Me3

It's very normal. The crap that they push for anasthesia and the pain medicine can irritate the lining of the vein and it can hurt llike hell for a few days or sometimes even weeks. Ice it for the first week and then heat and it should start to feel better. I used to work in an ER and had that issue come up quite often! Take Care, Hugs, Heather

Don't look for another surgeon... it feels like it is the fault of the Dr.'s office, but from my experience, it ALWAYS is the insurance company. I have Humana and got the same line - we haven't received your claim... oh no? Well 3rd time around I asked the insurance company for their fax number and mailing address. I overnight expressed with delivery confimation so the punks had to sign for it. No more line of "I didn't receive it!" I also bugged the crap outta them... everyday... and yes, it was frustrating, BUT the payoff is worth it! I would also suggest that you call your Dr's office and ask them for the phone number that they use to call your insurance company and demand that they give it to you. It's usually a separate number then the back of your card and is a more direct line to the bariatric section of your insurance company. If they still refuse, then call the insurance company back and ask them for the number to the bariatric center and if they won't give it to you ask for a supervisor and don't take no for an answer. I'm so sorry that you have to go through it, but I have been there and I know how raw it makes you feel. Defeated. Hopeless, etc. DON'T GIVE UP! Go easy on yourself too. I know you wanted to get the ball rolling for "summer", but look at this a little more practically. It's 1 week from being summer. Even if you got approval tomorrow, the pre-op and surgery wouldn't be until mid summer and the weight doesn't come off quickly in the beginning. So.. look forward to the skinny mini next summer and rock this summer knowing that you are making positive changes for you! Much Love, Understanding and Hugs, Heather

So, I had 2 PB's this week, one worse then the other.. and I was in pain all last night and this morning... I discovered today that being in a whirlpool does help relax the discomfort. So yay! Anyway, thought I would share! Hug s, Heather

You have 11cc's in a 10 cc band? That right there would stop me in my tracks. IMHO it is irresponsible of the doctor to overfill and possibly could be dangerous. It also ISN'T a myth, YOU CAN stretch your pouch and that can cause lap band failure... it's called slippage and your stomach can go either way up the band or down and it can also go up through the stoma (opening). In all the research I've done over the past year I have only ever heard of the solution to be revision surgery to realign the band. Best of luck to you. Heather

Well... had my first STUCK episode yesterday and I have to say it lived up to it's reputation for sucking - BIG TIME! I ate a 1 oz "fruit bar" from Target.. kind of like a very soft gummy bear... it was fruit from hell! Holy crap did that hurt! SO I slimed my way through 45 min or so, as well as puking the cup of milk I drank to try and get it down. Lesson learned! Geesh! So, onward we go! I'm also in Ft. Lauderdale this week for a conference, so EVERY meal is eating out at a restaurant or at convention luncheons (hotel food)... and it is harder then I thought to find things I can eat, and I come back with doggie bags for almost every meal! LOL! Hugs, Heather

Hi :laugh: I'm looking to make some bandster friends! I'm down to earth, very realistic about this process and just would like to take this journey with other's that have been there, done that! LOL! Hugs, Heather

I have taken Toradol for years due to massive migraine attacks. i take it intramuscularly (shot) now, but when I took it orally, if I took it on an empty stomach I sometimes felt queezy. It's similar to aspirin in the effects on the gastric system and I solved the queezy-ness by drinking some milk with it. Hope that helps! Hugs, Heather

It's like a balloon deflating isn't it? Wow yeah I went through those moments too. We work ourselves up pre op and then sail through the surgery and then we become hypervigilant about our bodies all over again but now it's internal. We CAN'T behave the way we had been and then there is all these feelings of desire for foods that just wont go down. There is also a mourning I think for what we have "lost" and we tend l=to lose sight of what we are about to gain. I promise, through loss, you are going to gain - your life! Hang in there! I'm proud of you! Hugs, Heather

A very beautiful, heartfelt post. I'm very sorry for your loss. I know the pain that you are experiencing and while each of us go through the mourning process differently, there are inherant similarities.Go easy on yourself and know that she WILL experience the things you describe that she will miss. I believe that they stay with us and she IS proud of you. Keep her close! Love, Heather

Howdi, Howdi! I had Surgery on 4/8/10 and I had my first fill yesterday, 5/18/10. There was .5 cc's in the band from surgery and he put in 3cc's yesterday. So I am at 3.5cc in a 10 cc band. I definitely feel restriction and today I am swollen a bit as well as feeling kinda yuck... sorta nauseous... just kinda under the weather, but all in all I am doing really well. Still dealing with hunger, but that's normal and to be expected for the first few fills. I only lost 1 pound from post surgery appointment but that too is normal. Onward and downward! (On the scale at least!) Hugs, Heather

I had my 1st fill on the 18th and I didn't feel any pain at all. My surgeon uses an ultrafine needle to inject a little lidocaine under the skin and I couldn't even feel it. When he used the port needle there was a slight popping sensation but no pain, I could feel the band inflate which didn't hurt either just a flutter sensation then swallowed water and I was done.. no post site pain either!

Yup, you are in the thick of it! So am I! Ugh, it's frustrating isn't it? Bandster hell is the period of time from surgery until the first fill (some say it's till you find the sweet spot after a few fills) where your body is healing all the internal chaos we have put it though with the pre op diet and the surgery itself. It's also the time period where our appetite comes back temporarily. Lots of people post band don't lose weight in that time period, some do. I have learned in the past week to really remind myself that each person's journey is unique so I try not to compare to other people... I did say try.. lol Hugs, Heather

So I was banded on 4/8/10 and have been puttering along quite well. The scars are there but I've started kelo-cote and have hope that the scars will be minimized! I have a scaly spot on the very end of my port site that I thought was scaly skin and I thought well 4 weeks post lets gently peel it off. To my amazement, it wasn't scaly skin... it was the very little end tip of a permanent suture! ICK! So, gotta call the surgeon in the morning. It doesn't hurt at all but when I tug on it I can feel it pull a little. Just have to remember not to mess with it until doc snips it. I am really hoping he doesn't want to reopen that spot to stuff it inside or snip it! Darn it!! This is irritating! Hugs, Heather

Hiya! I was banded on 4/8/10 and am 1 day shy of a month post op! I found out day 2 post op that I could tolerate Myoplex chocolate and vanilla shakes. They are VERY thin and over the course of a day i could drink one and it was 42 grams of Protein that helped with that horrible hungry feeling. My doc had me skip the mushies all together and start on soft solids 2 weeks post op and it's been great.. :w00t: just now starting to feel hungry a little in between but it's bearable. I can also feel the port but as the doc described, its attached to muscle, so unless I get 1.5 % body fat, it won't be noticible, which is fine by me because Im not planning on entering any fitness expo anytime soon! lol Hang in there you all are doing great!! YAY for you all!! Hugs, heather

Hi everyone! My name is Heather. I live in Tampa and am 33 years old. I had lap band surgery on 4/8/10 and have been progressing well through all the post op phases (with a few minor hiccups along the way). I'm very frustrated right now with myself because I WANT to eat more during a meal but I physically can't... The anxiety from that fact is heavy right now and it frustrates the blazes out of me! I don't know what to do with the frustration either. I probably sound ungrateful, but I'm not, I'm just struggling with my new reality and relationship with food. I started this journey at 259 pounds and I am currently at 237. I eventually want to get down to around 170ish. Thanks for listening... Hugs, Heather

Hey everyone! Much love to those banded and to those still in the process! I am 20 days post op, back to work, on soft foods, down almost 30 pounds. yesterday and today, I have been very tearful. Just emotions bubbling to the surface and I don't know why. Just needing to cry... it's annoying! Everything is fine and now I blubber out like this crying for no reason. Has anyone else felt this way? Hugs, Heather This song is I suppose how i'm feeling. It's by Emmy Rossum

Hi Marsha! I will be thinking of you tomorrow! I know everything will be ok! I was banded on 4/8/10 and things are going great! Take each of the first few days slowly, remember it WILL get better each day! Most of all CONGRATULATIONS!! Much Love and well wishes Heather

I hope that you are able to find the answers you are needing for much needed relief. I wanted to suggest that perhaps it is nerve related. There is a nerve that runs from the diaphragm up the back and over the left shoulder, hence the reasons why we get pain when the stomach is too full, it pushes on the diaphragm and then that pushes on the nerve. If you favor the left in anyway you can send your sciatic nerve screaming which runs down both legs from mid back. Just a thought

I felt the same way at points along the way... even bawling when I went into the OR... but on 4/8/10 I did it.. I try to remember it this way... NOTHING really is FOREVER... it's better for me to look at it this way... im 33 so... im looking at the max 50-60 years w/it... and who knows, maybe down the road it will have to be removed. It is a possibility, but now having done the surgery, if it were to have to be undone, I know how it will feel, and it wasn't so bad! As far as fear of failure and seeing other posters weight stalls... those aren't failures, they are hiccups, and like the hairs on our head we are all different and so we all have our unique experiences w/the band. Hugs, Heather

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't been on, but I've really been concentrating on resting, healing and watching TIVO! LOL... I was banded on 4/8/10 and spent the night which in my opinion was a godsend. The post op nurses were so sweet and attentive. The week has been rough, the port site is very tender and as someone else posted a lot like fire when I move from side to side. Doc says thats normal so who am I to argue :thumbup: I will post my whole experience tomorrow, as I really am tired! I go back to work on Saturday and just getting the most rest out of my days off as I can. Post op appointment is next Tuesday and so on I go! Had a small reaction to the tape adhesive, but it is settling down thanks to some benadryl, all the incisions look fine. I am craving a warm cup of tea or a cold glass of Water but am behaving as my surgeon said nothing hot or cold for the first three weeks so there is little chance of cramping, hiccups or majorly uncomfortable belching. Good luck to all the Hunney Bunnies getting banded this week! Hugs, Heather

My surgeon and the lap-band 4 week manual from the company that manufactures the lap band say that it is more important in the first 6 weeks to concentrate on healing and preserving your pouch then to lose weight. :thumbup: I look at it this way, I KNOW I'm WAY below the 800 calorie liquid phase and definitely under the 1000 daily solid food plan that I have, and both of those are designed by the surgeon and lap band people to help us lose weight, so I think i'm in pretty good shape. :thumbup: Concentrate on healing these first few weeks, and transitioning back to solid food. The weight will take care of itself if we follow dr's orders. :Dancing_wub: Take Care :thumbs_down:

10:30 am... have to be there at 9am... I'm am a ball of nervous energy today! A little scared mixed in too.. ::shrug:: Heather

Tahnk you so much for the support! I think it's a great idea to think about tomorrow as a birthday! :thumbup: Love to all, Heather

Tomorrow is my day too! 10:30 am... I am so nervous today.. anxious... ugh...