coltonwade

I am sorry but I would be very concerned if my doc had to poke and poke at me to hit my port. Granted I do not expect him to hit it the first time ever time( Although mine is done under flouro and my doc hits it the first time every time under Flouro ) . But she said her doc poked around for 20 mintues. That would be a huge concern for me, you run the risk of him poking the tubing to your port and band and causing a leak . If he's doing that EVERY TIME , and he's poking her so much he's causing her to be sore ... THAT is a valid concern. Flouro would help them access it better because the doc can see where the port is in reference to the needle . I can see the needle as soon as my doc puts it in and he knows where to put that needle to hit my port ! Granted this doc might have horrible bed side manners. And a conversation would be the first move. It should not be hard to find a doc to transfer care from one US surgeon to another. UNLESS this doc has a bad reputation , then it might be an issue. But your doc should be able to call up another doc and transfer your care to them . Its done all the time . Mindy

i agree this is too important to not feel 100% confident with your doc and honestly is there anything that he COULD do that would make you feel that way ? I think you should look into possibly transfering care to another MD. MIndy

LOL I doubt i'll do it in 4 weeks Someone wanted me to run a 5 k with them in Feb. But i'll fun as far as i can when i get there. Im not THAT motivated to do it in 4 weeks. Someone else on the boards either did it in 4 weeks or was close to it ? Mindy

My personal opinion , I would not go back . Your running a HUGE risk of him causing a leak in your band by poking around on you so much for 1. for 2 he's not listening to you , or at the very least taking into consideration what you say . I was too tight for a my second fill . I had an unfill, my third fill i was too tight again , however my doc and i discussed if I wanted to try a full CC fill or not . When i went back for the unfill he told me " your very sensitive to fills so we are going to have to go slow from now on , im not going to have you keep getting tight and PB and get sick " I would have serious conerns about going back to this doc. I would maybe even voice my conerns to him and tell him if he does not start A hitting your port ( Even use flouro ) and listening to your conerns that you would like a refund on your fills and you will go elsewhere. HTH Mindy

I was not told to give up caffeine either. I gave up sodas about 6 months before surgery . If i do not have a small amount of caffeine a day I will get a migraine . I drink one 9 oz bottle of raspberry tea a day . Its probably not the best choice but the tea was how i was able to kick a very large soda habit LOL . Plus its enough caffeine to stop my migraines ( for the most part) HTH Mindy

Yes those are great ideas as well. Also you said that you found yourself eating then waiting a while for it to go down and eating more ? Is that because you were not full ? Perhaps your not eating enough Protein ? Or your just not use to eating that small amount . I had a hard time wrapping my mind around " Ok this small amount of food is what I can eat" that took me a while to get use to . Mindy

My advice, read your post as if you were reading someone elses post. Read it and give yourself your own advice. Your sabotaging yourself, im sorry but that is what your doing . When you go to your doc be honest with him, Dont say " well im eating this and that and I dont know why im not loosing" tell him exactly what you told us . You did not say anything about exerscing either. Are you doing any ? Walking even ? If your an emotional eater and you know that maybe try some counseling , to help you figure out some other things to do besides eat when you eat during those emtional times. Look , NOTHING is fool proof, you have to work it for it to work . If i sat her and said " I dont understand why im not loosing , im eating mashed potaotes and ice cream all day long and it goes down fine" Would you tell me " I think your doing fine " no , sorry if im being harsh but I think it does you more good to tell you the truth . Tell your doc what you told us . And have him/her help you figure out what size fill you need, if you can revisit the nutritionists that is probably a good idea as well. I have the LEAST amount of will power of anyone I know, seriously . You can do this , IF I CAN Do this You can do this . Keep it up , work the band and let it work for you , but the right way HTH Mindy

The topical spray to me is more logical than when they numb it with a needle. By time they stick you with a needle they could have stuck you with the fill needle and it and would have been over with LOL . Glad your fills went well and your doing fine ! Love Mindy

Just an FYI , my doc Dr Jorge Rincon in San Antonio TX will do fills for patients who have been banded in Mexico. He requires a few things , records from your surgeon in Mexico and a few other things , but if your prepared a head of time you can leave the clinic in mexico with those and its not a problem. Mindy

Shelia One thing in checking into insurance, I just went through this , i knew it coudl be an obsticle prior to surgery ,,,, Private pay insurance is NOT the same as group plans . the policies that are saying they had their insurances pay for the band are they private pay polices or group plans ? Also get insurance if you can prior to surgery and once you get it do not let it go. I dont know about CA but in texas most of the insurance compaines once they find out your banded your no longer insurable. They will permanatly deny you . I could not get insurance before the band due to my weight, NOW i cant get it because of the band. Before surgery i got on Texas' high risk health pool I pay $309 a month for just MYSELF . Group plans are different , they dont deny you for things , private polices can deny you for anything. So while your looking say nothing to the insurance or your docs about surgery ! That way nothing is on your records about it prior to getting the insurance ! Feel free to email me if you like , this whole process was a pain for me , im also self employed. HTH Mindy

If your doc said liquids only the first so many days I personally would not "eat" the dannons again . Its probably not going to hurt anything to have one. But I woudl not have any more. Liquids mean liquids . So I would just try to stick with that from now on . Like others said if you have any questions the best thing to do is ask your doc, each of our docs have different advice to follow so its best to ask your doc . HTH Mindy

Has anyone applied for health insurance after lap band surgery ? I was denied prior to surgery due to my weight. I am curious now that i have lost weight if i would qualify , but im wondering if my band will affect anything. I thought about not telling them i even have it . My primary docs know i have it but nothing is on my records with them . So im wondering if anyone has gotten health insurance since loosing weight with the band and how they handled it ?? thanks Mindy

What will happen is once the insurance companies realize and see there is money to be made and LOTS of money to be from covering baratric surgery then they will . I suspect it will start happening in the next yr or 2 . All of a sudden the "Studies" will show how benifical it is and the lobbiests will start to lobby the insurance companies to change the underwriting. I think at this point they do not realize just HOW MUCH money there is in this surgery yet. They will soon ! Mindy

Awesome I was beginning to wonder if i would be doing this alone LOL I did not start today we were out of town . SO do ya'll want to start tomorrow ? How do we do this ? Wombat since you have done it before any thoughts ? does anyone use the podcasts from I tunes ? I have week one and 2 downloaded already . Im not sure if i can finish in 4 weeks. i might be ambitious with that. Thanks Mindy

I Agree with Kristin, espically until you get the hang on things loggin is very helpful. I thought i was eating so much food at first and my calorie intake was so high , turns out it was too low, Protein intake was too low as well. So i was not getting in what i needed was hungry sooner than i should have been ! My doc says its ok to have 3 meals a day plus Snacks, but the snacks have to count as well, meaning everything I eat shoudl have protein in it or its a "waste" sort of speak , so snacks need to have protein to serve their purpose, which is to hold you over hunger wise. I was eating things like pudding, while calorie wise a good choice hunger wise , to fend it off , not so much. It gets easier as time goes on . You learn what is a good protein source, what is a "waste" to eat ect. HTH Mindy

My husband and boys all have a private plan from BCBS of Texas and its a great plan , really its basically the same plan as mine through the risk pool, except i pay about $250 a month for all 3 of them compared to my rates as of Jan 1 $309 for just me ! It is all ridicoulous. I honestly do not see how insurance companies can deny people due to weight, any other place is would be discrimination ! . So im resolved to the risk pool for now at least, until the insurance industry recoginzes the lap band for what it is ! . Thanks Noni Mindy

I worked out with a personal trainer for the first month or so after surgery . What she had me do was warm up on the treadmill for 5 mintues. Then I would do some strength training for 10 then 5 mintues on the treadmill I would alternate like that for about 30 mintues 2 times a week. Then I would do the same thing . but I would do the treadmill at the end of the work out for 20 minutes quite hard for a harder cardio work out . she said it was good to mix it up go back and forth so I didnt get bored . HTH Mindy

Oh yeah its the coolest thing since sliced bread !! (* which i cant eat anymore LOL ) I originally started getting them to help with my migraines, which they do . Once a month or so i get a 2 hour one , those are SO AWESOME ! The one hour ones just do not seem like enough time . Even if your not a member i think the 2 hour ones are around $96 ? Which is still not bad at all .. Mindy

I just looked and it looks like Wyoming does have a high risk Health pool but I am having a hard time finding the info on it . I'll keeping looking and email you the info when i find it ? Mindy

Thanks for your response. Have you checked to see if your state has something similar to the High Risk health plan Texas has ? for what your paying for the major medical you could get it. It is expensive but it is actually good insurance. $30 doctors visits and actually one of the best RX plans around. It wont cover anything you have pre existing for the first yr but it will after the yr. In fact i have been talking to my husband about it and he said that its not really that big of a deal , if I switch now chances are the insurance wont cover my migraines for a yr , the high risk health pool i have will cover my meds i pay so much for in July . SO i will save money then . So if i can not get another plan then its not THAT Big of a deal . I was just a little ticked about it at the time. You might want to check into the state and see if they have a high risk pool ?? HTH Mindy

Your docs office im sure has someone on call. I would call them anyway . Do you have a family practice doc ? You might want to call them ? Its probably nothing but you want to make sure. You can have excessive bleeding and it be dangerous from a period . I would have it checked out just to make sure. At least have the doctor aware of it. The GYN Im SURE has someone on call HTH Mindy

Hi i thought i replied to this thread. I saw there was someone on here from Austin . Im also in Ausitn . was banded in San Antonio by Dr Rincon . in July , im down almost 60 lbs ! im almost half way there !!! Anyway welcome .. Love Mindy

Something else, Does your docs office have a nutritionist you can see ? MIne has one that i can see post op to kind of go over things if i need to . Does yours have something like that ? that might help you as well , its always good to have a refresher course if you need it . Mindy

I would track your meals for about 2 or 3 weeks on fitday.com. It will tell you how much protein , calories ect your taking in on a daily basis . to me just looking real quick and not figuring things out, I would guess you need more protein and less carbs ? But I personally do not count calories. But I did have to for a while because i was not getting ENOUGH . That also could be your problem. You want to make sure your getting enough good , solids protein . fitday.com will help you (Or any other site like that ) get a feel for what your eating and how much your eating ect. What about exercise ? Mindy

Anyalee, I have PCOS and I got my period about a week after surgery , I remember thinking " GREAT just as i am feeling better this comes " I however am one who would rather NOT get my period back LOL I get REALLY bad migraines with my periods so i would just as well not have one. Anyway it was really heavy after surgery but I do not remember it being as heavy as you describe. I have had them that heavey before though. I would call your GYN just to let her know about it . HTH Mindy