ParrotheadCathy

What I was told do do was to eat the prescribed size meal/ amount of protein/veggies/whole grain. If I got hungry in less the 4 hours, I was to snack on Protein like a boiled egg, ounce of low fat cheese or a little deli sliced turkey (all around 70 calorie options). If you're making it to 5 hours I'd hardly complain as being able to go 4 hours between meals was the goal that was set for me. Now, at my sweet spot, I have a awkward timing on meals in that I have to go to lunch no later than 12:30 (office requirement) and I don't get off until 5:30 and I have a hour-and-a-half commute and that is simply too long between meals. If I don't snack on something, I literally am so hungry when I get home, I eat anything I can put my hands on. So about 5:00, I have a no sugar fruit cup or an ounce of low fat cheese and I'm fine....and that 60-70 calories is a heck of a lot better than walking in the door and eating the baby's Cookies while I cook dinner.

Small Wendy's Chili is good and it was on the "approved" list from my nutritionist. Plenty of Protein. I keep a bottle of very lite salad dressing in the friged at work and can always pick up a side salad and use my dressing on it if I get in a bind.

I've tried it a couple of times, to no avail. And then, when the stuck food DOES come back up, I also get all the water I drank. So not worth it.

Surgery was no big deal....I had surgery on Tuesday and was back at work on Friday. Not everybody experiences hair loss; in fact, I'd hazard and the ones who experience significant hair loss are a very small percentage. You may see some hair loss as an after-effect of anesthesia. For me, there hasn't been any ugly. It's a pleasure to put on something and find it's too big...because I can't remember how many years it had been since I'd experienced that. I healed fast, didn't experience any hunger until about day 8 and on day 10, my doc moved me to mushy foods and day 15 to adding regular food at will.

Only your surgeon can tell you for sure if you are a candidate for EITHER method. I had gallbladder surgery back in 1983 when they cut you from your sternum to your appendix and my surgeon specifically told me that he had had three cases where he couldn't do the lap band laprascopically because of the scars from an old gallbladder surgery. So I assume that in your case, your surgeon would examine you and tell you whether he would do the single incision or 5 incision ... or whatever....based on your scarring.

I get tender around my port occasionally but remember this: Your port is either stitched to muscle (if you have the Lap Band brand) or it is attached to the muscle with metal "teeth" (if you have the Realize Band). I've discovered that, as I become more active, I have days where I do A Lot and then in the evening it can be a bit tender around my port area. I think it's because of muscle pulling. It always goes away, never lasts or is consistent so I just don't worry about it.

1) how much time do you have to take off of work with this WLS Hard to predict because lots of factors .... and some you have no control over because it's just your body and metabolism. 2) What is the average cost? If you are self-pay and willing to travel, you can find it as cheap as $4,500 all the way up to as much as $25,000 3) Does anyone know of any dr. in the Pensacola, Fl area they would recommend? Someone else will have to respond to this; I'm in Atlanta, GA 4) How quickly are you able to return to exercise, bending or lifting after WLS? Usually, a couple of weeks on up to 4 weeks.

Well, I can acertainly sympathize with the upper respiratory roller coaster. I rode it for years! A few things to consider. 1. Do you have any allergies? You may not know for sure but you might discuss this with your general physician. Even mild allergies can lead to post nasal drip which puts mucous down your esophagus and that can in turn create a mucous plug. Yiou might try drinking a cup of hot (as hot as you can comfortably drink) tea or coffe before meals and see if that breaks up the mucous plug. 2. I was hospitalized 3 times in 18 months with bacterial pneumonia. I had numerous bouts with bronchitis and ear infections and sinus infections. I was a mess. Once I was well for a s couple of days my doctor gave me a vaccination for viral pneumonia. Yeah, I know sounds like it's not related but it worked. Apparently what was happening was that I would get a mild viral infection with the virus that causes viral pneumonia. I wouldn't even be aware of it and then a secondary bacterial infection would settle in. The vaccination is called a pneumovax and insurance should cover it and you have to repeat it something like every 5 years. My first one was in the mid-80s and I have had bronchitis exactly 3 times in the more than 20 years since then. 3. If nobody is sure about the allergy question, you might get a referral to an asthma & allergy specialist. Mine did a pretty comprehensive interview, did only about 20 skin tests for specific allergies -- and I tested positive for 17...yeah, 17! He did immunotherapy (injections) and included "adult B virus" in my mix because I was getting sick so often. Now, I never, ever have an allergy problem. None. It was worth it. Let us know what you figure out. Unfortunately, sometimes the patient has to ask the right questions. Maybe this will help you find the right questions.

I've never heard of that. I will say that many insurance policies have the requirement that your BMI be at a set minimum or higher for 18 months or 2 years. I don't know that you can get around that if it is written into the policy. Some policies (like mine) have a written exclusion for any weight loss surgery ... and there is no appeal of that so I'm thinking that if there is a written restriction on BMI that it would work the same way.

