February Surgery Patients

[Ninajo40]

So far there are three of us.

AussieInOregon : Ian, Oregon

SFkitten : Mel, California

Sand Pirate : ?, Florida

Just thought I would put a topic heading that poeple will recognize as their surgery date. It would be good if we could chat a little prior to meeting up, that way we would have someone we know in the hospital.

So what type of pre-op diet are you guys on. I just started day 2 of medifast to loose weight prior to the operation. Medifast will be suitable for the post-op liquid phase but after that I will move on to 3 meals a day of solids to get the band to do its job.

Right now I am very excited about loosing weight and more importantly keeping it off. I have yo-yo dieted a lot, keeping weight off for a year then loosing focus only to see it all return plus more.

I have spent a long time researching the Lap Band on the net, as everyone has done, and I think most of my questions are answered. I understand the risks, then I weigh them about the risks of doing nothing. At present I am 43 yo, 5'8", 290 lb, so the health risk of doing nothing is very severe. I don't have diabetes or heart disease, but I do have mild sleep apnea (I want to get off the CPAP badly), and my left knee hurts sometimes (I had surgery on it when I was 16 yo). I need to loose weight before more serious health problems kick in.

So, I am 100% committed to making this work but here are my current thoughts.

1. I am not worried about the surgery, or the pain after the surgery, it will be a reminder to me of the commitment I am making.

2. I plan to return to Dr. Ortiz for all my fills, because of his competence, also I miss a few rays on a beach from time to time.

3. I do worry about getting back home and not having good medical backup for emergencies. I have Pacificare insurance, they don't cover WLS or complications that may arise from it. I visited the Lap Band doctors in Eugene, Oregon, and they said they would refuse to work on someone that was banded in Mexico.

4. I am a little apprehensive about accidently making a mistake and not chewing a piece of food and having it get stuck. If it gets stuck will I need to go in for emergency surgery. Or can I hop on a plane to San Diego, survive 2 days of having it stuck, and get it rectified?

5. Complications of slippage and erosion don't worry me a lot in the first few years as the statistics show that there is a very low rate. It is a risk but not life threatening.

5. I am concerned about the long term outcome. Will these bands fail after 5, 10, or 20 years? By failure I mean two things. The first is the band itself needing removal. The second is really my failure to keep the wieght off. Reading some of the scientific literature indicates that there is a high risk of failure as time goes on. But if it buys me 10 years of good health then I am willing to take the risk.

Enough for now.

Cheers

Ian.