Alexandra

These are very wise words! The pre-fill stage is NOT so much about losing as much weight as you possibly can, but learning to moderate your intake and maintain the loss you've achieved already. I find the single best thing I can do for myself in these times is NOT TO GET TOO HUNGRY. Nibbling on things like string cheese, Protein bars, cottage cheese mid-morning and late afternoon really helps me eat sensibly at lunch and dinner. Getting too hungry is a sure path to overdoing it when there's no restriction to stop me.

Jenny, it's true that some people do go off their BP meds after losing weight, but only those people whose high pressure was caused by their excess weight. In my case, I'd always assumed my borderline-high pressure was caused by excess weight, but after losing 100 lbs it turns out that it wasn't. Why didn't I ever think that before? My (slender) mother was on meds for her bp most of her adult life. Just another preconceived notion down the tubes. Don't make any assumptions about the way things hang together. After losing weight you ARE healthier, more active, better off overall, but if that doesn't mean you can get off your BP meds it's NOT the end of the world. It just means that your condition is caused by something else.

Absolutely correct, Mandy. Skinny, Aetna has a detailed list of their requirements readily available and you should refer to that to make sure you've done your homework. Your doctor, in any event, is the one who will make the request for surgical precertification (not you), so HE is the one who should marshall ALL the paperwork and details to present to Aetna. All you can do is help get it together, keep copies of everything, and call Aetna three days after your doctor says it was submitted to make SURE it's been received.

It's a great idea to try to practice this before banding, yes. But it's VERY hard, I know! And just as important as chewing each bite is WAITING between bites. Practice putting your utensils down between bites and taking three or four slow, deep breaths before taking the next bite. That's the kind of time you need to allow as a bandster to make sure you know if you've reached the end of your capacity BEFORE taking one bite too many. Good luck!!

Julz, you shoudl think about adding some real Protein drinks to this mix. Carnation instant breakfast is NOT a high-Protein Drink. There are loads of delicious options out there, including SlimFast Optima. Good luck!!

The only thing that would be 1970s about this issue is if there were any foregone conclusion about what's "better." This is a question that every family has to explore and answer for themselves. I know for me, staying home with my kids past the first few months was NEVER an option. It just wasn't something that appealed to me, and in any event I had to work to support the family. If it had been financially feasible, my husband was open to the idea of being a SAHD, but as it turned out his income was also needed. (I changed jobs to be closer to home, and took a significant pay cut to do it.) Both of my daughters thrived--first in a family daycare setting, and then went to preschool at age 3. IMO, staying home all day with a cranky, deprived parent who would rather be working would be WAY worse than spending time in a nurturing and encouraging social environment. Any parent who criticizes the choices of others needs to get a life. We all do what's best for our own families, period.

Jennifer, you've been banded for less than three weeks. If it was so easy to screw things up, NONE of us would be here today. You've just had a bit of a wake-up call, and it's going to prove useful to you in the end. Take a deep breath, relax, and start again each new day. This time is widely known to be the hardest, before you've had a fill but after you've healed and can feel full-on hunger again. Take it easy and be good to yourself. Don't let yourself get too hungry! That way lies gorging and loss of control. Eat lots of small meals and high-Protein Snacks to keep your blood sugar steady. You'll be fine!!

Ene, for Pete's sake, you can't possibly expect to continue losing at that accelerated rate for long, right? Your body has lost TWENTY-FIVE POUNDS!! It needs to take a breather. Give it three, four, five weeks, and you'll STILL be ahead of the curve on weight loss. You're doing wonderfully and will look back in wonder that you every worried about this. Relax!!!

Rainer, I am so happy for you!! It's a wonderful feeling, isn't it? To have control over that plate in front of you and to walk out feeing victorious, not deprived. Congratulations on the new underunders!!

At the end of day 3 I am just transitioning into full liquids. Had a frozen yogurt this afternoon because I was surprisingly hungry after work. And, oh utter joy, more than two hours later I am actually still feeling FULL from that.

