ParrotheadCathy

5'4" and 239 pounds is a BMI of 41.1. Most insurance companies that cover weight loss surgeries look for a BMI of 40 without co-morbidities. The only limitation that could be a problem, is some insurance policies require that you be at a specific BMI for a period of 36 months.

Actually obesity is much worse than alcohol or drug addiction. With help, you could completely stop drinking or taking drugs and while the temptation might exist, you wouldn't have to deal with drinking or taking drugs in small amounts every day. But obesity? You still have to eat EVERY DAY! So for lots of us, this is a way of stopping before the food gets the best of us.

At my doc's office, they weigh you, measure you, take your blood pressure and then talk to you. They ask how long you can go after a meal before you are hungry, how much you can eat at one meal, etc. Then they decide how much of a fill you need.

I was not an overnight at the hospital -- I was out patient. I never even opened the bottle of liquid Lortabs. I never even took any liquid Tylenol.

And I lost a whopping THREE POUNDS in the first 4 weeks after surgery, LOL. I was so frustrated. But I'm losing now and it's all good. Any time I didn't lose I consoled myself with the wisdom you'll hear here often....At least I wasn't gaining.

I didn't have anything like that, but my girlfriend in Chattanooga, who was banded April 5, had a similar problem. Her port incision has slowly narrowed down to a small bit at one place and it just has to finish healing at its own pace. You'll be fine! We all heal differently, and this is just your body's way of dealing with it.

Cindie, I eat steak at least once a week, often twice! It's not a 2 pound T-bone but I enjoy it just as much as if it were! I tenderize it, I grill it, I have some steamed veggie or other or a spinach salad with it and sometimes a small baked potato. From your vent, I get the feeling that you miss the big portions, though I think if you examine it there's probably more to it than that. Perhaps when you sat down to a "huge steak" or a "big bowl" of pasta there was a social situation connected to it and you haven't been able to separate the two in your head. You can have those things, in smaller portions, and still be physically satisfied with the food and mentally satisfy yourself with a social situation without the need for stuffing yourself to bursting.

I think I'd want to talk to my cardiologist about something as serious as that. You have to have cardiac clearance to have the surgery, so why not go ahead and talk to that doctor now rather than later?

My port site was a little tender, but I never even took ANY pain meds, not even tylenol. Surgery on Tuesday, back to work on Friday. I consider myself to have a high tolerance for pain, but I really didn't feel anything other than the tenderness around the port area.

Well, BillOh, that may have been related to a couple of things. #1, I don't have a hot tub at home, only on vacations (and on cruise ships, where drunks have been known to hang out in hot tubs, LOL). #2, I damn near lost my leg. I was willing to believe anything and do anything to keep my leg. I had ruptured my achilles tendon and had it repaired. 3 months out from the repair, I got an infection in my incision area that got into the bone where the tendon was reattached to the calcinaus (the big bone in your foot that creates the heel). I had to have dead tissue cut away from my leg, including my achilles tendon. I was on antibiotics for 11 very long months and it took a total ob 18 months for the last scabs to come off. That hole in my leg had to close itself. Ever heard of wet-to-dry bandages? Not something used often anymore. But I had saline with BLEACH in it that I had to soak gauze with and put next to the wound and then dry gauze and then gauze roll to hold it all on (couldn't tolerate tape anymore). The doc tells me there's germs, I believed him. So for two cruises, four trips to the beach and a trip to Key West, I stayed as far away from the hot tubs as I could, LOL.

He's saying he'll do it under fluroscope. A lot of doctors do it. Mine doesn't. I've had 3 fills (my 4th is scheduled for Monday) and I haven't had any problems and I'm pretty close to my sweet spot. So, for me, I don't think I see the need. But that's not to say it's not a good choice. I just don't think I see the need when it applies to me.

All the more reason to take the suggestion to take him to a seminar. It would be educational for him, it wouldn't be just you providing the information, and he could ask questions, too. And, hopefully, it would help to allay his concern. Yeah, it's surgery and that's never to be undertaken lightly, but with the information presently professionally he (hopefully) will begin to see your position AND your feelings on the subject.