I will disagree with the previous posters. I had surgery on Tuesday and went back to work on Friday...and COULD have gone back on Thursday but I figured I'd already arranged for the days off and hired a temp to cover my desk so what the heck! I took Thursday as well and went grocery shopping. I didn't pick up any bags, but other than that, it was business as usual. I will modify my response to say, I would not have wanted to walk the distances that are sometimes involved with venues like concerts and sports arenas. Could someone drop you at or very near the door? Avoid jostling because you don't want to fall. Bear in mind that I have been called an amazon, LOL. I took no paid meds at all post-op. I took a 1 mile walk the afternoon after I had surgery in the morning. When I say something hurts, someone else would likely be demanding pain meds. That's just me. Bottom line, only you know you. We're all just on the outside looking in. Have you had any other outpatient surgery to compare to? Have you ever had an injury that laid some low but didn't really slow you down much?

My take is that the insurance companies have to offer it as a covered item but the employer would have to elect it because they would have to pay for it. Here's why I say that: However, none of the state laws that were passed "mandate" coverage, but rather "recommend" coverage or mandate that the insurer offer the coverage, for which the insurer can charge additional premiums. This is from the first link. So I take that to mean that some states have passed laws that say insurance companies have to offer coverage for bariatric surgeries but nowhere does it require an employer to elect (and pay for) the coverage. If your insurance has a written exclusion (as mine did) then, as skinigrl says, you're still out in the cold for sure!

Remember that Protein and fat do not impact your blood glucose levels in any way. Carbs (including granulated and natural sugars) do. When you reduced your calorie intake, you probably just reduced your carbs too much. Try adding back a serving of fresh fruit like a small apple or a few grapes or even raisins. And that shaky feeling SUCKS.

The best source of information about a prescription drug is really going to be your pharmacist. Go by the pharmacy and ask for a consultation with the pharmacist. Explain your problems with the Zoloft and ask about possible ways to take the medication. You already asked your doc if it's available in a liquid, which you say it's not. So the pharmacist can tell you if he can custom formulate it into a liquid, if you could crush it and mix it with a liquid or food without affecting the performance of the medication, and finally if there are no solutions for the Zoloft, ask the pharmacist about what drug is close enough in formulation to replace it but still work for you...and if it comes to that, then call your doc and ask for a new prescription. There is not reason to go through your days without your antidepressant. Good luck and let us know what works because someone else may be reading this and saying "hey, look! somebody else has my problem!"

I think there is one more important thing....please be honest with yourself. Write down what you eat and when for a week or two. LOOK at that journal carefully. Are you a grazer? By that, I mean, do you a little bit almost constantly through the day? That is an extremely hard habit to break and it not consistent with band success. You need to be locked inot meals at fairly regular times. CAN YOU DO THAT? Are you like a lot of us....have you successfully lost weight more than once but ultimately had a problem keeping it off? That will probably serve you well post-banding. Because I have always tried to adhere to the 3 meals a day schedule and not snack too much what I have discovered is that the band stops me well short of a pig-out. But if I just ate a cookie or two every 45 minutes well that would be another story...and a heck of a lot of unnecessary calories. So analyze the way you eat. Do some soul-searching....CAN YOU CHANGE the things you will have to change in order to be successful? This is a fantastic tool for some people but not the right choice for everybody. The research that Elfiepoo talks about should help you decide if it is the right tool for you. Good luck.

Well, I would start with a lawyer! you have this other surgeon's photographs and statement. I would find an attorney and discuss the fact that the band needs to be done over and you want the first surgeon to be financially responsible for the costs as well as damages. Plain and simple. There is what is called a "standard of care" and not "buckling the belt" so to speak falls far, far short of the standard of care.

I've done this a couple of times. I took a before picture with me which I showed when I was introduced. At that point, everybody had gotten the presentation with all the positive and negative stuff and I was "offered up" to give firsthand experience answers to questions. I got quite a variety of questions....from "how hard is the pre-op diet ReALLY?" to "do you have any regrets?", "do fills hurt?" and "I've heard there are a lot of foods you can't eat after surgery. Is that true? What can you not eat?" My doc's physician's assistant told me that all I had to do was be open and answer questions...and all those newbies had all the same questions I had in the beginning!!!

Well, the honest truth I've discovered is that nobody comes knocking on my front door to give me junk food. I have to go buy the darned stuff, LOL. So a few things I've learned over the years. First, you can eat really, really well and healthily if you only shop the perimeter of the grocery store. Don't go up and down the aisles. Produce, meat, dairy and grain (whole grain breads, etc.) are all on the outer edges of the store (and the ice cream isn't next door to the milk, either, LOL). When you much pick up things like olive oil or healthy Cereal, frozen veggies etc., eat before you go to the store and have a list and buy ONLY what is on your list. Keep a food journal....be brutally honest. If you snagged 3 M&Ms out of a co-worker's candy dish when nobody was looking, write them down. If you cheat with this journal, you are only cheating yourself because nobody else is gonna read it. You might also keep track of when you are the hungriest. For me, it's around 7:00 pm (when I get home) and still have to prepare dinner for my family. So I have something good that I can eat while I cook. It might be some raw veggies or frozen veggies I can microwave -- part of my dinner but eaten as an appetizer. If/when you see a pattern, make little adjustments to help you through those times. And, above all, don't beat yourself up! We've made careers out of belittling ourselves totally out of relation to whatever "crime" we committed. And that "guilting yourself up" can make you do more of what you are upset with yourself for in the first place!

