Dr. Gerald Kirshenbaum - Hey Dr. Kirshenbaum samurais

[Cassy 0]

Hi-ya! I just wanted to check in and see how my fellow bandsters are doing. Where did everyone go? We are not nearly as chatty as Dr.K's other thread.

I'm here, whats up lady?

[Cassy 0]

Hey guys I'm back. I'm about 10 days post op and feeling good. I have a question for you. According to my dietary guidelines that Paula gave me it had me on a liquide diet day 2-14 but able to start to transition to soft food during week two. Well I did transition into soft food on day 7. I feel great. It made me start to feel like I was healing. My question is with most people telling me this is a really fast transition to soft food I am a little worried that I read this wrong.

What was your experience? Also I have my first fill in a couple of weeks. How did that go for you? I know every doctor is different. That is why I wanted to ask you about this.

Thanks for your support. I know I am an October baby....but I kind of think of you guys as older (and wiser) sisters.

Julie Ann, everyone is different. I was not able to go through the stages at all. I went straight from liquids up to day 3 to being ravenous and wanting to chew something on day 4 and 5 to eating mushy foods on 6 and just about every day eating something more solid. By day 10 I was eating like a horse with no restriction. Even after my first fill of 1.5 I had no restriction. I just got another fill of 1.5 and the doctor was shocked that i could chug an entire bottle of Water in 30 seconds without any issue. I have a little restriction now but I think I need more...so listen to your body and take it slow but if you are feeling hungry then things are passing through your band really fast. One thing I just learned from another lap band doc is that we should eat more Protein than Paula suggested. My new doc has several very successful band patients (100+ pounds) and he has them eating between 1/2 gram per pound or body weight in Protein daily to 1 gram. ...I've just started adding more protein to make it up to that number and I started losing again so there must be something to it.

[9pdmnm5 0]

Hey, Cass! How are you doing w/the new fill doc? I am extremely frustrated! I'm in need of a fill. Thought the Drs here would see me b/c I am a pt of record of both...yeah right! They wanted to charge me $300 for fluoro, $300 for the fill and $200 to read my surgical and post-op reports. For a grand total of...yup $800. Are they nutz? I think they didn't want to take me on as a pt. so they were covering their a$$es.:thumbup: Anyway, Dr.K's first available fill appt. was 12/30. So here I sit, 10g's later w/out being able to be filled. Grrr...frustrating!

[mdargen 0]

It has been awhile since I have been on the board. Life has gotten crazy. I am down a little over 40 pounds since surgery on the 24th.

I have been getting fills done in Olympia, WA. It is about a 2 hour drive from Portland. The fills are 375 (150 if you have to go back for a tweak). I have had 3 fills and no real restriction. I am going up again on Jan. 7th for my 4th fill. I am going to tell them to fill me up with a garden hose!

I am really tired of not feeling restriction. I don't eat as much as I did before the surgery but I want what I paid for, ya know. Sometimes my willpower just isn't there and I eat more than 1 cup of food at a sitting.

How is everyone doing on their Protein shakes? Don't you wish there was a Protein pill?!? LOL

Hope all my Dr. K samurai's are doing well!!:shades_smile::thumbup::confused::thumbup:

[ambraberger 0]

I had my 2nd fill 12/4. 1.1 ml added to 3.5 for total of 4.6 mls. It hurts almost every time I eat. I'm trying to figure out if its what I'm eating, or if I'm eating too fast or what????? The scale was stuck, but moved today. Yay! I don't trust my cheap little crappy Walmart scale. Think its 5 lbs lighter then the dr's office, but at least if it moves, hopefully the dr's office scale will too. I go back for my 3rd fill Jan 6th. Don't know if I'll need any though. I had a 1st feeling of losing a chunk (15 lbs) but haven't felt different since. Wanting to notice changes, but its hard to tell. Kind of frustrating.

[work_in_progress 0]

I have a question about weight loss prior to surgery with Dr. Kirschenbaum. Can they document my weight now and make it possible for me to lose weight between now and my surgery in May, '09? I wish I didn't have to put it off til the summer but I'm a nursing student. Thanks for any replies :thumbup:

[julie.ann 1]

I would say you should document your weight. Keep track of it on here with a ticker if you want.

Can they make you lose weight? No. You can make yourself lose weight. It is just practicing eating like a bandster. I think the best thing you can do is keep track of what you eat. There are free sites like the dailyplate or sparkpeople.com. This is the best tool I have beside the band. Limit or give up starches. Little or no bread, Pasta, rice or potatoes and get plenty of Protein. That will help you feel less cravings as your blood sugar spikes and feel less hunger if you have enough protein.

I'm a nurse and I understand about needing to weight until you are out of school. It is great you have made the decision to take control of your life with this surgery. It is the best thing I have ever done for myself with the exception of marrying my husband and having our family. Good luck!

