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I too live alone and the advice here is basically what I did -- stock up in advance. I flew to Mexico on a Wednesday, had the surgery on Thursday, stayed overnight at the surgical center and another night in the hotel and flew back on Saturday. I spent Saturday night and Sunday with my sister and back to work on Monday. It was hard to work a full day; I got tired. I think 10 days is about the perfect total recovery. My doc said no sex for 6 weeks and I made it about a month -- I recommend more "careful" and "conventional' sex for the first 6 weeks then go crazy! I've had no pain at my port during sex whatsoever although last night I had dinner with my BF and I was feeling a bit stuck but not to the point of PB. Well, we were being frisky and it was harder for me to get in the mood while feeling like I had a golf ball lodged in my chest! Really, you're up and walking the day of surgery. The key for any surgery is to talk as much as possible without overdoing. I had a hysterectomy in 2001 and I know walking was a key part of my recovery. Good luck to you!

I don't normally post on this site anymore but for some reason came over today and saw your post. I had a lap band for 3 years and did great with my weight loss but not without struggle. I constantly got food stuck and ended up sliming or vomiting. It was difficult to eat lean Proteins but all the bad "slider" foods were easy to get down. I also found I could eat around the band - if I ate slowly and chewed well I could eat more if I really wanted to. All that being said I was doing well and was down 80 pounds, not too far from goal when my band slipped. I tried for months to get it working again and then learned about the sleeve. In the time it took me to fight my insurance company to remove the band, I started gaining weight. But last June I was finally sleeved. I've been losing about 10 pounds a month and the sleeve is everything I thought the band would be and much more. I have no complications at all. I can eat anything in small amounts and when I'm full I'm full - no eating for 3 or more hours. I also don't get hungry any more because when you're sleeve the hormon grehlin isn't produced any more. I also lost my taste for sweets. Tonight I ate 5 bites of steak, some steamed veggies, 3 bites of mashed potato and I was done. It all went down easily but I completely lost interest in eating as soon as I was full. With the band, I could just has easily ended up in the bathroom leaning over the toilet bowl spitting up mucuus and bits of beef. I'm not trying to gross you out, I just wish I'd known about the sleeve before I was banded. All in all I feel like my thin friends do. I'm mostly interested in healthy foods, eat until I'm satisfied, and set the rest aside. Once I went with my boys to get an ice cream cone and halfway through realized it didn't taste good any more. I just threw it away. Never in my life have I thrown away dessert. At any rate, I know the band works well for many people but it didn't for me and the statistics show that up to 60% of people with the band suffer complications in the first 5 years. If you can, it might be worth also considering the sleeve.

how did your surgery go?...i too am hoping to get mine done at cedars...i have consultation in 7 days.. i also have bcbs (ppo 10)...what sort of things did you have to do to qualify with them?? thanks, tiger

I was stuck for 3 weeks at between 180-185 fluctuating. Talk about driving me nuts!! Then finally I was 180, then the next day 179.5, then 179. Then I stopped weighing for 2 days ( well.... I was too tired by end of day). I weighed myself last night. I came in at 170.5!!!! 9 pounds in 3 days???? Holy moly !!!!! That must have been stuck water weight right? I'm almost at my second goal already!!! My first was to be under 200 ( hit that in 2-3 weeks). Then I roughed out where i thought I'd be at a happy medium. 160 popped in my head. That's only 10 pounds away!! I'm only about 9-10 weeks out. I'm finding this all pretty crazy.

Today I started at 6:00 AM with a Protein drink: Crystal light, strawberry yogurt and one scoop Protein powder... By 7:00 Am I felt hungry: I had cottage cheese with a small amount of Kellogg's Protein Special Kay. Hungry again at 10:00 AM ????

Just wait until after surgery...12 days no pooping...11protein shakes...10 days obsessing...9 days in a STALL! Oh the fun awaits you!

Wahoo . . . MAYBE this will jump start me again . . . I'm all the way up to 2.5 cc's in my 10 cc band . . . I swear this progress has all been willpower so far :crying:. Anyway . . . onward and downward I go! Chris

Not sure but one thing to consider is that people who had the band 10 years ago have a different model than we do.

