alcambra

Oh that is good that your appointment is early. You will not get trumped by surgerys that ALWAYS makes Dr. Akkary to run behind. Therefore you may luck out and get out of there pretty quick. You don't live far from Morgantown. I lived at Cheat Lake for about 20 years and now live closer to Fairmont. I live about 20 minutes from WVU. But work just across the street for the hospital, so that makes it nice for Dr appointments. Good luck on finding someone to do your psyc evaluation. Please keep me posted.

Ask as many questions as you like. I will try to answer them. How long did the process take? Well, it took a LONG time because I began the process under another Dr. (Dr. Longie) he left WVU and they did not have a Dr to do the Lapband. I waited over a year. But now things go pretty quick.A lot depends on your insurance. So that questions is one that I am unable to give you a good answer. How often do I see Dr. Akkary? After you meet with him in March you may not see him again until you get closer to your surgery date. Then you will see him between 1-2 weeks after surgery as a follow up. Then your first fill is about 4 weeks after surgery then about every six weeks you will see him either for a fill or a follow up. More often than not you will also see Ann during those visits. Does he do the fills? Yes, he is the only one that has done my fills. I can tell you this Dr. Akkay and his staff are all about making your Journey successful. Oh yeah if you haven't started an exersice program you should think about starting one. If you just begin walking a little each day and keep record of that. Hope this information is helpful. What time is your appointment if you don't mind me asking. You may want to plan on being there for a while! Tresa

aliciaj, I am from Morgantown, I had my surgery done by Dr. Akkary at WVU. I want to tell you that he is SOOOOOO AWESOME! We just love him. (my husband thinks he is so cooool) He will take the time to talk with you and make sure you uderstand what is happening. He also has a wonderful bedside manner. You will meet with Ann the dietician she will help you a lot. She is SO BIG on keeping food logs. (so start keeping those logs) You will also work Dorrine in the insurance department she is great to work with. Best wishes on your adventure!

Hello On my Way, I am also about 3 month out from my banding. My personal position on taking pictures is, I took a few the day of my surgery and then take the same “poses” on the anniversary day each month. (oh yeah I also wear the same clothes as I did the day of surgery) You will be SO surprised how much you change. I will not look at the pictures until AFTER my husband puts them on the computer next to the previous pictures. THEN he will tell me the changes that I don’t see. After reviewing them then they are filed until next month, so I will not keep obsessing on the images. Also keep in mind that each of us are different and all loose our weight at different rates. Good luck!

Try putting your hand in ice water for several minutes (I know BRRRRRRR) this may help. You can also try holding your hand up over your head for several minutes. The suggestions from luluc should also help! Good luck!

Hello, To answer your questions:confused:... Based on my experience… Does it hurt? No. You may fill a little pressure when the Doc is looking for your port. The doc pushes in your port area to locate the port. What do they give you to kill the pain? The doctor will give you shot in the port area to numb the area. Like you get when you are having dental work done. Do they knock you out? No they do not know you out. They will do the fill as an office visit. The Doctor will put saline in the band while you drink small amounts of Water. How long does it take? It takes about 10 minutes from start to finish. Then you need to hang in the office while you drink water to a make sure it going through your band. You maybe a little sore and a little bruising the next day around your port area. BUT nothing that will keep you from your daily activities. I have my fill done and go back to work. Easy as 1,2, 3. Hope this helps. Tresa

I take 2 chewable Flinstones Complete and Caltrate chewables.

I was glued. You will not rip open. Just don't over due it. I also had some spoting around the larger incision, I just put a band-aid on the incision and it was fine. As momcof3 said DO NOT PICK at the glue it it come off by its self. RELAX it will be fine. Good luck.

I use The Daily Plate on LIVESTRONG.com - Calorie Counter, Weight Loss, food Calorie Counter, Nutrition Facts | LIVESTRONG.COM You can track of your Calories and exercise. Plus the search for any food, restaurant or by brand is pretty good. Good Luck! :laugh:

Cassy, I WAS taking Wellbutrin before my surgery. Unfortunately, this medication can NOT be crushed because it is a TIME release medication. Since this medication is time released it is not available in liquid. You should talk with your prescribing Dr. to see if you can take some other type of medication for a while. My Dr. gave prescribed Prozac until I am able to take pills or tablets again. The Prozac can be opened an taken. They are not to bad to get down. I would take the Prozac with Water and then take my chewable Vitamins to “kill” the taste of the meds. As restless said if the med is not to large you can take smaller dosage. However, the pills are not small enough to take post op. Good luck in your journey and hope this will help you.

