papoose

I ended up with ball spots. I finally went to a dermatologist and she told me the surgery, perming and coloring my hair was the problem. She did a biopsy, to make sure nothing else was going on. The results came out fine. I cut my hair off, lucky for me I have a nice shaped head. I went back to the dermatologist and she gave me a few cortisone shots and told me I could use Rogaine. But I have decided not to since my hair did finally start growing back. I am 11 months out and my weight came off very quickly. I lost 100 lbs. She also said to take 5000 mgs of Biotin.

Thanks Jessie85. I will be looking at that website.

When I was in my 20's I had a blood clot in my right leg (a deep vein thrombosis). I am now 56. So I have had swelling in my leg for over 30 years. I have now lost 70 lbs and thought that the swelling in my leg would go down, but it has not. I have noticed that it is not as tight as it used to be, but you can see the huge difference. My left leg is so skinny. I do wear pants a lot, but sometimes I want to wear a dress and I do. Now that I am able to wear nice dresses that stop at the knee I get a lot of stares. I am bad I do not wear the thick circulation stockings. They are just too hot in the summer months. Is there anybody else that has this problem.

You should check with your insurance company if they are paying. I know with my insurance company I could only use a dr. that is on their Center of Excellence lists. I have Aetna. You can also look on the internet and see what you can find out. Also their is a section on here that lists different doctors. Good luck.

Congratulations. Doesn't it feel good to lose 100 lbs? I have lost 120 lbs and some days I don't know what to do with myself. Everytime I see the scale go down, down. It is unbelievable. And the hardest part for me is when people notice that I have lost weight. I try not to smile too much. But the smile does come out. Good luck to you and I hope you continue to get to your goal. I have about 10 more to goal but I think I want to lose 20 more.

I have Aetna and I was approved in 24 hours. Good luck on your journey.

After my surgery my doctor could never tell me what size band I had also. If you have Allergan Lapband the band is registered. Check out lapband.com and there is a 1-800 no. you call it and give them the date you had your surgery, the surgeon and some other info they will send you a card and on the card all the info is on it. The card is also supposed to be good for restaurant discounts.

I guess its the dr's choice of having it in his office or the patient would have to go to the hospital and then the technician would be doing it. This way the Dr. sees what is going on and he can make the evaluation right then and there as to whether you need a fill or an unfill. Not sure maybe some Dr's may do it themselves at the hospital. I prefer having it done in his office as opposed to going to the hospital. Some Dr's just fill and unfill without flouro.

It's hard to say. Everybody is so different. Since my last fill, I am tight. But I am not pb'ing with every sip. I only pb when I don't chew my food enough. Also I am very tight in the a.m. so I normally drink hot tea before I eat. That seems to open me up a little. Good luck on your journey.

My dr. has 2 offices. The office I go to has the flouro machine and all fills are done there under flouro. I did notice from insurance explanation of benefits that when he does a fill he charges $3,000. When I just go in just for a follow up visit the charge is $250. In his office with the flouro machine he will also do unfills.

Start practicing chewing, chewing and putting your fork down in between now. I started the month before my surgery. It helped a little but when you are hungry you forget all of that. Also remember to cut small pieces, the size of a pencil eraser and chew, chew. It will take time to learn how to chew your food. Good luck.

My doctors office has a flourscopy machine. So when I had my last fill and he checked to see how much of a fill I needed and he told me that I didn't need a fill. I told him I was very hungry at night. So he gave me .2 and that seemed to help me. I have 5 cc in a 10 cc band and I am at my sweet spot. My last fill was in June. I can go 4-5 hours at a time without eating. Some days I have to make myself eat. Also before I had that fill I was plateauing, I didn't lose any weight for about a month. Once I got the fill I am losing every week. That little bit really helped. You don't want too much of a fill and then you start throwing up your food and then have to go back and have Fluid taken out. Try to eat more Protein or drink more Protein drinks. Good luck.

