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My name is Helen and I was banded on 10/5/2008. I have lost about 45lbs. pre and post surgery. I am having some challenges and would love to find someone local or national that I can either talk with or email. I am a divorced 43 year old interior designer with no children. I have my own business and I am addicted to reality shows, fashion ( shopping, not so much anymore since the economy is so down) books, politics and traveling. I have tried losing weight on my own for most of my life and finally made the decision to get banded. I am gratefull that the procedure has gone so well overall even with the few glitches I have had. I have about 100 lbs to go for my goal weight and I am hoping that by this time next year, I will be close. I strongly believe that having the support or a fellow bandster to go through the process of the banding and the weight loss is one of the key ingredients to success and have not found anyone yet. I would love to hear from anyone interested in finding a buddy or another person to mentor. Helen:rolleyes2:

I did not have to do this for the lapband since I paid cash but when I wanted to get the gastric bypass, my insurance company made me go through this. They want to see if you can lose weight the conventional way before they approve your surgery. Helen

I did not know that. Thanks for the info. I wonder though why anyone would put in more than the recommended amount.

You are going to feel that for several months. I still have twinges now and then.

I had my surgery in September and I saw the Lapband sample in July. He showed me the product and showed me how it works. I remember seeing that it went all the way around because he pointed it out. Allergan, the company who sells the lapband has a really good reputation and I have been really happy with my results. Maybe it would be a good idea to see both of them in person. Helen

That is really weird. I have never heard of a 4cc band before. I thought the smallest one was 10 cc. If you do have a 4 cc band and you also have 3 1/2 cc already in, how did the new doctor put in 1 1/2 cc more? The math does not work. There is something going on. You may need to call your original surgeon and ask some questions.

I know how discouraged you can feel after surgery when you are not eating very much but your body is resisting the weight loss. If you body is really resisting losing weight, you may need to increase your calories to about 1200 calories to fool your body into thinking that you are not trying to lose weight. I have done this for a week at a time and I always find that the following week, I lose weight faster. My dietician told me to also make sure my food intake is high in protein, low in carb and especially low in sodium. You may be retaining water.

Their Soups are pretty good. The hot and sour Soup goes down pretty well. I also like to order the spicy tofu because it is really soft. I usually order this and add about two ounces of their rice. This becomes three good meals for me. Helen

I think the goal of getting on a treadmill is to make sure you get a good workout for a good length of time. My trainer told me that to get an optimal workout, I have to do a steady walk with my heart rate at 135 -140 for at least 30 minutes. I started at 10 minutes and now I am up to 40 minutes a day and I am able to walk very fast. One day, I may be able to do a run for 30 minutes and be able to keep my heartrate to 135.

Everyone is a little different but I had pain in my port for about 6 weeks. There was also swelling and a hardness like a baseball for about three weeks and also a lot of bruising. As long as the area is not pink and hot to the touch, you should be okay. Helen

TQUAD64 is correct. You should do a lot of research. I chose the Lap Band because the innertubing where the saline goes is totally circular without any breaks which means that your stomach will not get pinched or caught in one area. I have also seen on this website that a lot of the complaints come from the Realize band. Helen

If you have insurance, I would suggest you ask your doctor to submit to them before trying it on your own. If your insurance does not cover this typ of procedure, you will find out pretty fast. If you do end of paying for this on your own, your surgeon should have a program for financing. I was approved in 30 seconds for 15k. I ended up paying for it out of pocket but financing is a good alternative and the monthly payments are as low as $190 a month. Hope this helps. Helen

My doctor told me this is a permanent surgery unless there are complications. I guess you can have it removed one day but why would you if it helps you to control your weight. Helen

I have been banded since September and am grateful for it every minute. I have lost 54 lbs so far and I am on my way to a healthy body. I did a lot of research on the internet. You may want to search the sites for your area and once you have found a few doctors, research them to see who has a great record and who is the leader in your town for bariatric surgery. I researched and narrowed it down to two doctors and then went to each of their seminars. Once I met with them for a consult, I had a pretty good idea of who I wanted to go with. I also researched the type of band they were using and the type of surgery they perform. I went with the doctor that used "LapBand" because I found that it had a great success record, and performed the surgery laproscopically. I have four 1/2" incisions and 1 1/2" incision and he used a type of "crazy glue" on the incision to close them up so I could shower the very first day. I am a firm believer in research and knowledge. I hope you Quest turns out great! H

I don't think you have to worry about losing weight until your sugeon tells you to. He will probably ask you to lose weight for a period of time right before your sugery so your liver will be nice and small for the surgery. In regards to gaining weight, it may actually help your case with the insurance company. H

Congrats on your surgery! Welcome to the family and make sure you drink plenty of Water to keep hydrated. H

I think sticking to a routine really helps. Plan out your meals ahead of time and make sure you get your snack times in a well. I went on a low car diet once I was able to eat and I did pretty well. I went about 3 hours between snacks and meals and kept my calorie intake to 1000 calories.

Okay. Take a deep breath and really think this through. Do you want to get healthy? Do you want to be able to run and not be out of breath? Do you want to go shopping and not go to the plus size section? Do you want to become more active? Do you want to live long and healthy enough to play with your grandchildren? I payed cash for my surgery as well and I have not regretted it for a minute. I have been banded since 9/5 and I have never been happier. You have to realize that this is for your health. You need to make yourself healthy. My dad has diabetes and believe me, you do not want to age with diabetes. I have lost about 50 lbs and I am more mobile, I have tons of energy and my life has changed. Your life will change too. H

I asked my doctor about this because I am very tender when I have my flo. He said it should not affect it at all. Maybe everyone is a little different?

It sounds like you have been banded tight. After my fill, my doctor told me two days of liquids followed by one week of mushies. Did your doctor give you any special instructions? I think chicken is really hard to digest so you may want to start with something softer.

I found that variety is the key. You will get bored pretty easily with just one flavor so if you can afford it, make sure you find several different flavors to choose from for each meal. I also like to make mine taste like milk shakes. There is a brand at GNC called Max Protein. They have a flavor called "Cookies and cream". I like to use a scoop of that with 1/2 a banana and a cup of ice all blended together. You won't believe how good it tastes. H

I found in most cases once a decision is made and the patient informs the doctor, the doctor's office submits the request. Most doctors know the process each insurance company requires from a patient. You may want to check with your physician first. If you are going to a center where they specialize in lapband surgeries, they will help you through the whole process and fill out all the paperwork for you.

I recently met with my dietician because I was not losing weight at a steady pace. She says that a low carb, high Protein diet is the best. I am still eating mushy foods since my last fill so I either eat an egg lightly scrambled with a little salsa or 2 tablespoons of low fat cottage cheese with a teaspon of low sugar strawberry preserves. Both of these meals are around 110 calories and pretty filling. For lunch, I usually eat a cup of Soup that I make on the weekends using low fat meat and lots of vegetables. The soup is about 300 calories. For dinner I eat one lean cuisine. There are many choices out there and they are not too bad. I find myself not finishing the whole meal so I always start with the vegetables first. This meal is usually about 300 calories. I then have a snack before bed. I eat Kozy's Tapioca pudding with Splenda. I just found this snack and I love it. It has only 90 calories. All these together keeps me under 900 calories. This should keep me at a steady pace of 2 to 3 lbs of weight loss a week. Hope this helps. Helen

I checked into financing and ended up paying cash but my doctor offered Care Credit at 0% interest for 18 months. Most doctors can pay into the financing for you so you can get a good rate. You should check with your doctor on what programs they offer.

Here is my experience. The part in your post where you talk about having trouble digesting your food and have the slimy stuff come back up? That is your restriction. You have a hard time digesting because that is where your band is and it is restricted. It is really hard for some of us to figure this out because we are expecting to be able to eat a certain amount of food but at the beginning we are only supposed to be eating about 2 ounces of food. As we get used to our restrictions and bands, we can increase our intake because we are getting used to eating smaller portions and we are chewing really well. It takes me at least 15 minutes now to eat 6 ounces of food where before my surgery, I can eat 6 ounces in 3 - 4 minutes. I hope this info helps. Helen