LALALUDE

Hi All, I have been looking for some current posts from December Bandsters 2009 and I guess most that are still active are here? Anyway, just wanted to know how everyone was doing. Also curious to know approx how many cc's in a 10cc band that the average person gets to their sweet spot? I only have 3cc's at the moment and am do back for another fill on 4/6/10. I am hoping that this next fill will curb some of my hunger between meals. I cannot or do not eat bread (except for an occasional very well toasted piece of multi-grain toast) cuz it all gets stuck and I get stuck if I eat too much but I do not get the feeling of being full before I take that one last bite that was too much. Just wondering what someone that has reached their sweet spot experiences? surgery 12/14/09 51.5 lbs lost so far:thumbup:

Hi Everybody, I have not been on since surgery, I could not find any posts and never got any emails re: posts til today and now I see all kinds of posts!!! So great to see how everyone is doing!!! I had my band on 12/14/09 and as of this AM, I have lost 39 pounds!!! (that includes the 19 lbs I lost post op) I am averaging 2 lbs a week. I only have one cc in my band because I am so sensitive to it...I go in again on the 18th so hopefully I can handle more this time. My doc says that most patients with my type of band have about 3-4cc's as of two weeks ago, but he said that I will not truly get to use the band as the tool that it is supposed to be until probably April or so. That is nice to know considering, albeit slow in my opinion, it is coming off.....I would not regret having this surgery at all, I have not been in the 250's for over 13 years! I feel so much better, my back doesn't hurt as much, I can walk a mile without having to stop and pant, and I can pick up something off of the floor! Take your life back, you will not regret it!!!!!! I WISH YOU GREAT LUCK!!!!! I too had the confusion of why things get stuck or do not go down smoothly if there is no restriction. My doc explained it like this... the band actually does 2 things. It forces you to eat very small bites and chew them very well, that is a given from the start and that is what causes things to stick if you do not! They deliberately fill the band very slowly so that it gives us the opportunity to re-learn how to eat slowly and not have any slip ups that could be very uncomfortable should we slip up during this process. The second thing it does is what we are all waiting for and that is for the band to get to that fill level (your sweet spot) where it actually presses on a nerve (not the one that goes to your shoulder!) that sends a message to your brain telling it you are full when you really aren't. My doc has been doing research for years to find out what causes that, but it is an unknown phenomenon. That made it all make much more sense to me. Cannot wait to keep reading all of your posts! leah

Hi, I am having the same symptoms. I am 14 days post op today. For the last 3 days I hade left hip pain causing exteme sharp pains when I tried to move and that got better and now I have pain in my mid back just below shoulder blades. The worst symtom that I cannot seem to shake is the extreme fatigue! I cannot work, all I want to do is lay down and sleep. My mind seems too foggy to work and my body is too tired to even sit up right! would love to know what this all might mean??? I have a p/o visit tomorrow but I am not sure if I can stay awake to drive the 1.5 hours to get there!!! HELP!