In my own experience, it only happened when something on the large-ish side was stuck and didn't move readily. It did not happen every time. The first thing I learned, though, was to let it OUT rather than try to suppress the excess salivation. That way lies, well, more of the same. This was your first taste of negative behavioral reinforcement. Did it teach you anything? Whatever/however you were eating just prior to that experience is something you should not try again. You may even have just taken that one bite too many. You're a real bandster!!

Hi Judyann, Unfortunately, lots of insurers still have this bizarre restriction. It's excellent grounds for appeal, and you'll find MANY bandsters have been successful in fighting this kind of restriction (myself included). First, have you determined definitively that a) bariatric surgery is covered, but lap-band surgery is specifically NOT covered? If so, what is their reason for excluding it? It used to be the case that insurers excluded banding saying it was "experimental." But it's now been FDA-approved for more than FIVE years, and it's way past that stage. If you have recourse to an independent review panel you might find they agree with you. What sort of insurance are you talking about?

Congratulations on such a great start! I'm back to work today and (almost) regretting it. Can't wait to feel as good as you do!

That is your body's natural reaction to having something irritating in your stoma. It's trying to lubricate the area to get whatever it is out. Scary, but it showing that your body is working!

The manufacturer's recommendation is to wait at least 6 weeks so everything has had a chance to heal completely. If you are hungry in the meantime, go ahead and eat! This is a long-haul journey, not a sprint, and a few extra calories during this pre-fill time is not going to mean it never works for you. Don't press for a fill too early because that could lead to problems down the line.

Chickie, you look amazing and are 100% inspiration. Congratulations!!

Hi Rain! I had Dr. Abkin again, though I know Dr. Bertha was there and they were both operating today. I hardly remember seeing the doctor, though; i'd already been given the first drug of the anaesthesia cocktail and was feeling a little loopy. And though I know I saw him afterwards, I don't remember that *at all.* Thanks so much for checking in, and I really hope to meet you someday. Say hi to Pat for me!

Yikes, that is scary! Definitely go see them and get aggressive treatment. Good luck, and please keep us posted!!

I'm back and BANDED!! Yaaahooooo!! The surgery went well and I'm "resting comfortably" as they say. I'm soooooo glad to be on this side of the banded divide once again. Thanks so much everyone for your concern and well-wishes! Tonight I'm feeling lousy, of course, but if history is any guide I'll be feeling just fine by the end of the week. Looking forward to two days of vegging out!!

My surgery was at 9:00 this morning, or thereabouts, and I got home at around 3:00. It would have been earlier but WOW thie hospital was busy today and there was a holdup getting me into radiology for the swallow study. That turned out to be a good thing, I think, because during the 90 minutes I waited my head cleared up enormously. (I hate anaesthesia.) I'm home, feeling good, and looking forward to just hanging around the house for a couple of days!! Congratulations to the August Bandsters!!

I hate it when people comment on my weight. I find it an intrusion into my personal space. I would never do it to someone else so I just expect the same respect. But I'm sure that's just me. This is so ingrained in me after a lifetime of hearing only negative comments, that even at support group meetings I have to force myself to compliment others on their progress. That's what we're THERE for and I still have a lot of trouble doing it.

I'm tomorrow too, thankfully at 9:00 a.m. Best of luck to us both!!

The only thing I've ever told anyone about myself that elicited the reaction of surprise is that I'm a native New Yorker. "You can't be, you're too nice!" was the reaction. Otherwise, what you see is what you get.

Nice to hear from you, Susannah! It's wonderful to hear from a happy bandster out living her life. Keep it up, lady! :biggrin1:

What everyone else said. Mac & cheese was and still is my absolute favorite food. The band lets me forget that. It lets me go about my business as though there is no such thing as macaroni and cheese in the world. Mac & cheese is the ENEMY, and the band is on my side in that battle.