justplaintired

i am going to buy one when i start pre op diet. mine broke quite awhile ago. i know i can be obsessed but i will need to see the pounds coming off so it will keep my psyched! i cannot believe yours is less than a week away!

Is here anywhere on this site where ev'ery month could have a forum. I could swear I saw it somewhere. Then each person could post topics and we'd be able to see them. It wouldn't clog up this forum for others. I dunno...just thinking out loud. What do you think? Congrats to everyone else who has a date and is approved. The time is going by fast! Yes, pretty weird being told to just maintain. I am by no means thin or fit! I am miserable with my cpap mask and for that reason alone, I'm desperate to lose so I can get off this miserable thing! Not to mention, I'm uncomfortable, unhappy with my appearance...want off BP meds, etc. I was LOL at one of the other posters who said..."let's kick fat's ass!" LOVE IT!!!

I didn't have to wait as long as others but it sure felt long! I hated thinking that after all the testing (and co-pays) that it would end up that I was rejected by insurance. I cannot wait to get started with this journey. I even want to start dieting now. I wonder if that makes sense to start dieting beforehand. Will it be a problem if I lose a lot and then I'm under 35 bmi? Does that matter at this point? I know I will do well with this! I'm so excited to begin my new life. I know I can lose because I have done it before. What will happen this time, with the band, is that I will reach goal and KEEP IT OFF! So EXCITED!!

Welcome everyone! I'm so happy to see our February group growing. I wish there was an easier way to post instead of in one single topic thread. Does anyone have any ideas? I just got GREAT NEWS! I got approved!! Yippee! I will be getting my surgery on 2/11/11. I'm very excited and anxious. I need to get going on this. I cannot stand myself anymore at this weight and I want to feel better!!! I was told by the NUT that I had to just maintain my weight until I was approved because I am a 35.9 BMI (with a number of cmorbidities) and didn't want to run the risk of being rejected by insurance if I dropped below a 35. It is funny...someone tells me to keep eating and I'm anxious to diet! GO FIGURE! I think this board is wonderful. The support is great and I know it will help me as I continue with this journey. GOOD LUCK TO US ALL!!

Wow, blood clots where? I hope you are okay now. Sometimes I think all the tests they make you go through is part of the blessing of this process. You needed to be treated for your blod clots and probably didn't know. February, here we come!

Welcome, Big Tom! (and everyone else, rtoo!) I just wanted to let you know that my friend's dh got his lapband awhile back and he is 6ft 6in and he lost well over one hundred pounds. I think his starting weight was around yours as well. He look fantastic! I know you will do well, too. I would be thrilled to get off of my bp meds. Shoot, if I can get rid of this crazy cpap mask I'd be happy!! Good luck to you and us ALL!

Did you get a surgery time yet? Don't worry about the weather...I think we will be okay by morning. :-) Be sure to report back when you are feeling up to it!

I am so nervous that I will not be approved. All of my ducks are in a row and I'm only waiting for the insurance coordinator to submit. I called today (I know I am a pest) and asked if she heard anything. She said that she didn't submit yet. I told her I was dying with nerves and losing sleep. I said it all half joking (half serious) and she was joking back but here I sit...impatient, I guess. Why would she not submit yet when I am scheduled for 2/11 surgery. She has assured me that I need not worry, that I will be approved, etc. I know I should trust her but I won't believe it until I see it. Is there any reason why an insurance person would wait to submit? I have final NUT appt two weeks prior to surgery and I guess I will be meeting with surgeon right before, too. Other than that, everything is done on my part. I hate not knowing...

Okay, what I understand is this...if your medical policy has an EXCLUSION for bariatric surgery, you will not be able to appeal. I was told that you can appeal to the HR dept of your company to see if they will make an exception for you but they don't normally do so. The reason being, if they made an exclusion for one person, they would have to make an exception for others. At that point, why have the exclusion in the first place? I found out that it isn't uncommon for an employer to purchase an insurance policy that has bariatric (or fertility) exclusions. UGH! I know about this because the policy we had last year had an exclusion. So, during open enrollment I checked on all the other options and only ONE policy did not have that exclusion. It is the most expensive but it is worth it being that I could not afford to self pay. So, my advice would be to see if your parents' policy has the exclusion and if not, try to switch to theirs. You have to specifically call the insurance company and ask if they cover medically necessary bariatric surgery. I wish you good luck. I know how disappointing it is to find out about an exclusion...it feels like the door is slammed in your face. However, if you investigate your other options, maybe you will find what you are looking for.

I've done only a little bit of reading about this topic. Is there anyone out there who can tell me if they went into therapy post band? I've been thinking about this because I am afraid that I will feel empty without addressing the emotional/psychological reason for my food obsession. Anyone?

Smokey, I'm glad you are staying with us...you can be the first and fill us all in on what to expect! So, you are all approved and done? That is fantastic. CONGRATULATIONS! P

Nally, OMG, you are cracking me up. A fat fighter pilot! LOLOLOL Yeah, supposedly my nose is small, too. I fit between petite and small. WTH, why do I have petite nostril and not a petite body!? A lot of good petite nostrils do a woman! My husband thinks it is funny that I have this mask...I think he is just so darned happy that I'm not snoring like Fred Flintstone anymore! Oh the GLAMOROUS LIFE! P

I am getting the lapband. My surgeon explained that until there is more data, he will continue to go with the lapband brand.

Congratulations my fellow Jerseyite!

I know I don't need to drink and I plan on making good choices. I just know it will be a little bit hard when everyone else is drinking and eating and I'm sorta sitting there. I was told carbonated drinks are out and the only carbonated drink I have is beer....so non-alcoholic beer won't work. I was also told that you cannot gulp water...that you have to sip and you cannot use a straw? This is from NUT clases. The most important thing to me is that I am successful with this band. I am not happy or healthy being obese and able to eat/drink everything so I am going to have to make lots of changes. I appreciate the suggestion for drinking the protein drink, etc. My life will be changing in so many ways. :-) It's all good! Thanks for all of your replies!

Okay, so dh and I have been known to socialize once a week with our dear friends. We just hang around, talk, watch football games, play board games, listen to great music...the usual. How on earth is this going to fly post-band? I know I can survive not eating the munchies but no drinking at all? I understand I have to break up with beer but do I have to break up with all alcohol? Does it really mess up your weight loss or is it just unhealthy for you (which I know it is). I can survive without it as I'm not addicted or anything but I imagine it is going to be tough sitting there and sipping water. Which brings me to another issue... How can I drink 64 oz of water if I have to only sip it (and NOT from a straw?). I mainly only drink water (except read above...hehehe) so I don't have soda to get over and I don't regularly drink coffee either. When I drink a glass of water I drink it kind of quickly which I hear I can no longer do. These are not deal breaker issues. I'm very anxious to get my surgery and begin my new life. I'm just worried that those certain things will be very hard.

WELCOME, to you and everyone else who is hoping to be banded in February! What amazes me is how differently each insurance carrier handles the approval process, how different each surgeon is with their dietary rules pre and post op, and how PCPs handle things so differently, also. In fact, I read on these boards that even the psych evals are all different. My eval was about 20 minutes of chatting with a psychologist and she cleared me then and there. Then I read that some others had two hour long psych exams. My PCP has been my doc for 5 yrs. He knew from the past that I was interested in this surgery. He supports my decision to get the surgery. I hope we all have much success in this process. Also, do any of you blog? I started a blog on this site; the one that you can get to from my name on the left. It is my first time I've ever blogged anywhere so it isn't fancy or pretty.

Nally, So, are you telling me that you are still not used to the Star Wars Torture Device (aka CPAP) and you've had it since June? Dear Lord, will I EVER get a good night's sleep!?! This CPAP is absolutely incentive for me to work very hard with my band to lose weight. I will be crushed if, when I lose weight, I still need this thing. What kind of mask do you I have. I first off had the nose mask (not a mouth breather) and I switched to the "nasal pillow" type. I like that my face is less covered now but I still find it hard to breathe! HATE IT!

Hi Febbandsters, I just spoke to the insurance coordinator at the surgeon's office and I'm still waiting for her to submit. She assure me that I will be approved but I'm still nervous. She said we had to keep our 2/11 surgery date (we were hoping to push forward) which is fine with me. I am anxious but I know one month is not very long to wait. Besides I won't have to rush to get myself ready with pre-op diet, etc. She promised she would call me when she gets the approval so I won't have to worry anymore. I hope we all have an easy time gettting approved.

mokey, Yes, I had the sleep study done last month and I have severe apnea. I have the cpap now and I hate it! P

I love your post...in particular the part where you talk about how time passes by so quickly.... It is so true. I spent most of my 30s and now most of my 40s being overweight. Sure, there were times I lost and I ALMOST was on the verge of feeling good about myself...then, GAINED IT ALL BACK AND THEN SOME! Sigh.. I don't know what is sadder...when I was asked if I was pregnant in the past....OR the fact that I am not asked that anymore, at the age of 46. Wahhhhh!! We are taking charge of our food addictions. This is a huge step and we can be successful!!

Harumph! So far all of my clearances have been faxed to the surgeon's office so quickly. This last one, the GI, still hasn't made it there yet. I am disappointed because the surgeon's office said I could be moved up sooner as soon as the insurance approves my surgery. So, I made a call to GI office today to remind them but who knows if they actually did what I hoped they had done two days ago. We had friends over tonight and are planning a grown up weekend away. I am so hesitant to commit to anything being that I don't know if I will be going to surgery around that time. I suspect it will not be bumped up too many weeks early... sort of a last hurrah. I often wonder how life is going to be without certain foods. How will I do without any bread at all? Pasta will no longer be a friend. I cannot even imagine my favorite food, Mexican, being eaten by me again. I'm looking forward to breaking up with these foods. I'm tired of feeling and looking like I do. Just some random thoughts... I

It looks like you figured it ou. :-) For anyone else who is curious... click on your name above (where it says signed in as...). then click on settings. then profile. then change signature. voila! This is the way I did it...maybe not the easiest but it works. :-)

Nope, no shakes yet...my surgeon only requires one or two weeks prior to surgery for the liquid diet. I think it is one of the things we all worry about...how to survive on liquid for weeks....it is going to tough. I'm anticipating being VERY grumpy. I should lock myself in a room somewhere for my family's sake. lol