honk

Is this meeting with the office or with the doctor? I had a 3 hour meeting with the Nurse, dietician, and Psychologist where they determined whether I was a good candidate then I could meet with the doctor. Anyway some questions for the doctor could be: are you a candidate for single incision surgery (I was not my BMI was to high); will you be required to loose a specific amount of weight presurgery; do they require a specific presurgery diet (some require an all liquid diet 2 weeks prior to surgery; do they have a preferred brand of Band that they always use or does it depend on the patients anatomy (LAP or Realize); do they keep people over night (as long as you are'nt there more than 24 hours most hospitals consider it day surgery. I am super glad I was in the hospital that first night).

First, don't panic. My doctor's office has the nurse practioners do the fills. One nurse is better at it than the other. I apparently have a lot of scar tissue so it is had to access. The less accurate nurse had to poke me three times before she found the port. The other nurse has never had to do that. The person doing the fill may just have not been very good.

I have had 3 fills now at 7 cc's had limited restriction after last fill but that has gone away. I am going in for a fill tomorrow. I would ask your doctors office how much time they require between fills; mine is min of 2 weeks. Once your required wait time is over call the office and ask if they've had any cancellations and then go in for a fill. That what I did after my second fill. Nearly did that last week but did'nt want to be on liquids over Thanksgiving.

Do you have restriction? My doctor has never really gotten into the "cup" business. I am to have 3 oz of protein and 1 oz of veggies. If you don't have restriction than I don't see a reason to drink water. The food is already going to slide down to the "big" stomach. By drinking water you are pushing the food through faster and you will be hungry sooner.

I have Chobani NonFat Greek yoghurt (one with fruit); add half scoop vanilla protein powder, 1 teaspoon Benefiber, and some splendra (non fat greek yoghurt is super sour); and approx. 10 g of Kashi Go Lean Crisp (has high protein amounts). I mix the yoghurt and powders and then add in the cereal. Good Protein levels with some crunch.

Chrystal Light?

FYI I did not see my doctor after the surgery before I left the hospital. I did have 4 medical students who were doing a bariactric rotation come by to see me. My surgeon called me on day two at home (on a Saturday) to see how I was doing because he had'nt seen me in the hospital. My post op appointment was at two weeks with the doctor.

It happens. Could the purees your eating be salty? During that time I was allowed full liquids which included tomato soup, low fat cream of chicken and store bought soup can be high in salt.

For soups I use a coffee cup (6-8 oz); if you measure into regular coffee mugs you'll so they hold A LOT more.

I am 3 months out and have only lost 22 pounds so i am pretty jealous of your weight loss. I have had 3 fills and am at 7 cc's. I go for my 4 fill on Wed. I weight all my protein and feel I am on a very strick diet. I do an hour of cardio daily. Really hope for restriction soon.

Yes, it can be deducted but you must meet a level. Go to IRS.gov and search for medical expenses. I think it is like 7% of your income.

Prior to my first fill I noticed significant restriction just prior to TOM. Have not experienced it since.

It could be the gym I attend but there are a lot of people, regardless of size, who I think look really silly so I don't think I look any worse. FYI I had a woman come up to me in the changing room who said she told her mother that someone at the gym used a snorkle and now her elderly mother feels comfortable swimming using one. I'd had several people ask about the MP3 player and one who told me that it had been the best exercise advice she had ever received (crazy huh). When I started swimming my pool was hosting extra high school swim teams (the other local pool was under repair; I would walk out of the changing room and there would be 50 parents watching practice. I would walk by them and get in the open lane. I figure people can't judge me for being fat and then judge me because I look funny when I excerise.

I also swim. Before my knee problems I used to really like the recumbent exercise bikes (that you sit in like a chair with your legs out front). Now my knees don't like the angle so that exercise is out. I would second that you need a a trainer with real anatomy knowledge. Some of the people at the gym call themselves trainers but really are qualified.

Two years ago I finally broke down and saw a doctor about severe knee problems that I was having. The problem with being overweight is that you have trouble exercising because literally you are carrying around 1-3 people (in my case 3 people). Because of the severe knee pain; I could barely walk into work never mind walk for exercise! My doctor recommended swimming because it's easy on your joints. So, prior to starting the Lap Band journey I had already started exercising. I know, I know. Swimming? Seriously? In public? Yes. Okay so I was 364 pounds. I bought a fat lady swimsuit (with the little skirt), snorkle (swimming is a lot easier when you don't have to worry about the breathing), and a Water proof MP3 player (look on Amazon.com, yes they are about $100 bucks but I use it every day so it pays for itself very quickly). Swimming is something that you can do for longer periods than say walking (as long as you know how to swim); because you of the support of the water. You could also consider water areobics (not my thing but hey.) I swim every day an hour a day. If I don't go really and truely I miss it. Hard to believe but true. You need to find something that you like. If you dont' like it you will find reasons not to go. The last time I decided to get in shape (lost well over 100 pounds); every saturday I did 30 minutes on the stair climber. Horrible, nightmareish machine. I had to do it every Sat. Why? I HATED it. Looking back I don't know why I did that. Now I do stuff I like.

