Lisa99

Hi there, I got lucky and was first up that day so I was at the surgery center at 5:30 am, in pre-op at 6am, in recovery at 7:30ish and was released to go home at 10 . Good luck!

I'm having rotator cuff next week and my lap band surgeon suggested that I have a "slight unfill" before surgery. He was running to another appt so didn't have time today to explain why I would want to do that so I have a call into his PA, but I wanted to see if anyone here could shed light on why I might want to have an unfill before surgery. Thanks for any advice!

Well, I made it through sugery...I'm sooo glad that's over. I got a complete unfill the day before surgery and I'm really glad I did. It was one less thing to have to worry about since the meds I'm on are in pill form. The only now I have to deal with is typing one-handed since I'll be in a sling for about a month. It's been a really interesting experience being unfilled. I had 1.8cc in a 4cc band and about a week after being unfilled I experienced a PB! We were eating bbq and since I assumed that not having a fill was the same as not having a band I ate a piece of meat, didn't chew it well enough and about 10 seconds later it came back up! I'm at least glad to know now that I can't eat willy nilly even with no fill. I have to wait about 10 more days before I get a fill, but so far no weight gain, so I guess all is good :clap2:

Absolutely no regrets. I had to get a complete unfill today because I'm having rotator cuff surgery tomorrow. I went from having 2cc in a 4cc band to nothing in my band and within an hour I was so incredibly hungry! I hadn't felt hunger like that since before I was banded. DH and I then went out to lunch. I ate a pre-banded portion of quesadillos before I felt "satisfied". Because of today's experience I have a renewed appreciation for my band and will get a fill just as soon as I can.

I use Centrum chewables and like them alot. They have an little bit of an orange taste.

What a wonderful and timely thread!! I'm having rotator cuff surgery next week and will be "one-armed" for about six weeks, so am headed to the library tomorrow to stock up. Recent read was Stephen King's "Lisey's Story". Great book!

Just thought I'd post an update since I just talked to my surgeon. He's having me do a complete unfill since there is a risk of nausea and vomiting associated with anesthesia. I'll also be on pain meds for awhile and it seems that they can cause nausea as well.

I don't know if it the same woman or not, but I met a woman in September at the Richardson surgery center who had her band for a similar period of time. She had her surgery in France in 1991 and her band was non-adjustable and had no port. She was at the surgery center with a friend who was having lapband surgery that day.

1 scrambled egg with onion, mushroom and tomato mixed in. If I only have a protein shake, within an hour I'm starving!

I wouldn't crush them unless you check with the manufacturer or a pharmacist first.

DH didn't know his was dilated until he went in for a fill. Under fleuro they could see that there was a bulge in the pouch that hadn't been there before. He could eat 2 or 3 cups of food at a time and feel no pain or "fullness". At this time he also had little restriction so didn't take "eat small meals" seriously. He's a changed man after the dilation.

My surgeon was a cardiologist before he switched to doing lap bands full time. Maybe an email to Inamed could help?

Just wanted to let everyone know that I found an online calcuator that estimates Protein needs based on age, sex, height, and activity level. I've read here that the recommendation is 60 grams, but the calculator indicated that I should be getting a minimum of 72 grams. Here is the link: http://www.healthcalculators.org/calculators/protein.asp

Self pay here as well and all I had was blood work, but I had no medical issues.

Helped tremendously! On a binge I could eat a whole pizza, follow it with a pint of Ben & Jerry's, move on to some Reese's Peanut Butter cups all washed down with a ton of soda. This just doesn't happen any more. I had one small slice of pizza last night and was satifsfied. Ice cream and peanut butter cups are my downfall so B&J (or any other kind of ice cream) and most candy has been banished from my life for now. I do have one of the little 1" square Dove chocolate candies on occasion though