I am in the same boat. I had my first fill experienced the same thing. I also asked the same questions you are asking. The responses I have received that it may take several fills before we hit the “sweet spot” I understand that when a fill is done that it causes swelling and that is why we feel restriction at first then when the swelling goes down then we are hungry and the food will go through faster therefore able to eat more. I have scheduled my second fill for this Thursday. When I called the Dr. office they asked if I was hungry? I told them yes so they told me I need another fill. :cursing: We just need to be patient. :thumbdown: Best wishes

Hello, I am 8 week post OP. I have had one fill on 9/11/08. I have made another appointment for another fill this Thursday. My Since this a new experience for me WHAT:confused: exactly should I feel when the Dr. does the fill. At my first fill when the fill was happening, and I was drinking water I felt that I was going to toss my cookies and the Dr removed some of the fill. While in the office I felt it a little restriction when I done the water drinking test. However, the next day I was back to eating normal food and do not feel full. I understand that it may take several fills to hit the sweet spot. Did I do something wrong at the fill? Can someone tell me what or how to know that the fill is going to provide me with restriction? Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions. :thumbup:

I take Clatrate. They come in a several flavors and are chewable.

I also live in the US, my Psyc Evals as RestlessMonkey and Elayne stated they just want to make sure that you will use the lapband as a tool. My evaluation was a combo of RestlessMonkey and Elayne comments. Just be honest! Good luck.

:thumbup:Congratulations! WAY TO GOOOOOOOOO! That is JUST great! :teeth_smile:

kdlee I am from Morgantown and had my psych eval at WVU. You are right it was 4 hours that we will never get back. I do understand why they do them but....give me a break! I did ask the doc if he would just tell me the "right" answers so we could move on.

WELLLLLL, let me just say the psych eval is a BIG pain in .. (whatever part you want to put in the blank) My psych eval took almost 4 hours! By the time it came the "testing" part I was ready to scream! SOOOOO I began answering the questions and by the time I was 1/2 way into the test I thought how many times can you ask the SAME question? I just filled in the dots. Without reading the questions. Then when the results came back I also got the LOOKS. I can't say I failed but I had to go to several appts before they would give me the OK. As the Doc told me they are there to help you not judge you. I am sorry you requested to do part of the test again. Just do it and answer to the best of your ability. I also agree that one day you feel one way and the next diffent. Good luck.

Everyone is different. I did not gain the first two weeks (hell week as it is called by many) of real food. I was very careful and watched my cal intake. I lost 6 lbs the first two week when starting back on real food. And have continued to lose about 3lbs per week. But let me tell you... you will be ready to eat the kitchen table. Keep drinking the protien drinks it will help with the hunger.

I also went back to work the following week after my banding. I did not have any issues. You will want to walk and not sit for long periods of time. Good luck.

After much research and lots of soul searching. I decided the risk and the thought of having my insides moved around (re-plumbing) the Lapband was for me. I also agree with RestlessMonkey comments. Good luck!

CONGRATS SanDiegoPhotog! Keep up the good work. :biggrin: Don't be shy about your weight loss. We all work hard to meet our goals. I do just as JB is doing. I just say I lost or on my way to losing a......

Yes I had an upper GI the day after my surgery. My doc does this to make sure that everything is working correct. If you have an upper GI you will be required to drink crap the tastes YUCKY! But not tooooooo bad.:confused: Also if you do have the test make SURE YOU DO NOT DRINK through a straw! The X-ray person is used to having everyone drink the stuff through a straw. If you do you will have GAS! You will just sip a little of the YUCKY stuff and they will take x-rays to make sure your band is in place and that stuff will move ok. The test is not bad at all. The test takes about 10 minutes and there is NO PREP! GOOD LUCK and Congrats on your up coming banding. :thumbup:

Leighann, I am soooooo sorry that your husband and mom are not supprtive. As many has replyed you will find A LOT of suuport on Lapbandtalk.com. I know that just reading some of post are very hellpful and suportive. REMEMBER the lapband is a TOOL. You can do this if you feel it is right for YOU!

Hello ALL, OH my goodness, you don't have to tell me about being hungry! As a matter of fact last night I sat at the kitchen table and cried. When they say this is HELL :thumbup: before your first fill (mine is not until 9/11) they are not kidding. As my husband tells me over and over hang in there YOU CAN DO IT! Today was a better day. Just keep telling yourself it will get better. I also found out if I keep myself busy doing something and not thinking about food it helps! Keep drinking Water and protien drinks. GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF US!:party:

Thank you! I thought I was going die! However I am still kicking. Later in the evening I did not have the pain. BUT this AM is was back once. LOVE THAT GAS! :biggrin: I feel better knowing that someone else is having the same issue.