stylist43

i will be having my first fill as of 02.11 and my dr. said at my first follow up appt. that he would be using the flouroscopy for my first fill because i have a lot of belly fat around where he put the port so he wanted to make sure he gets it the first time.

i was banded on 12.31.08 and have lost roughly 10lbs since then. i'm trying as hard as i can to stick to my diet that was given to me by the nutritionist, but i'm just so hungry all the time! i know that will get somewhat better with my first fill which is scheduled for 02.11 I have gotten sick twice now after eating too fast and not chewing well enough. the first was on Pasta which is a no-no anyway and the second was on thin sliced ham. it was more than just a pb too; i threw up everything that i had eaten. that had to be one of the most painful expierences that i have ever had! it hurt so bad that i know that i won't let myself do that again. i too am looking forward to my lap band journey...i'm excited for what the future holds for me as well as everyone else :thumbup:

i take flintstone's complete chewables as my dr recommended :huh2:

i was banded on 12.31 and i had the same exact thoughts and feelings that you do. i totally regreted it at the time and thought about going back to see if they could take it out. well here it is a little over a week later and i'm doing so much better! i'm still not totally 100% but definitely something that is liveable. I'm assuming by next week at this time I should be pretty close to back to normal. hang in there, girl! you just need to give it a little time which i know is easier said than done, but believe me it gets tons better and it will so be worth it! :thumbs_up:

i did a lot of research online and through books and decided that this was the right procedure for me as i have been obese pretty much my whole life. i called my insurance company and they said that they wouldn't cover the surgery because i had an individual plan and not a group plan. nice. i actually then set up an appt. with the surgeon because i knew there would be a wait to get into one. during that wait i made an appt. with my regular dr. to make sure he would be ok with it. he was and sent a letter of recommendation to the surgeon. i had my consult with the surgeon on 12.10 and he thought that i was a perfect candidate for it and i didn't have any addtional testing because i had just had an upper endoscopy done the year before for my heartburn and there was no cancer so he didn't think that needed to be done again. he also didn't think an ekg was necessary since i was so young. since i was self pay the hospital required the entire amount up front for the surgery, over night hospital stay, and dietician visit. that total was $19,650. that includes my first 2 fills and 2 months worth of dietician visits. my surgery was 12.31 so it only took me 3 weeks start to finish. hope this helps :thumbup:

hi tiffany! not sure if i'll be much help to you as i was just banded on 12.31, but i would love to help you out in any way possible. i guess by doing hair i know how it is to be surrounded by skinny people all day who really don't what it's like to be 200+ lbs. so i know what you're going through. let me know if there's anything that i can do to help you :thumbup:

thanks all for the wonderful advice...i'm definitely going to go get some protein water and see if that makes a difference. i can't wait to feel "normal" again lol

how long was it until the hunger and pain subsided? just a week or closer to two?

hang in there girl...we're all in this together! just think how hot you are going to be in that bathing suit in july! :wink_smile: lol its things like that that i think of to keep me motivated

i guess that i was aware of what it would be like the first couple weeks because of what others had told me. i'm just hungry for more than cream soups and yogurtl. lol i'd love to have even a little tuna or a banana...just something soft that will keep me fuller longer. i actually have fairly good restriction now (i'm sure so of it from swelling from surgery) and i talked to my nurse today and she said that they put 2cc during surgery and my next fill should be in march.

sure i'm in! i know that i need all of the help that i can get...lol i was banded 12.31 and am also in bandster hell :wink_smile: i'm hungry all the time and my body and belly ache. right about now is when i'm questioning whether or not i should have had this done at all. I'm sure 6 mos. from now I'll be singing a different tune lol but for now it stinks :thumbup: lol

Hello! I just have a few questions about my post op diet :thumbup: 1. Does anyone else have problems with milk products? Im thinking that's what made me sick to my stomach for awhile this morning. 2. Does anyone eat baby food as part of their post op diet? I'm on my full liquids now until 14th and on my list from my surgeon I have cream Soups, yogurt etc. and baby food is more liquid than yogurt so I was wondering if anyone has done this just to change up the taste a little. 3. What Protein drinks do you all find to work the best? Thanks so much! :thumbup:

the tingling between the shoulder blades sounds like what my doctor told me expect with gas. When I met with one of the nurses for a pre-op class she showed me this picture of how they get rid of gas at the hospital just in case they needed to do it to me while i was still out of it. they make you lay on your belly and keep your head and shoulders down and put your backside in the air....lol i can't imagine how it looks, but i guess it's supposed to work! :thumbup:

we're the same age and i'm getting banded next wednesday! i'm sure that you've got nothing to worry about and you'll do great! good luck to you! :thumbup:

i was told that it didn't matter what (pills, shots, patches, rings, etc.) just as long as it was something.

hi all...just curious if there is anyone else out there getting banded on new years eve i'm ready to kick off new years with a new me haha :tongue2:

i'm doing mine self pay and i was charged in the neighborhood of $20,000 for mine. That includes the surgeon charges, assistant charges, overnight stay in the hospital, and nutrition classes at the hospital. That also included my first follow up/fill visit. After that, I'll have to pay more for those. The only stinky part for me is that because I'm self pay the hospital that I'm having it done at required me to pay the entire amount up front so I'm not able to make payments on it. That's something that I would check on if you know you're insurance is only covering part of it. I know that there are places online that you can go and be approved pretty much instantly for a loan or credit. Capital One has a good health loan. Another place i've heard of is carecredit.com. i hope that it all works out for you :tongue2:

i think your legs look slimmer and you have a more defined bottom hehe keep up the excellent work...you're doing great! :tongue2:

i know! lol i figured this would be the perfect way for me to kick off 2009 :thumbup:

i found out today that my surgery has been moved to December 31, 2008...happy new year! lol i'm still going to call myself a new year's hottie :thumbup:

i just found out today that my surgery will be january 7th! i'm so excited! :blushing:

good luck to you! it sounds like you are on the the right track...keep up all of the good work :wink2:

Hello everyone! My name is Andrea and I'm a newbie here. I'm actually meeting with my surgeon today to discuss my weight loss surgery options. I'm very nervous/excited to hear what he has to say. I'm currently 24 years old, 5'5" and 264lbs. From what I've read and heard I should make a good candidate for this surgery and I'm hoping that my surgeon feels the same way as I've tired WW and Curves programs with no success. I'm really hoping he'll have good news for me...think of me today :tt1:

great news...my appointment with my surgeon went well and agreed to do my surgery! i'm going in monday to finalize everything and will get my surgery date...woo hoo! :wink2:

good luck to you! i hope it all goes well for you :tt1: