GayleTX

Yes, my insurance paid for it.....it was considered reconstructive surgery, not cosmetic. The justification my surgeon gave the ins. co. was back pain and balance issues. No belly button issue.....my removal was below the belly button to the pubic area and way back behind my sides almost up to the waist. The incision made a big ol' smiley face if you can imagine that! :biggrin1: Wish I had a way to take pictures! This is now my 18th day out and I'm feeling better within the last 2 days....had some of my stitches out a week ago. There will be swelling for 6 weeks they told me. The incision is looking good....better than what was there before, I promise you!! There is light between my legs and I can cross my legs!!:clap2:

Barb......if you'll go to bariatriceating.com and click on 'what to eat'....there you will see suggested foods for every stage of your post wls life. Wonderful resource. Wonderful website.

BTW.......don't just mix your powder directly into a hot cup of coffee - you'll have a cup of lumpy cooked protein. First just mix the scoop of protein with cool water, stir until smooth, then add your coffee.

<p>I have it every morning for the past year.....several different kinds of protein powders. Mainly use Nectar Cappacino powder in coffee both hot and cold. Vanilla powder makes a great iced latte. Also love Matrix chocolate powder in my coffee....both hot and cold. Micellar Milk in cartons makes a great coffee creamer. So, yes.......you're on the right track. Sometimes a really warm drink is very soothing to the pouch.</p>

Interesting article from MSN news: Bone Wrecker In the 1950s, children drank 3 cups of milk for every 1 cup of sugary drinks. Today that ratio is reversed: 3 cups of sugary drinks for every cup of milk. Tellingly, osteoporosis is a major health threat for 44 million Americans. Most experts now say that the real culprit is soda's displacement of milk in the diet, though some scientists believe that the acidity of colas may be weakening bones by promoting the loss of calcium. Whatever the causes of bone loss, the group that stands to suffer the most harm is adolescent girls. In a study of 460 high schoolers in 2000, research at the Harvard School of Public Health found that girls who drank carbonated soft drinks were three times as likely to break their arms and legs as those who consumed other drinks. Dark drinks such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Dr Pepper seemed to be even more dangerous than fruit-flavored sodas like Sprite: Girls who downed colas were five times as likely to break arms and legs in their teen years as girls who abstained from carbonated beverages. Grace Wyshak, PhD, a biostatistician and the study's lead researcher, believes something in colas is interfering with the body's ability to use calcium. This is a big problem, she says, "because girls will be more susceptible to fractures later in life if they don't acquire optimal bone mass in adolescence."

I'm at Day 17 since my surgery and I think I may have turned the corner today! I have felt like my belly was wrapped in barbed wire for most of the time but today seems better. Nobody prepared me for the swelling and weight gain.....but it's normal (it's Water from the IV's mainly). At my follow up they told me to expect swelling for 6-8 weeks, and I've heard some people say theirs lasted longer. Best wishes to you in your recovery and your future life as a thin woman with a flat belly!! Yea!!!!!

Seems like every heavy woman I know has a lawn chair story in her past. I'm so sorry your day was ruined but sometimes it takes a humiliating incident to give us the motivation to do what we need to do for ourselves. Put that on your list of "things that will never happen to me again because I'm going to be thin for the rest of my life."

So proud of you for getting your life and health on track at such an early age. Makes the future look much brighter, doesn't it!! Keep up the good work!! This time next summer you'll be at your final goal!!

Have you eliminated all the white carbs? Doing that will help you with the cravings....keeps your blood sugar from bouncing and making you feel hungry when you really are not. Also, finding some Protein shakes that you love (nd there are good ones out there) helps satisfy the need for sweets and trets. Another fill or two and you wll be under control. Stay strong!!

Did they tell you at the info session that gastric bypass is only effective for about 18-24 months, that after that 'window of opportunity' the intestines usually (not always) adjust to the changes and you no longer dump with sugar/fat foods......... then you are on your own. You have to hope that by that time you have developed new habits nd lifestyle and can handle it on your own for the rest of your life. I had so much to lose I knew I couldn't do it in 2 years and I had no faith in myself to discipline myself after the GB effectiveness was gone. (I have several decades of failure in that area). So.....I chose to have a band, a tool that will be with me forever. As for binging....sometimes when there is really good food before me, it makes me angry I can't hold more than I can. But then I go home and smile when I step on the scale....it's a temporary temper tantrum!! Whatever you choose........best wishes to you!!

Some people and even some doctors will tell you that with the lapband you can eat whatever you want, just in smaller portions. Well, that may be true for a few people, but for the majority of people it just is not so. For most of us, there are certain foods that we will never be able to eat again without getting pain or stuck....the very foods you named, in face -certain meats, bread, stringy vegetables. I know of very few bandits who can eat bread at all other than maybe a little crunch toast (and if you are going to be a successful loser you need to eliminate bread altogether.....along with all other white things such as rice, potatoes, Pasta,corn). It took me several months to learn how to eat.....it was really hard for me to slow down - I'd been working in the schools all my life wolfing down a quick lunch in 15 min. if I was lucky. It gets easier for much of the foods, but for some - they are history. Best wishes to you.........

<p>I m 16 mo. out. One of the most helpful things for me has been</p> <p> </p> <p>FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal</p> <p> </p> <p>I used it to track all my food intake and to make charts of my weight loss. It has helped me stay on track and to learn my food values. And the graphs of weight loss are pretty motivating to look at. </p> <p> </p> <p>Breakfast....RTD Worldwide Protein (35 gr)</p> <p> </p> <p>1 egg/1 sausage patty (10 grams)</p> <p> </p> <p>cheese broccoli soup</p> <p>Soy chips (7 grams)</p> <p> </p> <p>Orange Cream Matrix shake (23 grams)</p> <p> </p> <p>Tomatoes/cucumber/raw squash plate w/salad dressing</p>

You just haven't looked far enough....there are wonderful Proteins on the market but you probably won't find them at GNC or your local gym....theirs are mostly for jocks. You need a high Protein, low carb supplements made for bariatric patients. Matrix, mentioned above, is a good one - I like the choclate mixed with coffee now that I'm far enough out to have coffee. Micellar Milk (avail at VitaminShoppe or Netrition.com or bariatriceating.com) is wonderful.....40 gr/protein, lots of Vitamins in a 17 oz carton - the vanilla tastes something like rice pudding. whey Gourmet is wonderful and has several flavors. Finding a good protein supp has been an important factor is helping me be a successful loser.....both the warm drinks and the shakes, besides keeping you strong and healthy, give you a sweet treat that keeps you from missing a lot of the things we've enjoyed in the past.

I'm 63, have lost 151 lbs in the past 15 months. I think some of us 'older girls' are more motivated than some young ones. We aren't just trying to get into a sexier pair of jeans.....we are trying to save our lives.

You're right...deodorant does help prevent the probelm (antiperspirant kind, of course). But if I do get chafing, I use that wonderful Boudrouex's Butt Paste.......it cures it up in a hurry.

IT IS POSSIBLE!! You can do this!! I had over 200 pounds to lose and I've lost 150 in 15 months. I go by the same food plan that a person with a gastic bypass uses.....it works!! I agree with Terri.......set short-term goals - that make it seems much more doable. And don't just set scale goals......also set goals for the ability to do certain things you can't do now (and we all know what some of those things are!), for a certain blouse you'd love to get back into.....those things count, too, and are so encouraging!! I never really believed I would have done this well....I just knew it was my last desperate attempt to save my life. It's working....I'm no longer on diabetes meds, blood pressure meds, arthritis meds. I may never reach my goal of 140, I may never lose another pound beyond today, but even if I don't it's been worth it.....I have my life back!! Best wishes to you sweetie!!!

Sofia.......my doc is in in Dallas, Presbyterian Hospital. Long haul from Houston but his office is not far from Love Field if that's an option for you.

You might also try varying your food intake....maybe liquids for a day or two, then eating the way you have been for a day or two, then changing from 3 meals to maybe 6 small meals, then from a low calorie, to a high calorie day.....just examples. Have you eliminated all the white carbs from your life? That made a huge difference in my success. I understand about the evening "challenges"...seems to be an issue for most of us. No magic answers that I've found but I'm open to suggestions! (I do try to go to bed earlier than I used to)

I think one day liquids is pretty standard. Was this your first fill? If so, you could probably swallow anything you wanted to....the first 1 or two usually don't do much restriction....and even if they do it takes a few days to kick in for a lot of people (nobody seems to know why). However, restriction or not....oh, well, anybody that knows me knows my postiion on anything that contains bread at any stage of your fills.

I've never heard of anyone having to have a supervised weight loss program for a year....6 months is pretty typical.

derby........no, he didn't ask for any examples, etc. He just wrote what I told him in his letter to ins. co. (back aches, balance). I really think it was the picture that did it.

This is just an opportunity to lose a few more pounds, clean up that liver, de-tox your bod from carbs, practice coming off coffee if necessary......may be the best thing that could happen. Use the time well and start makings lists of things you can do next year at this time that you can't do now!!

Cindi.........my LB surgeon recommended that I go ahead and get the pani removed...no amount of weight loss or exercise is going to take it away and it was impeding my exercise ability and giving me backaches and balance problems....and it won't grow back> PS agreed, said he did that all the time. But afer I get to goal, I will probably go back and get some more work up above that area....but not until I've lost all I'm going to.

Dr. B will se you after wls anytime you need help, but he does not do fills in his office.....they do his fills where he does most of his surgeries - a few blocks down from his office at the SCOR - Surgical Center of Richardson. His associate, Dr. Felts does them. However, I don't go there.....I go to Dr. Maese because he does them for me for just a co-pay on my insurance ($25) and at the SCOR it would be $84. Your situation may be different, however. I did have an EGD done at SCOR recently and they were all very nice and efficient. I have BCBS-TX thru TXU. Dr. Todd Pollock removed my pani........the nurses at the hospital couldn't say enough good things about him and how good he was and how much better his patients do than most other PS's. His father is also a PS, Dr. Harlan Pollock. I've done very well, no drain tubes, no problems so far. They use the TX Institute of Surgery on Greenville around the corner from Presbyterian Hospt on Walnut Hill. Todd has an office in Allen, too, and that's where I see him. TX Inst. is a wonderful place....like a Hilton Hotel, state of the art.

It sounds as if your doctor is not being very aggressive with fills....if you've had one a month for all these months, you should be running over by now! He needs to be using a flouroscope to make sure things are going right in there. And if he's charging that much, he'd sure better be using a flouro...that sounds a little high to me, but then I know it varies around the country. I know that many people and some doctors say with a lapband you can eat whatever foods you want, just less of it. It's been my experience and observation that that is just not so for most of us. If you are going to be a successful loser, you have to plan your foods carefully. Are you recording your intake of food? That has been extremely important for me to keep on track and to learn food values. I use fitday.com to record my food.........if it goes in my mouth, it goes on fitday. What I aim for on fitday....... Take in 80-100 grams of Protein per day (protein is protein whatever the source...if you can eat meat, that's fine. I get most of mine from Beans and from protein supplements simply because that's what I prefer. If you haven't found a protein supp you love as much as food, then keep looking - they are out there!) Take in less than 30-40 grams of net carbs (not total carbs, net carbs....if you aren't familiar with the difference, then do a little research.) Eliminate ALL white carbs....rice, Pasta, potatoes, white breads, etc. I don't worry too much about calories because as little as we can hold and if we are eating by the above guidelines, we aren't going to get too many calories. I generally end up with 700-1000/day. Take in at least 64 oz of Water per day. Do not drink with or for one hour after eating a meal. Keep the body moving (you can record that on fitday, too). Please don't give up even tho it must be a very discouraging ride so far. Best wishes to you!!