It depends on your insurance. My policy has an in-network out of pocket maximum of $2000 per year. By the time the surgery came around (September 28), I had already spent $600 over the previous almost 10 months in co-pays and a couple of other items that my PCP asked me to do (abdominal ultrasound, chest x-ray, etc.). So, I had to pay about $1400 for everything. (The hospital submitted their claim to insurance first, so that money went to them. Insurance covered everything else at 100%.) My doctor didn't have any "doctor fees." My parents had bariatric surgery over the past few years in Alabama, and their surgeon charged a $300 administrative fee per patient. I personally think that is kind of dirty, but apparently a lot of them do it.

African American here. Only my largest scar is dark, but looking at my hysterectomy scars from 10 years ago, they will fade with time. I used Scarfade gel initially because I also tend to keloid. That helped fade them a little bit and also flattened them out. I now use virgin coconut oil on them. I had 5 or 6 incisions and only 2 are noticeable now and the big one is the most noticeable.

Hi Lisa, I am going to Mexico to be sleeved on November 16th. Super excited!! I think most surgeons down there require that you stay for at least 3 days. So you would have surgery day, 3 days after that to heal, and then leave the day after that. I think they do some blood tests and an EKG the morning of your surgery, but otherwise you don't have to do all the tests they require in the U.S. The surgeons in Mexico have one all inclusive price which includes a ride from the airport in San Diego, your hotel stay, meds after surgery, etc. I don't think your BMI is too high. My BMI is 42.5 and my surgeon's office is having me do a 2 week pre-op diet to lose 5-10% of my weight. It consists of protein shakes and dark leafy greens. Not great, but I've already dropped some weight! Are you thinking of going to Mexico for your surgery? Research is key when going down there. There are a lot of surgeons in Tijuana and you definitely want to do your research to find a good one. ????

OMG....the doc thinks i have sleep apnea...so his nurse calls me to tell me when and where to go for testing.....the doc writes stars all over my chart and writes "august surgery" on the papers. I know cause he gave me a copy. So she calls and gives me an appt 5 weeks later...hello this does not work for me...doc told me a day or two...yeah. So then she tells me getting the sleep study sooner will not get me into surgery sooner.....omg did she not hear her own words???? So I decide to look around for another place...i find that my insurance covers a place an hour north...no problem its near my school. I call her back and she tells me that she "doubts the doc will give me a referral for that place" I inform her that i am going where the insurance pays it!!!!!! So two days later she calls the place and I get in...in two weeks. So now I def have it and nurse-zilla calls me to give me the results...."wow-this is the highest number I have ever seen" okay "what does this mean?' i ask, she comes back with "I don't know" OMG shoot me now please!! She has no clue about sleep apnea....so why is this woman with RN behind her name calling me?? At the very least I expect the person calling me and giving me all this info to know WTF she is talking about! So now I have an appt where she wants me to go...I call insurance and got the tax id for them..yay its covered. I call after its said and done because the tech tells me she is rushing this because of all the stars on my chart. Yay. I call nurse-zilla and she gets pissed "it takes 2 weeks you know" Ummm yes i do and explain to her again why I need it in Aug and why the doc starred my chart. So i call the sleep apnea place directly, its on the doctors desk....my doctor!!! Yeah i call back, I get the machine. Nurse zilla calls back to tell me that the doc will come in and it takes 10 days for the transcriber to type it. Ugh okay I am at her mercy I thank her and hang up! Now mind you I starte this lap band journey back in April and have had all my pre-op testing done. I need August because today was my last day of school and I start again on 8/28 but with 6 CLASSES!! I cannot miss that many classes I will be too far behind..3 psych classes and 3 education classes!!!! The doc knew this...they all did, and all promised me august. Okay so the doc calls me last night and tells me to call the surgeon in the morning and schedule my surgery....he faxed everything over...I call today and nope, nothing. I tell the receptionist about nurse-zilla (she was not surprised) and i tell her no way can i call that office back, but i did because the surgeons fax was down..lucky for me. So i call the pulm doc and leave a message for nurse-zilla and she informs me that she didn't know i had insurance and had to call them first.......OMG shoot me....no shoot her. I have never ever had problems with any doc anywhere but now i see how this crap happens. I can't believe she is a nurse, and doesn't know anything about what she is doing...oh and she is NOT new! Oh and guess what......my sleep number is a 7, which is not so high, so why the hell did she scare me like that a month ago and I haven't slept since then (except for the Mojito night...lol) I am not for wishing ill will on people.....this woman is gonna get hers via bad karma!!!! Oh yeah and last night I slept like a rock!!! :notagree yay (except hubby said i was having a big conversation in my sleep ugh) Oh yeah since the sleep apnea I have been sleeping on the couch (well laying down anyway) for fear of keeping hubby up all night with my tossing and turning. (he is roofing right now, don't want him to fall off due to lack of sleep!)

I gained nearly 10 pounds after the surgery, but lost that all within 5 days.

And don't worry. liquids and other squishy stuff will go down too easy but when you really get to solids you will focus on the Protein to get it in. I still have a Protein shake every morning (surgery 1/19). Just don't graze. I still follow a high protein low carb diet with a treat from time to time. Typical day is protein shake, cheese stick mid morning, Atkins or high protein lunch, yogurt or other afternoon snack and pretty much whatever the family protein item is with a spot of veggie for dinner. Good luck. No worries.

Hi, my name in Kim, I'm 47 years old and I was banded last november the 24th of 2008. I was 301 when I started, and right now I am at 253, depending on whose scale you are wieghting me on. The Doctors scale has me at 260. My surgeon is Dr. McCririe from Hillsdale Michigan. He's been great in the whole process with me. I know there are no stupid questions, but sometimes I am afraid to ask for fear I will look like a fool. I have a problem. I've been fighting pneumonia and sinus infections, but I'm on antibiotics and am getting better. I have noticed that about 3 to 4 days after I get a fill, I start running a fever. I must be really close to my sweet spot, because after this last fill, I was keeping water down at first, but now I can hardly keep my own spit down. I've lost about 10 to 13 pounds in a week. I'm not urinating much and when I do it is a darker gold then usual. I've also noticed my skin is getting so dry. Does anyone know if dehydration could be causing all of this. I am going into the Doctors office tomorrow for an adjustment. I think 1cc was just a little too much for me this time. I look forward to hearing from you and sharing in your experiences. :smile: Kim, Camden Michigan

I can come in here and do back flips and cartwheels.....whooohooooo I LOST 4 POUNDS LAST NIGHT.........WOOOOHOOOOO.......I NOW WEIGH 3 HUNDRED EIGHTY FIVE POUNDS.......385...YEAHHHHHH I AM SO HAPPY:lol: 459-389-385-380-375 :wow2: I can't wait to get to 375 that is 10 pounds away. August 15 -3 pounds August 22 -3 pounds August 29 -3 pounds I can do this. :humble: I have enough weight that I can lose 3 pounds a week. OK this is where I get stressed out about adding strenght training and causing muscle gain....whhhhhhhhh breath, muscle burns fat. :Banane10: :Banane20: :Banane20: :Banane20: 3min circuit 9:35

I follow the 90/10 rule: 90% of the time I am very strict and 10% of the time I eat whatever I want (in band sized portions). One important note- you say you can "eat whatever you want". You have to remember that the band isn't supposed to physically stop you from eating anything. In fact, most of us can eat whatever we want even with adequate Fluid in the band. So, it's a good idea to start getting used to controlling what and how much you eat. Best wishes.

I have never really loved shopping. When I was 243 lbs, it was just discouraging. None of the cute shirts came in an XXL. I thought I would put on my brave face at hit the mall yesterday. I had nothing but time to kill, so I wandered through Old Navy. I haven't really shopped since I started my weight loss journey. I grabbed a few shirts that were XL (pretty confident they may fit, since I've lost a whole cup size!). Headed to the fitting room, cringing the whole way, and slipped the shirt on. It was TOO BIG! Tried on the next one (different style - love their "vintage" line) and it was WAY too big! I was actually smiling when I left the dressing room to grab a Large. I was so excited when I came home, I told my husband that I no longer required the "X". He was naturally a little puzzled since he has no concept of sizes whatsoever (I don't think the man has bought any of his own clothing since we started dating!) but he was excited for my excitement. For the first time, I felt like a "normal" girl who could walk into a store and buy a shirt without panic or regret surging through me. This journey has been amazing so far. I can't wait to go get my next fill and show my surgeon my progress. I set a goal of losing 10 lbs between fills. I'm 18 days from my next fill and already hit my goal! I hope he will give me the fill (last time he did half because I was losing fine on my own) but a little restriction would be nice. I'm at 4.5 cc right now in a 11 cc band and not feeling much restriction, it's all been will power. I do stay fuller, longer, but I don't get my "full" signal if that makes sense. Well I wish everyone out there in Band Land all the success in the world.