I feel like Elfiepoo....I picked an ultimate goal of 150 which is the bottom end of "healthy" for my age, height and bone structure. I weighed 180 when I graduated high school and felt like I was a cow because I wasn't built like many of my classmates. But to be completey honest, at 180, anything I lose after that would be a nice plus but not a requirement as far as I'm concerned.

No chewing out offered! What happened to you could have happened to any of us. To have it happen at the time of year where usually-normal behaving people feel suddenly compelled to put out plate after plate of ridiculous amounts of rich/sweet/tempting food is just sad. The good news is that some of those 14 pounds is Water. Some (heck, probably MOST) of that food had more salt in it than you usually cook with. So the first thing to do is increase your water intake to AT LEAST 64 oz. a day (or more if you can). You'll wear a track between your chair and the potty but you'll probably lose about 2 pounds the first day by just releasing the retained water. The rest, well you know what you have to do. I know you're still getting your strength back from being so sick, so I'm not going to tell you go run 5 miles every day. But get what exercise you can. I know that it's absolutely FRIGID here so getting outside is probably not likely for you for at least the short term. Go to the mall; lock your purse in the trunk before you get there. Just take in your car keys. That way, walking in the mall won't turn into shopping, LOL. Some malls even open up the common area to walkers before the stores open! Check with the management company for the mall nearest to you. And let your band help you tackle those pounds you've picked up. The average person gains around 10 pounds over the holidays and you really are within the "average" range so while you're upset at that gain, it's not a terrible thing. It's just something you have to work on. This is a time of year with little in the way of events so not so many food temptations for a while. Personally, I picked up about 5 pounds (and have lost 2 since Sunday morning weigh-in) and I'm at my sweet spot. We're all in this together. You probably saw the posts from others who gained a bit over the holidays. Georgia Tech (my school) is playing in the Orange Bowl tonight. I deliberately didn't buy tickets because I knew that a trip right after the holidays would be weight loss suicide. I'll miss the excitement of the live experience but I'll be watching and enjoying my carrots and celery and a little lite chipotle ranch salad dressing to dip them in. WE CAN DO THIS!!!

The very good news, Bless, is that you don't have to go it alone. Call your new insurance company and ask for a list of bariatric surgeons on your provider list and then start your research. The doc's office will handle the insurance part for you!

You hit the nail on the head. For many of us bandsters, hiccuping is a signal that it is time to STOP EATING NOW.

A patient who chooses to can "eat around" ANY weight loss procedure. I remember when gastric bypass was just becoming popular and a friend had the procedure. She had all these cautionary guides about food. One of the ones that caught my attention was that "melted ice cream is not considered part of a liquid diet".....point made, I think. The band is an assistant. If you utilize it, you will be successful. During the holidays, I gained a couple of pounds but have already lost almost 2 of those and I'm not complaining. The band stopped me short of craziness. Now, with all those extra temptations out of the way, I'm back to working WITH my band. That's how this works. And remember one other thing...there are a lot of people who got banded looking for a magic "fat gone" moment and then discovered they were really still going to have to make a personal effort and they chose not to. But those same people are often the ones you hear from first. "this isn't working".....and for everyone who says "this isn't working" there are quite a few people for whom it is working but they aren't on any forum proclaiming their successes.

Rachnet, if this new doc concurs on the bi-polar diagnosis, the question arises: Are you afraid of the label? The symptoms are what they are no matter what you call it. If putting a label on it gets you the treatment you need, then can you accept the label? My granddaughter, who is 21, lives with me, has a nearly 2 year old daughter (some of those really bad decisions that people with bi-polar disorder make caught up with her) but is in school and is a good mommy. She railed against the label, swore she couldn't be bi-polar, etc. She finally saw another doc who said she was borderline and she is finally taking her meds regularly. Nobody wants to have anything wrong with them that sounds so terrible. But the label is worth it if it helps you get control/ownership of your life again! Good luck!

Please be absolutely sure that this surgeon doesn't object to taking care of you post-op. More than one poster here has had difficulties with getting a surgeon who didn't do their surgery to do their follow-up care. I know you don't want to start from ground zero, so request that the current surgeon give you a complete copy of your file. Then ask your insurance company to help you pick a provider who isn't going to pull out of your provider list in the next few months.

I'm stumped and can only question a couple of things. They "looked at" your stomach and esophagus with an EGD. Did they by chance do a lower GI exam? A blockage in the intestines would evetually affect everything that goes into your GI tract. Did the steroid injection help at all? Perhaps if it did, it might take more than one to get the inflammation under control (if inflammation is the problem). Let us know what happens!