marjon9

I'm 53 and have a variety of things that are "starting" to go wrong that are obesity-related: high blood pressure, pre-diabetic, joint pain, etc. So, even though I'm a bit older than many bandsters I decided to go for it. I was banded about a week ago, so far so good. I think the question is, would your health benefit substantially from losing weight? If the answer is yes, then you should seriously consider the band. The risks associated with the band are minimal for most people, and it is a tool that most people find very helpful in losing weight. Another way to look at it is this: In five years you are going to be 65. Do you want to be 65 burdened with obesity, significant health problems, substantial medical expenses, and a limited life expectancy? Or, do you want to be 65, normal weight, relatively healthy and feeling great, and looking forward to additional years of active life? Obviously you need to consult with a doctor in all of this, but from my point of view 60 is not too old, and it makes sense to proceed as soon as possible. Best wishes on your journey.

Looking forward to hearing the news!!

Dr. Kirshenbaum requires a pre-op diet that is basically just low carb. When I did this diet for two weeks I really did not lose any weight. Dr. K said that he was a bit surprised that I did not lose, and that he expected that people usually would lose. He said that losing weight during this time can help shrink the liver and it can help with the operation. He was concerned that he might have a problem in my case since I had not lost any weight on the pre op. He went through with the surgery and he was able to do it. My surgery did take about 2 hours and fifteen minutes. The long time for this surgery might have been due, in part, to the fact that I did not lose any weight on the pre op.

I understand that is your surgeon's rule, but I still say that the band is yours and there may come a time when you feel like you want to do what makes sense to you instead of following the rule. It can be hard to get in enough Protein without powders. Besides, from looking at your post, it seems like it may have been the staff, not the surgeon, that had the rule in the first place. I'd ask the surgeon for clarification. I'd also ask how much protein he wants you to consume, and how he wants you to consume it if you can't use powders. Many people have problems eating things like chicken and beef. They can get stuck. If the surgeon sticks to the rule and tells you that you need to follow it, I'd still do what made sense to me once I was comfortable with the band. After all, this rule is not followed by anyone else at all, as far as I can tell. It's your band, your health, your life.

To me it seems like part of the problem is that you are putting your attention on everything wrong when there is so much going right. With the same facts you could also write a success story: In just 9 months you've lost 70 pounds! And you didn't even have to exercise. In fact, it was easy for you. You even made it through the holiday season without gaining it back. That is fantastic! Give yourself some credit! I think that if you focus heavily on this feeling of failure and on everything going wrong you are more likely to have all that bad stuff come to pass. The more you sort of "wallow" in it the more likely it is that these problems will increase and become entrenched. I know it is not easy, but I think your best plan is to take a deep breath, shift your attention away from this feeling of desparation, get involved in living your life so you don't have time to focus on this stuff. Give yourself some credit for what you have done. Go ahead and get your fill, and just move forward one day at a time. All that may be easier said than done, but what other way is there?

That is a baffling rule because I think most people use Protein powder at least sometimes. But I think you are probably correct to follow the rule, at least for now. Once you get more settled into the band you can probably start to do what makes sense to you. I've been banded about a week and I use the powders a lot so far. They seem to dissolve pretty well. I've had no problems yet.

Hi stac1982, welcome to the forum. I was banded about a week ago so I'm pretty new also. I don't know much about your situation so I don't have a lot of specific words of wisdom. I guess the only thing I can really say is, spend as much time as you can reading the posts on this forum, past and present. You'll learn a tremendous amount and, after a while, you'll be able to focus in on your own specific questions. You'll probably find that many other people have had the same questions, and you'll get a lot of good information from people who have been there. Best wishes on your journey.

I had my band put in by Dr. K five days ago. I live in Maryland but decided to go to Denver to get this done because I am self pay, but also because he is a very experienced surgeon. You are definitely in good hands with Dr. K and his staff. What I would suggest is that you run a search for "Kirshenbaum" You will find a thread or two with a lot of recent information. I think it will answer many of your questions. Mainly, though, I would say you should feel confident that you are in good hands.

In my ruthlessly humble opinion a yoga class 5 days after surgery would probably be a bad idea. Each person is different and some may recover that quickly, but most probably would not. I would not plan on it. The port incision in particular is a fairly significant bodily invasion. If that wound is healing at all in five days you would be pretty lucky. If you start pulling on it at such a vulnerable point there is a possibility you could increase the risk of infection, which can sometimes result in losing the whole band. I would wait a month at least for yoga. I'm not a doctor and this is just my personal opinion, but I can tell you that I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

I'm self pay and no psych exam was required. For me, personally, I prefer it that way. I would not like it at all if I wanted a lap band and I was held up by someone who administered a test and decided I was not ready. I understand there is another valid point of view on this issue, but for me I prefer to have my doctor treat me as if I am competent to make my own decisions.

