than it had been in a while. And this morning I was down 1.4 pounds. Yay! The moral of the story? Eat pretzels! OK, probably not. But at least the regular pretzels are better than the chocolate-dipped ones I used to eat.

In the middle of my six-month preop diet I got pneumonia, was hospitalized 8 days, and missed checking in one month. When I went back, I just resumed where I was, and only had to make up the extra time at the end. If I had a record of weight in the hospital, it would have counted, but I didn't get weighed. And it was a different hospital from where I got the surgery. But I'm sure every insurance company is different. Mine's Aetna. Good luck!

Oh, I didn't think the Propofol was dangerous, since I was surrounded by medical personnel. It certainly did its job. I didn't wake up until recovery, and it felt like no time had passed. When I had anesthesia the first time, when I was 4, almost 50 years ago, they just put an ether mask over my face. I had just seen "The Time Machine" and thought it was a chorus of morlocks. Tonsils removed and ice cream followed.

I didn't realize they used anesthesia gas. I got a shot and was out by the count of 4. It felt icy and burning at the same time. I thought it might be the same stuff that killed Michael Jackson.

I started this when I was 52 and just got banded. I had most of the co-morbidities and was taking 12 meds a day, including insulin. I've been able to get rid of most of them. You're never too old to get healthy. I'm going to age anyway; might as well do it with a smaller butt!

My doctor has you stay overnight because the next day, you get an upper GI -- at least that's the procedure here. I was able to see my band on a fluoroscope. I went home in the late afternoon, after a course of IV antibiotics.

I bounced back pretty quickly. I came out of anesthesia with little fogginess and was walking the halls that night. I had surgery on 7/31 and was back to work 8/5. I had very little pain and was driving and shopping the day after I got home, although. I didn't lift anything heavy. But, of course, everyone's different. Good luck with your surgery!

I had Greek yogurt for the first time today, for lunch. I mixed in some splenda and apricot-peach baby food. Was pretty tasty. I'm going to puree some fruit next time to add to it.

I was on metformin, avandia, and 40 units of lantus before surgery. When I started the 2-day all-liquid preop, my numbers were low enough that I didn't need any meds. During my hospital stay, they gave me small doses of insulin. After I got home Aug. 1, my readings were good enough that I didn't need any of my diabetes meds. However, in the past few days, my numbers have creeped up enough that I'm adding back the avandia. I have the kind of type 2 that disappears as I lose weight. Previously when I lost a lot of weight through Weight Watchers, I was able to stop all the diabetes meds. But had to add them back as I gained the weight back. I'm hoping they'll stay off this time.

Welcome aboard, LadyBug: I, too, had done WW for about 20 years and had various degrees of success. You sound like a good candidate for the band. I had my band placed 2 weeks ago and I feel pretty good. The surgery went easily. I was a little worried about the anesthesia, because that's where problems can occur during surgery, but I woke up just fine. I was walking around later that evening and pretty mobile after that. There's an initial healing time when you get some pains and some gas. It passes. I went back to work five days after surgery and haven't had any problems. I'm a little hungry right now. I just started the mushy phase and I don't have a lot of restriction right now. The important thing is to follow your doctor's orders. The only ones in which my doctor has seen complications are those who continued nsaids when told to stop and had bleeding during sugery. But follow the instructions and you should be fine. Good luck!

Most of my tea is caffeine-free, or very low in caffeine. Sometimes I make a cup of Morning Thunder, which is supercharged. I like my coffee real strong, so too much can give me indigestion. I think that's what my doctor is more concerned with, rather than the caffeine. I do miss those great big Venti mocha lattes -- nonfat, of course.

My doctor wanted me to limit coffee to 16 ounces a day. I find that one good cup in the morning does me fine. I drink a lot of high-quality tea during the day instead and I find that I enjoy that more.

Yeah, it's just a word, but when someone calls you "fat," it carries a lot of negativity to it. I never had to have anyone tell me I'm fat -- I alreay knew.

I should work out the same, drinking or eating. My doctor advises mixing protein powder with foods to increase the protein intake. You're on liquids because your stomach is still healing and those are easier to digest.

I have Aetna and just had surgery. I guess it differs by policy. I had to do a 6-month diet, but no formal exercising. Every month my doctor asked if I was exercising and I would say I was doing 15 minutes of walking. Approval went though on the first try. Good luck!