Hello all, Well, I had my surgery on the 14th and woke up in recovery with extreme shoulder pain, I mean exteme! I was spending the night anyway so I made the best of it. I was able to get down very little fluid without extreme shoulder pain and pain in the pit of my pouch as it were, but not knowing what normal was, I just hoped it would stop soon. Went home the next day at noonish, an hour and a half drive and by 8pm, I experienced the worst pain when I took my dissolved my medicine and it never went away. Called the doc and he said that I had to come in for a very quick fluid removal and I should be fine. Apparently, there is a small amount of fluid left in the band on insertion that can removed if there is too much swelling. He said I should go in that night or first thing in the AM if I could handle the pain. If anyone ever EVER gets this, go ASAP, do not wait. I had the longest most horribly painful night of my life! Worse than childbirth and a ruptured brain anuerysm! AND scary cuz I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I was not even in my right mind, cuz my family was home and I did not even let them know how much pain I was in, I hid in a room by myself like I had brought this on myself and deserved to suffer for it. I know now that that makes little sense, but I must have still been under the influence of anesthesia or something!!! The next AM I was at his office crying my head off and when he removed the fluid from the band, I immediately felt relief. He told me to walk around for an hour and come back.(like I had energy for that after the night I had just had!) When we went back, I could not swallow my next test sip of water, and again, could not even swallow my own spit! Lucky me, he told me that there is a very minute amount of people that get this exteme type of swelling and only one out of 3 of those would have to go into the hosp for steroid IV's. I got to do both!! Not just for one round of 3 doses over a 24 hour period, but 6 for a 48 hour period and I am still not able to do more than wet my tongue without pain. At least I now know what getting stuck feels like, it is just that my stuck could not go down if it wanted to. When I had upper GI in hosp, I had to swallow small amount of contrast and I could see it stop and then trickle through, then it would stop and as my esophagus would start to contract, you could see the rest of it squirting upwards which he says is part of what causes me to feel like I am having a heart attack. I am so afraid to drink anything I do not know how long it will take me to get back to my new normal whatever that is, but I am sure hoping it is soon. Another upsetting part is, that I now weigh 5 more pounds than I did on the morning of surgery!!! I am swollen like a sponge from all of those lovely IVs. Has anyone else had this kind of pain when they drink anything? I do not mean the total blockage, but what I have now, causing me not to be able to do more that wet my tongue and swallow my spit without getting chest and shoulder pain? I had never read anything like this preoperatively and I really did alot of research. I would sure like to hear from anyone that might have been through this and made it through the other side and are still happy that they did the surgery. I think I will eventually get encouraged again, but the pain and the debt will be fresh in my mind for a long time to come. I am usually an optimistic person, but now I feel like maybe I am doomed to being the exception to every rule I am going to come accross. Boy, I guess I have been waiting to get home from the hospital to get that off my chest! Would love to hear so happy stories from others that had surgery this week! Thanks for listening! Also, please do not let this scare you as I was told it is a very small percentage that get this. Leah

HI EVERYBODY! I am leaving for surgery in about 5 minutes! Good luck to all whom are having surgery today! my ride is here gotta go!

I start my liquid diet tomorrow and am already dreading it, let me know if it gets any easier for you so I will have someithing to look forward to! One week from today!!! WOOHOO!!!! Leah

thanks karyn! i feel like a part of the gang now! good to see you are back on the computer so quickly! hope your are feeling well. I work from home on the computer and I am hoping that I can get back to it as quickly as you have! Feel better and congratulations!

Hi, my surgery is on the 14th too! Let's keep in touch! Good luck on your pre-op stuff, got that out of the way last friday. Start liquids tommorrow...very excited!

Thanks, i will look chike up right now! My surgery is on 12/14/09!!! Cannot wait! Having lost 15 lbs since doc put me on a pre-preop diet, really has me optimistic that i will be losing it for the last time!!!! Start liquid pre-op diet tomorrow. Hope it will not be as hard as i anticipate! Thanks, again!!!

my doc said that i could not use slim fast. it was never an option. i have bought some unjury but have not even tried it yet....maybe everyone should list their favorites so we can have options to choose from. i am going to go on line and see if i can find optifast but i doubt it. I figured out my ticker tape....yeah!

HI Ladies and Gents, my name is Leah. i thought I had tried to reply on this thread about two weeks ago but i do not really know what i am doing. i had my preop today and all is a go for the 14th! My first visit to the doc was only about two weeks ago, but unlike three years ago, blue cross was a breeze to get authorized. Probably because i am now borderline diabetic. How are you early december patients doing? I have no idea how to make a ticker tape of my weight etc....i wish i had time to figure it out. I have lost 12.5 lbs since my first visit and have to start my preop liquid diet on Tuesday. Not looking forward to that but I am still excited. The girl in admitting weighed about 110 and she said she had a band put in about 3 years earlier and she used to weigh 235. It is great to see people that have already been through it and are a success story. My psych for my eval had the RNY and her husband and son had both had the band and all were doing great. Just the thought of losing weight and keeping it off sounds too good to be true...been through it sooooo many times.... would love to hear how everyone is doing. I need the support with someone going through it at the same time. If anyone can tell me how to get a ticker tape running, pls email me at lwright22@verizon.net. Are you even allowed to put your email address on this thing? Looking forward to our journey!:wink2:

