ParrotheadCathy

LOTS of us are tighter in the morning. My doc suggests starting your day with a cup of hot tea or coffee .... HOT, not luke warm. I find that the cup of tea makes eating easier for me.

It's so easy to let stuff like that get under your skin! I have a co-worker whose doctor put her on a diet (South Beach). She's lost about 55 pounds but hasn't lost much in the last couple of months. She's ALWAYS asking "how much have you lost now?" Then she bemoans how she's "stuck" -- but it takes all the willpower I have not to point out that I see her eating cheetos or chips on almost a daily basis. Sometimes, I wonder if it's a compulsion to compare like that? But, like I said, sometimes it takes a LOT of willpower not to say something.

Fly, I think you're just going to have to cut her a little slack. No decisions about anything is right for everybody. She made her choice, is happy with the results ... and doesn't get your choice. You made your choice, are happy with the results. You enjoy going to the gym or you'd be looking for excuses not to go. That reinforces your choice of the band....and, actually, kind of supports her choice NOT to get the band. A lot of statistics say that at the 5 year mark post op, the weight loss for both procedures is about the same. So in about 4 or so years, you can compare results. I'm thinking you'll be in a better place than your friend, but the simple response is "I made my choice, you made yours. I'm happy with mine and you're happy with yours."

My surgeon told me up front that I would probably experience some loose skin but to remember that with a rapid weight loss it's hard not to have that problem. Then he told me if I felt plastic surgery was the only solution for me that I should not pursue such surgery until I'd been at my goal weight for a year because the skin will continue to recover at least some. So I guess patience is a virtue!

It's pretty typical. Happened to a lot of us. You may find your weight fluctuating quite a bit up and down over the first couple of weeks post op. It doesn't mean anything.

l would guess that most of us have our ports located to our left sides. There are some in the middle. But I've only heard a couple of people say theirs is on the right.

A cup of hot coffee or hot tea (and I do mean hot, not lukewarm) will help. How much varies from person to person. I, too, am tight in the morning and I agree on the speculation that lack of hydration contributes to it. If you can delay eating and start your morning when you get up with a couple of glasses of Water, that too may help. I get up at 5:00 and put in 3-4 miles. I drink a big glass of water before I head out and don't eat until I get back in the house and shower. Yeah, the extra hydration helps some. Hot tea with breakfast helps too.

CALL YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY. There should be a customer service number on your insurance card. Ask: 1. is lap band surgery covered by my policy (always good to confirm) 2. is there a minimum BMI requirment? IF SO, WHAT IS IT? 3. I have other health issues. Are any of these considered co-morbidities. [NOTE the answer to this question is probably not, but do ask] 4. Would a letter of medical necessity from my PCP have any impact on coverage? No gallbladder? Well, frankly, that's good. If you have the surgery you will lose a lot of weight and it's not all that uncommon to hear people who have to have their gallbladder removed because of the weight loss. Do you have sleep apnea? Often, obese people suffer from sleep apnea. This IS a co-morbidity. The other accepted co-morbidities are diabetes and high blood pressure. Finally, have you had a consultation with a surgeon yet? The surgeon's office may have other information on getting approved....after all, they file predeterminations for alot of patients!

PB = Productive Burp. Once you experience one, you'll know. Basically, a bite of food gets stuck and doesn't traverse into the stomach. It could be too big a bite, you could have been eating too fast, or you might not have chewed as well as you should have. But it gets stuck, which hurts. Feels like pain under your sternum. DON'T try to wash it down with water because that will just sit on top of the stuck food and make it more uncomfortable. If moving around, holding you arms over your head, or whatever works for you moving a stuck bite, you will start sliming -- that is, producing a lot of saliva to help lubricate the bite of food. And then it will either go on down or come back up. It is NOT vomiting. There is no stomach acid in that bit of food. It never made it to your stomach. Afterwards, wait a few minutes and you should be able to continue eating. The ticker is at www.tickerfactory.com Just follow the instructions.

It could be a sensitivity to soy BUT more than likely it's just a case of liquid in, liquid out. Once you progess to mushy foods, thing will change and then again when you are back on solids.

.2cc solved my problems with being way too tight. Who knew such a small amount could make a difference!!

Rash, reaction to the adhesive on the bandages. Happens a lot. A little CortAid on the rash (not on the incision itself) will help with the itch. And, it sounds like you are definitely not taking in enough Protein. Even if it's Protein shakes at this stage, you still need protein to assuage hunger.

Hey, IWanna....unless your insurance requires it, probably not. There is usually a pre-op diet BUT, as Padanelle points out, that is meant to shrink your liver so that the doctor has a bit more room in which to work.

I'm with Plain! You can't continue to eat as you did pre-surgery. Plain and simple. As Band Groupie pointed out, eat fresh and healthy watch the nutrition labels because a lot of foods that sound like they will help you eat better actually come with another set of pitfalls. I eat anything I want but not in the quantities that got me to 284 pounds. I have a small piece of birthday cake every month at the office birthday party. I've eaten a bit of ice cream a few times. I drink some. But "diet" ("that's die-with-a-T", as Garfield said once)? No. The band is meant to facilitate a lifestyle change. But diets seem to have always had the feeling that "when I'm done dieting".....

Unless a fill just makes you too tight right away, if often is a delayed effect. After 2 days of liquid, going to mushies was a beginning, but yeah, it's not so uncommon to feel hungry after 3 hours. Just pick what you eat to assuage that hunger. A bit of protein (like say a bit of tuna or egg salad made with low fat or FF mayo) will go alot further than other things that tempt you.

And what all these responses mean is BE CREATIVE!!! There are a couple of suggestions here I would never have come up with, LOL.

I'm a "brass tacks" kind of gal. I would just drop by their office one day to see what's going on. ASK what the heck is going on. THEN, I would demand that they give me all of my files and records, test results, etc. and I would take every bit of it to a new surgeon ASAP. You don't want to have a problem post-op and not be able to get a response from the doc or his office!

"Night cough" is exactly what it sounds like....a cough at night. Not crazy coughing like with a respiratory infection, just occasional. Acid reflux will make you sit straight up out a dead sleep. It's a terrible sensation that combines (1) a sudden feeling that you can't breathe, (2) a serious burning in your esophagus, and (this is the worst) (3) liquid composed mostly of stomach acid coming back up from your stomach into your esophagus and the back of your mouth. Persisting acid reflux (nightly) can erode the lining of your esophagus because of all that stomach acid. Bad erosion can cause cell structure damage and that can in turn become cancer. I have a friend who is Stage IV esophageal cancer because he never once told his doctor he had acid reflux nightly. He though it was no big deal. Now, sadly, his life in the in the balance. If you have reflux, you'll know it. DON'T act like it's nothing. Tightness in your chest probably doesn't mean anything of any portent, especially if you are still fairly recent post-op. But mention it to your doctor on your next visit. If you overeat, you may not get stuck or PB. You might just feel like you ate three plates at Thanksgiving dinner. If you do that regularly, you could stretch out your pouch. You don't want to do that. You got the band, went through all of this, to not overeat. FOLLOW your eating plan and you will avoid the misery of being too full, or PBing for that reason. Not to say you won't get stuck and PB in the future but that's a different cause.

Cottage cheese! About 13 grams in a serving. Put a little fruit in it and you have a treat AND protein.

hair falling out is bad BUT have you ever heard the word "malnutrition"? Get informed because that's where you're headed. That's a good excuse...don't have time to make a Protein shake -- except that they come ready to drink in a lot of different brands. And a lot of them taste pretty decent. Something as easy as SlimFast Low Carb Diet (20 grams of protein, 2 net carb grams). EAS, or Muscle Milk. All come in an RTD version. They're better cold but a small soft side cooler can be had for very little money. Samantha is so right. You are in control of this. Do not let excuses derail you.

Don't know about liability for surgery for replacement but if the band is truly defective, they will likely replace it. The obvious test is for the doctor to have kept track of how much fill is in the band, withdraw all the Fluid in it and compare how much they draw out to how much should be there. And it might be if there is something faulty that it's the port. I've read here where a few people have had to have their ports replaced. Not many, but a few.

You will definitely qualify, especially as a self-pay. There are so few restrictions under this circumstance. I figure your BMI as 40.4. The problems you have are not considered co-morbidities but they are things the band will help. And the best part about being self-pay is that you will go from first visit to surgery on a fairly fast track. Just the testing the surgeon requires (I didn't have to do the nutritionist meeting or psych evaluation)...

You know what I take satisfaction from? I can lose the weight but insensitive people are handicapped for life.

Don, the chicken could have been too dry possibly. Chicken (especially if you cook boneless skinless chicken breasts) can get too dry. I never use boneless skinless chicken breasts because (1) they are too expensive, and (2) chicken with the bones and skin cooks up much more moist. You don't have to eat the skin, just pull it off after cooking. It doesn't add very much at all in the way of calories but it adds a ton of flavor and moisture.

By "puree" I assume you mean mushy foods. If so, amoung other itemes: runny mashed potatoes (I never thought instant potatoes could taste so good, LOL). Fat free refried beans with a little melted low fat cheese, cream soups (pureed if there are chunks in it), runny oatmeal, grits, (and I'm sure farina would be okay as well), fat free pudding is still good, pureed vegetables (some people say they eat baby food, but I'm all in favor of REAL food just run through the blender).