Candle

I got the PB2 today - it's awesome! Serving size = 2 tablespoons (12 grams) Calories 54.138 Fat Calories 25.44 Total Fat 2.84g Saturated Fat .55g Cholesterol 0g Sodium 94.4mg Carbs 3.7g Dietary Fiber .3g Sugars 1g Protein 4.3g

How much Fiber should I get in a day? What are the best fiber rich foods? Do you take a fiber supplement?

I was banded by Dr Geiss on 8/27/07. He's a great surgeon with an excellent reputation! More importantly, I love love love his support staff. (they're the ones we really see for most of the follow up anyway) My surgery was a breeze and I'm progressing nicely. I haven't been yet but they have support groups monthly that the nutritionist and shrink both attend. (you'll have to see both before surgery) Good luck!

I had my surgery on 8/27 and we're going to Disney on 10/21 - my doctor said that was fine. Have fun!! I'm so excited and ready for a VACATION! (it's also been a great motivation to try and lose as much weight as I can before the trip)

Ouch! How are you feeling? Are you doing liquids for a day or two?

I think it's more favorable to try and eat hard Proteins. Things that will make you feel full longer. Do you like cottage cheese? eggs? Fish? Chic/meat? Chili? Yogurt? Cereal? I'm still on mushies until Sunday. I like the New whey Protein test tubes. 3oz and 42 grams of protein. I drink an once or two if I fall short on my daily protein. (you can put them in the fridge)

Alexandra knows her stuff. I was able to beat an exclusion by purchasing a moderately priced insurance plan to replace the plan I had from my employer. I don't have very good coverage with this new plan but it did cover the band for me. The new company required a 6 month diet. I'm in NY. You can check ehealthinsurance.com but I'm thinking your best bet is to suck it up and do the 6 month diet. It will go by quickly. Get started on it NOW. You'll be pre-occupied with other pre-op tests anyway. :heh: I had well over 20 doctor visits including blood work, shrink, nutritionist and sleep studies.

Wow - 4 grams per 100 calories!!! I'm not having a "problem" [yet] but I was looking at Benefiber in the Grocery Store the other day. (It was on sale - $2.00 off ) Thanks

Have any of you guys tried PB2? I just took a chance and ordered it the other day. Bell Plantation - PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter - Our Products

My nutritionist said 10-15 minutes to consume 4-6oz of soup, yogurt or pudding in the liquid phase. Then 15-20 minutes to consume 3-4 oz of mushies. When on solids, she says meals should take at least 20 minutes and no more than 45. After 45ish, food has had enough time to start passing through your pouch, making room for more food. Just try and pace yourself. I've never felt any restriction and know I could probably eat and drink like before. I force myself to take the extra time because I want to learn these steps NOW.

I'm almost 1 month out and I've had a glass of wine twice this week. I'm not a big beer drinker but my doctor also says NO carbonation. As far as mixed drinks go ... I never liked soda in liquor anyway and I'm just going to try and stay away from a lot of high calorie fruit juices. It's all just empty calories ...

Tuna/chicken*/egg/ham/seafood salads Cottage & Cream Cheeses oatmeal Scrambled eggs Mashed veggies & fruits pureed turkey chili *Canned Chic w/ ricotta cheese & red sauce *Canned Chic w/ gravy over mashed potatoes *My nutritionist recommended the canned chicken to start out (near the tuna in the groc store) because it's very tender. I was surprised to find it's pretty good. A 2 oz serving is 50 calories and 11 grams of Protein. I've mixed it with refried Beans, in soups, made chic salad out of it, etc.

I wish I had a suggestion for you. I'm morning the loss of ibuprofen as well. Tylenol does help me with headaches but nothing else. Especially not with cramps. I'm in the process of getting some major dental work done too. I had to stop taking ibuprofen about 2 months before banding because I ended up with the start of a small ulcer and GERD. It's best for me not to have NSAIDS anyway ... I hope you feel better. If nothing else, maybe the weight loss will help.

