Considering the lapband... looking for reassurance

[~*~*~Panda~*~*~ 0]

Hey there my name is Kristy im 26 and have BMI of 40.5%. i've always been over weight. My concern is that it won't work for me Even though the success to fail ratio is gnarly. I have a few questions like...... how bad does it suck not eating food for 2 weeks? and how often do bands slip??? most of my questions can be answered by my dr. im sure. I guess im just scared :redface: im having to finance 19,000 and am woried it won't work.

Side note is there anyway to change my username? lol

[greytz 4]

Having to finance a lot of money for this is a very difficult decision and takes some thought I am sure. I was banded on June 19-09 so I am at my 2 week point and have begun eating the mushies. I was at BMI 34 and it is difficult for the first couple of weeks. You have to really want to do this and make up your mind that it is something you are committed to. You must consider it a Lifelong Journey and consider your reasons carefully. No one can honestly answer the question for you but you alone. I had a rough couple of days at first because I got stomach flu right out of the hospital. Once I recovered from that I was fine. There have been a couple of times when it was difficult not to go to my favorite pass time "food" but I had to find things to take my mind off of it. I started to write. It helped. It is truly something I have absolutely made up my mind I want to do. I went to several seminars and read a lot before I made my decision. I thought about it for quite awhile and found a surgeon and staff that I really love. I am truly happy with my decision. I hope this helps some. Good Luck.

[bearbandit 0]

I was a self pay...Dont kid yourself thinking it will be easy...It takes a lot of hard work and smart eating decisions on your part. Such as turning down a piece of cake at a birthday party or not having a donut when someone brings in a dozen to work...once you do it a few times it gets easier. Exercise has to be part of your life. Choose something that interest you and makes you feel good. I am a runner. I am actually training for a half marathon this Sept. Wow, just saying that out loud is crazy because just last year I was breathing hard just going up the stairs. My advice is to be sure you research your surgeon. Mine was Dr. Michael Snyder of Denver Bariatrics. mine was around $14,000 by the way. Make sure they have a low slip rate and what kind of after care program they have. Also make sure you have a good chewable Multivitamin. Support groups are a very good thing also. Slips and errosions are usually caused by a person not following the 'rules of the tool' and vomiting all the time. Just to let you know I am approaching my one year and have only pb'd one time. This was totally my fault because I was eating too fast. So if you are pb'ing all the time your too tight or your eating too fast. Good luck with using the tool...its a great tool if you use it correctly!

[ParrotheadCathy 0]

how bad does it suck not eating food for 2 weeks? and how often do bands slip??? most of my questions can be answered by my dr. im sure. I guess im just scared :tongue2: im having to finance 19,000 and am woried it won't work.

The days post-op on liquid aren't so bad. I was on liquids only for 10 days...and I can tell you that for about the first 7 days, I simply didn't care if I had more than that. Then I started getting hungry but not miserably so. I just drank some extra broth, ate some more sugar free Jello, had another sugar free popsicle.

Slippage is not totally out of the question, but the numbers aren't very high. If you eat as you are told then you can drastically reduce the chance of that.

I was self-pay and my surgery was $15,000. Here are a couple of things to help with the cost. Find out what testing your surgeon requires pre-op. Then, have your primary care physican make the referrals to doctors under your insurance plan. You're already quite overweight and nothing that they will require would be out of the ordinary. My insurance paid for all my pre-op testing without knowing that it was really for my surgery! I paid $5,000 out of my savings and I financed $10,000. My monthly payment is $187.00. Yeah, that seemed high when I was still in the decision process BUT think of this. Do you take any prescription medications? Add up the monthly co-pays and deduct that from the monthly payment for the surgery. (I was on 6 medications and was being threatened with another one. My co-pays were $205 per month and the new drug would have added $35 to that.) Then think about what you pay to eat lunch out every day when you're at work -- for me that was about $45 a week ($45 X 4 = $180). Depending on your numbers, you may simply be offseting one set of expenses with another AND that payment for surgery will go away over time. The other would not, and always stands the chance of increasing as the cost of medications and health care for the problems related to obesity increase.

Lastly, pretty much everybody who has had this surgery had moments when they questioned whether it would really work for them. After all, we've ALL dieted and regained weight how many times? But the difference is that even if you fall off the "diet wagon" you will have the band to rein you in and keep you from eating a whole Value Meal from Mickey D.... much less the volume of food you ate pre-band. It will pull you up short. So if you can make the good food choices, the band will make sure you feel satisfied and youo con't be tempted nearly as much to just blow it!

[Kamie 0]

ParrotheadCathy,

Thanks, I am really glad I found this thread because that was the exact straight forward information I have been looking for. I have been to my first seminar and my consultation is on Monday. I am actually getting less nervous and more excited. I am ready to make this change and this commitment. I am slowly starting to try and eat/drink more like I have heard you need to post-op just so I can start committing. The hardest "food" thing for me is not eating and drinking at the same time, but I like tea and Water so much more than food so I guess it may be in my favor? I already workout at low-moderate levels depending on the week and have a boyfriend who is training to be a firefighter who is really supportive in this way. I just can't wait until I don't have to plan a night-time scheduling for swimming and can go whenever I feel like it! Thanks for all the info! I know this won't be an easy journey, but in my experience most rewarding one's are not.

[~*~*~Panda~*~*~ 0]

Thank you for all your reply's. i feel ready to make the change in my life but... i am always really committed in the beginning.. then i fall back and gain more than i lost I don't have insurance either but my Dr. is working with me to lower the testing cost im going to the weight loss center of AZ or somthing like that. My bf (who loves doing my research) says they are one of the top places in the country to get this don at. I am excited but nervous. i meet with the dr. again tomorrow