Elisabethsew

Congratulations on getting the band and it's good to hear you're healing fast. Personally, there is no way I could do a full liquid diet for more than 2 weeks and it was very hard to stick to it the last few days post-op but I managed and was more than ready for "real" food by then. I think as more research is done on the band, the surgeons will come to more of a concensus on what constitutes the "best" post-op diet plan. Until then, it's best to follow what the surgeon YOU have recommends.

Losing Girl, Don't worry about where other people started and just focus on you. I am a year younger than you, the same height and was 351 pounds before my surgery. Like you, out of nowhere I was hit with bilateral pulmonary embolisms in January of this year. That delayed my surgery but I was determined to get healthy and finally got banded. Unlike many people, I felt no restriction at all from the band after the first week of surgery and then felt the same after my first fill. FINALLY, on fill number 2 I understood the purpose of the band. While not dieting, I am now enjoying a healthy eating plan and losing at the rate the surgeon expected. Good luck with the seminar.

Congratulations on being banded. If you're allowed to eat yogurt, it sounds like you're on a FULL liquid (clear soups, tomato soup, yogurt, pudding, shakes, etc.). Make an appt. to see ONE nutritionist and follow the plan she/he advises. Have a speedy recovery.

My insurance payed for the band and 90 days of free after-care. Visits for fills after the 90 days cost a co-pay of $35 on my plan. As for most of the comments being negative, what have you been reading? Most people here would opt to have the surgery again and don't regret their decision to be banded. Keep the appt. with your MD and ask a lot of questions. Get all your options on all the surgeries available and then do more research. When you're informed, you'll make the best decision for you.

Are you diabetic? Reduced gastric motility is sometimes a problem if you're diabetic.

Zofran (anti-nausea) is now available sub-lingually. You place it under your tongue and it dissolves in a few seconds and is essentially tasteless. The drawback is that it's very expensive but my MD gave me a Rx for 10 pills that I keep in case I do get a stomach flu.

Welcome, Cathy! You'll find a lot of good info here. I hope your recovery is progressing smoothly.

Hi Ladies, Fills are NOT painful and you don't have any pre-fill prep. After the fill, you'll likely be given a piece of paper that instructs you on what to eat post-fill. For me it was full fluids for 24 hours, a soft diet the next 24 hours and then normal foods. You'll be asked to drink some water after the fill which takes about 10 minutes. Afterwards, you might have a small bruise at the port site from the needle stick.

From a medical standpoint, colon cleansing are NOT necessary and could cause electrolyte imbalances (loss of potassium). If you want a healthy colon, stay well hydrated, eat fruits and veggies, get in fiber in the form of whole grains and stick to a low fat diet.

Be careful with a first fill. If you're already having restriction and a PB with no fill, you might be one of the lucky few who doesn't need a restriction. As long as the weight is coming off, you might want to reconsider a fill.

Have a blast, ladies!

I think you need 2 things... a small fill AND to stop making bad food choices. A fill won't do anything is you're eating bad foods that can easily slide past the band. You can do it, toss out all the crap in the house and get some healthy food in it's place.

I hope by the time you read this you're both well on the road to recovery. Let us know how it went.

For me, the wait was for the actual surgery time. I completed all the requirements for the surgery but the surgeon is popular and does about 5 cases a day (over 1500 lapband surgeries). Therefore, surgery bookings were 6-8 weeks wait time. It took 3 months from consult to surgery and THAT included fighting the first insurance company's refusal to approve me.

I enjoyed "Silence of the Lambs" and the old classic, "To Kill a Mockingbird."

The father AND the daughter are both 400 pounds. Clearly, the father needs help as much as the daughter does. The mother is a normal weight and obviously sat there not supporting her daughter. Sounds like the family dynamics are VERY dysfunctional.

It sounds like you're ready for another fill! Call your surgeon.

I had bilateral pulmonary emboli in January and was placed on Coumadin. Genetic testing showed I was positive for a gene called MTHFR 2 which predisposes me to blood clots. Therefore, I came off Coumadin before surgery and took Lovinox injections twice a day until I could go back on the Coumadin 3 days post-op. If you have no history of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or blood clots in your lungs (PEs's), I see no reason to take heparin injections post-op. You're up and moving a few hours after surgery and have compression booties or stockings on until you get up... including during the surgery.

Anesthesia is not stored in the fat cells and the effects vary from person to person but they certainly don't persist for a month. I would say that, for the majority of people, anesthesia effects are history by day 3-5.

If a hospital wishes to receive medicaid and medicare reimbursement they HAVE to be JCAHO certified. In New York, over 70% of the patient population "fits" this category so you'd be hard pressed to find a hospital here that is not JCAHO certified. Also, 2 years ago the JCAHO changed their way of doing inspections in response to public complaints that hospitals could "fix things" if they knew when a site inspection was planned. Consequently, just like the Board of Health, the JCAHO can come in ANYTIME UNANNOUNCED.

I had pulmonary emboli (both lungs) and had to go off Coumadin for the surgery. They gave me lovinox injections 3 days prior to surgery and for 2 days after the surgery and I did fine.

I went to the orthopedic surgeon begging for arthoscopic surgery for my knee to "buy me some time." He looked at the x-rays and the MRI and told me it would be unethical for him to do anything BUT a total knee replacement and that arthoscopic surgery would not produce any relief. So, my reward when I get close to goal from the band surgery is to have a total knee replacement. LOL. I hope you recover quickly AND get results from the knee surgery. While others say recovery from band surgery is no big deal, it took me a good 10 days to feel human again. Of course, at 46 with a heart condition, I did not expect the recovery that a 20 year old has. Be well.

You started out at a relatively low weight and have lost close to 10% of your body weight already. Does your surgeon have a dietician? If not, it might be a good idea to spend the money for one who knows the requirements of lapband patients and can review what you're eating now and make suggestions for improvements.

I'm glad your experience was a positive one. I think I was more afraid of the fill than the surgery but I've had 2 now and it's really no big deal. I got restriction on fill #2 so ENJOY!

I know when I am in clothes that fit nicely and have my hair and make-up fixed nicely, I feel good and exude a positive attitude. Just because I'm fat does not mean I can't myself look as presentable as possible.