I was banded last month and had no problems! Overall it was a much easier experience than I'd expected. I was in the hospital for less than 24 hours. I did have some nausea right after surgery but anesthesia does that to ME. I never really had any pain and never needed pain meds once I got home. Minimal gas pains for a few days. It did take a few nights to be able to get comfortable at night in bed. (I'm a stomach sleeper, which I wasn't able to do until about night 5 or 6) I’ve never felt any restriction or swelling but I’ve completely stuck to the pre & post-op diet and been steadily losing. You'll do fine!

Wow!! 5cc's!! Your doctor is aggressive. I have the APS band but won't be getting a fill until the end of October because they want me to wait until I get back from vacation. (a week in mid-October) I was banded on 8/27 - 1 more week of mushies to go! *phew* Glad to hear everyone is doing so well.

I have the APS and no restriction either. It's completely normal. I've read that some people are getting the AP bands put in WITH a small fill in them already - around 1-1.5cc's. My doctor does not do this. Hang in there!!

That is a cool story - thanks for sharing. A girl I used to work with met a man online from England. She was 17 and he was in his mid-20's. Some how it worked out that her parents let him come to visit :eek: and then let her go to visit him once she was 18. They were LD for about 5 years and then got married in England 2 years ago and he moved here. They are still together and quite happy - trying to have a baby right now.

Obesity is a pre-existing condition. Again - it depends on your state's laws. In NY, as long as you've had continuous insurance coverage for 18 months and there isn't a gap between insurance plans of more than 61 days, the new company can't deny anything "pre-existing". I had to prove to my new company I had coverage previously or they would have made me wait out the pre-existing condition period of 11 months - then cover surgery. There are a few threads pinned at the top of the forum - one with CPT codes. I would call the insurance co with that code and ask specially about the band and their requirements. Even if they do cover WLS, that doesn't mean they cover it 100%. What if you have to pay 50% on top of paying for this new plan? Search everything you can on that company on forums like this one and OH.com to see what other people's experience was with them. Be sure to let us know how it works out for you!!!

Every state has different laws about insurance. That doesn't seem like a reason they could exclude you. There are many reasons for someone to change insurance plans. Make sure you do your homework before you switch!! Make sure, with out a doubt, they cover the surgery. It seems like most self pay plans exclude WLS. Check on co-pays and deductibles, check on surgery guidelines, (I had to do the 6 month diet) and find out about pre-existing condition clauses. Good luck!

For me a lot of tuna/ham/chicken/seafood salad, cottage/ricotta cheese, blended turkey chili, blended veggies and fruits, refried Beans, eggs, and yogurt. I found I really like that canned chicken. With mayo or ranch, with chic gravy, with ricotta and red sauce. I'm ready for "real" food again.

Ouch! That's young. Hang in there! The reason I moved, instead of my boyfriend, was his daughter. He wanted her to at least be in college before he leaves. She'll be 18 in Jan and this is her last year of high school :whoo: I don't like where we live. I'm ready to start a new life/adventure somewhere else!! lol Wheetsin - Very cool! What finally brought you two together? Someone made a huge move!

I purchased a plan with GHI. It's called Alliance Value and is about $415.00 per month. My company picked this up for me since it's almost what they were paying for my BC/BS plan. GHI covered the surgery 100%. They required a 6 month supervised diet with my PCP first though. The catch and downer about this policy is that it doesn't cover office visits. All visits related to the pre-op tests can get expensive! What I did was keep my BC/BS until all my pre-op tests and the 6 month diet were done and then switched to GHI. I can't guarantee this will work for everyone but it worked for me. You can get info from GHI directly or on ehealthinsurance.com about their plans.

I don't understand how you feel no restriction but still get food stuck? Maybe I've just been being super careful in what and how I eat? I've not felt any restriction since day 1 and I can't imagine how something would get stuck? Did you PB or was it just uncomfortable?

You might want to check out a thread in the SUPPORT FORUM titled "Single Bandsters".

Wow - This is old. I forgot I'd even posted this. It's over 8 months later and I'm almost 1 month post-op. I've lost 30lbs so far and am doing great!! I'm also happy to report, I am closer to my boyfriend than ever! He has been sooooo supportive. He's learned all about the band and pretty much knows just as much as I do now - lol. He was there for me during surgery and took excellent care of me while I was healing. He's been helping motivate me to exercise and eat better, by doing it all right along with me. He's really given me the strength to do this and a lot of my drive has been the desire to live a long and healthy life with him.