Some people say kidney stones are related to surgery because we sometimes don't drink enough water after surgery and get dehydrated. The dehydration causes the kidney stones. If you drink enough water, the surgery itself does not cause kidney stones. That's what I've heard.

skyeblu, don't worry too much about the week of liquids. From what I understand the first week after surgery most people are not very hungry. That is how it is for me for sure. Left to my own devices I would be perfectly happy to drink only Water right now. I'm forcing myself to drink broth with Protein powder because I know I need to get some nutrition. Those who have a liquid diet before surgery have a tough way to go. Drinking liquids the first week after surgery is not that difficult.

Yes, it's true, the razor-sharp wit is a bit dull today. Feeling a bit Zombie-esque. But I have no doubt that my traditional unbelievably witty commentary will return soon. By the way, it's snowing here in MD right now. I think this is the first snow of the season as far as I remember.

Kirsten, I am mixing some powdered protein with my broth. Is that what you mean when you say "protein shake"? I also have some Adkins Proteins shakes which I'd like to drink, but I was under the impression that the first week was for Clear liquids only. When did you start drinking things like canned Protein Shakes?

Hi folks, thanks for your thoughts and comments. skyblu: I may go to Dr. K for a fill or two, but since I live in Maryland I'll probably want to go to a local doctor after a while, especially if I need numerous fills. Congrats on your upcoming surgery date. Shesha: the day-before-surgery meeting is just to get some paperwork done, give an overview of the procedure, and answer questions. Dr. K has been working with some advanced medical students lately and they were part of the process as well, answering questions, etc. So I would say the main thing is to think about any questions you'd like to ask. That would be the time to bring them up. The reason for sewing the band to the stomach is to help reduce the likelihood that the band will slip. I know Dr. K is not the only one who does this, but I'm not sure if it is exactly common procedure. To me it makes sense and I'm glad it was done. I have not heard of any risk of additional complications. I'd just like to do what I can to help avoid slipping. Your big day is coming up soon! Congratulations, and I know it will all go well. Dr. K is a very experienced surgeon, and his whole team seems quite skilled and experienced. Kirsten: I did get the VG band. I did not ask Dr. K why he went with that band but I'm sure there is a good reason, so I'm not worrying about it. I guess it makes sense that it could take more attempts to get it filled. I think the flouro idea is a good one to get to the right fill level sooner rather than later. In general I'm doing OK. I'm about 4 days post-op now. I have almost no pain at all. No gas pains or pain at the incisions. I've been feeling low in energy and I've been laying around too much. I will try to get out and walk more today. It's cold in Maryland today so I may just walk in circles in my living room. The dogs will be confused by this I'm sure. I feel a little bit hungry sometimes but not much. The only thing I really want right now is Water, but I'm trying to drink broth to get a little nutrition as well. I am definitely not getting in all this Protein yet. I'll have to become more deliberate about that soon. At least I think I'm avoiding dehydration. All the small incisions are healing well, but the port incision is still looking a little wet and raw, with a little pink liquid draining. From running a couple searches on LapBandTalk this seems to be common and normal, especially for the port incision. There is no pain, heat, or swelling there, so I feel like there is nothing to worry about. But still, I will feel better when this incision closes up and dries out a bit more. So, that's the latest. At four days out I'm still not fully back on my feet. But in general all seems to be going well. Take care my fellow Dr. K bandsters. Talk to you later.

Hi folks, I got back from Denver last night, mission accomplished. I have now crossed over into the light. Dr. Kirshenbaum and his staff were great. My surgery had to be postponed a day since my blood was still too thin from the Coumadin I take for a separate health issue. So, I had the surgery on Wednesday. (The one-day postponement gave us time to see the Denver Art Museum, which was great!). I'm definitely glad to be home. Traveling through airports and flight connections two days after surgery was not great fun. But today the pain is not bad at all. Just that feeling people describe of having done 500 situps. The incisions themselves are not painful, and I've had no gas pains or shoulder pains at all. Since Tuesday night, the night before surger, I've had nothing but water. So I guess it's time to start exploring the exciting world of broth. Thanks to everyone for all the great information and support. Talk to you later. Mark

Hello folks, I am back in Maryland now with band in place. The whole thing wasn't too bad. Denver was very cold! But there were no flight delays. Dr. Kirshenbaum and his staff were great. I had one small problem in the process. I have a little bit of atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat) so I am on Coumadin, which is a blood thinner, to guard against clots that can result when the irregular heartbeat is occurring. Per doctors instructions, in preparation for the surgery I had reduced my dose of Coumadin so my blood would not be too thin for the surgery, but the day before surgery my blood was still too thin and Dr. Kirshenbaum wanted to wait a day. So, I was banded on the 17th instead of the 16th. No big deal, of course. On the 16th my wife and I vistied the Denver Art Museum which has a new wing and is very impressive, so it worked out great. One other thing I want to mention, my surgery took about two and a quarter hours instead of the usual amount of time, which is less than one hour. This occurred because Dr. Kirshenbaum likes to attach the band directly to the stomach with sutures to avoid slippage. Apparently I had a heavy layer of fat over the stomach, and Dr. K had to work on that for quite a while before he could get to where he could place the sutures directly into the stomach. Of course I was not glad to hear that my surgery took so long, but I was glad to hear that Dr. K took the time to do the job up to his standards. I think Dr. K offers a level of individual attention that is perhaps a notch higher than average in the world of lap band surgery. I do have had some pain in the surgery areas, but it is getting better already. I'm able to get up out of a chair or bed on my own. I've had no gas pains at all. I have not been hungry yet. I've had only Water since Tuesday night (the night before surgery) I guess I'll need to start hitting the broth soon. It just does not seem that appealing at the moment. So that's the latest. Thanks to everyone for thinking of me and asking about me. I do appreciate it. If anyone has any questions let me know. Talk to you later. Mark

I voted for setting tight rules and if she goes, she goes. But it's not that I think setting tight rules will make her do what the parents want or otherwise change her behavior. I voted that way because I think one of the most important things we can do for our kids is to draw boundaries and stand for what we believe in. Teenagers are going to do what they want one way or another. But eventually, when they have more life experience and think things through for themselves, they will have a solid parental example to reflect against. Even if it turns out that she was right and knew best what was right for her and the parent was wrong, that does not make any difference in my opinion. What matters is that we demonstrate love, courage and integrity. If we just tell her she is free to do whatever she wants, it seems to me that the message there is that we are not willing to pay the price for our beliefs, and we don't care enough to fight for her.

It's an interesting question. One thing to keep in mind is I think they've been doing this for quite a while in other places even thought it is fairly new here. I think I heard that it's been done for about ten years already in Australia. So some longer term data may start to come out. Also, I'd be interested in seeing another type of data before taking the band out. That is, what happens to people who take out the band. If most people gain the weight back I'd be very reluctant to take it out. For me I'd be a little skeptical about my own ability to succeed with behavior modification. I feel like I may always need that physical barrier to keep me in line. So, I guess it's a balance. The health risks from obesity are extreme and if the band helps solve that problem it might be worth some degree of risk with the effects of silicone. I guess everyone will just have to decide for themselves. But it's a good question.

At some point it would be interesting to see the bandster totals from the various months. It seems clear that more and more people are getting banded, but I wonder if its a gradual increase or if its more like an explosion. It would be interesting to see. They've been advertising it on TV, as I'm sure everyone knows. So that must be having an effect as well.

You've lost weight so fast it's like, you leave in the morning with tight pants and when you come home at night they fall off as you walk up the driveway. I hope to have the same results. I start the journey on Tuesday

The "water-only diet." Now I can see how that would be effective, if you could stick with it. When I first decided to get the band I felt pretty open about it. I had no intention of hiding it at all. Then I started getting extremely negative reactions from friends and family. The same things othes have mentioned. "It's dangerous" "People are dying from it " "Why can't you just diet and exercise." And here's one I liked: "Dan Marino lost 22 pounds on Nutrasystem, why don't you just do that." People's reaction just shocked me, really. Even my wife was strongly against it at first. So I just stopped talking about it. If I lose a lot of weight and people ask me, I'll tell them. At that point I won't care what people think. I don't want to hide it and claim "diet and exercise." But until then, I'll just force a grin onto my face and say "No, really, canned Protein shakes are delicious. Who knew?"

Tonya, What are they thinking with those full face masks? How can anyone tolerate those? I'm glad you were able to move right past that. I just don't understand why they even use those at all. I hope it all works out for you. Somewhere down the road I'd like to hear if you feel like the cpap is helpful to you. And I hope that shortly after that we can get rid of them for good!

Wow, the new January lap banders are coming in for a landing like jets on an aircraft carrier, one after the other. Mission accomplished. Welcome back all. Everyone seems to be doing well. Congratulations. Pretty soon I'll be joining you.

Dr. Ortiz is a great lap band surgeon so it's a good choice. But if time is a real issue and you don't want to wait there are good U.S. docs in a similar price range. Mine is at www.lapbandrockies.com He's just a small bit more than Ortiz. Just a thought.