A place for bandsters in their 60's

[pherndon 0]

Hi I am 68 years old , I had my band the 19 of Dec. 06. I have lost 50 #. I am having a hard time now. I had to have an unfill a few weeks ago and I am fighting head hunger. I have gained 5 #. I had to pay for my surgery because there wasn't an accreated hospital in Ks. So I feel double guilty. I hope something helps me soon.

[claramae 0]

Hello Foxy Grandma and you over "60" friends. I am a little "scared" of the liquid part after banding. I have always been so hungry. Even getting ready for a colonoscopy and being on a liquid diet for ONE DAY was so hard. Any encouraging words. Do you just "tough it out" or do you actually get a little less hungry after awhile?

The first 3 days on the liquid diet are the hardest. After that, it gets easier. I had a hard time of it, but I decided that it was mind over matter. I knew this was something that I had to do in order to get ready for surgery. You can do it. Hang in there!!!!

[sharon160 0]

Thanks FoxyGramma, I take meloxicam and it is a little teeny tiny pill, much smaller than the Celebrex, I used to take, so I think taking it with a full glass of Water would slide that little puppy right on thru the band.

At least I won't be without anything for pain relief.

[mduvall123 0]

I haven't yet met with the dietician, so I will find out more information then....about clear or creamy Soups or whatever. It's strange how some doctors are so strict and others not so much.

[claramae 0]

I take Celebrex. My doctor said I didn't need to stop taking it. In fact, he gave me a lot of samples and saved me a bunch of money.

He just said to be sure to take it with a lot of Water so it didn't sit in the pouch. I take it in the morning with a huge glass of water, then I have Breakfast so that it's not on an empty stomach.

I take celebrex for my arthuritis. I stopped taking it because of fear that I could not swallow it. And also, I thought that if I lost weight, my joints would be better. Well, I have lost 28 pounds and they are not any better and the lack of celebrex, I am paying dearly with the pain. so, I started taking celebrex 2 days ago. They go down real easy. Perhaps when I loose 100 pounds, I can give up the celebrex. What was I thinking????

[phyllser 3]

I'm 65 and just starting the journey. The clinic in my local area does not accept medicare patients, but I think I have found one 400 miles away that does. I'll know more next week. They say there is no waiting list for medicare patients. My brother lives in that town, so I could go stay with him right after surgery.

My biggest fear is arthritis and not being able to take my NSAID that keeps me pain free most of the day. What has been your experience with arthritis pain?

Sharon

I'm not taking anything for my arthritis right now, but have no trouble swallowing all my meds/vitamins in the morning and i take a great big fish oil capsule. I start with warm coffee, proceed from there a few at a time. No problems so far.

[make33 2]

Hey everyone! Phyllser, I'm so glad you talked about how to take meds because it IS one thing I've wondered about--other than being able to take chewables, but I'm not so sure the NSAIDS is available in chewables...

I got my date today, everyone--October 9th!!! I'm 60 and have been working toward this goal since March (my insurance requires 6 months of nutritionist's visits) I am SO nervous and excited all at the same time!

Is it rougher on people our age, recouperating, than the younger ones? Anyone know?

[phyllser 3]

I got my date today, everyone--October 9th!!! I'm 60 and have been working toward this goal since March (my insurance requires 6 months of nutritionist's visits) I am SO nervous and excited all at the same time!

Is it rougher on people our age, recouperating, than the younger ones? Anyone know?

Don't be nervous. It's a simple surgery. You'll be back to normal in no time! The food stuff is the hardest adjustment... first the liquids, then the mushies & then gradually to normal food, but small amounts. It just takes time to get used to it all. You'll do great!

:clap2::clap2:

[FoxyGramma 0]

I have to say that since my 4th fill, I can't take pills nearly as easy as I could before. Right now I just take the most important ones.

I can't take my Calcium, they are too huge. I chew the chocolate

calcium instead. I can't take my Flaxseed Oil capsules either.

I used to take 9 pills or supplements every morning. I can't anymore. I have trouble at night too, getting the evening ones down. It's worth it though. I feel full all the time.

I need to drink Water, but sometimes I even feel too full, but I force myself. It's nice to see the scale going down again.

[gmccon 0]

Is it rougher on people our age, recouperating, than the younger ones? Anyone know?

i'm 60. i was banded Sept 6. this is as good as i've felt in several years.

the surgery was the worst day of my life. trying to figure out how i got myself into the ugly mess i found myself in. but 12 hours after surgery, most of the pain was gone. i went back to work 4 days later.

i go to the gym every day. i sweat out 700 calories or so on the elliptical trainer, and do some light free-weights. every day. if you're gonna change your body, you absolutely have to exercise. they say without it, you'll only lose half of your excessive weight.

i'm very hungry a lot of the time, but i guess it'll get easier when i get my first fill. doc says the fills are the whole secret to success. he's done 3,500 WL surgeries, including 600 bands, and he's very casual about the whole thing. the band is not major surgery. most folks i know went home in 5 hours.

60 means nothing.