Precisely as long as it takes ( :-) ) I lost 100 in about 10 months from my highest weight (423), and am 5 months out. I lose from 1 to 3 # a week now. I am in no hurry. I have plenty more to go. No journey is too long if you don't stop walking.

I know exactly what you mean. I have been fat and I have been skinny and trust me people treat you differently when you are skinny. About ten years ago I lost a little over 100pounds. I became a size 8/10. I know part of it was the way i carried myself the way i felt in my skin and my confidence level but honestly poeple treat you different. I looked pretty decent, had a nice little figure going on, if I had car trouble looked like I didnt know what I was doing in the hardware store, people (yes men and women) were much more willing to stop and help. They treated me so much better as a skinny woman. I know because I got fat again. Even my family, they never stopped loving me but even the way they look at me when I eat, what I drink, judging, it's awful. I want to scream out I AM THE SAME FRIGGIN PERSON I WAS WHEN I WAS SKINNY, I AM THE SAME LOVING CARING CHRISTIAN HARD WORKING WOMAN NOW AS I WAS THEN! Any way I was banded in May down 52 pounds, praying this is the last time I will ever be fat again. I have 50 pounds more to lose, once it is gone, I pray it will be the last time. I also pray I never forget what it feels like to be treated different for being a big girl.

Hi there - I have 3 kids between the ages of 1 and 10, my DH works out of town for 3 weeks at a time and I also work outside the home, so I feel your pain. I don't enjoy cooking (especially when rushed) and the kids are always starving when we get home so I needed some fast ideas. Sometimes they do get junky food - I'll throw a pizza in the oven for them while I eat my scrambled egg- but I try to make them something decent most nights of the week. My standby is stir-fries. I buy beef and chicken and turkey in little stir-fry strip packages and either frozen veggies or fresh ones (snow peas, carrots and a little onion, maybe a few mushrooms - whatever I can find) Then you just need a bottle of stir-fry sauce, or salad dressing - there's many out there, so you won't get bored - I make rice for them (which I don't eat) while I'm making the stir-fry. Then we have a meal that's ready in under 10 minutes, and we all have something healthy. You may find it hard to eat Protein this dense and tender-crisp veggies at only 5 weeks out, but down the road, I find this is a great option. I just eat about a 1/2 cup of the stir-fry and I'm good. The kids get theirs on rice or whole wheat Pasta, and sometimes I throw a few peanuts on top for them - they love it. Hope my advice helps!

I never really worried about what others thought. I was quite open to everyone about my surgery. But I understand the fear of others judging you. 1. After two years the only incision that is noticeable is where the port is and it looks like I was in a paring knife fight. Some folks say the incision pain was noticeable but for me it's just a memory I don't recall. The port site oozed for a few months but that went away too. 2. I wish I would have read more here on this forum. Bandster Hell was a surprise to me. I really thought I'd have surgery and lose 10-20 lbs the first month and then 10 each following month. That didn't happen. Your journey won't start till the band is adjusted properly and that took 4 months for me.

Great news Melanie!! CONGRATULATIONS! Wow, $ 20 per visit is cheap! Ask them to send that to you in writing! You must have really great insurance! Mine sucks, so I decided to self-pay and had my surgery last week 10/10. Slowly but surely I'm feeling better. Where in TX do you live? And who's your Dr? sorry if I missed this info before, I'm a bit behind on reading posts lately. All the best,

How long have you been banded? Since 12/10/04 What do you eat each day? . chicken, tuna, cottege cheese, cooked meats (brisket, pot roast) always starting w/protein. Need to get better w/fruits & veggies. My tastes are very simple, no fancy recipies. How much do you eat? Lately since my fill kicked in, 1/4 to 1/3 of what I used to. Wise Michelle taught me to stop eating after 20 minutes no matter what. Great tool. Do you eat sweets? In small amounts. Can't live w/o chocolate & some vanilla ice cream now & then. How much have you lost? 40 lbs. Do you feel its worth it? Absipotivily. Best thing I ever did besides husband & kids.

Yes you are!:sneaky: I am very new to this sight and am newly banded, 7/10/09. I knew I needed God to help me even with this band. I am doing o.k. and have tried to stick the diet, but I'm sure you know( or maybe it's just me) that I always have to go over the limit, even if it's just a little. I have not had any fills yet, but I do have a little restriction, thank God! I would appreciate if we kept in touch, being that you're a christian and all. I am believing that God would break all those ties and roots and strongholds to food. THANKS AGAIN, GISELLE:thumbup: