susan1961

Carol, I'm in Sacramento as well but had my surgery in Fresno, as a self pay. Just be sure you have a plan for your aftercare if you get the band in Mexico. It was a bit of a trick to find the services locally for my 'before' care (the dietician and psych evals) and I'm still driving to Fresno for my fills (preference, I haven't really looked locally, but it is my perception that there aren't too many games in town).

There are some great threads on here about what to eat.. I think one of them is titled 'what did you eat today?'. I'm a moderate pace loser: I had my surgery 7 weeks ago and have lost 21 lbs since then. I calculated by daily calorie burn based upon my weight and moderate activity level as 2400 calories per day, so my goal is to be negative by 1000 calories per day (intake thus 1400 cals). This should equate to a loss of 2 lbs per week and I'm just about on target (weight loss was greater in the very beginning when on liquids). Typical day: Breakfast is yogurt or oatmeal and a soy latte lunch is a Lean Cuisine Snack is either an Odwalla Protein drink, another yogurt, or a little Dole fruit cup dinner is meat and a vegetable Evening snack is a handful of nuts I've gotten some great ideas for meals on this site. One of my favorites was 'crustless pizza': I would take italian sausage and pepperoni and put it in a container with sauce and LF mozzarella cheese and heat. Delicious! Also do burritos without the tortilla by mixing Beans, some meat, salsa, a little cheese, and guacamole. Very satisfying. In this stage, before you have restriction, it's sort of like being on a diet in that you will be hungry and it does require will power. The good news is you can look forward to your first fill taking over some of the work. Best wishes and congrats on the 15lbs!

Are you on any medications that could affect your sex drive or the body's response to sex? The SSRI antidepressants (Prozac and cousins) are notorious for causing anorgasmia (can't orgasm) and this is a frequent reason folks stop them.

Aspirin is related to the NSAIDS (ibuprofen, etc) and all of these drugs, aspirin included, can interfere with the stomach lining's protective mechanisms. They increase the likelihood of erosion or ulceration of the gastric lining. I don't know if there is evidence of an increased rate of erosion in band patients who use these medications or if these medications are avoided based only on the theoretical risk. The effects are dose related and have nothing to do with the size of the pill. The risks of a baby aspirin a day, for example, taken for cardio-protection, would be less than that of high dose ibuprofen taken 3 or 4 times a day. I was told not to use these medications, and I haven't. I miss my motrin!! Talking to your surgeon is the right thing to do.

With a BMI of less than 35 it is extremely unlikely insurance will cover. I was in same situation when i had my band (BMI 32-33) and my doc said no insurer will cover in that range. The research I did supported that. I paid cash.

If your port is easily accessible it really isn't necessary; infiltrating the numbing medicine hurts more than an in and out with the needle to do the actual procedure. I had 2 amniocenteses (bigger needle, threw whole abdominal wall and uterine wall) without numbing medicine for just that reason. Now, if they are going to have to dig around and take multiple pokes, it's probably worth it to get numbed.

There was a Sex in the City episode that touched on this topic... the point was that guys often like to be touched in that area (which IS an erogenous zone) but don't like to admit it (and my theory there is that that's because of association of that area with homosexuality, and the general homophobia of men). I'm not surprised that many guys aren't answering.... though I wish they would since i'm curious.

Until age 45 I was one of what I call 'the fit fat'; healthy as a horse and very active. At around 45 the weight started creeping up from overweight to obese, the cholesterol and BP went up, it became harder to lose weight when I wanted to, exercise was harder, and I saw the writing on the wall. You'll probably be 400lbs by age 50... with medical problems galore. Sounds like your doctor is concerned for your health- and I bet with good reason. If you want to lose weight and get healthy look into WLS... if you don't, it'll be a waste of time and money. Best wishes, whatever you decide.

I read many but not all of the posts on this thread.... but haven't seen one that said: I was fat because I quit smoking, and replaced the soothing effect of cigarettes with the soothing effects of food. I wasn't heavy until my 30's (unless you count the freshman 15 that I was able to lose just be stopping the beer drinking for a few weeks, or the 10lbs I wanted to lose so I could wear a size 4 instead of a size 6 wedding dress). Somewhere around 15% of women who quit smoking gain 50lbs or more; that was me.

Lactose intolerance is common after banding, for reasons not well understood. I never had flatulance until I became lactose intolerant. Probably easiest thing to do is try Lactaid or similar product with any dairy you have and see if that solves the problem.

Part of banding is getting your head around the difference between feeling satisfied and feeling full. YOu really don't want to be full. Eating until full got us into this mess. Full doesn't really feel good with the band. We have to learn that not being hungry is enough... the little bit of time you still have to wait is small in comparison to the rest of your life as a non-obese patient. Hang in there!

I am with Jacqui. I would not go to in-person meetings. When I did WW I would go, pay my money, weigh in, and leave. I can get what I need on line. I have found this site very helpful, and if I can't find what I need here I can find it somewhere else. I am not a patient person, and I don't have a lot of free time, so this way I can get what I want when I want it. I hate the idea of sitting listening to stuff that's not relevant to me, or to people I don't feel like listening to (enough of that at work!) Here, I take what I want, ignore what I don't.

