ParrotheadCathy

Almost all of us include our pre-op weight loss on our tickers. And, the 3-4 weeks immediately after surgery may bring you little or no weight loss (or even a little gain) because you are healing. You have the liquid diet post-op, the transition to mushy foods and then the transition to "real" food. All that adds up to not the weight loss you are hoping for. But once you start getting fills, the weight will start coming off more steadily, and at your sweet spot (which could be even 5 or 6 fills down the road), you should see 1-3 pounds a week steadily.

I KNOW that if I use a straw I swallow air AND I drink stuff in bigger gulps and faster. But that's me. That may not be true for you. If I drink water through a straw, I belch; from a glass, no.

You needed a fill a while back, I'm thinking, so it's good you have one scheduled. Just hang on for that. It will help. And while you're there go ahead and make an appointment for another fill in about 4 weeks from the fill next week. If you're doing fine, they may decide you don't need it, but at least have that appointment on their book so that you have to go face the accountability of weighing in on THEIR scale and likely getting another fill. GOOD LUCK

It sounds like reflux to me. Is it acid-y/burning? Try taking a good antacid, like Zantac before bed and see if that stops it. If so, I would then talk to my doc.

I didn't go to a seminar. I went to a personal consultation on Januay 2 and had my surgery on February 10. This may be skewed as a comparison because I was self-pay and knew I would be self-pay when I went to the consultation, so there was never any interaction with insurance to deal with. As for qualifying, many insurance companies have a minimum BMI that you must have been at for a certain amount of time. My best friend had to have a BMI of 37 for 3 years (she didn't), so she ended up a self-pay. I'd say call your insurance company, make sure they cover the procedure and then ask for their requirements. That way, you start out well-informed on that part.

Monkey hit it on the nose! Go to a bike shop rather than WalMart or Target. They can help you find a bike that has the strength for now but still the performance you need to continue to be able to ride it for some time to come. I have a friend who rides in races and he suggested to me that I go with him to look at bikes because there is a huge range of prices and features and anybody should be able to find a bike that meets their requirements.

Coughing at night like that is a definite symptom that your band is too tight. You can't change that fact by yourself! Go to the doc and ask for a small unfill, perhaps no more than .5cc. It could/should make a huge difference. You need your rest.

You're very much not alone on this, Mellie. But think of this....if you continue to pig out in anticipation of what's right around the corner, when it gets here, you're going to have even more of a shock when you start to eat the way you need to. I'm not saying cut your meals to 1 cup of food total, but I'm saying try to eat healthier foods, better portions and maybe go ahead and start a walking or other exercise program so that some changes are in place when you have your surgery.

Lulu, you probably know from your own experience that it is one thing to know you have a weight problem/food problem and entirely another to acknowledge that you have to do something about it. It doesn't sound like he's ready to do anything about it. You can't force it. Has he had a physical recently? Has he even been to the doctor recently? I know too many men don't go to the doctor unless they are so darned sick! Does he have what we all know as co-morbidities? High blood pressure, sleep apnea and Type II Diabetes stand out as strong contenders at his weight...... If he hasn't been to a doctor in a while, does he snore? That can be a sign of sleep apnea. Now, having asked those questions, do you think you could persuade him to go to the doctor for a physical? Have you told him that you fear for his well-being? For his very life? And, lastly, I know that I look at the people around me, friends who are very overweight and before, when I was 54 pounds heavier than today, I just accepted it as the status quo and now I look at them, still loving them of course, but thinking "If I can do this why can't you?" Are you doing that a bit, too? You can't control what he eats when he isn't with you, so he's likely to eat absolute crap at lunch, LOL. But you can continue to feed him tasty, healthy meals at home, don't have bad stuff like the pie and fudge in the house, keep a bowl of fruit washed and ready to eat sitting on the kitchen counter...and gently lead him to where he can feel safe in taking on his weight problem. He's probably secretly a little scared that he's probably gaining weight while you continue to lose and that it could come between you. But being pushed only will make him push back, rebel by eating more crap. It's got to be a tough and even heart-breaking scenario for you right now, but good luck!

Yeah, just about everybody has some gas pain. Gas-X will help alot. A heating pad over an area that hurts from trapped gas is really good too. And, please don't just sit in the chair or lay in the bed! Moving around will help soooo much! Walk to the mailbox and back, more than once even, the day of surgery. Then the next day, walk to the end of the block and back, more than once if you can. It makes a huge difference.

My insurance had an exclusion too. I obtained financing. $10,000 (I paid $5,000 up front) is running me $187 a month. My justification was this: I was taking 8 prescriptions a month (I still take one of them, which is to help me sleep more than 4 hours a night). 3 of them had $35 a month co-pays and 4 of them had $25 a month co-pays. That adds up to $205, which is an $18 a month savings to me. I also was eating lunch out every day at +/- $8.50 per day on the average and now I take my lunch for a fraction of that but I didn't even take that into consideration. Unfortunately, that is about all I can offer. I understand how you must be feeling right now because I felt pretty badly when I realized my insurance wouldn't touch this. One thing I did do. You have to have some pre-surgery testing. I talked to my primary doctor and he gladly made all the referrals for me to doctors that were on my insurance. They reported to him and he sent everything to the surgeon's office. That way, I didn't have a ton of expenses up front, just a very few co-pays. He sent my blood work in himself as part of an office visit. I got my financing through Care Credit. Capital One also does medical financing. Wish I could offer you something better. Cathy

Didn't your doctor offer any information on how he would handle it if that were the case? For that matter, didn't he offer to to anything about the pain that is very "now and in your face"??? I'm no expert but I'm thinking it might be similar to when a breast implant gets "encapsulated". For that, they often do a revision surgery. Call back and tell them that an explanation did not take the pain away and you want to know what he is going to do! Dang doctors. You have to be your own advocate. Ask lots of questions, demand answers, demand an explanation of what he can do to ameliorate the situation.

Holding, you should take the MMPI (a personality inventory). When I last administered it back in the 70s (there have been a couple of revisions over the years), it had true/false questions like "I often have black and tarry stools", "I often talk to God", "God often talks to me". As a psych major, I never understood why any of the tests had the "I'm not being honest" routine .... that's like a HUGE joke to me because a pretty good percentage of the people I gave that particular test to were coming into an in-patient psychiatric hospital and I figured they were going to say whatever they wanted regardless of the connection to reality. Actually, I thought some of the questions back in the 70s version were misleading. I mean, a religious person would call praying "talking to God" and I wondered what was wrong with that. Apparently, it meant "conversations" but that's not how the question reads, right? Anyway, you probably came across as about as sane as the rest of us, LOL.

Lauren, don't think for a minute than an unfill means losing all your restriction. The simple fact is an unfill of a fraction of 1cc can make all the difference between what you are experiencing and being able to eat healthily and not suffering. Your weight loss is likely at a standstill because of your inability to take in adequate nutrition....your body is in "starvation mode" where it holds on to anything you take in because it is uncertain when more nutrition is on the way. And, you can be tighter at different times of day which could explain why one time you can manage a particular food and the next time you can't. Your doctor's job is to help you, so call and make an appointment to go in and work this out. I was too tight once, had a bit of an unfill and later had another fill that took me slightly past where I had been too tight and everything was fine!

I completely skipped the seminar... went straight to the individual consultation where, of course, I was weighed. But I would think since the seminars are informational that no personal information like that would be collected.

Your doc will prescribe a pain medication, be it liquid Lortabs, hydrocodone or oxycodone, I never needed any pain meds, not even liquid Tylenol. Don't let yourself get stiff from staying still too long, move around. Most of us were given prescriptions for pain and for nausea before surgery so we could fill them and have them on hand. Don't be afraid to ask if they aren't offered.

I just bet you are, Papa! I'm thrilled to be down from a ladies 3x/26 to a 20 and some 1x. Happy dances all over the place, right?!?!?

If you aren't having any problems with liquids, I'm going to go with RESINTX.....take bites the size of a quarter, put down your fork or spoon, chew until the consistency of applesauce, swallow, then next bite. If that doesn't relieve the problem, call your doc. A slight unfill (even .2cc can make a difference) MIGHT be in order.

Consistent overeating can stretch your pouch, regardless of what you eat. Slider foods are soooo tempting that they are bound to be a problem. Some of them, like ice cream pass out of your pouch very quickly, which makes room for more and that's even worse. And, I know some of those foods are really hard to give up (I had to give them up because I knew that if I started, it would be darned near impossible to stop, LOL).

Truthfully, I got on the scale back before Christmas and I was 284 pounds .... and I swore then I would never, ever see 300. But I knew darned well that unless I did something I would see 300 in the near future. My best friend and I had been talking about lap band and I talked to my doctor about it on December 17, when he told me I was an ideal candidate. He gave me the name of two surgeons he felt were good and I took it and RAN with it. Didn't even bother with the seminar, but made an appointment for an individual consultation (my friend went on the same day) and was working on thoe pre-op required testing within a couple of days. I went for that consultation on 1/2 and had surgery on 2/10. And, I have never looked back. Down 52 pounds since then. I never had a problem losing weight; keeping it off was a whole other story. As a type 2 diabetic, I was eating reasonably well, just larger portions than I needed. So I gave up soda in January, and have simply focused on the "plan". As I get closer to my sweet spot, it's getting easier and easier.

I'm not at goal but I have the Lap Band AP band and you can't see my port but if you press firmly enough you can feel it slightly.

"co-morbidities are on the mild side, including acid reflux, shortness of breath on exertion (but no cardio disease yet), foot, knee and leg pain, lower and upper back chronic pain, depression, family history of insulin dependent diabetes and heart attack (but I dont have metabolic syndrome or pre-diabetes yet)" -- NONE of those are considered co-morbidities. I calculate your BMI at 36.7 which is considered a candidate but that doesn't mean your insurance company would consider you a candidate. I suggest calling them to find out (1) if they cover weight loss surgery, (2) what are the requirements to be qualified for the surgery, and (3) what surgeons are covered on your plan. You don't know until you ask.

Ice cream definitely, mashed potatoes can be....it's the stuff that you know is loaded with fat and calories and that you can eat a bunch of it even with your band. Here's where good choices and willlpower become your only help.

You've found your way to bandster hell. Once you get a couple of fills, it starts getting easier.

You say you have "sleep apnea, high cholesterol and GERD". Sleep apnea is definitely a co-morbidity. Not sure about high cholesterol. GERD is not. Co-morbidities include high blood pressure, Type II Diabetes, and sleep apnea. Like I said, not so sure about the cholesterol issue.