singingintherain

I so wanted to be at the support meeting this week. I thought I had the stomach virus, but it turned out to be an attack of gallstones!!! Only had one other attack like that...horrid pain. I am going to have my upper GI , psych and nutritionist visits Monday. Then I go to see my PCP to see if I really need to have my gall bladder removed. Has anyone ever heard of them doing it in the same procedure as Banding? The method of operation is similar, and I figured I'd get blown up like a balloon only once and have the whole shebang over and done with.

I sit and read your post heidib and I identify..big time. Not Banded , but holding my stomach right now and I think it is that same virus. I do hope you find some pain killers and some anti-nausea meds soon. I have some tucked away in the drawer from last year's episode which sent me to the ER. I don't handle stomach pain very well. Now as for LP...I hear people talking about a pain which is described as a pressure when the food can't get past the band, etc. BUT..does one get stomach pain like the cramping , sick pain of the stomach virus kind?...You know...that duodenal sickly type pain? I can't stand that, and no way will I get Banded if I have to deal with that. I thought I got away with being hit with the bug...guess not.

Hi Babyfat. I am surprised that I missed this thread. Welcome! I am pre band, but in my search for a facility and physician, I registered for the Informational Seminars that the hospitals offer those trying to make a choice and wanting to know more about the procedure and facility. I would suggest looking up the info at the hospital site online and then registering to attend one of their free evening presentations .

Jay...have you seen this thread? http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f178/would-you-do-again-89808/#post1171528

Jay! It's so good to hear from you. I see you are having a tough time and I am hoping that it is something that is just a stage of the process everyone goes through. As a pre band person, I want to ask what it is that is making you feel full of regrets? Do you think it is a tiredness from eating less causing a depression? Jay...YOU HAVE LOST ALMOST 45 LBS!!! THAT IS A BIG DEAL, MY FRIEND AND YOU SHOULD BE PROUD OF THAT! (cummon, big smile, now) :thumbup:

How often do people puke after being banded ? Is it a 'normal' post banding common occurrence?

It 's workin' for ya ! I think that is great. Now you can get through your day w/o exhaustion. Mine was on Boston Ave and my tech was a middle aged man with gray hair named Bob....excellent. Unfortunately I get more sleep at my own home than at that test last night. I'm ready for a good night's sleep w/o wires and glue!

I am glad it tastes a bit better now. I remember it tasting like chalk way back when. I am gonna try my durndest to keep it down because I will just have to drink it all over again if I 'lose it;. My appointments are all on the same day too....were you at the Brig or Faulkner? Well you are making progress steadily but surely.

Hi all! It's almost 7 am and I just got in from my sleep study. The center had 6 rooms and I saw 3 other people there last night. What a night! I had no idea they would be putting quarter sized gobs of putty in my hair to stick the wires and 'nodes' or what ever the sensor thingies are called. So Many wires! Remember Sputnik(if you do you are OLD like me)?!!! It reminded me of that when I glanced in the mirror. A big band around the chest drawn tightly and one around the waist. wires stuck behind ears, on chin on cheeks and temple . And to boot...before they stick them on, and apply the putty, they have to use a pumice like cream to exfoliate those areas.I hope I don't have bald spots; my tech excelled at that! My tech was very professional(a male) and hospitable. The room was just like a hotel room(with bath) with a marshmallow Tempurpedic mattress. The intercom was open all night and of course...that blasted camera directly on the bed. I was shown a CPAP mask 'just in case' and tried it out.. HEY WAIT A MINUTE HERE...I JUST MENTIONED TO THE GOOD DR ROB THAT I SNORED A WEE BIT, NOT THAT I STOPPED BREATHING FROM SLEEP APNEA! After watching a video of the night's procedure and getting roped up for sound I was wished 'sweet dreams' and literally was tucked in!!! Now ya think with all that hospitality and warm fuzzies I'd sleep like a top. WRONG! Awake half the night feeling like a huge roast of beef wrapped up in string..constricted! Finally I got in about 3 hours of REM., woke at 4:45 and up at 5:30 to get the goop out of my hair: Don't bother to go to the salon before, cause the hair is gonna need it big time afterward. One really needs to go home and start from scratch if getting ready for work. He came with a spray bottle of warm water and soaked each of those gobs to soften the putty to get it out. It was like getting gum out of a kid's hair. Finally I said I'd just slap a scarf on my head and finish the job at home. I still have gobs which have now hardened back up. But what a relief to get those wires and belts off. The tech did tell me that the sleep doc would probably ask me to do another test with a CPAP mask on all night because I had a rather sleepless night. I declined. Believe me...leave the wires off and I will sleep like a baby. They really push the CPAP mask..before , during and after. I know it is a life saver to so many..the tech himself is a wearer. So...here I am sipping coffee and getting ready to see what I can do with the gum in my hair. Moral of the story? Never tell a surgeon that you snore a little bit! singingintherain

KUDOS! That day will be here before you even know it. Hey, wonderful weight loss. I still get so hungry(pre-band) and am still only at 8 lbs fo the 10 I have to lose ..another 31/2 weeks to go before I see the good dr R for my second appt and get a date. I hope I don;t gain more from being so ravenous at times. May is just around the corner, when you come to think of it for an operation. Great space to get prepared and shop, get your vacation all planned out, etc. Kudos all 'round, ibelieve.

I also still have questions that get answered as I go along towards each apptmnt. The folks here are great to share their experiences and what they have gathered along the way. Hang in there...they'll get answered bit by bit!

Hi msdollarz! I found that so many of my questions were answered w/o my even asking them when I went to the informational seminar. I won;t call it just a meeting because it was much more than that. Liberty was given to the attendees to direct their questions to the presenters: surgeon, nutritionist and someone in budget/finance dept. Tonight was the one at the Brigh, but Wed there is an info meeting at Beth Israel(pre register)which is really good. This lapbandtalk site has so many boards that you will find tons of info here as well as on those other boards.(I tend to huddle here) If you have not gone to an informational seminar before your initial consult with the surgeon, I would encourage you to find one..you probably can find one this week or next at either Brigh, Tufts(poorly presented and very casual) or Beth Israel....most of the info is the same, but I found the Brigh to be the most informative and well presented.(and most well attended). You can always go to one of these and still have Dr Robinson do your procedure..you won't be obligated to sign anything with the other facilities. It's worth it. Of course the Brigh's support is next week, on the 17th. I was under the understanding that one had to have a BMI of 40 or higher, or at least 35 with 2-3 comorbidities caused by obesity. Perhaps someone else will comment on that for you. Hope to see you next Tues. It will be my second time going. Tomorrow I go for my sleep study in Medford. I will post about it on Wed if any pre Banders are interested in what happens in a sleep study. I never had one before. I guess that's it for today. Hope everyone is enjoying the snow. (I'm not). singingintherain

I have been using Trivita's Sublingual b12 but am finding it so expensive even though good. I used to use it a few years ago and have just started back on it. Does anyone else have a sublingual b12 that they swear by which seems to make a marked difference in their energy?

Not banded..don't even have a Banding date, but do have my appts with psych,upper GI, and nutritionist set up, as well as second appt with Dr R. Hope I can get a date then..it is in April. So very far away. Taking my time losing the 10 lbs between now and then. I have begun drinking Carnation Instant Br. and my body is basking and reveling in all that protein..such a feeling of well being I never had before, because I never ate much protein or dairy. My body is starving for nutritious food. Before I was just depriving it of nutrients and stuffing the carbs. Perpetual hunger. Last night I tried to behave myself and the hunger was horrible in the middle of the night. Ignored it and 'embraced' it as Opra said. Not such a warm embrace,though. LOL Went to the market and found by accident the Kellogg Protein Water Mix packets in abundance in Shaw's. I was searching the wrong aisles..cereal,beverage, coffee, tea. I found it over in the aisle that also has cosmetics/baby formular/ shampoo/lotions/pills. Thanks for recommending that at the last meeting, Yvonne. So much better tasting, for me, than Crystal Light. So if anyone is looking in Shaw's..that's the location. Also got my bill for the $550 fee which must be paid before the date of procedure. No problem there. The problem is...no date! I have not yet heard from a sleep study center for an appt. Was told they would call. But...as usual, I am finding that I probably will have to go after them for an appointment. AAARRRgggh! I hate waiting. At times I crave chocolate candy. But I am finding that one meal of Carnation Inst. chocolate Breakfast with a banana and lactaid milk done up nice and thick with the hand blender satisfies that craving just as adequately as a Cadbury bar or 2....and it fills me up to boot! ' So that's it for me. To sum it up...'WAITING!' and getting ready to BLITZ off the last of the 10 lbs to be lost before returning to the Good Doc Robinson.At first I said I wanted to lose it gradually..but hey...what's another 2 lbs? Welcome to the new members from a fairly new member .

