Elisabethsew

I have known Dr. Geiss professionally (I'm an RN) for MANY years. Since he's done so many lapband procedures (well over 1000) and has a great reputation, I had no problem choosing him as my surgeon. When is your surgery date?

The link you provided has been deleted so it appears spam does get flushed as soon as it's discovered.

Before you start scheduling tests, call your surgeon's office and ask how current they want tests to be. Some want test results to be within 3 months of the surgery and you don't want to have to do them twice.

My MD required the medifast shakes also. I paid extra for the ready to drink (RTD) shakes and found the chocolate flavor to be quite good.

You might want to try out LITE ricotta cheese. 4 ounces has 140 calories and 10g protein. It's my favorite breakfast!

I doubt you'll get insurance approval in the U.S. if you are only 55 pounds overweight. Many people have been banded in Mexico with good results but they accept U.S. insurance so you'll need to self-pay. Good luck in your research.

I am assuming you did not have any bad blockages of the common bile duct because there is no medical reason (or surgical) to wait 2 years after heart bypass for gallbladder removal. Having worked in open heart surgery, and now orienting others there, we've sent several people back to the OR to have their gallbladders out a week after bypass surgery (even those with low ejection fractions). Bottom line: If you have symptoms of gallbladder disease, go to the hospital, have a sonogram and a DISIDA (HIDA) scan, and if you're blocked with stones, they'll schedule surgery.

Productive Burp!

I used to love pizza but, since being banded, I don't crave it and would rather "use" those calories eating something healthier and more satisfying.

We have a new item in the freezer section called Freedom frozen treats... creamsickles, fudge pops and 2 kinds of ice-cream cups that are all sugar-free and fat-free. The fudge pops are huge and 80 calories. The cups are 130 calories.

I had my gallbladder out 4 years ago and can tolerate any foods. The purpose of the gallbladder is to store bile. When you take in a high fat food or meal, the body signals the gallbladder to release bile to help digest the fats. Once the gallbladder is no longer there. The common bile duct constantly drips bile right into the gut. So, if you have a very fatty food or meal, you have no reserve of bile. For some people, this results in GI distress, diarrhea, etc. I hope that helps and that you're recovering well.

It would make life a lot easier if surgeons told patients that the inamed port is exactly same (and made by inamed) as a mediport. Remember the word, MEDIPORT. In my hospital, I teach critical care nurses, oncology nurses and IV nurses how to access these ports. Since almost all hospitals have patients with mediports, letting the MD know it's the same exact port might help with getting you the person who can truly help unfill a lapband port.

I'm realistic about my ability to lose weight and think 8 pounds a month on average is about right. That would mean 40 more pounds off for Christmas... my 100% favorite holiday.

I need a total left knee replacement so, naturally, my weight shifts to the "good" leg. Over the past 5 months, the pain in my heel has been awful. I contemplated getting an x-ray (thinking I had a stress fracture) but what's the point when I can't take weight off the "good" because of the left knee? Talk about a Catch-22 situation. I look forward to what others suggest. As for stretching, it helps the tendon but NOT the heel pain in my case.

Sparkpeople is MUCH easier to record your dietary intake with. I used fitday for over a year and dropped it once I found sparkpeople.

Get up and MOVE! You're having gas pains and the only things that help are moving, bending, staying hydrated, weaning off narcotic pain meds (tylenol is fine) and anti-gas meds.

As an RN I can tell you that most OB/GYNs want the band totally unfilled for the last 5 months of the pregnancy. Check and see what YOURS wants and go with that advice.

My surgeon has no pre-fill requirements. After the fill I had to drink 4 oz of water at a normal pace and was instructed to do full fluids for a day, soft foods for the next day and then progress to solids.

You might have been feeling the effects of some tissue swelling. Hang in there as sometimes it takes 1-2 weeks for a fill to "kick-in."

Shread it and then put it in small sandwich size baggies and freeze it. You can use it anytime you need some shreaded cheese.

There are a lot of success stories so focus on them. Congratulations on being banded.

You are definitely in my thoughts and prayers. Ask the MD's to do a hypercoagulability work-up on you. I had bilater pulmonary embolisms and testing revealed I was positive for MTHFR 2 which causes abnormal clotting. Keep on posted on your progress.

Get on the phone, gas the car, and get back to the surgeon's office. If you can't easily swallow liquids, you're filled too much and excessive vomiting could cause a slip that might lead to band removal. Don't wait to call!

I did not feel restriction until the second fill and go back for a check next week (4 weeks after fill #2). I am going to discuss getting a tiny fill at that time.

Since you're crafty, why not decorate a nice basket and then put in things for the entire staff. You could do poupouri sachets for the staff bathroom, little pins for staff to wear on labcoats, memo pads with colorful banners, gourmet coffees (medical people LOVE coffee), some boxed crackers and cookies, hard candies in little dishes, etc.