Hello Newbie here and I am just beginning to look seriously at this Lap Band idea. :biggrin2:
Just curious about a few things: What does the sleep test have to do with lap band?? I am looking into having the lap band but I am not quite there yet and have questions about things.
Also what is on the pre-surgury diet??? I keep seeing everyone saying they did this before having the lap band.
What is the food on it and how long do they have you do this and the big question is why do you do this???
Also how well does medicine work as far as going down into your body Like capsules for instance or large horse sized pills???
Thanks to anyone who can give me info on any of the above.
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I'm not banded yet, so the only thing I can kind of offer advice on is the sleep study. The reason my doctor ordered mine was because apparently obese people have lots of issues with sleep apnea (due to excess weight blocking air flow). A CPAP machine really does help with this and I hear when you have your surgery a lot of times they will have you bring your CPAP with you and use it while you're in recovery. This insures your oxygen absorption doesn't drop while you're still sleeping from the anesthesia.
I'm glad I had mine done, I found out I have some pretty nasty sleep apnea, though it's believed by my PCP that it's related mostly to weight. I've read many stories on here about how people got taken off their CPAP after dropping weight with the band.
I hope that helps, what portion of the journey are you on? Have you been to a seminar? (that helped me a lot with my decision)
__________________ It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness - Chinese Proverb
I had one done before my surgery. I was diagnosed with mild sleep apnea, but now it is gone. I know that my brother has it and he had surgery on his knee and he had to have a tracheotomy.
Hi Diamondette,
I am also in the process of getting banded. I have had everything except the sleep study, psych and nut visits but they are going to be next wed. From what I have gathered, the sleep study is just as Michele said. The NP (nurse practitioner) told me if a person has a neck measuring larger than 20inches (I think) they are concerned with the how the anesthesia will affect them. Also, as far as the pre-surgery diet..I don't know what the specific foods are but it is done to help shrink your liver so it is easier to work around it in surgery. Capsules...again, this is just info I have gathered...I am pretty sure you can no longer have pills, capsules or large "horse" pills. You would need to speak w/ur Dr about liquid, crushable or dissolvable meds. Even stuff like aspirin and tylenol would need to be the liquid kind, if you need them. Anywho, I have learned alot on this board and the obesityhelp.com boards.
Hope this helped and Good Luck on your journey
Cheryl
__________________ The Lap Band's Greatest Hits: Move that Weight, Weight on Nothing, I Will Never See that Old Me Again and their #1 hit Weight off my Shoulders..Buy it Now!! Still in the process... Labs 6/6/08 ECG 6/11/08 ECG Treadmill 6/13/08 X-Rays 6/6/08 Psych, Nut, Sleep Study 7/02/08
I didn't have to do the sleep test, but what the others have said sounds right on to what I have read here.
In terms of pre-op diets, there seem to be as many out there as there are dr's . I had to do two weeks of optifast protein shakes, plus non starchy vegetables only. Others do a version of this plus maybe a lean cuisine a day. Others don't have to do a pre-op diet and others seem to be on an Atkins type where they eat very few carbs and only lean protein. Your best bet is to contact the clinic you will be using. Length of time on pre-op diet also varies. The explanation I was given is that to make the surgery easier on you and the surgeon, they want you to lose as much weight as possible before surgery - mainly to shrink your liver, which they have to work around and move in order to attach the lap band.
I firmly belief that the unofficial reason is the clinic wants to see how committed you are - if you can't follow a two week plan, how are you going to manage the weeks of liquids and mushies after the surgery that are required for healing?
I have never had real problems taking pills, so I take them whole. I do have one huge pill (omega 3/6/9) that gets stuck about twice a week, but because it is fish oil, it usually slides down after a few minutes of intense pain. I am very stubborn and want to finish the whole costco bottle before I go to something else. It sounds strange, but taking the pills with less water rather than more seems to make it easier for me to get them down. I only take one pill at a time and make sure it has passed before going on.
The good news is that since banding I have come off of two diabetes medications and a reflux medication and am down to a thryroid pill, a multivitamin and the dreaded Omega.
Many people either crush their medicines or invest in a pill splitter, or get chewable or liquid forms if they are available. You need to check with your pharmacist though as some medications shouldn't be crushed or split.
