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Hey there!! Back with an update!Yay!! I just got back to my hotel and my surgery was done yesterday (2/10/17). I was a little surprised by how quickly everything went. I mean super duper quickly! But I did have a few complications as I have been cursed with hard to locate and even harder to hit veins. The anesthesiologist had to put my iv lines in. The shuttle take you in at 6:15am and you're in the waiting room with final paperwork stuff and final payment. They call you in to finalize your dietary plan and also do the EKG...then you wait until your room is ready. When you go to your suite, you quickly change in your gown and then the phlebotomist comes in to give you a little Xanax and does your IV. The surgeon comes in and chats with you for a moment and then it's show time. The procedure took less than 45 minutes and he not only staples but he also does a reenforced suture over the staple line to prevent additional complications. Past that, walking around after surgery went pretty smoothly and I still have "rolling" gas bubbles which are annoying beyond belief! Before they release you from the hospital, they have you do a tiny barium swallow to make sure your tract is completely clear and then you're released to go back to the hotel!! You have to keep walking...the more you walk, the faster the rolling bubbles will be relieved. I've got a final follow up on Monday and head back over the border by about noon that same day. Feeling pretty good (past those bubbles) and have no regrets whatsoever. The only major things I will also add: If you buy your meds that are prescribed there at [/url]OCC, it's about $190 with a credit card. If you ask the hotel shuttle driver, he can take you to a local pharmacy that will sell you all the drugs for about $70 bucks. Bring or buy a pill crusher. (There's a Walmart near the hotel or if you go to an offsite pharmacy...or pack one with you. I have the vitaleph shakes, but I also bought unjury Protein powder (online only) the chicken broth and the unflavored variety...to break up the chocolate/vanilla shakes...you will get tired of those flavors quick. The unflavored powder can be mixed with juices or just water! That's it!! Sorry for the novel!! But you're going to do great!!

I had my band year ago probably 8 and my revision on Oct 9th this year, the band never really worked until I started to have partial esophageal paralysis. Once that happened I was fast tracked for the removal and revision. I am on week 10 and down 58 pounds more than I ever lost with the band and the only thing that has caused an issue was the pain on my left side it would hit mostly at night for the first 5 or so nights it was pretty damn bad and I would have to take my pain med to sleep. After that it has been pretty smooth sailing. Good luck

I had surgery Oct. 10. Felt ok afterwards just sore at incision locations. Gas was very very mild and I had no pain meds. But yesterday (6 days post op) the gas started up with a vengence in my left shoulder, back and stomach. Using Gas X. Think I need something different, any suggestions?

not much you can do about the hair loss. If it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen. And not everyone loses hair - I lost some, but very little. I noticed more strands of hair than usual during months 5-8, but just looking at my hair in the mirror, I couldn't tell - so neither could anyone else. Most people do lose some, but usually, you're the only one who notices. If you're one of the folks who loses a noticeable amount (and it's more like shedding - not big clumps), a shorter style will make it look less noticeable. dying hair - I can't remember if there are any issues with that (I do dye my hair, but I'm several years post-op) but I don't think there are walking - re: sticks - up to you. I didn't have any vaccines - you can get those any time, before or after. It's pretty late in the season for flu shots (although that doesn't mean you can't get one). Tetanus is every 10 years, so if it's been 10 years, I'd get one. puree - I just used a regular blender, but a hand blender would work, too.

Just found out i was denied =( . thought it was pretty crappy . i was told that although i did meet requirements for the surgery . i did not lose 20 lbs or 10% of my weight so there for i was denied . i called my surgeons office and they told me that they will be appealing it as soon as they get the paperwork . on my consolation the surgeon told me that i did not have to lose weight but that i could not gain not even one pound and if i did he would cancel the surgery . so the guy that i talked to at the surgeons office told me that it should be oKay and that during the appeal they will state that the surgeon did not feel it medically necessary to lose before surgery. although i did lose weight during the 6 months but not the full 20 .. I'm just angry that i did everything the 6 month reg. asked for . and nowhere in the paperwork did it ever state that i needed to lose 10% of my weight . trust me if it did i would not have bothered sending anything in until i did .i feel like i have waisted so much time and money for nothing . but i guess till i get back from the appeal i will keep my head high . well for the most part it still is disappointing anyone have ideas on what i can do or has anyone been in this situation ?

Just found out i was denied =( . thought it was pretty crappy . i was told that although i did meet requirements for the surgery . i did not lose 20 lbs or 10% of my weight so there for i was denied . i called my surgeons office and they told me that they will be appealing it as soon as they get the paperwork . on my consolation the surgeon told me that i did not have to lose weight but that i could not gain not even one pound and if i did he would cancel the surgery . so the guy that i talked to at the surgeons office told me that it should be oKay and that during the appeal they will state that the surgeon did not feel it medically necessary to lose before surgery. although i did lose weight during the 6 months but not the full 20 .. I'm just angry that i did everything the 6 month reg. asked for . and nowhere in the paperwork did it ever state that i needed to lose 10% of my weight . trust me if it did i would not have bothered sending anything in until i did .i feel like i have waisted so much time and money for nothing . but i guess till i get back from the appeal i will keep my head high . well for the most part it still is disappointing anyone have ideas on what i can do or has anyone been in this situation ?

I just wanted to let everyone know that things went well for my wife who had the band on 9/12/07. I have been busy and have not had a chance to post. I am also going to get the band on 9/19/07. We are not sure the date when her sister will get hers at this time. Here are the details of how things went. Here surgery was moved back from 1 P.M. to 3 P.M. So we got to the hospitial at 1 and got check in. They took here back and she go dressed for surgery and they did blood work. Then they took us to the surgery waiting area. They did not allow us to go back into that area. ( I think the reason was are young daughter was with us and there was not enough room in the area for 3 people) they gave us here glasses and she went on into the pre-op area. I saw the doctor before surgery. They did not start surgey until 4 P.M. she was done by 5 P.M. the doctor came out and said it went well and that she was given the new AP regular which is about 10cc and has soem Fluid in it. She was in recovery until about 6:45 P.M. Then she was moved to her room. Well to say the least that was crazy because it was also shift change and you can iamage how that was. We left about 7:30P.M. that night. Also she could not have nothing to drink or eat until after the barriam swallow test. (We found that out the next day). We new that the test was happing but not that she could not eat. So she had the test on Thursday morning and she passed it with flying colors. So we thought she could go ahead and start drinking and eating but it was another couple of hours before they did anything.(The reason is the nurses will not do anything untill they have a written signed report in the file). So she was complaning of nausea etc. so they kept giving her meds for it. She was able to get up and walk around etc. and she was able to start drinking and eating. We thought that she would be out of the Hosp. by say 3 P.M. but that was not to be the case. Here is another thing that we learned. The clock for the 24 hours does not start when you come in. It starts after surgery and when you get into the room. So they were not planning to let here go before 7 P.M. but no one told us that before hand. The doctor came in a couple of times and check on here and then came back around 5 P.M. and said that she could go. So by the time we got her dressed and all the paper work done it was right at 7 P.M. I brought here home and she is doing fine now. As far as care at the hospitial was ok. It took a long time to get food etc. when they told us they had it on the floor.(The nurses were busy since the rooms were filled) I think that was part of the reason why she was having problems with nausea etc. Then another thing that was upsetting was how the nurse approached with having to give more meds for infections etc. and saying because you are still here. Well now as I look at it, if you would have brought the food right-a-way we might not have this problem. So with that said now things will be easier for myself on Wednesday the 19th and for her here sister when she has it done. I did say that I will have a jug of Soup ready for when I can eat and not wait on them to bring it. I think that if would have had it there and ready for when the paper work was in place she might not of had as much nausa as she did. Just iamage what it is like to not eat for almost 30 hours and having legal drugs in your system. No wonder you have nausa. Again thanks to everyone for all your advice, help and prayers. I will let you know how my surgery went.

Well, at my appointment on Monday, the lady who files insurance said that it would be Friday (today) before transcription was back and my file could be submitted to insurance for approval. She told me that UHC is usually pretty quick, anywhere from 10 minutes to three days. I was hoping to find out something next week. Well, guess what?!? I got a call today (same day paperwork was submitted) at around 1, and I'm approved! My surgery will be July 7, and I couldn't be more excited!!!:thumbup:

Okay so I’m pretty sure everyone has a stall between weeks 2-4. Mine happened at 12 days post surgery and lasted almost 3 weeks. So here’s how it went: I lost 22 pounds in the first 12 days, then I lost 1.8 pounds over the next 20 days. There were a couple of times in that 20 days where I gained a 0.5-1 pound, then lose it, then regain. After week 5, I started losing again at the rate of 2.5 pounds/week average and 10 days ago I hit my 3 month stall (I was sleeved on 2-6-19). This time I’ve put the scale away and refuse to step on it for at least another week or two. Oh and during these last 10 days when I’ve lost zero weight I’ve managed to fit into a pair of pants that were really tight on me at the end of April so I’m not panicking. The weight will continue to fall off and the scale will continue to move down accordingly