Pudgy, this is bandster hell. And making the transition from liquids to mushy to regular food can add a couple of pounds. But it's temporary. Your first fill will help, but don't expect it to put you at your sweet spot. First fill, at least for me, was determined after a conversation. I was asked how much food was in my average meal, how quickly I got hungry again, whether I'd had any problems swallowing or anything else for that matter. When they did the fill, they drew out what was in the band. Turns out, there was .6cc left in it when the doctor tested it for leaks before he put it in place. The physician's assistant gave me 4 ccs. Which was fine for about a half hour and then, before I could even get to work, I suddenly couldn't even swallow my own spit so I called, said I was on my way back and she withdrew 1cc. Instant relief. Some doctors are not aggressive on the first fill, so my experience is only anecdotal as your doctor may have a totally different philosophy.

TIme to switch! Past time, it sounds like. He sounds more than a bit passive-aggressive and more than bit callous. You didn't do what he wanted you to do, so now you have to suffer? Time to get your medical records moved to another physician. Where are you? Maybe one of us here on the board can make a recommendation? There are sooo many users here, so hopfully somebody can make a recommendation. It's got to be better than what you're getting.

I was told that whey protein helped to shrink your liver. I don't know for sure. I drank my whey protein shakes as instructed pre-op. You could go to a health food store and talk to someone. I know that the health food store near my house even let me taste some stuff when I didn't like the whey protein shakes that I got from my doctor. As a note, I finally decided it wasn't the shakes that tasted bad, it was only if I mixed them with water. Once I started mixing with skim milk they were fine.

My Father used to tell me "Katie, patience is a virtue". I got so sick of hearing that. Then, one day, I saw a tshirt on somebody that said "Patience, hell! I wanna kill something!" I'm sorry this is taking so long. I know that my doctor gave me a tenantive surgery date on my first visit with him .... and that date was 25 days later. He said "we probably won't have everything completed by then, but you're on the book." Ultimately, we moved it to 2/10, still not too far out. Of course, I was self-pay so things moved faster. I put the push on my sleep study (translate, I fibbed a little). I told them I had a surgery date and they were the only thing holding me up and I needed to finish the evaluation process with them ASAP. And I called them EVERY DAY, LOL. i could tell that woman was sick of hearing my voice. But it got it handled faster. GOOD LUCK:thumbup:

Monkey's asking the right questions! And I have more. What size band do you have? What amounts have your fills been? Let's say you have a 10cc band. Then, let's say you get 6 fills of .5cc each (and there are doctors who are this conservative). That would mean you have 3ccs of fill, which is pretty much no restriction. A start, but only a start. EVen 1cc each time would not necessarily have you at your sweet spot. You could need to go as high as 8 or even 9 to be there. It's different for everybody. When was your last fill? Have you continued to pursue your fills? Schedule another one! My doctor always withdraws all the Fluid in the band to make sure how much is really in the band (this would immediately indicate if there is a leak). Then, and only then does he put that amount back plus the amount decided on for the current fill. "I have experienced no gastric reflux. I have experienced no nausea, vomiting or frothing." This is actually good. If you had, that would not be good. Band slipped? Don't know of many who have experienced that, but everyone who has that I've heard about reached a point where they could not eat and had a great difficulty even drinking. Instead of sitting down to a plate full of food (which is what I take "no difference in the amount I can eat since before surgery" to mean), are you preparing meals that are "plan" meals? By that, I mean 3 ounces of lean Protein and steamed or raw vegetables, and occassionally a single serving of whole grain carbs. Do you take small bites and chew to the consistency of applesauce? Then wait 15 minutes after you finish the meal? Most overweight people don't know "full" from a check for a million dollars. They know "stuffed to the gills". If after that 15 minutes you don't experience gnawing hunger, you're FULL. If that gnawing, screaming hunger comes back in less than 4 hours, then you probably aren't at your sweet spot. Go back to my second paragraph -- make another appointment for a fill. If you get hungry in less than 4 hours, EAT PROTEIN. A boiled egg, a 1/2 cup of low fat cottage cheese, an ounce of low fat cheese. Solid protein takes longer to digest than anything else you could possibly think of eating. Are you exercising? I mean, you don't have to become a power lifter or a marathoner, but walk 30 minutes every day? Or even almost every day? The lap band isn't a magic bullet. If you aren't trying to do the things you are supposed to do, but are just forging ahead blindly, then why are you expecting to have magically lost weight?

Oh, if only your first fill slammed the gate to bandster hell behind you! It's a start, but it is most definitely not your sweet spot. Bandster hell is the period between when you start transitioning from liquids through mushy, through full solids until you reach a decent level of restriction. That could take 4 or 5 fills (or even more). You will be pretty much "bare knuckling" weight loss, but each fill will help you more and more. I'm up to 5.1ccs and I'm NOT at my sweet spot (that's 3 fills and another one coming up on Monday). But I can get by on less food than before and I don't get hungry as fast. Bandster hell is started to pass to the rear view mirror, LOL PB .. you take a bite that's too big, or don't chew a bite enough regardless of size, or you eat too fast and you get stuck. Only it's worse than any "stuck" you've ever experienced. It won't move. Then you start producing a ton of saliva (sometimes, it's foamy), and then that stuck food comes back up. It's NOT vomiting. It's regurgitation of food that was stuck in your esophagus. You will not vomit up the contents of your stomach and what comes up will not be mixed with stomach acid and partially digested food. It will be that bite, looking like it would have if you had spit it out instead of swallowing it. And when it happens, then you'll remember this description and say to yourself, "that crazy parrotheadcathy didn't do this justice!" Other terms and abbreviations are explained on the FAQ link .....

The pain in your shoulder is more than likely gas. Try putting a heating pad on it when you're watching TV or lying in bed. I think too many doctors don't bother to tell their patients that they may not lose anything at all, or very little, in the first few weeks after surgery. I think it creates an unnecessary sense of disappointment or feeling of failure. You are perfectly normal to be where you are, losing what you've lost. Your first fill almost certainly won't take you to your sweet spot, but it will be a start. Go ahead and schedule the appointment for your second fill while you are in the doc's office. That way you have it, and can look forward to it.

I got 4 ccs on my first fill (and had .6 in my band post-surgery), but it was too much for me and they had to take out 1cc about an hour later. Every doctor has his/her own approach to how much to give on a fill. Some are somewhat aggressive, as mine was, but others are extremely conservative.

Call the doctor. It sounds like you may have some swelling combined with the fluid in your band making you too tight even though prior to this you were at this fill level without problems.

Brit, you aren't cheating. Lap band is a "helper", a tool. You are still going to have to work at this. Make the right food choices, exercise, make sure you drink enough liquid and take in enough Protein. The difference is that the assistance from the band will help you stick with it. The band will NOT keep you from eating Cookies and ice cream, or candy and other stuff. The band won't reject it. So you are still going to be working at this. Has your boyfriend ever articulated WHY he's not really in favor of the surgery? Did he go to the seminar with you? Does he really know what it's like to be overweight and lose the weight and gain it back, more than once? Have you heavy for the entire 7 years? If so, perhaps he's just a little insecure that you might not find him as appealing after you've lost weight? It happens, alot. And even more often, the insecurities pop up even if the problem doesn't exist. Luckydog...you're just "growing older but not up" (quote courtesy of Jimmy Buffett).

There's no way that on six bites you're getting the minimum of 60 grams of protein per day. I was told to prepare my meal with about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of food: 3 oz of protein (looks to be about the same size as a deck of cards), a serving of steamed or raw vegetables. If, after you eat that, you are still hungry after 15 minutes, it's okay to eat a small serving of whole grain carbs. I drink a protein shake in the morning because it's convenient, but I've been told to stop because I need solid protein. And the logic works. I get plenty of protein in that shake BUT it's liquid and it doesn't stay in the band, so I'm hungry in a couple of hours. If I eat "real" food instead, I don't get hungry so fast.

You're probably right ... time of the month. And it happens to lots of people. I'm past that (and not missing it) but fluctuations are normal and will still be a part of your life after surgery. You've lost really well for 11 days....almost a pound a day is not a typical weight loss or a sustainable rate. You're doing fine!

Try to assuage that sugar craving (which for many is strong during that time of the month) by having okay things like SF Jello, SF Popsicles and SF Fudgsicles (my fave), or eat 2 or 3 jelly beans (the Jelly Belly ones are about 4 calories each, which means if you eat very many, you're still in a heap of trouble, but a couple can satisfy that sweet craving for many of us. WHen is your first fill? That's the big step on the road to restriction and steady weight loss.