Why don't you check with insurance company and see who they recommend. They may have surgeons in your immediate area that are good surgeons. For the first year you may have to go to the Dr's office monthly, plus you may want to go to support group meetings.

Yesterday I went to the hospital to have my yearly mammagram and breast ultrasound. I also had my first bone density scan. The lady called me in, showed me the room where to undress in and showed me the white robe to put on. My surprise came when I put on the robe and it fit with extra room. I was able to wrap it and tie the belt. It felt soooo good, not to have to ask for a larger robe. Also when I had the bone density scan, the technician took a picture of my lapband around my stomach for me. What a great picture. I love my lapband for helping me to lose over 100 lbs in 10 months. My one year anniversary is 9/22/11. :lol:

When you are baking it add chicken broth to it. You have to keep chicken very moist. Also when you microwave chicken make sure you add some kind of broth to it. Microwaving seems to dry out food a lot.

I have Aetna. My surgery was approved by them in 1 day. As soon as the Dr's office got the approval they called me and told me it was approved and gave me a date for the surgery. In a few days I received a letter from Aetna approving the surgery. Good luck in your journey.

I have Aetna also and it was on out patient also. I was there by 9:00 a.m. and out by 7:00 p.m. My Dr. had an emergency so surgery was pushed back a couple of hours. I had a little problem with my breathing (I was wheezing), the nurse gave me a treatment and everything was fine. I got up and walked to the bathroom, they sent me to the x-rays to have the barium study, everything was in place and they discharged me. I was very sore and tired, did not sleep well that night could not get in to a good position.

@Janiece, I feel the same way also. I have lost 100 lbs in 9 months and I am very jiggling. I work for a law firm so I have to dress decently. I wear dresses a lot because it has been so hot. I wear spanx because it holds me in very well and I am not jiggling so much. I have the long ones I used to wear in the winter under my pants. They are expensive, but they last a long time if you wash them correctly and rip them. They really hold your thighs and your stomach in and gives your butt an uplift. I buy the high waist ones, it comes all the way up under your bra. It is time for me to invest in a couple of more pairs. I have the Flexees camisole also, but they kept rolling up on me, not sure if I bought them too small at the time or what. But I have to try them again soon. At this time I can't afford surgery, so I will continue to buy Spanx. I wear a sweater everyday to hide my bat wings, I am not comfortably showing them yet. I heard and have seen someone that had surgery for their arms that it left a terrible scar. Lucky for me my husband is not complaining about all the jiggling.

I am 11 months out and mine hurt when I sleep. I sleep on my stomach so I have to try not to lay on my left side as much.

I am down 120 lbs. Surgery on 9/22/10. Loving this band. I still have another 20 to go, home I lose that before my anniversary.

I was banded 9/22/10 and have lost 117 lbs. I love this band. I have 20 more to go for goal.

I was told the same thing. So I cut my hair very short, I was already ready wearing a natural. I also have 3 bald spots. But with the shampoo and oil the dermatologist gave me my hair is growing back. She also suggested shots and using rogaine. I ordered a free trial of keranique and will see what happens with that. Good luck it will all work out.

I had to do it for 4 weeks. I had pulmonary embolism 4 years ago and after I came out of the hospital I had to inject myself for about 3 more months. You get used to it. Imagine people that take insulin shots.

I have 5 cc's in a 10 cc band and I am at my green zone. I eat every 4-5 hours, sometimes I will snack in between just because I feel I need to chew something. I am 10 months out and I am still losing, maybe slowly. I have lost 110 lbs so far. I had my last fill on June 7th and my dr. only added .2 cc, he felt that i was tight enough and I was. He does it under flouroscopy. That was just the right amount. My problem was at night, I would be very hungry. Now I am not hungry once I eat my dinner I am good. My portion size are very good. My next doctor's visit isn't scheduled until October, I was told if I start feeling hungry.