I am a teacher and when I start back to school in the fall I will be only a month out from surgery. I have read on this list how long it takes to eat a small meal. At the most I have 20 minutes to eat lunch and on days I have lunch duty ... I have 10 minutes. Anyone in the same position and have found a way to deal with this? Are there foods that can go down faster than others? What are some ideas of foods I can take for lunch? Khy

I'm 5 weeks from 10/23--I rely on cheese sticks, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, yogurt, eggs, and beans. There is a GREAT hot chocolate protein drink that you mix w 8 oz warm water-purchase from Nashua Nutrition online. Has 15g protein and is wonderful! Tastes just like reg hot chocolate! The warmth is soothing and filling as well.

I have my surgery on April 10. I have been nervous since weird little aches and pains. I have been second-guessing myself a lot. However reading all of these post really brings inspiration. I am thankful to have sites like these to help support me. Good luck to all the fellow sleepers out there! We can do this!

I wonder this same thing. I'm 9 mths out, 10 lbs from goal and can eat more (more often, not more volume tho) so I wonder if I'm stretching my stomach. My dr told me that since they take out the stretchy "fundus" of the stomach, u hafta work really hard to stretch it out. Then I've read other peoples drs say the opposite, that it's not that hard. I also listen to my body, never measuring or weighing anything. I get full very fast (usually less than 10 small bites) = 1 egg, 1 pc of bacon or 5 bites of chicken, 1/3 of an aritchoke, 2 Tb of rice. But I've been getting hungry withint a couple hrs. usually 1/2 carton or yogurt or 12 almonds helps but I don't think I should be eating every 2 hrs. If I don't eat something at 9pm, I'm awake at 2 am scrounging thru the frig for something to eat. So I usually have 1/2 PB and banana sandwich at bedtime. I'd like to see some answers to this also. I know what most people will say:measure out ur food and only eat that amt. I guess that would ensure stretching. So does ur stomach stretch naturally over time, do u stretch it out by eating too much or is it really hard to stretch it (as my dr told me)???

I am 10 days post op and have lost 1lb. Full liquid about 500 calories a day Elaine

You guys, listen, you just got banded... 2.5 weeks post op... or 4 weeks post op.... calm down.. your body is still healing and you're not going to lose much and you might even plateau for a few weeks. Dont' automatically start blaming the band and saying "i paid this much and it better work".. give it a few months... give your body time to heal. A lot of people will lose a lot on those dumb liquid diets pre-band, and then gain some or not lose anymore when they actually start eating food.. don't become anorexic over it or panic over it. I didn't get good restriction until my third fill. I still lost weight, but I was doing the south beach diet before I got good restriction. The best advice I can give is to go get those fills as soon as you can. Don't wait. My doctor told me every 3-4 weeks and you better believe I was there by the 3rd week. Now I have perfect restriction and have even cancelled my last two fills because I didn't need them. I'm consistently dropping 8-10 lbs a month, which is a good amount to lose. Remember, we didn't get the bypass here.. we got the band. If you are losing 1-2 lbs a week you are doing awesome. But even plateaus are good because it tells your body you've accepted the weight loss.

9 1/2 to 10 (preferably wide, but could squeeze into some regulars) before, I'm down 55~60 lbs, and I can wear most 8 1/2's. I still get some wides, but many aren't. The shoes that I wore for my sister's wedding a week ago were 8 regs.

I am new to this site and was reading through posts and I just wanted to offer a little advise to the people that are recovering from surgery. Please do not spend too much time sitting in recliner chairs, especially if you are not getting up every hour and walking around. My husband had a simple surgery on his dislocated ankle. He was not told that he should not sit in his recliner chair, and ended up developing deep vein thrombosis (a blood clot) which went to his lungs and killed him. He was only 37 years old, and otherwise, very healthy and physically fit. It wasn't until after everything happened that the doctor in the ER said "was he sitting in a recliner chair?" Everything happened in a matter of 15 minutes...he went from being out of breath (I called 911 right away) and he went into cardiac arrest int he ambulance on the way to the hospital. they could not revive him (we also only live 10 minutes from the hospital). I don't want to scare anyone, I just want to STRESS that it is VERY IMPORTANT to walk around every hour, and not sit in recliner for large part of the day. (ALso, just a quick note, my husband was up and about all day, with a brace on his ankle...it was only a few hours in the evening when he would sit in the recliner chair with his legs up).

