Brigham and Women/Faulker Hospital

[nomadem 1]

every once and a while I still get an ache or pain around the port area. Doesnt surprise me bc after all it is attached to your tissue there.

I was a bit worried people would bail bc of St Pats. My fill appt is the day before on Monday.

I saw we all go out afterward! We always have the need to talk more anyways.

[heidib 15]

I know it's a long way off, but is anyone planning on attending the next group meeting? If I have the dates right it should be on the 17th which is also St. Patrick's day. Just trying to make plans and if not many are going to go I might skip also. I'm getting kind of disheartened with this process at the moment.

I hope everyone is doing well

Hey Maybe I can go this time! Seeing how I'm haven't been into boston in awhile anyway. I'll see if I can get a sitter.

It's the 17th?

[notateechanow 7]

every once and a while I still get an ache or pain around the port area. Doesnt surprise me bc after all it is attached to your tissue there.

I was a bit worried people would bail bc of St Pats. My fill appt is the day before on Monday.

I saw we all go out afterward! We always have the need to talk more anyways.

I'm bringing a friend who had surgery at the Faulkner. She hasn't been to a meeting, so I'm excited to get her to join us......I'm up for going out after.

[Bostongurl 0]

I'm planning on going to the 3/17 meeting. Last month was my first one and I found it very helpful. Hope to see many of you there again.

Coral

[notateechanow 7]

Coral,

It was great to finally have someone who was banded before all of us to be part of the group. We'd love to have you talk more next time---maybe we'll try not to talk quite so much and give you a chance. It's great to have your experience and knowledge! Thanks for coming. Looking forward to seeing you again!

[Bostongurl 0]

Coral,

It was great to finally have someone who was banded before all of us to be part of the group. We'd love to have you talk more next time---maybe we'll try not to talk quite so much and give you a chance. It's great to have your experience and knowledge! Thanks for coming. Looking forward to seeing you again!

It was nice meeting you all as well, I tend to be a listener more than a talker, but I'll try to chime in more next time.

[msdollaz 0]

Thanks for the welcome messages! I am a little discouraged knowing I might have to wait until June to have be banded..but I too have a very flexible work schedule. So, maybe it can happen quicker.

A few more questions:

1) What pre-procedures are mandatory? I am meeting with the nutrionist on the same day as Dr. R. I know there is a psych meeting - is the upper GI for everyone? I know not everyone has to have the sleep study.

The reason I ask about the Upper GI is because I have acid reflux, according to my GI, brought on by my weight. It has just started in the last month. I read on the forums somewhere that you might not be a candidate if you have acid reflux - is this true?

I think I am an excellent candidate, but I'm not a dr. However, if Dr. R tells me I'm not a candidate I will fly to Mexico. I am getting banded! I don't have any other health problems. So, I'm hoping all will be fine!

[singingintherain 1]

Hi msdollarz!

I found that so many of my questions were answered w/o my even asking them when I went to the informational seminar. I won;t call it just a meeting because it was much more than that. Liberty was given to the attendees to direct their questions to the presenters: surgeon, nutritionist and someone in budget/finance dept. Tonight was the one at the Brigh, but Wed there is an info meeting at Beth Israel(pre register)which is really good. This lapbandtalk site has so many boards that you will find tons of info here as well as on those other boards.(I tend to huddle here)

If you have not gone to an informational seminar before your initial consult with the surgeon, I would encourage you to find one..you probably can find one this week or next at either Brigh, Tufts(poorly presented and very casual) or Beth Israel....most of the info is the same, but I found the Brigh to be the most informative and well presented.(and most well attended). You can always go to one of these and still have Dr Robinson do your procedure..you won't be obligated to sign anything with the other facilities.

It's worth it. Of course the Brigh's support is next week, on the 17th.

I was under the understanding that one had to have a BMI of 40 or higher, or at least 35 with 2-3 comorbidities caused by obesity. Perhaps someone else will comment on that for you.

Hope to see you next Tues. It will be my second time going.

Tomorrow I go for my sleep study in Medford. I will post about it on Wed if any pre Banders are interested in what happens in a sleep study. I never had one before. I guess that's it for today. Hope everyone is enjoying the snow. (I'm not).

singingintherain

[msdollaz 0]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I have been to the informational session and yes, many of the questions were answered. But, I still felt very unclear after leaving.

In terms of what the procedure actually entailed, I have a full understanding.

[singingintherain 1]

I also still have questions that get answered as I go along towards each apptmnt. The folks here are great to share their experiences and what they have gathered along the way. Hang in there...they'll get answered bit by bit!

[ibelieve 0]

I saw Dr R today for weigh in... he came in and looked at the weight on the chart "hmm, you're down over 10 lbs since I saw you one month ago, thats pretty good, thats real good..." then he got confused over that "did we already operate on you???" :biggrin: So he wants me to continue losing and said we could schedule 6 weeks out. Jennifer set me up for Wed May 6 at Brigham, but told me I could have a Faulkner procedure, but a week after... I said, NO, (I want to have my band in, and first fill and to be adjusted to that and any problems dealt with by the time I have my first Cape Cod vacation the first week of July).

I asked him why no one is doing sleeves around here, he said they cannot get Insurance approval, and the couple they've done were a hassle through out of state insurers. I have been looking into it around here, my insurer has a board that approves which bariatric surgeries to support, but it looks like they are extremely conservative here, but I have found that from all the recent literature it IS, and really should be, a valid surgery that should be offered with the suite of bariatric surgeries currently accepted... And here, BOSTON, the epicenter of all this medicine, is not as up to the minute as the rest of the U.S. Latin America, Europe, (i.e. world) apparently.

Oh well, Allergan lap-band it is, May 6th!

[singingintherain 1]

KUDOS! That day will be here before you even know it. Hey, wonderful weight loss. I still get so hungry(pre-band) and am still only at 8 lbs fo the 10 I have to lose ..another 31/2 weeks to go before I see the good dr R for my second appt and get a date. I hope I don;t gain more from being so ravenous at times.

May is just around the corner, when you come to think of it for an operation. Great space to get prepared and shop, get your vacation all planned out, etc.

Kudos all 'round, ibelieve.

[singingintherain 1]

Hi all!

It's almost 7 am and I just got in from my sleep study. The center had 6 rooms and I saw 3 other people there last night.

What a night! I had no idea they would be putting quarter sized gobs of putty in my hair to stick the wires and 'nodes' or what ever the sensor thingies are called. So Many wires! Remember Sputnik(if you do you are OLD like me)?!!! It reminded me of that when I glanced in the mirror. A big band around the chest drawn tightly and one around the waist. wires stuck behind ears, on chin on cheeks and temple . And to boot...before they stick them on, and apply the putty, they have to use a pumice like cream to exfoliate those areas.I hope I don't have bald spots; my tech excelled at that!

My tech was very professional(a male) and hospitable. The room was just like a hotel room(with bath) with a marshmallow Tempurpedic mattress. The intercom was open all night and of course...that blasted camera directly on the bed. I was shown a CPAP mask 'just in case' and tried it out.. HEY WAIT A MINUTE HERE...I JUST MENTIONED TO THE GOOD DR ROB THAT I SNORED A WEE BIT, NOT THAT I STOPPED BREATHING FROM SLEEP APNEA!

After watching a video of the night's procedure and getting roped up for sound I was wished 'sweet dreams' and literally was tucked in!!!

Now ya think with all that hospitality and warm fuzzies I'd sleep like a top. WRONG! Awake half the night feeling like a huge roast of beef wrapped up in string..constricted! Finally I got in about 3 hours of REM., woke at 4:45 and up at 5:30 to get the goop out of my hair:

Don't bother to go to the salon before, cause the hair is gonna need it big time afterward. One really needs to go home and start from scratch if getting ready for work. He came with a spray bottle of warm Water and soaked each of those gobs to soften the putty to get it out. It was like getting gum out of a kid's hair. Finally I said I'd just slap a scarf on my head and finish the job at home. I still have gobs which have now hardened back up.

But what a relief to get those wires and belts off.

The tech did tell me that the sleep doc would probably ask me to do another test with a CPAP mask on all night because I had a rather sleepless night. I declined. Believe me...leave the wires off and I will sleep like a baby. They really push the CPAP mask..before , during and after. I know it is a life saver to so many..the tech himself is a wearer.

So...here I am sipping coffee and getting ready to see what I can do with the gum in my hair.

Moral of the story? Never tell a surgeon that you snore a little bit!

singingintherain

[thinkingaboutit77 1]

Hey Singing, thanks for sharing your experience. I had my psych appt. and my upper GI on Monday and scheduled my sleep study for a couple of weeks. I do know what's entailed but man I don't know if I'll be able to sleep. I may have to show up with a couple glasses of wine in me. That might help out!

I'm not doing so good on the weight loss. I think I'm only down like 4 lbs and I need to step it up cuz I'm meeting Dr. Robinson in less than 2 weeks for my follow up. My gym membership is almost expiring, may need to join a new gym and get motivated. The warm weather this past weekend did help a little but then the damn snow showed it's face again!

Monday I had my upper gi and it was bad but not as horrible as I remember cuz the barium they use now is not as bad as it used to be, so I made it through with out throwing up..LOL

The worst part was the wait. My appt. was for 9:15 and with the snow I was only 10 minutes late, not bad considering it took me over an hour to get there, then they had me wait for over an hour and I finally said what is the problem, I have another appt. to go to, apparently 3 of us were all there for the same thing, all booked at 9:15 and were being squeezed in between inpatients. I thought I was sent to "OUTpatient" x-ray. Very Frustrating. They seemed so confused there. During my procedure, my tech up and left and I got a new one to finish, and not to mention the people that kept coming in and out, good thing I was covered! So I'm hoping for a may date too. Sigh.. the things we do to be skinny! :mad2:

[singingintherain 1]

I am glad it tastes a bit better now. I remember it tasting like chalk way back when. I am gonna try my durndest to keep it down because I will just have to drink it all over again if I 'lose it;.

My appointments are all on the same day too....were you at the Brig or Faulkner?

Well you are making progress steadily but surely.