Hi, I am not sure how to digg or furl a post....no idea....I do know that I am hopefully going to be scheduled before the year end. My MD said there should be no problem. I have psych eval on 11.18.09 and he said he could submit to blue cross as soon as he got that report, he will write a letter to insurance which I guess is all they need. He said Blue Cross is fairly easy,just a letter of medical necessity. I am on a liver shrinking diet in the mean time and even though this hasn't been REAL hard, primarily cuz I have cheated a little, but I am really worried about my 7-10 day liquid pre-op diet. I am so on edge as it is with 2 kids, a very unsupportive husband and a very demanding job, and I smoke as well!!! Only 2 to 4 cigs a night to go with the wine I cannot drink anymore!!! I am just afraid that I will pop my cork!!! It would be great to be able to utilize this board and have some people to sound off to....can anyone give me a brief explanation on how to get back to this so I can follow everyone? Also, how do you make a weight loss ticker tape at the bottom of your entry? I am afraid I will not get back here, so I am going to leave my email address (is that allowed?) lwright22@verizon.net. Would appreciate all the help I can get! thanks! Leah

Hello everyone, This is my first blog and I am not really sure how to use this...I am fairly confident that my Anthem BX will cover my procedure at 42% BMI with hypertension and borderline diabetes. I went to one of the MD's that Anthem approves and he wanted $7000 aside from the money insurance would pay and then there is the coinsurance amounts for hospital and anesthesia that was not included. Is there anyone in Southern California that can give me a ball park of what they had to pay out of pocket for the whole ball of wax? This one MD that wanted the $7000 for pre and post op care for one year also wanted $500 a fill or adjustment after the 1st year. I need to get an idea of how many fills are average to hit the so called "sweet spot" and what people are actually paying when insurance covers it. I have a $2500 deductible which i have met this year, so I was hoping to get it done before then, but now I am pushing for time so I may have to save for next year but have no clue if all MD's are upcharging like this guy? I am thinking of Dr. Ortiz in Mexico, his lapbandforum.com is quite impressive but everyone thinks I am out of my MIND! In anticipation, I have already ordered protein powders from the recommended companies in various blogs and quit diet pepsi after 30+ years...never thought I could do it but so far, much easier than I thought. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated....thanks:crying:

Hello everyone, This is my first blog and I am not really sure how to use this...I am fairly confident that my Anthem BX will cover my procedure at 42% BMI with hypertension and borderline diabetes. I went to one of the MD's that Anthem approves and he wanted $7000 aside from the money insurance would pay and then there is the coinsurance amounts for hospital and anesthesia that was not included. Is there anyone in Southern California that can give me a ball park of what they had to pay out of pocket for the whole ball of wax? This one MD that wanted the $7000 for pre and post op care for one year also wanted $500 a fill or adjustment after the 1st year. I need to get an idea of how many fills are average to hit the so called "sweet spot" and what people are actually paying when insurance covers it. I have a $2500 deductible which i have met this year, so I was hoping to get it done before then, but now I am pushing for time so I may have to save for next year but have no clue if all MD's are upcharging like this guy? I am thinking of Dr. Ortiz in Mexico, his lapbandforum.com is quite impressive but everyone thinks I am out of my MIND! In anticipation, I have already ordered protein powders from the recommended companies in various blogs and quit diet pepsi after 30+ years...never thought I could do it but so far, much easier than I thought. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated....thanks:crying: