ParrotheadCathy

Normandy, I had a C-section that had to be re-opened a few years later to repair an incisional hernia and I had my gallbladder removed back when they cut you from the sternum to your appendix. My surgeon said he had one banding that he could not perform laprascopically because of extensive scarring from an open gallbladder removal -- but had no problems with mine. Realistically, the C-section scarring is much lower and therefore out of the way. Likely your wife had laprascopic gallbladder surgery (wish they did that back in 1984!), which produces a lot less scarring than what I had.

Mel, white rice is just one of those foods that commonly cause bandsters problems. That doesn't mean it will cause every one of us problems. The only white rice I've eaten was in sushi and I didn't have a problem with it. Soft bread, however, doesn't work for me -- it's on the same list but a lot of people eat sandwiches without a problem; NOT me. Asparagus, celery, well you've probably heard the whole list. I can safely say that what doesn't work for me will likely not cause you a problem ... and what does work for me may not work for you. It's just the way this thing works.

Laura, go ahead and go to the surgeon you choose. Most of them can do the medically supervised diet with you and during that time get your testing done and out of the way. They will put together the application for approval to your insurance company and submit it as soon as you've finished the diet. That way, you've streamlined the process! The surgeon's office can help you meet the requirement of the diet plan but still be qualified for insurance approval for your surgery. It does sound like you may very well have sleep apnea. You will likely have to have a sleep study done as part of your pre-op testing. Best to get that out of the way because the CPAP machine will help you be more rested when you wake up in the morning! Thankfully, that was one problem I didn't have but it is a comorbidity that many overweight people suffer and don't even know about!

My suggestion is to make the fill appointment. If your doc's office is like mine, they will do more than just fill you. They will talk to you about where you are and what isn't working and why. Yeah, you may truly need a fill so it's good to go, but the accountability thing of getting on their scale, talking about where you head is, etc. can really help you out too.

I admire you guys who do an all-liquid pre-op diet! My pre-op diet was two Protein shakes a day (breakfast and late afternoon snack) and two lean meals that consisted of 3 oz of lean protein and raw or steamed veggies. I lost plenty of weight and I never felt deprived. Post-op liquid is a different animal. For about the first 7 days I didn't care that it was all liquid. Nothing appealed to me. And on Day 10 I was advanced to mushy food. I realize now, by comparison, that I had it pretty easy. Hats off to you guys!

Well, I believe in what works for me, LOL. She doesn't have to drink them if she doesn't want to.

I drink a SlimFast Low Carb Diet every day for Breakfast. 20 grams of Protein, and 2 NET grams of carbs (total grams of carbs minus grams of fiber equals net carbs). I like the taste of the chocolate! The vanilla is just tolerable, but I don't like much of anything that's vanilla anyway. It did make a good smoothie though. My main thing is I wanted an RTD that tasted good to me. I long since learned to read nutrition panels because I was diagnosed as a Type 2 diabetic about 14 years ago.....the 70 pounds I've lost has returned my blood glucose level to normal without medications but the habit is probably ingrained for life now. The Low Carb Diet is a fairly recent product, I think. When I first discovered them, they were hard to find but now I find them in lots of places. The so-called "high protein" SlimFast has 15 grams of protein (yeah, go figure) and something like 27 grams of carbs. You definitely have to read labels for any food product.....simply because the face label can be misleading.

I was only out 3 days. Short-term disability usually requires that you use one week of personal time/vacation time before you can use your STD benefits. I used 2 days of vacation time and the third day, I used a bunch of extra hours to make up the day.