1. What is your occupation? Process Engineer 2. What color are your socks right now? No socks 3. What are you listening to right now? The keyboard rumba 4. What was the last thing that you ate? grapes 5. Can you drive a stick shift? Yep 6. Favorite Color: Red 7. Music Preference: Classic Rock 8. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Steve 9. Do you like the person who sent this to you? 10. What song do you want played at your funeral? No clue 11. Favorite drink? Water 12. What is your favorite sport to watch? Cricket :biggrin1: 13. Have you ever dyed your hair? Heck yea! gotta hide that gray!! 14. Do you wear contacts or glasses? Nope, had lasik 15. Pets? Two dogs 100# Newfoundland and 10# Spaniel 16. What will you stay home to watch? Nothing, have Tivo 17. What is the best movie you have seen? Best recent movie is "Stranger than Fiction" 18. What is your favorite day of the year? First day of every vacation 19. What do you do to vent your anger? Go quiet 20. What was your favorite toy as a child? GI Joe!! 21. Fall or spring? Fall, the awful TX heat starts going away. 22. Hugs or kisses? Kisses! 23. Vanilla or Chocolate? Chocolate of course!! 24. Do you want your friends to email you back?? Yep 25. Who is most likely to respond? Not a clue 26. Who is least likely to respond? Same answer 27. Living arrangements? Married 16 years to hubby #2. This one stuck! 28. When was the last time you cried? final scene of "Stranger than Fiction" movie 29. What is on the floor of your closet? clothes that are too big and on their way to goodwill 30. Who is the friend you have had the longest? Steve 31. What did you do last night? Started a new Stephen King novel 32. Favorite smell(s)? ocean breeze while on a cruise 33. What inspires you? creativity 34. What are you afraid of? getting old and not being able to take care of myself. 35. Favorite food? Dark chocolate 36. Favorite car? New Saturn convertible that just came out 38. Least favorite person right now? Someone at work 39. How many years at your current job? 8 40. Favorite day of the week? Saturday 41. Where you WANT to live in? Italy __________________

Based on 2/3rds of the nation being at an unhealthy BMI, someday this jerk will be one of those people he so despises...I wish him a speedy trip.

If you have a Kohl's dept store in your area they are constantly having big sales even on current season's clothes. Mine had an 80% off sale the other day and I got a bunch of stuff for almost nothing. Happy shopping!!

Yes everyone is very different! I have a 4cc capacity and after 1 fill am quite restricted. I have no idea how much the fill was though. I asked, but the patient advocate told me the "cc number" wasn't important since everyone reacts differently to a fill. I didn't press the question since I had the fill done under fleuro and was able to see that the stoma opening was about the size of a drinking straw.

I would have taken more seriously the task of learning how to take tiny bites and chew well more seriously pre-op. I'm still struggling with it and have had a few golf balls as a result.

I thankfully don't take prescription medicine, but on occasion if I have to take a pill rather than crushing it, I chop it into small pieces using the blade in the pill crusher. For a pill the size of an aspirin, I'll cut it into 4 pieces.

Hi Connie, I have't had a pouch dilation but DH has. After a couple of fills he still had no restriction and ate WAY too much. The doc didn't even unfill him when the dilation was discovered. Just told him to cut back on food portions and to eat more slowly. He did both and at a follow-up fleuro appt one month later the dilation was gone. Good luck!

While I'm relatively new, what I've learned the most from this site is that there doesn't appear to be much of a limit on the amount of "junk food" that can be eaten after banded. chips, ice cream, shakes all just slide right through the band. So if you're a "bulk eater" who eats big meals the band will be awesome because you won't be able to do that anymore, but if you're a grazer and the weakness is sweets, ice cream, chips, etc., it may be a little tougher....but still very doable! Good luck in your research,

Hi Paulax, You might want to change up how you're eating for awhile to see if that helps. I did the two week Fat Flush liver detox and was able to get off of a plateau. I lost 11 pounds in 10 days during the detox. It is a really restrictive way of eating, so I would never eat according to the FF plan long-term (no diets for me anymore!!), but the two week plan made sense and seemed to have kicked up my metabolism and reduced my hunger. I've gone back to eating "normally" and I'm just not very hungry and my craving for carbs is gone. Good luck!

Welcome! I was self-pay as well and would do it again in a heartbeat. Good luck on your journey!