TDoern

TTC - I personally did not have the lapband, there are more cysters who have had it, and a few that are in the process that can answer more questions. Teri, who replied above, just had the surgery and worked very hard to lose weight and take care of herself even before the surgery. Even though I did not have the lap band I will answer the questions that I can in regards to myself and my surgery.

How long did you have to wait to have the surgery after your insurance approved it and you had your consultation?
My insurance approved my surgery in less than 15 minutes over the phone with my surgeons office. My surgery was scheduled for 13 days later.

How long did it take for you to recover from the surgery?
With my surgeon they want you up and moving as soon as possible, so I was within minutes of entering my room post op. I was tired for about a week, maybe a little bit longer, but that was also my body adjusting to the liquid diet, and all the changes it was going through. I would guess about 20 days all together before I felt like I was at 100%

Did you have a lot of pain after your surgery?
I can't give you the best answer here. I deal with chronic severe back pain, which seems to be worse than just about anything people toss at me. Waking up in the ICU recovery area my complaint was my back not my stomach.

How long was it before you started losing weight?
I was warned by my surgery consultant not to weigh myself when coming home from the hospital, many people come home weighing more than they weighed going in due to all the fluids they pump into you. I weighed myself the morning before my surgery and weighed 284, I was stupid and weighed right after I got home and weighed 297, at my one week post op appointment with my surgeon I weighed 264. I was completely shocked to find that I'd lost twenty pounds in a week.

If you had the surgery 6months to a year ago, how much weight have you lost within that time?
Again I did not have the lap band, I had the RNY but as I said I weighed 284 the morning before surgery. My surgery was on December 6th 2007 - so 10 months ago today - I weigh 154 pounds right now. So I've lost 130 pounds in ten months. With the lap band I know that the weight loss is slower, you can probably get more info other places.

How has your diet changed since the surgery?
My surgeon has a very strict post-op diet. My first three weeks post op was clear liquids only. I can say that it was quite hard not chewing anything for three weeks. The other things that they push is protein protein protein, and always making that the largest part of your meal, and always eat it first. Pre-op I was severely carb addicted, and lived off of them. The biggest change for me has been making sure I'm taking in what I NEED, not what I want. I cannot lie and say that I do not treat myself, but it's a small treat, not a super sized treat.

For more information I would check out ObesityHelp.com, it's a web site dedicated to weight loss, and surgeries for it. There are forums there for different things, and also forums that are state specific. Obesityhelp was how I picked out my surgeon, people on their rate the doctors, the hospitals, and also share the surgeons bedside manner and such. The people there are incredible, and awesome about answering questions to the best of their abilities. Also, you can find tons of information there on all the different types of surgery, so you can make sure the lapband is the surgery for you.

I would also suggest, as mentioned, for you to call your insurance company directly, they are going to be the people that will be able to tell you what surgeries they cover (mine did not cover lapband). They will also be able to give you information on what you will have to do in order to qualify for insurance coverage. Some require doctor supervised diets, and things like that. If your insurance company does not cover WLS, there are companies out there that give out loans specifically for WLS.

Feel free to PM me if I can answer any more questions

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