It might not be the protein shakes at all, but rather just after-effects of surgery. I had pretty bad gas for 2-3 weeks and it looks like you're just 10 days post-op so could be post-surgery. which does go away - thankfully. Good luck.

So today was post op day 6 for me. I was mashing up some avocado for my 10 month old son and I had some. The all liquids have been rough. But i regret it so much and will not cheat at all anymore. But I am having anxiety that my band will slip. I am so disappointed in myself. What a failure already! I will make this work, and never cheat again. I feel full. But my chest is sore. But it could be from my hiatal hernia repair. Any hopeful words? I am self pay and do not want my band to slip!!

Being cold is something I read that is very common post op. I don't know if it is because we are losing all of our insulation or what. The best thing I have found so far are fleece leggings from WalMart. They are under $10 a pair and fit under all of my pants. They definitely make a huge difference.

Take away 1 shake and add more veggies. Drink water water water and do HITT cardio 3 out of the 5 days. If you don't have a gym membership then walk for 3 min and run as fast as you can for 10 seconds. Do this in intervals for 30 min. Do this for 1 week and I bet the scale moves [emoji6] Sent from my SM-G935V using BariatricPal mobile app

@Cynisca, thank you for your honest opinion. I have always been a person that dots all my i's and cross my t's. I obtained one of the best bariatric surgeons in the state. He did an endoscopy and a barium test on me. The test came back and showed what I knew in my heart all along, there was way too much stomach left. So this doctor was not only rude, he failed to do my surgery correctly. Even though I feel this is an open and shut case of malpractice, all I want is my surgery done over and for my insurance company and the big group of doctors he works with to know what he did. My insurance plan did not cover revision surgery, but through God's grace, they approved me for revision. Now I'm in talks with the hospital. I told them I shouldn't have to pay another penny out of pocket for something one of their doctors didn't do right. The doctor I'm with now recently became apart of this group of doctors with my old surgeon. I prayed about it and asked him could he be fair with me and truthful about what his colleague did or didn't do. So far I have been very pleased with him. My revision surgery is January 21, 2019.

Surgery 4/10/18 HW: 295 CW: 252 Slow start out of the gate. Surgery was complicated by adhesions from band and I was overmedicated recovery unit. Been on solid foods for a few weeks. I have to be careful with bread, but I don't eat a lot of it anyway. I do OK on my plan, but have had a few episodes of uncomfortable slime/foamies. Sometimes I can figure out the cause, sometimes I can't. Discovered last week that traveling can be a challenge, but I do the best I can. My weight loss is going much slower than I'd like. I'm told that it's because of my previous bariatric surgery/lap band. Guess the body has "been there/done that" kind of attitude. Happy I'm losing inches. Am down 2 pant sizes. Glad my energy is back. Started off on MD Patches, but developed sensitivity to the adhesive. Don't like the chalky chewables and the soft-chews are kind of expensive. I can take small pills, but the larger vitamin size caplets can be uncomfortable. Currently taking SF gummy supplements, which seem to work and I consider them my treat for the day. My skin is looking great. Not much hair loss. I notice a little extra in my brush, otherwise I seem to have that in check.

I had the same experience pre-op. I could eat MASSIVE amounts of food in one sitting. Like an entire large pizza by myself. Then pint of Ben & Jerry's right after. Now the idea makes me laugh! I'm 19 months post-op and I can eat ONE slice of pizza and the toppings (cheese and meat) off of one or two more slices at best. Definitely no ice cream after! And even when I try to eat ice cream on it's own I'd be impressed to get down half a pint! And definitely eating crap makes you want to work out less. It weighs you down instead of fueling your body. I find that the more I work out, the BETTER I want to eat and the better I eat, the more I want to work out. So it's a nice little cycle to get into. Edit: Oh and that one piece of pizza I can eat now is from a thin crust medium pizza, not a thick crust large! I can definitely put away an entire pizza and usually some breadsticks. Since I can eat an entire pizza, I usually order one. If I'm only able to eat a slice, I would only order a slice. I quit eating pizza but that is just an example.