I was banded on 8/13/10. I had my first fill at like 4 weeks out 4CC, second 3 weeks later 2 CC, third 2 1/2 weeks after that 1 cc. I have an appointment for a fourth in 2 days (last was about a month ago). I had limited restriction after last fill for a couple days but that went away. Were you experiencing significant restriction after your last fill. If so the doctor may feel you are at restriction. If this is not true I would definately talk to them about a fill. Three months seems like a lot to me. I know this is a marathon not a race; but I do feel frustrated like I am on a very strick diet but not loosing very fast. I way all my protein. I was actually loosing faster presurgery on my own high protein, low fat, low carb diet.

Can't really answer your question; but the nurse at my doctor's office recommend dill pickles as a way to get over cravings for crunchy foods. I had been avoiding them because of the salt content. If you blood pressure is good they may not be that much of a problem.

I think you should use a hospital that you feel comfortable attending. While I was treated at Mass General (Boston) for a stroke last year (World Class hospital); I chose Lahey Clinic (Burlington, MA) for the Lap Band because getting to the City is a hassle (Rt 93 South is just a major headache). Since I knew from research about all the presurgery meetings and post surgery fills I knew I would need to go to the hospital alot. Last year I changed Orthopedic Surgeons because the one at the slick "Ladies Who Lunch" office was a huge jerk. I now go to a doctor in Lowell, MA (some parts are better than others; including UMASS Lowell) because I like him. I do think that the tone of your post was offensive. Being poor does'nt make you a bad person it just means you are poor. My family was what they call today "working class poor". Meaning my dad worked two jobs (one full time as civilian employee of the Navy); and my mother worked. We missed getting reduced lunches by $100 every year. So we were pretty close to poverty level. My parents had a house and a car; but we had neighbors that lived literally in tar paper shacks (in NE!).

I was very concerned about post op pain because a lot of people on this board said they had considerable pain. I am allergic to many perscription pain killers (as in stopped breathing)so I thought it was going to be a rough couple weeks. The fact I could handle it very comfortably with liquid Tylenol was a huge relief. From the Tylenol point of view staying on a schedule and staying ahead of the pain was very important. This plan however could be more problematic if you were on persription drugs.

My doctor also repaired a small hernia. I did not really have pain in the stomach area so I would say that part of the procedure did'nt really hurt. I've read many posts that people had hernia repairs done that the doctor discovered once they were "in" there.

I a word yes. I lost about 20 pounds in the first two weeks and now am doing less than a pound a week. I am weighing all my protein; eating responsibly, and exercising an hour a day 7 days a week. I am looking forward to my 4 th fill hopefully that will give me some restriction.

I wanted to respond that pain level is 1) subjective, 2) depends on the person, 3) can be affected by the doctors skill level/techniques. I did stay over one night in the hospital and had pain killer there. When I came home I used liquid Tylenol (I did try to stay ahead of the pain by taking a dose every 4 hours) for the first few days. I did have pain in the port area for at least 2 weeks. It did hurt to stand up and sit down; but not horrific. I don't want to minimize anyones pain; I do think visitors to this site need to understand there can be a sliding scale of pain. I would hate for someone to read this thread and say "There's no way I can have this surgery done; I would'nt be able to take the pain.

I did not start mushies unti week three. Do you have any liquid in your band? I wonder if you are are feeling the food travel down your throat because you are still swollen and/or the food you are eating is to "solid". When I moved to egg whites, cottage, ricotta cheese I did not feel it going down. But again I more time for healing. During mushies and now solids I weighed all Protein with a digital scale. Get one where you can zero out the Tare. Meaning put the plate on the scale and then zero it out.

Have you had Cellulitis before; or is this your first case? I ask because my mother has a history of Cellulitis. She keeps a supply of antibiodics to take when she sees the first signs. I know it can be very painful. One time she had to be taken to the hospital by ambulence and was there for several days. I think Cellulitis stays in the background and can reappear kind of at will. I wonder if this is a chicken or the egg issue here. Did the Cellulitis just see a chance because your body was weekend by the surgery or did the surgery cause the cellulitis.

Have you spoken to your Primary Care doctor about these headaches? You need to figure out what why you are having headaches. Taking painkillers is just a bandaid on the problem.