2muchfun

Yeah, I'm confused by your post too? Do they consider the hiatal hernia an elective surgery therefore you must pay for it? Be careful, I saw someone just a few days ago who was billed about $7,000 by the doc to fix her hernia. And why will you lose your job?

And your surgeon doesn't know of any nutritionists in your area? I'd look for bariatric support groups in your area? You can call other bariatric docs and ask them who they recommend, or if they know of any support groups? Someone in the support groups will know of someone. I just googled nutritionists here in Denver and there seems to be a network of nuts/dietiticians I can call? You're right about finding one who understands all aspects of WLS. I had one 3 years ago who didn't know diddly squat about the band. Re: Insurance. Call up the insurance hotline. They'll know and be able to direct you to nuts/diets who take your insurance.

I'm sure your doctor knows best but sounds like you could use a very small unfill. I see so many folks here with bands so tight they eventually evolve into a slip or dilated pouch or esophagus. food should only stay in your pouch for one minute. If it's still there 4 hours later, that's a problem. tmf

I agree with all of the above statements. I just wish doctors would filter their lapband patients more carefully. Maybe using a psychologist with extensive WLS knowledge to advise these patients as to how complex WLS can be. Especially how complex the lapband experience can be. I'm not saying it's complex for everyone, but for those who do not succeed, the complexities overwhelm them. Many of the obese who never understood basic nutrition and how their health interacts with nutrition and activity, should never be introduced to the lapband. But so many were and are sold on the lapband as a quick fix that makes them eat less. So not true. Sorry for the rant. tmf

Why do you have to drink your protein?

"My issue is my inability to lose weight" This describes 99.9% of the people on this forum. I agree with Cowgirl. WLS works for most but not all. Some people can't let go of their security blanket(food) so they sabotage even WLS. It can be done with any of the WLS techniques and it doesn't take much imagination to find the work arounds. Here's a quick video from a doctor and this is how he advises his patients: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VmvWFu79Ik#t=99 tmf

IMO, no, not at all. As long as you're not feeling full and especially excessively full, no harm, no foul. That's only 8 ozs an hour. You should drink when you're thirsty. One caveat, I'm assuming your doctor's protocol allows blended foods at this stage of your recovery?

My wife is in healthcare and even she was biased against WLS. Nurses worlds are filled with the "glass is half empty" scenarios. Healthy people don't fill hospital beds but fat, sick people do. Sniff(SNF or skilled nursing facilities) beds often have patients who have had Bypass surgery and often need to be tube fed but can't be fed this way due to WLS. Therefore, the attitude or bias against WLS develops.

Well said. I suffer from morning tightness, so any tighter and I'd be in danger of filtering out many of the good Proteins I need. I keep my band just tight or loose enough that I don't have to rely on a shake for Breakfast. I can eat an omelet, or an ham/egg on flatbread sandwich. I've seen far too many people who have failed and had to have revision due to what I would consider a "too tight" band. They're posting here daily where they did so well for 2 years and now their band slipped or their pouch or esophagus is dilated. They're tired of the stuck episodes and constant vomiting. If this is how your journey is developing, it's time to re-evaluate how this lapband thing is supposed to work. And I do believe, for many years, the band was sold as a restrictive tool. And many use it this way. It's not restrictive. It's supposed to assuage our hunger, not stop food from going into our stomach. I would like more restriction, but it's just not worth the risk. I plan on using this band for at least a decade. I may not have the restriction I've seen so many others have, but, my band is dimming my appetite enough that I can still lose weight if I exercise hard and eat healthy. tmf

Most all of us were very hungry till we got the fill/adjustment that gave us enough restriction to feel satisfied with smaller portions. Till then it's just another diet. What we all ate will be different. Most of us followed our doctors orders/program and each doctor has a different program. I've seen some people who were on liquids for 30 days. Check your own program to make sure you follow your doctors script. tmf

You're a sleever right? You should post this over on the sleeve forum. You're on the lap-band forum now.

Yes it's this way but I wouldn't call it slow? The math for losing weight just doesn't support much more than 4-8 lbs a month for lapbanders. Many if not most banders would love to lose 42 lbs in 4 1/2 months btw.

That probably won't happen. Your stomach is going through a lot of trauma and you(and doctor) don't want anything getting stuck causing the sutures to rip away from your stomach taking the band with them. And, no one, not even your surgeon knows how much swelling your pouch/stomach will produce over the following week. So, I'm not your doctor, but what you ask for is highly unlikely. The best you can expect is to get your first fill under flouro. Your profile says sleeve though???

"ive heard some pretty bad things like slow weightloss...or no weightloss or bands getting stuck etc" You could experience slow weight loss with any of the WLS but usually the band is slower. No weight loss would mean you're not following the rules or your band is not tight enough or you fall into a group of banders who fail the band or the band failed them. Getting stuck means you've eaten too fast or eaten too big and food is backing up in your pouch or esophagus. We're not there to hear how the band was sold to you so not sure what your expectations might be? The band does not stop you from eating too much if that's what you want to do. The band is more of a voluntary means of eating less. The band helps people feel satisfied(satiety) with smaller portions. It requires you to eat a healthy diet. Unfortunately, about 34% of people who have the band are not successful. About 5% have their bands removed. Some of these people lose much less than they hope simply because they never feel the satiety. It's hard to say why it's this way? Most of us have/had an eating disorder and it's my belief that many of these people eat right past the satiety signals and some never feel those signals. Having said that, I'll take a 66% chance of success over the 0% chance I had with dieting.

Are you feeling the satiety signals yet? If you're eating too much, you may be missing the signals to stop eating. Signals like: hiccups yawning cough runny nose food is no longer appealing Try stopping at 1 cup of food. You don't need to eat everything on your plate. I've learned how much food I can eat before I'm feeling satisfied and try to place only that amount on my plate. It's a learning experience and you have a lifetime of bad eating habits that must be undone, so be patient, it will come.

You'll get a lot of responses on this one. This is not the time to look for weight loss. It's a time to heal. Even after you heal you may not lose weight every day, week or even every month. Your body just went through a major surgery and was traumatized more than you know. They also pumped your body with saline and antibiotics so it will take several days/weeks to recover.

So, can you eat normal food in the morning instead of a shake? Or, just have a shake with sugar(or fructose) in it? It only adds about 80 calories and in the short run should not make a difference. That way you can eliminate the shake with artificial sweeteners as the culprit?

And, is this your PCP or bariatric doctor?

Why and when do you still drink shakes? Some people are tight in the mornings and it's the only food they can get down?

Your link isn't operative? Wow, you've been lurking here since 2007? You win the procrastinator title

We've talked about this subject here many times. Not about people falling, but how we want to pour our heart out to that morbidly obese person in the grocery store on the store supplied electric cart or the heavy breather walking up the steps in the mall. It's a hard one and we all agree that it's not appropriate to offer unwanted advice. So unfortunate!

I miss my 12' turkey on whole wheat subway. I loved the 12" turkey on whole wheat with every veggie they had and double the jalapenos.

oooooo, speak French to me

Most of the 1.4 lbs were in that beer moustache

Lean on us for any questions that pop in your mind. We're here for ya!!