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15 is not very many at all. I'd also ask him why he has moved from state-to-state, that is unusual for a barriatric surgeon. I'd also inquire as to how many medical malpractice cases he has had against him. (Generally that is why doctors/surgeons tend to move around alot.) I know he has been in 3 states in less than 10 years. I would DEFINITELY do a lot of research before making your final decision.

I had my VSG surgery on 1/27/10 with Ms. Mini-Me, and I can only resonate what she said....Dr. Umbach was AWESOME! But, everyone needs to do their own research and find a surgeon that they themselves feel comfortable with. Dr. Umbach had 4 surgeries that day -- 3 VSG and 1 band. And, he has a ton of experience with gastric bypass and the deodondal switch, which are far more complicated, and which sometimes require similar procedures as VSG as prerequistes for the final bypass. I do not regret my decision to have Dr. Umbach do my surgery. He did nothing but make us feel comfortable, and took time to share with us the risks.

My doc gives us Protonix for six months for acid. SD: 10/10/12, Converted from Lapband to RNY, HW (before band) 263, HW (RNY) 230, Preop 219, after surgery 223, current 201

Anyone ever made the analogy before? Newly banded here (March 6th, 2007) lost 19 pounds in the last 2 weeks... more to go of course but doing fairly well on the liquid stage. It kind of reminded me about how Alex felt sick when he was tempted to "sin"! Some sort of external restriction on a natural or unnatural, distorted habit! Well at least no one can force me to lick his shoes unless he keeps hammering my port over and over LOL and as far as that girl is concerned I don't need a band to keep me away from her...that's my wife's job!!!

<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on" width="100%"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">Hello. I was banded 4/19/07 and so far have been doing good. I went to the doctor about 7/7/07 with constant pain that I could feel a little bit above the long port incision where the port is located...It hurt worse when I walked moved or anything. So, he pushed on my port (about cried) and said to take Aleeve in the morning and one at night and if the pain was still happening to come back because port COULD be flipping. So it went away and about 2 1/2 weeks ago it started again, especally after I eat, I get a constant sharp pain around the port area that lasts for hours...does anyone know what could be causing this? My doc is off work and I have to wait until Wednesday, but kind of worried. I shouldnt have let it gone on this long, but dont want to hear bad news. :help: Any suggestions or shared experiances are greatly appreciated! </TD></TR><TR UNSELECTABLE="on" hb_tag="1"><TD style="FONT-SIZE: 1pt" height=1 UNSELECTABLE="on"> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

I have tried multiple things concerning fills. Even 1/10 of a cc sometimes is enough for me. This last fill I recieved 1/2cc, but this morning I can already tell it's too much. I will have to call and get at least 1/2 taken out.This gets expensive since I am cash pay.

Today I called my dr because 2 of my inscisions were red and pus-y. He put me on liquid augmentin...It makes me very nauseous. :omg: I remembered the suppositries I got just out of the hospital for nausea...I feel much better now. I feel very hungry today probaby because of PMS... oh goodie.

Your basal metabolic rate, or BMR, is the minimum calorific requirement needed to sustain life in a resting individual. It can be looked at as being the amount of energy (measured in calories) expended by the body to remain in bed asleep all day! BMR can be responsible for burning up to 70% of the total calories expended, but this figure varies due to different factors (see below). Calories are burned by bodily processes such as respiration, the pumping of blood around the body and maintenance of body temperature. Obviously the body will burn more calories on top of those burned due to BMR. BMR is the largest factor in determining overall metabolic rate and how many calories you need to maintain, lose or gain weight. BMR is determined by a combination of genetic and environmental factors, as follows: Genetics. Some people are born with faster metabolisms; some with slower metabolisms. Gender. Men have a greater muscle mass and a lower body fat percentage. This means they have a higher basal metabolic rate. Age. BMR reduces with age. After 20 years, it drops about 2 per cent, per decade. Weight. The heavier your weight, the higher your BMR. Example: the metabolic rate of obese women is 25 percent higher than the metabolic rate of thin women. Body Surface Area. This is a reflection of your height and weight. The greater your Body Surface Area factor, the higher your BMR. Tall, thin people have higher BMRs. If you compare a tall person with a short person of equal weight, then if they both follow a diet calorie-controlled to maintain the weight of the taller person, the shorter person may gain up to 15 pounds in a year. Body Fat Percentage. The lower your body fat percentage, the higher your BMR. The lower body fat percentage in the male body is one reason why men generally have a 10-15% faster BMR than women. Diet. Starvation or serious abrupt calorie-reduction can dramatically reduce BMR by up to 30 percent.Restrictive low-calorie weight loss diets may cause your BMR to drop as much as 20%. Body Temperature/Health. For every increase of 0.5C in internal temperature of the body, the BMR increases by about 7 percent. The chemical reactions in the body actually occur more quickly at higher temperatures. So a patient with a fever of 42C (about 4C above normal) would have an increase of about 50 percent in BMR. External temperature. Temperature outside the body also affects basal metabolic rate. Exposure to cold temperature causes an increase in the BMR, so as to create the extra heat needed to maintain the body's internal temperature. A short exposure to hot temperature has little effect on the body's metabolism as it is compensated mainly by increased heat loss. But prolonged exposure to heat can raise BMR. Glands. Thyroxin (produced by the thyroid gland) is a key BMR-regulator which speeds up the metabolic activity of the body. The more thyroxin produced, the higher the BMR. If too much thyroxin is produced (a condition known as thyrotoxicosis) BMR can actually double. If too little thyroxin is produced (myxoedema) BMR may shrink to 30-40 percent of normal. Like thyroxin, adrenaline also increases the BMR but to a lesser extent. Exercise. Physical exercise not only influences body weight by burning calories, it also helps raise your BMR by building extra lean tissue. (Lean tissue is more metabolically demanding than fat tissue.) So you burn more calories even when sleeping. Hopefully you can find something useful in all this information.