Welcome msdollarz! I also have dr R and the same ins company. They are really good and fair when it comes to approval. I was told to lose 10-15 lbs and was 41bmi when I went for my initial consult a bit over 3 weeks ago. I see him again in April. I believe the weight loss aids in reducing the size of the fat in the liver for the procedure.

Although I haven't been Banded yet, Jay, I am rooting for you. Hang in there. You may be hungry, but look at the weight you have lost! My day is coming. Actually. I wish it were closer. Again...just look at all the weight you have lost. Get ready to go shopping! This summer you are going to feel so much more confident in the summer clothes. I find that time of year is a challenge to Amples such as myself. One day I went in to see my PC doc and as usual, the assistant came in to take my blood pressure. This was a new gal. When I asked her how it read , she almost knocked me over with the numbers! It was so low I should have been 2 breaths away from death! Really!...and she nonchalantly jotted the numbers down and went on her merry way...not a clue! The doctor came back in and took it 5 min later..the usual procedure..and it was my usual reading. Needless to say, she didn't last long there at the clinic.

I knew you would not be flustered at your initial consult. I had mine about 3 weeks ago with Dr Robinson. I called several times because I had not heard from his office for 2 weeks and this week I made sure I called again to schedule SOMETHING , at least. Anyway I did get my study dates for the end of March. I requested that they be on the same day(except for the sleep study, of course). It saves on parking there at the Brigh. or the Faulk. Then I go back in April to see him. He told me to lose 10-15 lbs between the initial cons. and the time I return to him on April 14th. Eight of those are gone. I don;t want to lose it all and then regain it as is the usual story, so I am doing it slowly. I have a past history of blitzing off weight and then regaining..PLUS MORE. Doing it too fast and in a frenzy. Not a lifestyle, but a race to get into a certain outfit for a certain occaission type of thing. We have all been there, I know. Anyway...just wanted to say that I had to call and call in order to get things rolling. Otherwise, I think I'd still be waiting for the dates.

One thing I like is that if I have 1 kiss rather than the whole bag, I am not condemned for life! If I want to have something I used to do the sponsor/sponsee thing. It caused me to fail miserably, because if I didn't adhere 100%, I was bounced back to day 1 even after months of keeping to the plan. One day I was at a restaurant and they had nothing on the plan at that time of day which I could order separately to make a decent meal. So I ordered a crab sandwich with a teeny side of rice. I ate the crab filling and the tomato and the rice but left the rest.AND I was hungry when I walked out of the restaurant. After 3 months of " back to back abstinence" my sponsor bounced me back to day 1 , erasing all progress, because I had eaten my rice a few hours before I was scheduled to do so at dinner. Insane, because I was starving and would definitely overeat if I waited until dinner! Needless to say, with my mentality, I threw in the towel many times and called it quits after being bounced back. Some can live like that..I can't. That's why I am getting banded...to HELP me control my hunger in a SANE way.

Hey thinkingaboutit! Let us know how it went! I found the initial consult to be very easy, informative and I was relaxed. I didn't have to wait in the reception room at all either. As for movies...over in Revere they have a concession stand with healthy vegetables to snack on. That is an option for those who are not into junk. Expensive, but an option, nevertheless. So I figure, if I can smuggle normally priced candy from the cvs into my purse and munch it, why not some veges..(quiet ones..LOL) Some of it looked good too..melon, berries, etc. But I usually don't go to that particular theater. I was at a movie a while ago waiting for the previews to end,and a middle aged couple came in and sat right in the row in front of me, whip out cold cuts(very spicy ones)a loaf of bread and proceeded to make sandwiches from their findings at the Whole Foods Market down the other end of the shopping center! SANDWICHES! They dined and I was spiced out the entire movie. I am in the mood for the movies after staying up to watch the gowns and the awards last night..all the way through. I think I will try to have the determination that you have, ibelieve. How much did the doc tell you to lose after your initial consult? Are you in the stage now where you have seen him again, set a new goal and are losing and heading towards the day of the procedure? singingintherain...(who would love to fit into a gown and look halfway decent...not to mention feeling confident!)

Good to hear from you, luv2teech! Thanks for the reply sharing your experience. I gues I won't worry about waistbands. One thing I will welcome is having a waist again. LOL I must confess that I have been dragging my feet about losing the 10 lbs before going back to the doctor after getting the date from Jennifer(she's so nice). April. I am going to do it bit by bit rather than blitzing it off and going nuts and then binging and putting it all back on. Thus the reason for the 'stuck' ticker!