God Bless You, and all the rest of us.

greg

[CAROL99 0]

<p>Hello all mature youngsters,</p> <p>I am going for a consult at a local hospital on Oct. 19....the dr. is a regular surgeon.....but the hospital is approved by Medicare....so I guess I'll start there.</p> <p> </p> <p>I am 58 years young, disabled since I was 45.</p> <p>I did a 'REAL AGE' questionaire and they said I was 76...so I will hang with you if thats ok..?</p> <p> </p> <p>I am about 300#....5'6&. I go to the hospital gym about 8 days a MONTH!!! What a slacker I am!! I was thinking all along how good I was doing by going to the gym until last week when I requested a history printout to take with me to my consult.....I have been walking on a treadmill since june of 06...averaged to 8 days a month!! That is not acceptable....I must try harder!</p> <p> </p> <p>I had back surgery in 1995 on disc L3,L4,L5 and S1.. waist to end of back. Doc put a non-removable screw through L5 and into the L4 NERVE that runs the inside of the right leg!!</p> <p>The bozo! I had to goto another hospital to find out this fact. Ok, from this consant neverending pain my body gave me Fibromyalgia to take my mind off of my back.</p> <p>Now I hurt from head to toe!!! NUTZ!</p> <p> </p> <p>I believe I went on a pitty party for many years...I have no vices other than eating so I ate and I ate and I ate. POOR ME@</p> <p> </p> <p>That would be the update of my last 12 years.</p> <p> </p> <p>I would like to take this time to tell GayleTX that I copied her tale and it is an inspiration to me. Thank YOU!!!</p> <p> </p> <p>I would love to be able to just get out of my chair without thinking a forklift would be nice.</p> <p> </p> <p>I saw my gp on Sept. 7...after trying Thyroid Meds.(not fat from thyroid problem), and being diagnosed with sleep Apnea (which I cannot get a CPAP from Medicare because the in hospital sleep test was horrendous and I only 'slept' for two hours....but an in home apnea test proved I have apnea but no medical supply I went to would submit my dr. perscription to Medicare because Medicare needs 5+apnea events to qualify in the HOSPITAL setting_)....I'm sick of trying to get a CPAP and asked the gp if I should try LapBand.....absolutely she said....I rambled a while longer giving her a chance to change her mind but when I ended my ramble and asked again if she thought I should try a LapBand she responded, absolutely....</p> <p> </p> <p>I try not to go to dr. since my back screw up but of course it's inevitable. Her nurse got the appt before I left their office!!! Since then I've been reading everything I can find on the procedure. I really like this site but find it's very confusing trying to find my way back to certain areas of interest such as this thread...took me all morning....and a nap to refresh me before I found you again....Is there some easy way of getting here?</p> <p> </p> <p>Ok enough rambling.....sorry.</p> <p>Carol<img src="http://www.LapBandTalk.com/images/smilies/kiss2.gif" border="0" alt="" ti

[Ilene62 0]

Don't give up on the surgery because of your arthritis. The surgery will help you lose weight which will relieve your arthritis. There are a lot of meds you can take for pain that are okay after lap band. I take tylenol. It's not great, but it helps. And it comes in liquid form, but I just cut tablets in two and take with Water. No problem. Actually, there are many medications that come in liquid or chewable form. Ask your surgeon about what arthritis meds are okay and then discuss them with your arthritis doctor. Many people on NSAIDS have had lap band. There is definitely a solution to your problem.

[Topdownbug 0]

Hi Everyone! I'm so glad I found this thread. I mean I like 30 year olds and all.. but their issues are quite different. I'll be 58 on the 21st of October and I'm having my surgery on the 16th. My daughter told me today (when I told her about my surgery) that they were planning a nice dinner party for me on my birthday and we agreed to wait for a few weeks when I can actually eat 'something'.

I'm also very excited and looking forward to having the next 30 years of my life be much more enjoyable when I've lost about half of me! I live in Ohio - so anyone else in this age group from Ohio .. would be fun to keep in touch!

Good luck to all of us!

Judy

[phyllser 3]

I really like this site but find it's very confusing trying to find my way back to certain areas of interest such as this thread...took me all morning....and a nap to refresh me before I found you again....Is there some easy way of getting here?

Welcome to this thread. I will try to help you find it again more easily:

Across the top of this thread you'll see some headings, one of which is "Thread Tools". If you click on that, you'll see an option that says "Subscribe to This Thread". Click on that and in the future, you should get an email whenever there is a new post on that thread. Some say they don't always get the emails, so I'm not sure exactly how that works, but even if you don't get the emails, once you are subscribed to a thread, you can go to the home page and click on "Quick Links" and then go to "Subscribed Threads" for the list of the threads you've subscribed to.

I am Medicare, on disability, also. I had a difficult time finding a doctor and facility who were "Center of Excellence" and who would take me without a lengthy waiting list. I had my first consult in early May and my surgery July 20th.

[CAROL99 0]

thank you for directions!

what did you have to do to get your surgery date?

Carol