Thank you all for your well wishes! I am staying up a little while longer so I can take my pain meds before going to bed. I am walking like a little old lady, but hey... I made me a walking path thru the house (10 mini laps) to use every hour. In the morning, I plan on walking to the end of the cul de sac and back (5 houses down and back).

I had one of these for dinner last night, it was GREAT!:hungry: They come four to a box, in the frozen section. I thawed one out in the microwave, then cooked it in a non-stick skillet. Took less then 10 minutes total. I toasted a wheat english-muffin and used that for a bun, with a little light mayo and ginger spread(also from TJs). It was sooooo good, and a lot more juicy then I would have thought. It had a hint of citrus, and some heat but not a lot. The nutritional info - each patty has 110 calories, 30 of them from fat. It has 3g fat, 1 of those is sat fat, no trans fat. 55mg of Cholesterol, 270mg of sodium. Total carbs of 4g, 1g of Fiber. And 15g of Protein. I don't have the ingredients here with me, but TJs is usually pretty good on what it puts in things.

congrats mandyjo, take 10 - relax & enjoy your success! your probably overwhelmed!!!!

One of my very favorites was split pea soup that I thinned with a bit of Fairlife nonfat milk and ran through the Magic Bullet to make sure it was really smooth. This was about 10 days out from RNY. Not sure if it's different for sleevers.

I only lost 15 my first month. I am 6 months out and have lost 85 total although 10 of it is after a revision last week as an emergency. I had a perforated ulcer which is rare. Do you still work with a nutritionist? If not I highly recommend it. Mine has been awesome! Especially when I had stalls and felt really down like you. They kept telling me that my body has had significant trauma from surgery and is trying to figure out what the heck just happened. I agree with a comment above about it being a marathon. I thought I was losing slow but to see my total weight loss after 6 months I feel better. Maybe put your scale away and weigh in once a month. Also track your NSV’s. I had 6 weeks of no weight loss but I went down a whole pant size!

Well I am still breathing. and sounding like a black bear saluting the morning sun with my burps that go from a low grumble to a cresendo of a growl... guess it is better than the other end. Had to do std paper work today and was out almost 10 hrs, boy am I beat!!! now I feel like a flatten snake in an ant trail..... all be it a gassy one,

Newbie here, Hi you all. I've had 10 years of pretty much no problems with my band. Had it done in Sweden in 1996. Then I had an over fill 6 months ago and due to waiting to long to have some taken out, I got into some reflux and bulging esophagus. I went in and the doctor completly did an unfill so I could heal. In less than 3 hrs. the pain around my band was really awful. Like laying on the bed and rolling around awful. I called the doctors office and they had never heard of this happening. (I had experinced some pain just like this only much, very much milder do to dehidration a few times on vaction.) So I tried drinking water, tried warm broth ect. Has anybody gone through this? What can be done for the pain? This lasted for the rest of the day and a few hour long strectches for the next two days. O.K. so I get through this and start my fills again and wammo to tight again. I go through the exact same thing another complet unfill, awfull pain etc. We now know where the magic number not to go to, and will go a lot slower this time. But just for sure, if I ever have to do this again, what can I do for that child bearing, gall stone, God awul pain? :help:

i have this post going on another site, but would like to know if any bandsters here want to contribute. question: does anyone have body image issues? i mean, i started out at 188 and a really tight 14 and a tight 16. i was banded on 6/29. i am 5'3. now some may think 188 is not that bad, but it is when nothing you do to lose weight works and you actually gain! so, i was banded. now, i am about 150, my goal weight was 140-145. now i am in an 8/10 very comfortably. tight clothes are gone. the scale is down, other people comment on my weight loss, but when i look in the mirror, i see the same 188 image.my husband says i clearly don't see myself how others see me and that i have issues. he is afraid that when i get to my goal i will be dissatisfied and get on the pursuit to lose more.