[Cassy 0]

Hey everyone,

I just noticed that I am not subscribed to this thread any more...WTF? Anyway, it makes me sad that you are all having some issues. I seem to be the exact opposite. I can't get to the point of restriction to save my life. I had it for about a week to ten days after my last fill and now I can eat like a cow again.

One thing I can say is the band does strange things. I am going back for my sixth fill this coming Wednesday and hoping that I can get back to restriction.

Has anyone developed dark circles under their eyes or noticed hair falling out? I think I'm not getting enough Protein or something... Let me know if you have any ideas.

Other than that, the only time I've really felt some of the things you all have mentioned was on Christmas. I ate a stuffed mushroom and didn't chew it in between talking and it got stuck and came right back up after about 5 seconds of excruciating pain. At that moment I thought of all of the times you've mentioned how bad it hurts. Geez

I hope things get better for everyone. Patience seems to be the key although not my strong suit at all.

...I have to make a shameful admittance. I just boxed up 150 pounds of sized 24/22/20 clothes to send to my mom and sister. That was 13 years of clothing from when I was in those sizes. Now I have exactly 5 shirts and 5 pants to wear and an otherwise empty closet. I have to admit that it felt good to shed those pounds.

Edited January 17, 2009 by Cassy
needed to correct something

[julie.ann 1]

I have heard others talk about losing hair. It seems to happen around month 3-4 for those I have talked to. I was just thinking about that this morning wondering if that will start for me soon.

Some have said no enough Protein, some have said too much, some have said too much change in your body all at one time. I don't know if anyone knows for sure.

I would encourage you to take your Vitamins, your Calcium and get good nutrition and wait for it to pass, or if you are really worried about it and it continues for quite a while call you doctor. I'm sure they have had that report a lot.

Good luck and congrats with your success so far!

[mdargen 0]

Hey Cassy ~ I think the hair thing is from losing so much weight so fast. It happened to me but it has stopped and my hair is growing back.

How far are you on the Couch to 5K? I have been doing this too. I never thought I would be able to run again!

[Fluffy_Gurl 3]

hello everyone!

i just found your thread and i hope you dont mind if i but in but i have some questions about dr k and i havent gotten any answers from any of the other threads i tried...im still fighting with my ins co it seems no one there really knows if they cover this surgery or not ...so i have been researching drk and have some questions if any of you dont mind.

1. what is the after care like? does he fix or whatever the complications if you have any or does he charge extra?

2. i noticed that a few of you have new docs...have you had a hard time finding someone to treat you because you had your surgery with out ins covereage? did your insurance cover things like pain meds or antibotics..things like that after the surgery? will ins cover if you have complications ?

3. after the first three months does he still take care of you if you are having complications or things arent going well? what does he charge..his site says he only charges 15 for fills?

well im sure i have more but these are a few things ive been worried about when thinking about self pay...i appreciate any help! thanks:biggrin:

[julie.ann 1]

hello everyone!

i just found your thread and i hope you dont mind if i but in but i have some questions about dr k and i havent gotten any answers from any of the other threads i tried...im still fighting with my ins co it seems no one there really knows if they cover this surgery or not ...so i have been researching drk and have some questions if any of you dont mind.

1. what is the after care like? does he fix or whatever the complications if you have any or does he charge extra?

2. i noticed that a few of you have new docs...have you had a hard time finding someone to treat you because you had your surgery with out ins covereage? did your insurance cover things like pain meds or antibotics..things like that after the surgery? will ins cover if you have complications ?

3. after the first three months does he still take care of you if you are having complications or things arent going well? what does he charge..his site says he only charges 15 for fills?

well im sure i have more but these are a few things ive been worried about when thinking about self pay...i appreciate any help! thanks:biggrin:

1. No his price does not cover any revisions that may need to be done, but hit rate of complications are EXTREMELY low as far as I know.

2. Dr. K is very nice and I have driven 14 hrs round trip for his fills because it cost just as much if not less than establishing with a different doctor.

3. I haven't had any problems. The first 3 months of fills are free and then they are just $15 each. I also like the way he does his fills. He doesn't put in a set amount he fills til you have restrictiction and then pulls back just a little so you aren't too tight. I think that is why I had restriction so quickly. A different doctor may have insisted on .5 or 1 cc each time.

I am so happy I found Dr. K. I wouldn't have been able to afford it otherwise.

[Cassy 0]

Hello,

I have to admit that I didn't get on the 5K thing right away. I was starting to get back to my walking in January and am working my way up to 3 x a week with that then I plan next week to start doing the work up to 5K in time for May. I have been letting the band do the work but I'm hitting a plateau and I know I have to get back to work again...ahh.. it was nice while it lasted.

Hey Cassy ~ I think the hair thing is from losing so much weight so fast. It happened to me but it has stopped and my hair is growing back.

How far are you on the Couch to 5K? I have been doing this too. I never thought I would be able to run again!