My sense is that it depends much more on the person than the time frame. Some folks will have gotten very informed before that first consult..... others could have a lifetime to get informed, and still be woefully ignorant. I spent over 2 years thinking about it and researching it before seeing the surgeon....then 5 months between first visit and the actual surgery. My doc makes everyone actually take a test before he will agree to band them. The test reflects the educational materials they provide about pros and cons of different surgeries, possible complications, etc. It does, not, however, teach you much about the little stuff, for which this site is an invaluable resource.

I was allowed to do cardio right away, and was riding 20 miles on my bike within 2 weeks. I was told 4 weeks for weight lifting and for pilates, which is intense ab work. At 5 weeks, I'd be surprised if your surgeon advocated any activity restrictions at all.

I miss the ease of fast food- I don't actually miss the food, mind you, just the ease of 'grab and go' eating, which fit more easily into a busy life. Now I have to think more before I eat, and there are fewer quick options.

I will add a wrinkle..... The device industry has not received the same scrutiny that the pharma industry has in terms of interactions with physicians, including lucrative interactions that might encourage a surgeon to use one product over another for reasons other than clearly demonstrated superiority. Often being a 'consultant' means that you have been wined and dined and trained in a gorgeous locale, then paid handsomely to 'educate' others, in an attempt to entice you to use a given product over a competitors product. I would be sure to ask my surgeon not only which product he prefers, but why. Conflicts of interest run amok, nowadays much more so with devices than with pharmaceuticals. I am disturbed that someone saw fit to 'out' rockbandster by revealing his/her place of employment and professional role there. While the poster may be annoying, I think we all have the right to expect personal privacy on this site. And I do have an MD after my name.

The pain related to my port was just like that- it extended out inches from the port, toward the actual band, and had a real burning/tearing quality that was different from the incision pain. They dissect through the tissues to run the port tubing, and then tack things down, so it didn't surprise me. I just took meds (initially Vicodin, after that tylenol) and in a few weeks it was gone.

Sometimes fast food is unavoidable in my life. McDonalds: fruit and yogurt parfait Jack in the box: their chicken strips are fine for me Subway: will make any of their sandwiches into a salad. With red wine vinegar, it's delish One of these days I'll try an In and Out Burger Protein style (no bun, patty wrapped in lettuce) My local burrito place will make any burrito into a burrito bowl, no tortilla. I ask them to go light on the rice. And Lean Cuisine is my best friend. : )

I have gotten stuck a handful of times. I have never vomited or PB'ed or slimed. When I get stuck I just get a very unpleasant pain in the middle of my chest, a much worse version of the mild discomfort I get if I start eating too quickly. It is difficult to swallow during these episodes, though I have been able to do so. My episodes have never lasted more than 5 minutes but that 5 minutes feels like a lifetime. It makes enough of an impression that I have not eaten any of the things that got stuck, again, and am not sure if I ever will.

I am a huge massage fan. Right after surgery I went daily for a short neck/shoulders/foot massage.... was a great treat and helped me deal with the restless/head hunger feeling I confronted right afterward. I wasn't ready for a lie on my belly full body massage for about 3 weeks. No limitations now.

Mine was $19K: $10K for the hospital and anesthesiologist, $8K for the surgeon, and about $1000 for other miscellaneous charges. I consider it an excellent investment in myself. : )

Concur that this is likely a neuroma. I had no choice but to stop doing elliptical as mine progressed from only being symptomatic after 20 minutes to bugging me all the time, even when I wasn't on the machine. Changing your weight distribution or seeing a podiatrist to construct an insert that splays the toes, and wearing a shoe with a wider toe box, can sometimes help.

This post may make me unpopular, but here goes: I think the language we use reflects the over-importance those with weight issues have given to food. I frequently see language on this site like 'starving', 'dying of hunger', etc. I think part of what the liquids phase and bandster hell phase should give us is reassurance that hunger is ... JUST HUNGER. It's not a life-threatening condition. None of us are in any danger of starving to death. There are no serious ill effects from short term calorie deprivation. We need to be stronger than the hunger. In the short term we should be able to just work through it. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. I can't remember her name, but one weight loss expert used to make her clients go six or 8 hours without eating- not every day but ONCE- and fat people would be terrified of the hunger, but would live through it and learn from it. When I feel uncomfortably hungry, my technique is to remind myself of the millions of people for whom this is their normal state of being, because they are chronically hungry due to poverty. When I frame it that way it really doesn't seem like that big a deal. I know my body would like some food, but I also know it will be just fine if it doesn't get it right now.

You will be sedated for the procedure. You will need a driver with you or they won't do it. You will likely be told you shouldn't drive all day due to potential residual sedative effects. I wouldn't plan on working. It doesn't hurt.

Paracetamol = acetaminophen = tylenol So do NOT take paracetamol if you're already taking the max dose of tylenol. Many people don't know that this drug can cause serious liver damage in excessive doses. You can wiki it- it's the number one drug OD, often unintentional, in US and UK. So... no paracetamol on top of the tylenol. And no ibuprofen. Which means you may need to ask your doctor for a mild narcotic if the usual dose of tylenol isn't sufficient. Take care.