I took off a week, both pre and post op. I took off the day before surgery to get things in order, had the surgery on a Friday and was back to work on Wednesday. I have a desk job so it's not too strenuous. I actually felt well enough to go back on Monday but it was nice to have a couple of days off.

My doctor wanted me there by 6 a.m. Friday because I was the first one scheduled, at 7:30. Hubby and I got there at 5:20 (it's a 40-mile drive from home). Went to the staging area ... and waited. Since I had to stop taking my hormones 10 days before, I had a hot flash midmorning -- the first one I'd had since stopping the meds. (My hot flashes involve lots of dry heaving -- how pretty!) I found out later that I had gotten bumped to third and didn't get taken to preop staging until 4:30. Surgery was about 5:30. The knocking out was quick. I think I got the same stuff that Michael Jackson used. They started pumping it in and I had an icy-hot sensation in the left side of my body (where the IV was) and I was out in about 4 seconds. Next thing I knew, I was in recovery and had nurses hovering around me as I woke up. They gave me a pillow for holding against my stomach if I coughed. (It has a diagram of the lap band on the stomach.) I think I was in my room by 7:30 or 8. (I know I missed "Jeopardy!") The way my doctor works it, patients get a quickie upper GI the next morning, so nothing by mouth until after. So I had nothing except a couple of sips of Water from Thursday evening until Saturday afternoon. Beef broth never tasted so good! As for pain, it felt like a lot of the others have said, like I did a thousand situps. I took pain meds that night. Got home Saturday afternoon and was moving around the house pretty well. I've had very little pain and the gas hasn't been painful -- just plentiful. I returned to work 5 days after surgery. I could have gone back earlier, but I wanted a little time off. As they say in the ads, your experience may vary. Good luck to all of you facing the knife.

It might depend on which type of Aetna you have. Mine required a 6-month preop diet and lots of consultations, which I was able to complete in a month. I should have gotten banded sooner than I did, but I got pneumonia in February and was delayed a few months. I had paid all my out-of-pocket deductible during the February stay, so I paid nothing for my Lapband procedure. If you've already been dieting and have records of it, such as visits to your doctor for weight loss, then that counts toward your preop diet. Good luck!

I'm a loooongtime Weight Watcher. I was there when the points started, and it was a great changeover the exchanges they used to do. Your allotted points will go down as you lose weight. I don't remember the actual cutoff points. As you become a smaller person, your calorie needs decrease. I think 24 points per day is the lowest level. But whatever you do, if you go the WW message boards or to a meeting, don't mention you had Lap band. They're very anti-WLS over there. I used to be, too, until I found out about the band. Good luck to everyone!

This sounds great. I'm going to try it when I get to solid-food stage.

Hi, Beth. I'm a couple of days post-op. I had some beef stock my first day home and it was rather bland. The next time, I found a container of Trader Joe's beef barley soup with veggies. It had 7g of protein per serving. I heated it in the microwave, then drained out all the liquid and drank that. I was much tastier. I think I'll do that in the future instead of getting plain broth. When I move to the mushy stage, I think I'll puree them. I'm going to try it with some chicken soups. Congrats on your surgery!

You don't have to eat just liquids forever. You'll be onto more regular food soon. The liquids are so your body can heal. My doctor cautioned against solid food too soon because there's a possibility it could dislodge the band if you're not healed enough.

Congrats! A few days after I got my approval letter, my doctor's office called me to attend a final pre-op seminar. It lasted a couple of hours. Then a few weeks later, I had my final pre-op appointment and got the last-minute instructions for going to the hospital. Since my doctor's office is adjacent to the hospital, I went over there and did a pre-registration and some last-minute pre-admission tests -- urine, blood, EKG, and a couple of chest X-rays. I didn't expect to do all the pre-admission stuff and I ended up spending most of a day there, instead of the time it usually takes for an appointment. Glad I was able to do that instead of at 5:30 a.m., which is my report time. Good luck!

I had to have some drawn when I was in the hospital with pneumonia. They took it at the wrist and it hurt like a bastard. The bruise lasted for weeks. Perhaps they draw it so they can measure the oxygen levels. And my blood was purple.