Spendi

Well I sure wouldn't be complaining! :biggrin: It probably is the combination of more restriction and working out though. I recently (finally lol) started working out regularly and it was a helpful jump start ending the stall I'd been in. I've had trouble with restriction (10 cc's in a 12 band) so really the only weight loss was the initial post-op. The restriction is much better now though and the working out really does make a difference!

I was banded on 10/10/08 and pretty much lost 30 lbs. right away. I put off fills forever looking for a good price and then there was the holidays etc... but I managed to at least maintain. I didn't get my first fill of 4 cc's until 04/27/09. Nothing. Got another 2 cc's yesterday in a 12 cc band and still kinda nothing. I do feel really bruised in my diaphram area though and I'm hoping it's just a muscular thing and not complications. I'm back on liquids just in case. :crying:

You did this for a reason. Stop doubting yourself. Look at the stats., I don't see many major weight loss people who keep it off on other plans. That's why I did it. IMO, you made the right choice.

Desk job here too and I had surgery on a Friday and went back to work on Tuesday. I could have gone in on Monday but I'd already taken the day off because I wasn't sure what to expect. I felt fine.

I used to get a grande frappuccino with an add shot and no whipped cream. Now, I get nothing. :w00t: Sorry, I am of no help but here's where you can look up the nutrition/calories stuff. :drool: starbucks

Chamomille tea is pretty good. There's always broth too but I imagine you'll be drinking plenty of that in the beginning and probably never want to even look at it again.

I had sashimi last Friday. I love sushi also. At first I thought it might be kind of gross to have to chew the hell out of a piece of raw fish (it kind of was) but it was good. I ordered sashimi instead of a roll because I thought I could do without the rice but my lunch came with a side of rice anyway. I never eat rice but I wanted to feel full again so I took my leftover soy/wasabi mixture, dumped it on the rice and ate almost the whole thing! :cursing:

I didn't end up going under the knife until almost 7:30 pm following the midnight fasting thing. Consider yourself lucky! The girl that was at the airport with me the day of surgery didn't go in until after me and that was around 10:00! I think the reason they kept giving us Xanax to put under our tongue was to keep us drugged up so we wouldn't start bitching. It pretty much worked lol.

I'm not in the mood for sweet stuff much in the morning so I've been having a boiled egg and/or a Morning Star breakfast patty (it' fake sausage). Works for me but by lunch time I am for sure hungry. I haven't been snacking inbetween meals.

I've not heard of that either. In fact, just to get more kick out of what little I am eating, I always have a few bulbs of roasted garlic in the fridge to spread on some fish or whatever. Homemade Emeril's Essence is a good quickie too.

I've never read anything but positive things about Dr. K, plus he has package deals that include fills I think. Either that or the fill prices are greatly reduced for his patients. Sometimes I wish I would have gone to Denver myself. I don't know anything about the other doc. Good luck on your decision.

Margarita mix has never sat well with me. I always thought it was the citrus content or something. It makes my throat feel hot which I always thought was a type of reflux or heartburn. Maybe just stick with tequila shots and a lime chaser. :rolleyes2:

How do you all afford this? I didn't get a package deal w/ fills because I went to TJ and had zero plans on going back. I seriously considered the sleeve after a lot of reading about fills/unfills here and was told by my patient coordinator that I'd probably need 3 or so over the course of a year and that would be that. I was surprised that he was talking me out of a sleeve because it was his commission but whatever. I went ahead with the band. I am looking at $425-$450 a pop for fills! I think even if I decided to fly somewhere else for a cheaper place,and say I even bought a package deal from some place like FillCenters, it would still probably work out about the same, just add in having to take time off work. I read about people getting unfilled and think oh hell no, not after I just spent 450 bucks. Do you have to pay the same for an unfill? I just don't know if I can afford to have a fill or unfill every few weeks or so. I was offered a package deal from a place in my area. $2k for a year of fills. I didn't think I would need to spend that much but after all the reading I've done, I think I might. Has anyone who is self pay had their fills covered by their FSA plans? At least then I could buy the package deal in Jan. when I elect coverage for the year and then pay it off out of my check pre-tax for the rest of the year. :Dancing_wub: Well, that was pretty long but I've just really been wondering all this! :Dancing_sorry:

It is nice to be reimbursed right away for medical expenses then just have a little bit taken out of your check at a time. Plus it's pre-tax. I use it for all my Dr. co-pays, prescriptions, heck even Tylenol. Last year I only elected $500 but this year I think I'm going for a lot more to pay for all these dang fills! Kind of like an interest free loan! :smile2:

I felt pretty good rather quickly but it did take about three weeks to not feel discomfort from sitting at my desk all day.

I've seen it once before. Very sad. It's probably wrong of me but I can't help but feel angry towards the enablers that let situations like this escalate to out of control proportions. Most of the people we see on TV are bed-ridden so they certainly aren't cooking for themselves or making their own Micky D's runs. Someone has to have allowed this to continue if they cannot care for themselves and has to know they are helping kill their loved one. I've no one to blame but myself of course because I am mobile, but dang, I don't know. I just don't think I could help someone stay that way.

I don't have much of a sweet tooth so SF treats or protien drinks weren't/aren't in my diet. I lived off a lot of broth! I did make some SF jello for the clear liquid stage. It's been in my fridge for a month now lol. Think I''ll toss that. Trader Joe's makes some decent pureed soups in the box. Campbells V-8 soups aren't bad either. I try to stick to low sodium and just use a salt substitute if it needs a kick though. I don't know if it counts for liquid but I've read of people watering down mashed potatoes. I'm not much of a cook I guess you can tell.

Well, go update your ticker then! :thumbup: Mine only includes since surgery, which was 10/10.

Thank you for your reply, Tony. I am in San Francisco. Have been quoted by both Dr. Feng and LapSF. They are pretty comparable. Being in a major city, I thought I would have more choices but not really! Bummer!

If you can't eat much, just push stuff around on the plate and chat a lot.

Yes it's normal. You will hopefully feel better in a few days but I'm surprised that you aren't on a clear liquid diet. Most docs. require clear liquids for at least the first few days, some up to two weeks post-op.

I was told I'd have a Realize band and that the difference was pretty much that one was a low pressure band and the other was a high pressure band (no clue what that means). When I was given my gastric band info. card so that I could register at the J&J site etc... it says Obtech. From my understanding that it owned by J&J so I'm not really sure if it's considered the same as Realize.

I don't get my first fill until early Dec. either but I'll pretty much be sticking to turkey and gravy. :tongue2: I've thought about trying to go somewhere else that can do my fill sooner actually. The past two nights have been pretty rough, I can't imagine what Thanksgiving's going to be like!

I was just wondering about something similar to this. I am also self-pay in Mexico but I wonder if the chunk that I'm going to be shelling out in fills would be covered under my FSA plan. If so, I'm seriously going to up my FSA amount next year!

I'm having a purple Wilma with my lunch. :laugh: