coltonwade

I will have ot look for those. I like the sweet flavors of the Jack Links like the BBQ flavors ect. So i'll have to look for the world kitchen ones MIndy

What your describing sounds like your plan getting stuck. its not gas so much as its your getting stuck . It sounds like to me your too tight. Everything you described sounds like your too tight. The reflux , the getting stuck. ANYTIME you cant keep liqiuds down you need to call your doc. I cant stress this enough. you are risking slipping your band by keeping your band too tight or not getting this looked at. I would call your doc now , do not wait until next week. The burping can happen when you get too tight as well. Its called a "Soft" stop if you push past that you can and probably will get stuck . I would call your doc in the am over this . Even PBing a couple times a week is too much ! mindy

I get 3 of the HUGE bags of Jack Links at Sams for $9.00 They are not the "Sticks" but the regular beef jerky . They have several flavors. I think they are around $5.00 a bag at stores. HTH Mindy

My answer are in red below

I keep a bag of jerky in my console in my suburban ! I eat it nearly every day , If I need something to "Snack" on I pull out a bag of jerky ! If we are on a road trip and we stop at a store( which i try to have it in the car already because its expensive in stores ) i will by it instead of chips or something. It still does baffle me why I dont get stuck but even w/ pretty good restriction I dont get stuck Mindy

Did i read this right ... they tell you you have lost .5c''s EVERY Time you get a fill ? If that's the case something is wrong and you might have a leak ! you should not be losing ANY Fluid every time you get a fill. Its normal to have lost a small amount of fluid over time . Maybe ONCE in a while but not EVERY Fill. My fills were included in my first yr . But im still getting fills and unfils ( i have a sensitivty to fills ) Some fills i have to get under flouro still to check the band . But sometimes my doc waives that fee. What it boils down to is trust. You have to trust the person your going to. If you dont trust the amount they are putting in ask them to see the syringe. Ask them to pull out what is in there now so you see exactly what you have in your band. I know exactly what is in my band, what goes in and what comes out every fill. My doc shows me . Mindy

The only thing i have to say is that you sound hostile towards ME over this policy . I pay my doctor for an office VISIT and the fill each time i get a fill. We discuss how things are going for me , what im eating ect. It takes longer than 10 minutes. My doc has ALWAYS said and i have heard from others fills can take up to 2 weeks to either get the FULL affect or to realize they did not work . I am not trying to be rude but If you did not like the policy before hand then why go to them ? each person is different when it comes to the band. I dont see how they could possibly set a policy for the band fill or unfill for that matter, ( which is what i meant its lucky they dont charge for unfills ) for people when it comes to fills. Fill centers , in my opinion make money from people who were banded else were and either did not set up after care else where before hand or need after care. Are they taking advantage ? Probably . However most people i know hwo are self pay pay around $100-$150 per fill . Is it right ? I dunno . I do know the docs make more money from the surgeries than they do the fills. As for your question , I have NEVER EVER had a fill that I have known with in an hour if it will work for me or not . One way or another , if it was going ot be too tight or not . NEVER has that happened to me. I have had fills tighten up on me as long as a month out . Is it safe to say docs usually guess ? to a certain extent yes. my doc would laugh at me if i walked in there and said " HEY give me such and such amount of a fill " He would look at me like im nuts . It all comes back to if you did not like fill centers policies then maybe you should not have gone to them ? that's my input Mindy

Which goes back to what i said it can take UP TO 2 weeks for a fill to "kick" in or tighten up . Mindy

If anyone has a problem with another particular poster on this thread take it off the board. If you have a issue with an individual take it off the board . Thanks Mindy

I dont know their policies and i dont use them (My doc does my fills) But it woudl be nearly impossible for ANYONE to promise a free fill " after so many hours if it did not work . how would they make their money? First off Fills can take up to 2 weeks to kick in . So what are they suppose to do say " Ok if your fill does not kick in after 2 weeks you get another one for free ? " how would they make any money ? that's the whole point of fill centers ? Honestly be lucky they offer free unfills after 72 hours if yoru too tight. THAT is nice ! If i need an unfill even a slight one I have to pay another $125. I dont mind though my doc is my doc and he has to make a living and make money . I do not think its unfair for them to charge you again for a fill. There is NO WAY after 24 hours you can know if your fill has kicked in . My fills do not kick in for 4-7 days typically . HTH Mindy

Hi Im Mindy i live in Austin . I did not have your doc. But are you wondering what to expect from the band ? or from the surgery ? Mindy

Hi Beverly I live in Austin . I was banded in San Antonio . Who did your surgery ? I was banded by Dr Jorge Rincon in July 07 im down 114 pds Nice to meet you !. Congrats on the band Mindy

I eat the regular old Jack Links Beef Jerky ! My son can eat a bag of them a day ( he's a 16 yr old ) so we go through quite a bit of them . I still to this day do not understand why they do not get stuck but they dont !

This is something that to this day baffles me as well. BUT I can only think of one thing that might do it . I think jerky has tenderizer on it when you dry it and that is what helps it not get stuck . Also you have to chew the crap out of it . I eat it all the time i buy it at Sams Club by the bags ! Its a good snack Mindy

the goal with the band once your at goal is to have your band at the right level of restriction so that you can eat "normal" foods. eat what you want basically with in reason , and you are able to maintain your weight. It does ( from what i understand) take a little , or can take a little tweaking to get your band at the right level so your not losing and yoru not gaining anymore. What happens if once your at goal and you gain ? then you go get a slight fill and lose that weight. THAT is the beauty of the band. IF you do gain wieght YOU CAN Lose it. what happens if your losing weight? then you go have some fluid taken out so you are able to eat a little more and you stop losing weight. Does that help ? Mindy

This is probably not true for everyone . But I know for a FACT since i had my total unfill in July Carbs are a NO NO for me. As SOON as i started eating them I gained. I am partially unfilled now and I can eat just about anything , so what happens , I start to crave CRAP , carbs. I have gained 5lbs in less than 2 weeks. ALL i want to eat is CRAP because i started to eat the carbs again ! When im filling and "not hungry" from the band working I dont want it. For ME carbs are NOT my friend . Mindy

OH NOW see i was going to say i saw an interview where she was talking about how she USE to say she knew it all and had all the answers, I thought she MIGHT have redeemed herself a bit . BUT NOW .... I dont think so too much . I'll have to watch this " best life ever " thing she's got and see how she handles the weight loss stuff. But If she's already talking about another diet and its the answer i wont like it

Lets not become those surgery people that think "OUR Surgery" is the ONLY way to lose weight and its for EVERYONE ! Because its not . There ARE people who can lose weight with LIFESTYLE Changes not diets. Is Oprah one of those people ? It does not look like it . Am I one of those people ? No it does not look like it. I do not think that the band is the ONLY way to lose weight PERIOD . I have friends who have been sucessful with gastric bypass. Honestly I dont really care HOW people lose weight as long as they keep it off and do it in a healthy way . EVERYONE has their OWN WAY of doing it. I hate to see those people that think THEIR Surgery is the ONLY way to lose weight. Its not true and it gives WLS and losing weight a bad name. Its like i said before. Oprah would be fine w/ me and not have an issue with me if she would just ZIP IT about WLS or show a fair and balanced program on it . You want to show the negatives of WLS , fine but show the positives too !

LOL my "Issues" with Oprah are not "Deep" I dont care one way or another what Oprah does. I can have an opniion of something with out it being an "issue"

I just emailed you ! mindy

First calm down take a deep breathe. Second , I can sit here and tell you it was the best thing I ever did all day long , but YOU Have to know this is the best thing YOU ever did. You have to be ready , you have to know you can do this. No one can give you that but you . I see you are in Australia , im not sure if i can be much help I had mine done in the US and US it cost me $12,000 . The best thing to do is make an appt, See if the doc you chose takes your insurance. Is it really a long term solution? YES It is . Is it the best thing i ever did for myself YES it is . I am a little over a yr banded and im down 114 pds and 11 pds from goal. My BMI was around 40 i think when i started. Feel free to email me anytime. Or check out myblogg ( In my signature line ) it might help you with some inof on the basics of surgery . Good luck you can do it ! MIndy

All the "OH Oprah is so wonderful " Oh Oprah speaks for me and for milllions makes me want to PUKE ! Seriously . What got me starting this whole thread was the OP was about how Admirable it is that Oprah spoke out that she gained the weight back and how courageous it was of her to speak out about it that she's Normal. Who gives a shit ! Seriously . Why is it such a big freaking deal that SHE spoke out . Im sick of people putting her on a podium because she's makes a lot of money . If I gained my weight back and went on a TV Show talking about how i struggled with this would anyone care ? NO would anyone think i was courageous ? NO . Guess what . SOMEONE needs to CARE if you or I or someone else Does . In my opinion Oprah does NOT Speak for Millions . She has anything and everything at her disposal. THAT is not MY life. that's not " Common" place for people. My whole point was get someone out there to talk about WLS and weight that IS NORMAL ! She's not it !!!

have you had any trouble getting them to cover your fills ? I have a friend who was banded at SW Baratrics has Dell ins.( Not sure if its Humanna or not ) but they are a little slow on covering fills . She's 3 or 4 fills in and she's still waiting for them to approve the first fill .

Honestly the psych test is a joke ! Mine was at least. They are suppose to be making sure you dont have any eating "Disorders" , that you can handle the surgery and that basically you know what your getting into . My psych asked me " Do you emotionally eat " I said " well yeah Most fat people do " He told me " you are REALLY Going to have to get a handle on the emotional eating when you get the band , you wont be able to eat like that " I looked at him and said ( No kidding) " NO SHIT Isnt that why im getting the band so i CANT aimlessly eat ? dont you THINK If i had or COULD get a handle on it i wouldn't A. Be FAT B. Need the band. How about you give me some IDEAS on how NOT To emotionally eat then " I was SO Pissed honestly . Here i am suppose to be sitting here talking to this dip shit so he can give me clearance for surgery and he tells me this crap instead of maybe some ways to not do it. I got cleared for surgery anyway , Just last week my docs office moved all their records to the computer, so i got a copy of my report from this dip shit and it says at the end " We talked about the need for Mindy to work on her emotional eating and SHE will LOOK For ways to do that " that's an problem w/ WLS is the psych evaluation , they need ( ALL DOCS ) need to have MORE sessions to work on those issues. Instead its " HERE IS the band have at it " Anyway , my point , the evaluation is a "Breeze" I dont know of anyone that's been turned down . YOu have to have some SERIOUS issues i think to be turned down . Mindy

Reflux can really cause some people some problems. I hope you figure things out. Also do you happen to have bad sinus drainage or allergies ? That , if not under control can keep people from eating when they have the band as well . Let us know what you find out . I would call the gastro every week and see if they have a cancellation , call in the am ! You might be able to get in sooner HTH Mindy