shaunaruder

Connie, I heard that some doctors will give their patients appetite suppressants for the post op/pre fill stage. I sure wish mine had. I am not sure about the answer to your pouch stretching before fills question. I have often wondered this myself and have actually told myself that it is impossible because my food is just going right on through that pouch, it sticks around for no time at all. My question though, is I know for a normal, non-banded stomache, you can shrink it by eating less and less. Can you do the same with a pouch? Say you stretch it but then start eating less will it shrink back? Just curious

Sarai, I really think that we should try to keep in contact. Because like you, I feel we are going through the EXACT same thing. All the feelings you described, I feel also. I'm so pissed at myself for not following orders exactly and I'm wondering how all of these other people did so well. I'm scared that I will be one of the few that this band does not work for. I'm scared that even when I get a few fills that I will still want to eat everything. AHH, it's like once I get to feeling better, like this is just a phase, something else rushes over me to worry about. And when I ask people on here about it they kinda make me feel like the rebel in school that got in trouble all the time because she didnt do what she was told. I would just like someone to tell me that it gets easier and that they were right where I am post op and now theyve met their goal or SOMETHING, there has to be SOMEBODY, ANYBODY??

I am glad that someone started this thread. I was also told that the band stays in forever but one thing that has me curious is aren't we all kind of guinea pigs for this band? Who knows what will happen thirty years down the road? Just curious what everyones thoughts on this are.......

Jojo, I havnt had my first fill yet but I was also told no bread. But heaven knows, IVE HAD IT. It seems like you always gotta try it out for yourself. Just ignore the "almighty" posters

Diet snapple is great, they have all kinds of flavored teas that are good. I also like crystal light.

I had to do the sleep study for the simple reason that my fiance told the doc that I had a slight snore. (I coulda smacked him). My doc told me that sleep apnea puts you at a great risk of not recovering from an infection. I did the test, and I do not have sleep apnea, $600 bucks later....

Nancy, WOW!! That is an absolutely outrageous amount for a lap band. I have never ever heard of the price being that high. What you could do is talk to one of the billers at the facility. Since they bill for the surgery every day they should know off the top of their head what the contracted amount is for the surg. If the office manager or lady you talked to doesnt do billing then she would really have no clue what you are asking for. If you know what they bill the insurance then you can figure out what they will pay by calling your insurance company ( or looking at your policy) and find out what percentage they pay, whether its %50 or %80. There will be a write off amount that cannot be billed to you, that is usually based on the amount paid.....Your best bet is to talk to a biller, calling the insurance and asking them about probable bill doesnt usually fly and will not really get you any where.....

I am a medical biller. First of all, do not EVER accept the first denial from an insurance company. Sometimes it may take even 3-4 times for an insurance company to okay your surgery. Submitting ALL medical records helps.... One thing I have found is that if insurance denies the surgery as it is excluded then they will more than likely not pay no matter what you try. Depending on your doctor, they may choose to submit it to your secondary, but they wont pay either until you submit it to your primary. So they would have to submit it to your insurance, receive a denial, then send the claim along to your secondary insurance with the primary denial eob. Secondary's usually do not pay even half of what the primary would pay so that would be something to check on. The price for the surgery may be around 22,000 but you have to take in account that half of that will be written off by the doctor and facility. Making the total amount paid by insurance to be around 10,000. But it all depends on what the actual fees are for your doc and facility. Another thing is that your insurance may say that you, the patient, owes a copay amount, which would lower the amount that they pay too. An insurance that only has a $10,000 maximum is more than likely not going to pay much. Im sorry.

I had my surgery on Aug 28th. I lost 15 pounds within the first two weeks but when I started eating solid foods I gained back 10 lbs. Which really discouraged me. Right now I feel nooo restriction and am pretty much just trying my hardest to control myself while waiting to start the fills. Which it sounds like it may take more than one to get it right. Since the gain I have lost back 4 lbs and I really havnt done much of anything different. Someone pointed out to me that when you are on the liquid phase, your colon empties. Then when you start solids, you fill er back up again and that can amount to added weight. But I believe that my body has equalled itself back out again and I am back to losing weight. Just hang in there, and dont beat yourself up like I did. It makes losing weight ALOT harder

I had my surgery on 8/28/06. I know that I don’t and won’t have any restriction until my first fill. But right now I am eating just as I normally would pre-surgery, which is NOT healthy eating at ALL. And Ive gained back the 10 lbs I lost in the liquid phase. I’ve had no vomiting or uncomfortable feelings at all. (Which I kind of wish I had so that I could stop eating) How much of a difference does a filled band make verses an unfilled band? I understand that its not a cake walk but it has to be easier than this or I would have just dieted without the band to lose weight. It certainly would have been cheaper. I’m really starting to wonder if they even put a band in there, lol. I am really disappointed in myself but am mainly curious to know if this eating like this now could cause some type of problem when I actually get the fill. Am I setting myself up for failure? <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p> </o:p> I guess what I am really asking is, how many of you pigged out when you found that solid foods were okay? And was it easier when your band was filled? Am I abnormal? I’m really depressed about this, no more’Yay, happy I’m going to lose weight’ feeling. HHHEEELLPPP

Thanks for all the help and support, it was just what I needed.

I was told no caffeine. But honestly, coffee really gives me that full feeling and it helps me pee too!! I just stay away from the tea and soda.

1 day and it hurt so good }:girl_hug:

I had my surgery on 8/28/06. I know that I don’t and won’t have any restriction until my first fill. But right now I am eating just as I normally would pre-surgery, which is NOT healthy eating at ALL. And Ive gained back the 10 lbs I lost in the liquid phase. I’ve had no vomiting or uncomfortable feelings at all. (Which I kind of wish I had so that I could stop eating) <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p> </o:p> How much of a difference does a filled band make verses an unfilled band? I understand that its not a cake walk but it has to be easier than this or I would have just dieted without the band to lose weight. It certainly would have been cheaper. I’m really starting to wonder if they even put a band in there, lol. <o:p> </o:p> I am really disappointed in myself but am mainly curious to know if this eating like this now could cause some type of problem when I actually get the fill. Am I setting myself up for failure? <o:p> </o:p> I guess what I am really asking is, how many of you pigged out when you found that solid foods were okay? And was it easier when your band was filled? Am I abnormal? I’m really depressed about this, no more’Yay, happy I’m going to lose weight’ feeling. :help:

I had my surgery on 8/28/06. I know that I don’t and won’t have any restriction until my first fill. But right now I am eating just as I normally would pre-surgery, which is NOT healthy eating at ALL. And Ive gained back the 10 lbs I lost in the liquid phase. I’ve had no vomiting or uncomfortable feelings at all. (Which I kind of wish I had so that I could stop eating) <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p> </o:p> How much of a difference does a filled band make verses an unfilled band? I understand that its not a cake walk but it has to be easier than this or I would have just dieted without the band to lose weight. It certainly would have been cheaper. I’m really starting to wonder if they even put a band in there, lol. <o:p> </o:p> I am really disappointed in myself but am mainly curious to know if this eating like this now could cause some type of problem when I actually get the fill. Am I setting myself up for failure? <o:p> </o:p> I guess what I am really asking is, how many of you pigged out when you found that solid foods were okay? And was it easier when your band was filled? Am I abnormal? I’m really depressed about this, no more’Yay, happy I’m going to lose weight’ feeling. HHHEEELLPPP

LOL, don't let my story of how fast my surgery happened scare you. I have been researching WLS for years and I billed for a bariatric surgeon also. I was very well aware of the risks and everything involved. Being a cash pay patient is nice because you don't have to wait for an insurance approval. Once my fiance and I were financially able to afford the surgery, I was ready to have it done. We're getting married in January so dieting has been a big priority for me. But they are not going to force you to have surgery before you are ready. Depending on who does your surgery, you should pretty much be able to set it up at your convenience....

Waddling isnt so cute

Quilter~ When will your insurance be changing? With the surgery center I used I was able to make an appointment for my first consult right after the seminar and they got all of my payment information. Although I was a cash pay patient, was a medical biller for a bariatric surgeon for approx two years before the job I have now. And once you are approved for the surgery, if you have the surg before your cancel date then you will be covered and there should be no problems, even if your insurance cancels the next day. Although you may have a hard time with the new insurance paying for fills, which alot of insurances wont pay for much anyways. Don't worry about dragging your feet, everything will happen in due time and you will just be that much more prepared. My surgery happened so fast that I am still kinda in shock. I had the seminar on a Wednesday, consult, dietician, psych and labs on Friday and surgery on Monday. Good luck chicka!!

Hello Everyone, This is my first post. I had my lap band surgery on Aug. 28th. I've lost 15 lbs. I was able to start solid foods this last Friday. We went out of town this weekend and I soon realized that the food was going down very easily and I could eat almost as much as I used to. The reason I know this is because thats pretty much what I did. I ate like I used to. Now its Sunday, the weekend is over and I have weighed myself and found that I gained quite a bit of weight. I am upset over the demon that took over my mind and mouth and am wondering if any of you did the same thing when you started solids. Does it really change THAT much when you get your first fill?? Because right now I feel really discouraged and hungry and I'm hoping that this band will give me a little more control than that. Please help!! :hungry:

Dee, you have worked pretty hard to keep the weight going down and staying off. But other people may not have that type of discipline and need something that does a little more work for you. All I was saying is that my doctor at the bariatric center said that this surgery is not highly recommended anymore because of it's high risk of gaining the weight back....

Well, I have to say that what I ate this weekend was in no way "Healthy" food. It was pretty much a binge. Which was upsetting because I had been doing SO GOOD. But I seem to do that EVERY time I go on a diet. I am going to do my best to be good and hold out for that first fill as I hear it should help with hunger. I am not sure how much my Doc is going to fill it but hopefully it will be a good amount for me. Thanks for all your help.

My doctor talked a little bit about this surgery in the seminar and stated that he probably wouldn't recommend it to anybody because the chances of patient's gaining the weight back is higher and it just doesn't work as well. If I were you I would find another place that does the procedure you want. It's totally worth it! Good Luck!