Glad you bounced back from that bout with the flu or whatever bug it was, tinywishes! I really am not all that keen on residents and students having a part in my procedures. When I first had a surgery, there was a resident with the dr who introduced us. Naive lil me welcomed him with a smile. When I came out of the recovery room the young resident asked if he could look at the incisions. I groggily consented, thinking he knew what he was about. Afterwards, he couldn't figure out how to put the bandages back like they were and said to me "I guess I shouldn't have done that"!!!! That was the last time I let a resident or student get within 10 feet of me. The second procedure I had several years later I made sure I put in writing and also told the surgeon"NO RESIDENTS!" I also heard someone ask the question to Dr Robinson last month at the information meeting if he performed the entire procedure, or allowed students to participate. He emphatically pointed out that the assistant is one of the qualified staff specialists..vernon, Lautz, etc. He joked about going upstairs for a coffee and letting them carry on ....toting his cell phone "just in case'. I suppose I could address this question to the Pre Op board here at Lapband talk, but I feel more at home here having met some of you... What about waistbands in slacks and pajamas after the Band? Uncomfortable? And ..how do you deal with feeding other family members. Do you eat first so that you are not hungry when you cook for others. Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. Counting the days til my exams and tests and I go back to the doc and get a date for banding. singingintherain

OH MY WORD!!!! I was reading and couldn't believe you said that, luv2teach! "How on earth could this gal have weighed 300?"I asked . So, being nosy I went over to your profile photos Before and Afters and saw the TRUTH!!! Yikes gal...you're a walkin' LB miracle.

At my age and with my past exercise experience...or should I say 'the lack thereof..., the reasonable method(I think) for me is my treadmill. Several yrs ago I ordered a good one from Sears and find that when I DO go on it I see a big difference. This LB 'quest' began when my PCP threw up her hands about my high blood pressure caused by the constant weight gain over the past 2 years. No matter the meds, NADA! So she had to resort to the 'pact'..and made me promise..handshake over it and all to seal the deal...that I would do 10 min a day. Well, (there's always a 'well 'and a 'but' when it comes to my weightloss). I went wild! I was 'Biggest Loser Solitaire' down there in the basement on my machine and went from 10 min to doing 2 miles a day...which is a great feat for a sedentary gal like me. And then I get proud and...quit. There is always something there to use up the exercise time. So the story continues..I start anew every now and then, reach 2 miles a day, lose some weight, stop, eat, gain Round and Round. And yes...I did almost fall off. I read rather than listen as I work, and one chapter was so intriguing I lost the rhythm of the pace and almost ended up face down! Not cute at all. I am not a Water drinker, so thought now is the time to start. Went to Walgreens, Shaws,Rite Aid..no Kellogg's Protein water mix ....finally found it at CVS. I guess it is a big seller..only 2 boxes on the shelf. So now I am trying to ease into it..Carnation Instants,Water and trying to lose 5 more lbs before going back to the dear doc in a few more weeks. In this stage of the PreBand Journey I am "Learning to embrace my hunger" as one famous talk show host said recently. The treadmill needs to be dusted. Hope to meet you also tinywishes! Hope you are doing better now. Have a good day all! singingintherain

Good Morning! What a pleasure to meet some of you at last night's meeting and put faces to the posts ! Even though I have not yet been banded and am in the "lose- 10-lbs -and -then -come- back -and -see- me" phase of the journey, I found the group meeting to be inspirational and encouraging me to "stick with it". It is good to attend a meeting where young and old alike can relate to the same thing. I was a bit anxious at first about having the Band at my age (59) but after hearing the shares from some of those who have reached that mark and were Banded successfully (Hooray Yvonne!):blushing: I am confident in having this done. Jay ..hang in there. It must have been tough for you hearing all that food being mentioned while you are still on liquids. Just a handful more days. You can do it!(I did one of those liquid diets a few years back) luv2teach and other veterans..thanks for your tips on your eating and coping..what worked for you and what needed to be avoided..how you learned what to eat and what you did to change your mindset about eating...HOPEFULLY I will be at the stage where I will have something to share besides questions LOL! I look forward to exchanging posts with you all and especially to the meeting next month. And for those who are new, like me, I would encourage you to attend the meetings offered. No regrets. singingintherain

Hi thinking! I had my first consult with Dr R last week. I missed the support meeting last month but am definitely going tomorrow night... As I was informed, there is no need to pre register like we did for the information seminar..it is in Carie Hall..same place.