__________________
Highest Known 409 (in the late 90's) / 350 ish (most of the 2000's)/ June 07 322 (start of this journey)/ Sept. 25 07 (surgery) 279/ C 163 / First Goal 180 (achieved July 16, 2008) / New Goal 160
Hello Newbie here and I am just beginning to look seriously at this Lap Band idea. :biggrin2:
Just curious about a few things: What does the sleep test have to do with lap band?? I am looking into having the lap band but I am not quite there yet and have questions about things.
Also what is on the pre-surgury diet??? I keep seeing everyone saying they did this before having the lap band.
What is the food on it and how long do they have you do this and the big question is why do you do this???
Also how well does medicine work as far as going down into your body Like capsules for instance or large horse sized pills???
Thanks to anyone who can give me info on any of the above.
Sleep study - I believe why they order them, other than the fact that many severly obese people have sleep apnea (as described above) and can die from it, it's because most insurance companies won't pay unless there are some "co-morbidities" unless your BMI is extreme. I have it, and use a CPAP machine at night - the change was fantastic - I felt so much better with it, since I wasn't having to sleep sitting up and waking up dozens of time a night) So, you need to know if you have it so it can be treated immediately - leads to high blood pressure, stress on heart, and even death. And because it will be helpful information for anesthesia when they put you to sleep. And because it will be another marker of sucess of weight loss, because weight loss may eventually cure it.
Pre surgery diet: My bariatric center required 3 month supervised diet in order to see if I could maintain a healthy diet and loose weight (follow the rules). Many insurance companies require it (some 6 mos to a year). If you can't maintein or loose weight before the band by following the diet, you may be a better candidate for gastric bypass, since the gastric bypass doesn't let your body absorb as many nutritients from the food and has more severe consequences if you over eat sweets (dumping syndrome). Another reason for the pre-op diet is to shrink the liver, which makes it easier for the surgeon.
The presurgery diet is basically a healthy diet - low fat, high protein - 60 - 80 grams of protein a day. Plus lthey wanted me to find a protein shake that I liked because you need them for the first month after surgery until you can tolerate solids better.
Some surgeons require a clear liquid diet before surgery for a week or two - mine didn't. I think that's to shrink the liver.
PIll size: I break my pills in half and have no problem. I don't have a good restriction. Post op I used liquid paid meds. I have heard capsules can cause problems, but I haven't had any problem. Talk to your phamacist if concerned about med size - often they can be crushed or you can get liquids, but some meds shouldn't be taken out of the capsule or crushed. And by the way, since my surgery in April, I'm now OFF most my meds, so it's not a problem anymore! :-)
Hope that helps.
__________________ Start 339 / Band-day 294.4/Current 224.6 Start Process 12/5/2007 Band date: 4/9/2008 First Fill: 5/9/08 3.5cc/9cc band. Second fill: 6/6/08 kinked tube, port revision, back to 3.cc Third fill (really #2) 7/18/08 4cc Fill 8/26/08 5cc
The sleep test is done to determine the level of sleep disorder problems. It usually helps candidates qualify for surgery. The liquid diet helps shrink you tummy and liver so the band will be applied easily. The liquid diet consist of slim fast, broth, Popsicle, tomato soup, just anything liquid but high protein level until surgery. Some Dr. have a protein drink they want you to use, but I used slim fast a lot. I was scared of pills at first but now I do okay. I take them on an empty stomach.
about a few things: What does the sleep test have to do with lap band?? I am looking into having the lap band but I am not quite there yet and have questions about things.
. I had to do two weeks of optifast protein shakes, plus non starchy vegetables only. Others do a version of this plus maybe a lean cuisine a day. Others don't have to do a pre-op diet and others seem to be on an Atkins type where they eat very few carbs and only lean protein. Your best bet is to contact the clinic you will be using. Length of time on pre-op diet also varies. The explanation I was given is that to make the surgery easier on you and the surgeon, they want you to lose as much weight as possible before surgery - mainly to shrink your liver, which they have to work around and move in order to attach the lap band. 
It sounds strange, but taking the pills with less water rather than more seems to make it easier for me to get them down. I only take one pill at a time and make sure it has passed before going on. 
/ Band-day 294.4/Current 224.6
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