PBs are not a given. 95% of them are completely what I call "operator error" .... So, remember: You should cut your food into bites about the size of a nickle, put your fork down between bites, AND CHEW REALLY WELL. This will be a given for the rest of your life. I only PB when I slip up and I've learned pretty darned quickly that I can prevent it from happening. My weight loss hangs in at around 2 pounds per week. I'm down 70 pounds now. Am I thrilled? You betcha! It will happen for you. You're getting that first fill and you should truly be on your way. GOOD LUCK

Well, Steve, that sounds like a plan to me! Let someone ELSE eat the chocolate, LOL. Weight Watchers always tells people who make it to goal that they need to stay within 3 pounds of their goal weight. Makes sense if you think about it. 3 pounds isn't too tough to lose. 30 pounds is another issue entirely. So you get to whatever goal you declare, weigh yourself weekly and if you have a big week and pick up a pound or two, go ahead and get rid of them before they are joined by friends. This is where almost all of us have failed in the past. But I believe the band will help me to stay close to my goal weight at all times. Of course, I'm only a little over half-way to goal (I need to update my ticker to the 70 pounds I've now lost) but I'm with Billoh: It would be nice to see what all the successful bandsters do.

Pasta, by virtue of what it is, can very easily turn into a gummy ball that can block the stoma created by your band ..... and can take hours to digest enough to break apart. I can't eat pasta at all. Period. The most miserable experience of my life. Go ahead and try it, but chew it REALLY, REALLY well and don't eat much and see what happens. There are plenty of people who can eat pasta; maybe you'll be one of them. The main thing is that you know that you might not be.

TinyTina, it sounds like you weren't given much (if any) of the information you needed to come through the immediate post-op period! Pain in your shoulder: This is gas. Apparently you were not told that they would pump gas into your abdomen to make more room for the surgeon to work. This gas has to be absorbed by your body after surgery and it tends to "roam" around in your chest cavity and that is what caused that pain in your shoulder. Once all the gas is absorbed, that should end and not come back. "Vomiting" .... you likely are not actually vomiting but, rather, PBing. If you eat too fast, don't chew well or take bites that are too big, they can get stuck (even before you ever get a fill). You should cut your food into bites about the size of a nickle, put your fork down between bites, AND CHEW REALLY WELL. If you don't, the bite (and any that follow) get stuck and can come back up. But it is not vomiting -- there is no heaving that empties the entire contents of your stomach and there is no stomach acid involved. Just that food. Not losing? Well, you are in the time frame we call Bandster Hell. You have very little noticeable restriction (I know that some Mexican surgeons put a few ccs in the bands at surgery and you say you are at 2.9cc). 2.9ccs is a small start. I had .6 after surgery and my first fill was 3ccs on top of that....and I've had 4 more fills since then to take to to 6ccs and I am FINALLY at my sweet spot. You need to go for a fill. Get whomever does the fill to draw all the Fluid out before they add any so that you know absolutely 100% how much fluid is in your band. A fill will NOT cause the gas pains you've experienced post-op. The fill goes into the port, which inflates the inner ring of your band. It is a closed system. Lastly, scars. You KNEW you would be cut; I mean, it's surgery after all. Maybe you've never had any surgery before? Scars take time to heal and fade. Technically speaking, what they call "scar modeling" can occur anytime in the first year post-op. The stuff you buy at the pharmacy isn't bad, but not anywhere near the best product out there. Cicacare is supposed to be the best professional product and is quite expensive -- you can buy it online and a 5" X 6" piece will cost close to $60 if you can find single sheets; a box will cost $500 or more. Even if you do nothing to the scars, in a year's time, they won't be red any more, those two nodules will flatten out in another month or two. My advice is RELAX and let your body do its job. Now, make that appointment for your first fill and put your band to work.

Tamra, your friend more than likely knows nothing or very little about the lap band versus gastric bypass. And, with gastric bypass, loose skin is almost unavoidable because the weight loss is so fast. Lap band aims for a much more healthy rate of loss and your skin has the opportunity to recover as much as it can. It continues to recover for as much as a year after you reach goal weight, too. About all I can think to say is "go with me to the seminar so you can learn for yourself!" Many people who attend the seminars take a friend or family member with them.