Okay, I had this done on 7/10/06 so not that long ago. I didn't use any pain medicine. I didn't have any shoulder pain, but my port area was sore. I was up walking as soon as I got to my room and walked every hour. I had no nausea and they wrote me scripts for loritab and that phergran or however you spell it but hadn't had to use it. As I've said before, by day 4 I was doing everything I had ever done and day 10 we went riding 4 wheelers all day long with friends and when we ride we ride horrible trails that are steep and hilly and usually dangerous. My doctor gave me 2 valiums to take one day before surgery and one morning of surgery because I was nervous but If I had known then how easy and simple it was I would not have wasted my time being scared, so don't worry, everything will be fine. I lost about 30 pounds the first month or 6 weeks or so, and now I've lost real close to 40 pounds and it's been 2 months. My incisions healed up wonderfully and I just so far haven't had any problems. Good luck and we'll be praying for you and thinking about you as you have this done. Keep us informed on how your doing.

I was banded Dec. 14th and had my 1st fill on 01/05/10.(3cc) I was more hungry after the 1st fill then the surgery. I called the Dr. and went in yesterday. He put in 2 more cc's. It made all the difference in the world. I am not hungry at all.

It's not after swallowing and it's only for about 10 minutes

I am about 10 months out, I am very close to my goal weight, and I am so happy with the way that I look, but my health is diminishing, and I'm only 20 years old. I am to blame, I never really took Protein shakes or Vitamins, I couldn't stomach them at all. About 2 months ago, I started feeling very dizzy and it elevated to fainting, a lot, and everywhere, I ignored it at first, then i got a stomach bug, and I was away from my country for a month, and no doctor could help me, so I was very dehydrated, which increased my fainting spells. Came back home, kept fainting, hair started falling, started getting chest pains and insane palpitations, eventually I went to the doctor, turns out I am hypoglycaemic and anaemic, and low potassium, low Vitamin D, it doesn't sound that bad, but I have no energy at all, I can never get myself to work out because of how low my energy is and I feel so angry because I can't do anything about it, doctors told me to eat more potassium rich foods and get some sugar intake, but I CAN'T! I cannot stomach any sweets. I also feel like I can't eat as much as most people can at 10 months out, I really don't know if I'm eating too little or too much, but compared to people 10 months out, i can't eat much at all some days pass by and i completely forget to eat, and I've had to stop in the middle of the road several times because I felt like I was about to pass out behind the wheel. I started taking Iron supplements, multi-vitamins, vitamins for hair, and I'm trying to hard to get some sugar in my system and remember to eat, but I'm scared of adding Vitamin D supplements, scared it'll be too many vitamins, and scared of adding Protein Shakes, because i'm scared the taste would make me throw up, or cause serious constipation, more than I already am, which i hate so much. So please help and give me tips or share your experience with me.

Could someone please give me an idea of how much they ate (drank) at each meal post op on the liquid phase. I know what to have but not sure of the amounts. I dont realyy feel like I have any restriction but everything pretty much hurts going down. I have half a protein shake for breakfast which I add ice to and blend which fluffs up to 1 cup. I can get this down in about 10 minutes - is this too much too fast?

I was banded last week, 10/23/07, by Dr McKeen at Good Samaritan in San Jose. I was very well cared for by every member of the staff that I met. They do a lot of these surgeries and are very supportive and skilled. I really can't say enough good things about everyone from the admitting clerk to the anesthesiologist and the pre-op/recovery nurses. Good Sam was selected as a bariatric "center of excellence" by Blue Cross, whcih had a lot to do with my decision to have surgery there. But after I started looking into my choices, I became really encouraged by all the extras they offer for ongoing support (free support groups, classes, forums, etc.) Good luck!

What is it like to go into hospitals right now? Is it safe to go to the hospital during COVID-19 pandemic?

Yes. Plain water made me sick for the first week to 10 days. Flavored water was OK. It has since gotten better and I can drink plain water again. No explanation why, but it is not uncommon to have issues with water.

I had gastric bypass surgery on 8/10 and am the maid of honor in a wedding in mid October. How many dress sizes would you say to go down so my dress isn’t crazy large?! I’ve lost 13 pounds is less than a week too.