pinkprincess

hello i agree with emma dont wait 8 weeks, you could become quiet ill if you arent getting the nutrients that you need and you wont if you can only get liquids down. my surgeons nurse said to me that if you cant eat normally then your band is too tight. we only want to cut the amount of food that we eat and by only being able to have liquids is not good, you need to go back to your surgeon if after 3 days you are unable to eat mushies. good luck and dont wait 8 weeks

hi i will try and keep this simple and brief because it can get very confusing, but if the procedure has a medicare item number then you can claim a rebate (percentage) on that procedure with medicare but also if you have private health insurance and the procedure has an item number then they pay for the difference that medicare dont pay. you will also find that the anethiest will have an item number and anything else associated with the surgery, that means that you can claim a rebate from medicare for all those procedures, but remember its only a percentage that you can claim. let me know if you need any more info or i havent explained myself easy enough.

also they might be weeding out any people that might want to have the band done because they think its an easy way to loose weight so they are making sure you are commited to this. i have some larger friends that say to me good on you for losing weight but its only because you cheated by having lapbanding, yeah right.:smile2:

hi i had private health insurance so dont have info about super funding but reading posts from other people over the past year i get the impression that they are just covering their ass'. i have noticed that everyone in the same situation thinks the same thing about why they ask these questions and i suppose it would be for one reason only, to make sure all options are covered, i would not worry too much about this and just do what they require because that would also show them that you are determined that this is the best option for you. i understand what you are saying about being your only option because it also was for me but stick with it and i am sure it will workout in the end. i had some hurdles with my op, firstly when i went to a physocologist and her letter of recommendation to my surgeon was that i should not have the op because i could loose weight with out the surgery if i had a good professional support team of weight loss experts and also that i was serverly depressed and suffered high anxiety, wouldnt you if you were my size, and secondly i have a colostomy with a large stoma hernia so my surgeon said that i might have open surgery instead of keyhole if he could get behind the hernia to put in the band. the only thing i was stressing about was the physcologist report and 2 weeks before the op i couldnt sleep but it turned out that i worried for nothing and got the op keyhole and all. i found that because i had made my mind up i should have this op no matter what anyone says and you will also feel the same way you will find a way to have the band and fight like hell for it. remember we all have moments before surgery were we think it will all come undone but you need to stick with it and fight for your right to have this surgery, for your health and your future.:smile2: keep us posted how you go with your journey. denise

hello and welcome i live in cairns and dont know anyone personally that has had a lapband but i found this site and also another aussie one called banding together but i post alot on both these sites and find it great support so just keep in contact with us all and talk as often as you can, remember even though we are not their personally we are still here to support each other. good luck and keep us posted

hi after finding that you are in atherton, do you come down to cairns if so then i got my liquid Vitamins from the chemist warehouse on mcleod street opposite cairns central, they also have the high concentrate of fish oil too and they are the cheapest chemist in cairns, the chemist in atherton should be able to order the items also for you, let me know and i will give you the names of the products i use. i go to atherton every october, feb and june on a saturday to clean the carpets at atherton centrelink so i could probably drop some stuff off to you if you dont come to cairns often. i stock up on the stuff and buy about 10 bottles of vitamins and fish oil because you know what its like to be regional ha ha but just let me know, more than happy to help you denise:lol:

had to post again because i just read your profile and noticed that you wanted to know if a hernia can prevent lapband surgery. well the answer is defiantly not, i have a colostomy and have a huge stomal hernia around it and i was very concerned about the surgery but the only thing that my surgeon said could change for me was that if he could not get around my hernia with keyhole surgery then i would have to have open surgery, we discussed the risks and i otherised him to do this if necessary. in the lead up to the surgery i had to start my pre op diet earlier and was altered alot because i had to get as much fat from around my liver especially because of the hernia and also during the surgery dr clapham would have to sit me up considerably higher that for anyone else so that he would have enough room to go in the top of my hernia but after surgery it was still keyhoe and he said that it took 3 hrs more than usual but all is okay. i have had no problems at all and my surgeon said that he wished all his patients were as easy to band as me and especially when we thought i was going to be hard to band. his nurse said to me that if he thought he would have trouble then he would send my to a brisbane surgeon to be on the safe side but if he is not then all is okay. oh and i was the first person the surgeon had banded with a colostomy and also with a stomal hernia and with a hernia as big as mine. i love being the first for everything, ha ha denise:thumbup:

hi linda yeah i was banded at cairns private and i will never go back to cairns public again. i had emergency surgery xmas 2006 at public, what a difference. cairns private all the nurses were wonderful, happy, prompt and attentative. it was just a better feeling about the whole hospital and that is so important to me. when i woke up from my op they were ready and just had the best sleep after because the nurses so relaxed and friendly i felt so at ease. i was banded by dr clapham, he is at the cairns obesity clinic on lake st, everyone is wonderful there and no question is ever to hard for them to answer for me. very professional. were is your surgeon based? i didnt know that there was more than one, but i still am very happy with mine. How much have they told you it will cost all up? defiantly stay in touch with each other because its nice to have someone local going through the same things, like you i didnt think i would be able to talk to someone local. i also get on an assie lapband site its is bandingtogether.com.au the site was created not long ago but lots of people and they have a section for cairns posters. if you like i can email you my private email to stay in better contact with each other. talk again later denise:tt2:

hello i am in cairns is that far enough north for you ha ha were are you:thumbup:

hello i have the same issue with taking medication because i have diabetic but i asked a pharmacy if i could crush the medication and they said it would be fine. i also take a liquid Vitamin supplement with added Iron which is flavoured so no problems there and i also take a liquid fish oil which you can get from the chemist but i take a high strengh one and only need to take 1.25ml per day so if you do get the liquid one search around for the best one, some that i saw you had to take about 15ml per day, yuck, if you want the name of the liquid fish oil or Vitamins i take i can provide you with this info. my dietician recommended to take these and the brands also:thumbup:

hello:thumbup: i just wanted to share my excitement with everyone else (because you all understand how i feel) that i finally have a date set for 22nd june, it never really hit me until this morning when i was calling to make all the necesary appointments. i have waited for a year for the private health to kick in and yes its here. the only downer about the whole thing is that there is a bit more prep for me because i have a colostomy so the before and after diet will have to be watched carefully so i dont get blocked up, if you know what i mean, but i am not to bothered. i dont think anything could get me down now.