Well, I did notice the reference to cream-based Soups. I was told explicitly that after the "full liquid" stage post-op, I was not supposed to eat ANY cream soups. I suggest that your journal your eating if you aren't doing so already. There are several on-line journals that help you with calorie values, etc. What most people discover once they start journaling EVERY BITE that goes in their mouths that they are nibbling on things they shouldn't be eating at all. This will help you with portions. Aim for aboaut !,000 to !,200 calories per day. I drink a Protein shake (20 grams Protein and 2 grams of carbs) for Breakfast because I'm tight in the morning and don't/can't eat soid food. My other two meals consist of about 3 oz of lean protein, vegetables and a single serving of whole grain carbs (for me, since bread gets stuck every time, that's whole grain baked crackers). I occasionally eat a scoop of mashed potatoes, I have a very small slice of birthday cake once a month at work, SF popsicles are a favorite snack. For exercise, I don't go to a gym. I have almost an acre for a yard so I do all my own yard work and that gives me a fair amount of exercise. Fill in with walking. This works for me. I PB occasionally, but it's "operator error" ... I either eat too fast or in lieu of not eating fast, don't chew as well as I should. That has taught me a great deal about HOW to eat. So, anyway, you have my suggestions.

I've read quite a few posts in the last months on this forum and another one about papaya enzyme tablets helping with stuck episodes, etc. Well, last night on TV I saw an entirely different use for it. I was watching Iron Chef America. The "secret ingredient" was octopus. I've eaten octopus more than once and it's kind of rubbery/chewy. Michael Symon was cooking a pot of it and he put a handful of papaya enzyme tablets in the pot! They asked him about it and he said it would tenderize it. I think I'm going to buy some and try it with other meat in the crock pot. I would NEVER have thought of trying this but I can see the logic so I'll let you know once I get to give it a shot!

Here's a link to the FAQ section of this site: Lap Band Surgery and Lap Band Discussion Forum - FAQ: LapBandTalk Forum Frequently Asked Questions This will explain a lot of abbreviations. PB is the most mystifying because until you experience you still sort of don't get it. You take too big a bite, don't chew a bite well enough, or maybe take a bite too many. You get stuck. You'll know immediately that you're stuck because it will feel terrible .... like some huge lump is in your chest. DON'T try to drink to wash it down. If I stand up and move around a little, a stuck episode may resolve itself. If it doesn't, it may come back up. This will be accompanied by a lot of mucus and foamy saliva that you're just going to have to spit out. That's a PB...when a bite of chewed food comes back up. It is NOT vomiting. There is no stomach acid involved. And, your stomach doesn't heave until it empties itself. It's just the stuck bite (and if you drank to try to wash it down, the Water or whatever that is sitting on top of the stuck bite with come up too). The relief is immediate and complete. It's not the most pleasant experience but the couple of times it's happened to me, it was such a relief to get "unstuck" that I pretty much didn't care what it took to fix it.

A small portion of dry roasted nuts. A little salty, protein, crunchy .... all in one.

Shoulder pain in the first few weeks after surgery is usually gas pains related to the gas they pumped into your abdoment when they did the surgery. Moving around, rocking in a rocking chair, putting your arms over your head and moving them around and a heating pad (especially on the pain in your shoulder) help tremendously. Moving around as much as you feel up to will make a big difference.

WOW! That's really high. I've heard of $250 a few times but $3,500? That's crazy. I had no program fees. Support group, which is great, is free. I also have a "lap band advocate" who is trained to answer questions and I can call her anytime and get answers very quickly. if it's beyond her training, either the PA or the surgeon returns the call, and because they aren't fielding ALL the calls, you do get a fast call back. All in all, I'm very happy with my whole arrangement. I think if they'd asked for $3,500 on top of what I paid for the surgery, I would have backed down and shopped for another doctor. That's just on the edge of downright outrageous.

"Mine does the same, I lay down, he numbs the area and then takes everything out so he can see if I have a leak (I think that is why), then he puts it back with more. I then sit up and he gives me Water to make sure I can drink it. Out the door I go. It is funny how everyone is just a little different. " Yes, they take all the Fluid out to verify how much is in your band. I have a 10cc band, had have 5 fills and am 6ccs. I am at my sweet spot. I can go 5 or even 6 hours sometimes without getting hungry. And, I'm losing about 2 pounds per week.

Diva, when they did your surgery, they pumped gas into your abdomen to make room to work in. That's what's hurting. The only things that will help are MOVING and a well-placed heating pad. Walk if you can, rock in a rocking chair, hold your arms up in the air and wave them around. Move whichever way you can as often as you feel able. Place a heating pad over where it hurts. The gas moves around, so you'll need to move the heating pad as the pain moves. Good luck! Almost all of us had this to some degree. It does get better.

Okay, you made me curious. Go to www.amazon.com and search fat free mayo. They carry more than one. And I saw something there that has roused my curiosity even further. Have you ever heard of Walden Farms products? I buy a chocolate sauce they make that is CALORIE FREE. I use it to dip apple slices in when I feel the need for a treat (that just happens to be absolutely guilt-free). Well, they make a fat free, sugar free, CALORIE FREE mayonnaise. If anybody gets this and tries it, please pass on a "review". I'm curious.

Sounds like you need to talk to the doc! However, out of curiosity, have you changed your workout routine? If you happen to have added more ab-related exercise, remember that your port is stitched to abdominal muscle and you could have irritated muscle with pulling. Just a thought.

I eat 1,000 - 1,200 calories per day. Good protein snacks include low fat cottage cheese, low fat cheese, a few steamed shrimp. A half cup of low fat cottage cheese has 13 grams of protein! Yeah, I know. I never really paid attention to the nutrition label on cottage cheese. I just like it, LOL. Then I watched an episode of Biggest Loser once and the challenge was to arrange a selection of food in the order of how much protein each item had. Every contestant failed because nobody knew that cottage cheese was the highest amount of protein of all the choices. And it's got calcium, which you need too!

how bad does it suck not eating food for 2 weeks? and how often do bands slip??? most of my questions can be answered by my dr. im sure. I guess im just scared :tongue2: im having to finance 19,000 and am woried it won't work. The days post-op on liquid aren't so bad. I was on liquids only for 10 days...and I can tell you that for about the first 7 days, I simply didn't care if I had more than that. Then I started getting hungry but not miserably so. I just drank some extra broth, ate some more sugar free Jello, had another sugar free popsicle. Slippage is not totally out of the question, but the numbers aren't very high. If you eat as you are told then you can drastically reduce the chance of that. I was self-pay and my surgery was $15,000. Here are a couple of things to help with the cost. Find out what testing your surgeon requires pre-op. Then, have your primary care physican make the referrals to doctors under your insurance plan. You're already quite overweight and nothing that they will require would be out of the ordinary. My insurance paid for all my pre-op testing without knowing that it was really for my surgery! I paid $5,000 out of my savings and I financed $10,000. My monthly payment is $187.00. Yeah, that seemed high when I was still in the decision process BUT think of this. Do you take any prescription medications? Add up the monthly co-pays and deduct that from the monthly payment for the surgery. (I was on 6 medications and was being threatened with another one. My co-pays were $205 per month and the new drug would have added $35 to that.) Then think about what you pay to eat lunch out every day when you're at work -- for me that was about $45 a week ($45 X 4 = $180). Depending on your numbers, you may simply be offseting one set of expenses with another AND that payment for surgery will go away over time. The other would not, and always stands the chance of increasing as the cost of medications and health care for the problems related to obesity increase. Lastly, pretty much everybody who has had this surgery had moments when they questioned whether it would really work for them. After all, we've ALL dieted and regained weight how many times? But the difference is that even if you fall off the "diet wagon" you will have the band to rein you in and keep you from eating a whole Value Meal from Mickey D.... much less the volume of food you ate pre-band. It will pull you up short. So if you can make the good food choices, the band will make sure you feel satisfied and youo con't be tempted nearly as much to just blow it!