Alexandra

See, it is NOT cheating!! I definitely don't think fins are a cop-out at all, since I really feel the difference in my muscles. Sigh, I hate the proliferation of gadgets even though I know they help. Swimming was supposed to be easy, but now I have the swim cap, goggles, towel, and now fins. I also have to take off my earrings (I've already lost one) and worry about losing my rings. Excuses, excuses...

You could EASILY ask a flight attendant to help you, or some other adult. Will your spouse be with you?

You're not lucky or unlucky, you're normal. However, you're probably going against the advice of your doctor by eating solid food so soon, and may be compromising your healing. Whether you feel it or not, your stomach and esophagus are still recoving from having a foreign object placed in their way, and it takes time for them to heal fully from the invasion. MOST people find that when they go on to solid food after surgery they can eat just fine. Most, I'd even venture to say, claim to feel as though they were not banded at all. So you're normal on that score. But you are testing things by starting early, and that is not necessarily wise or safe.

Glad to hear you're healing up well, Becky! I'm planning to go back to work (desk job) three days out so you're giving me hope that it'll work. You're doing great!!

Well, I'd want to get a doctor's opinion on that. But the bottom line is that not lifting is about HEALING, and why on earth would you want to take any chances on compromising that? The better you heal, the better your entire banding experience will be. There are plenty of other ways to get your kids from Point A to Point B for a few weeks.

No advice, since I still have my GB and (knock wood) have no stones, but I wanted to wish you the best of luck for a painless, uneventful surgery!!

For what it's worth, the reason to avoid lifting is NOT because you could damage your band. The band is on your stomach, not part of your musculature. But your stomach muscles are healing from the trauma of surgery, and there are internal stitches and such. THOSE are what you might disturb if you use your stomach muscles too soon.

This is a question for your doctor. In general, you should not pick up anything more than about 20 lbs for at least a couple of weeks.

Last night was the LAST night of my pre-banding eating habits. My doctors don't prescribe any preop diet at all, so five days prior to surgery I can still eat anything I want. But I know it's a good idea to get on board, so I'm starting today. Last night was Outback: steak, grilled onions, beer (YUM!!), salad, dessert. Oh, and popcorn at the movies. A wonderful last meal! But I am SO ready to say goodbye to stuffing my face; even a "small" steak at Outback was 8 ozs. I want to feel svelte and graceful again. I NEED MY BAND.

If it's the one I'm thinking of, he used to work with my doctors and I saw him once or twice over the years. I liked him. Since my doctors are among the most-respected banding surgeons in the U.S. I'd absolutely trust anyone they felt comfortable working with.

A Rita's just opened up close to my home. I'm planning on it being a big part of my post-op liquid diet!

My experience wasn't as near-miss as yours, but I did have surgery cancelled on surgery day due to insurance not approving. I found out in the morning, though, before even leaving for the hospital. That was back in June. Now I've changed carriers and am counting the days until next week when I will be rebanded. Fingers crossed for both of us that things go smoothly next time!!

BARBARA!!! How WONDERFUL to "see" you here! I was just thinking about you tonight, actually. You sound great! I just might try to drop in tomorrow, yes indeedy. I need a dose of bandster thinking to get me back in the game. Hope to see you there!

There's always a lot of talk about emotional eating. I've tried many times over the years to identify the moods that spur me to overeat, but they are all over the map. So much so, that I really believe they're not connected in any meaningful way. So, what IS my trigger to overeat? The only constant emotion or thought that I can associate with urges to eat is a feeling of entitlement. Other people are having whatever it is, so I can too, right? Other people are enjoying the birthday pizza, the wedding banquet, the dessert, the office Cookies, the samples at the farmer's market, the popcorn at the movies, so OF COURSE I CAN TOO. Well, the fact of the matter is that nature has decreed that I can't, not without suffering the consequences. This is the reflexive mental process that I find is my biggest enemy in the weight loss battle. With a band I have a physical barrier that acts as a coach, or a boss, standing there saying you CAN'T have whatever it is. Without the band, my entitlement wins out and food hops into my mouth because somehow, somewhere in my psyche, I've got the ingrained sense that I deserve it. But I AM different. What I deserve is health and well-being, not cupcakes and Pasta. Ugh. I can't wait to get my band back. One week.

Is his first name Adam?

Well, in that case your carrier does have the right to exclude treatment for pre-existing conditions for some period of time. It's typically 12 months for individual policies. This does not mean it's "all for nothing," though. You just have to wait a bit. You're in much better shape than someone who has insurance that doesn't cover it at all!!

OK, so now the question is...what state are you in? Rules and regulations vary considerably from state to state. Some states allow carriers to exclude areas of treatment and others don't. Also, do you have insurance now?

Did you have insurance prior to being picked up by this current company? If you had continuous coverage, your new carrier CANNOT exclude anything as a pre-existing condition. What are the circumstances of your starting coverage with BCBS (new job, loss of job, individual coverage, etc.)?

One of our great (one might say, extreme) LBT success stories may be in an advertisement for the surgeon. That's wonderful, but it got me thinking about advertising--specifically, weight-loss advertising. Do you respond well to stories of wild success with before-and-after pix that put Hollywood to shame? ("I lost 100 lbs in a month and have a whole new life!" says a petite, tan thing in a bikini.) Are these ads likely to appeal to you, and make you think you can do it too? Or do they backfire? I personally do NOT respond to that sort of advertising at all, never have. What is going to make me sit up and take notice is a normal-sized person, saying that he or she has lost 5-10 lbs a month over a year or more. If they say something about maintaining a loss that'll get my attention, too. The very idea that I could be one of those wild success stories is so beyond the pale that I just tune out. Am I weird or just cynical? Or have I just been obese so long that I've lost the sense of fantasy that these pitches appeal to? (I am not, even in my lizard brain, able to believe that ANYTHING could work quickly, effortlessly, for ME.) The stories that inspire me are the ones of perseverance, backsliding and progress, time spent learning, and a slow progression of improvement. Those are the stories that let me know I too could be a weight-loss success. Maybe I'm not the "typical" obese person, having been obese all my life and not just carrying around a bit of adult-onset poundage. Maybe that's why the quick fixes leave me cold. But from hanging around here for more than 4 years, I think I've learned that I'm not that unusual. So what is your reaction when you see a really dramatic banding success story? Is that the most effective advertising, to you?

Heh. This is the innocent question of the year. Yep, Chloe, it's safe to say insurance is stricter in the United States, where most of us here are from. Depending on any of several factors it can be relatively easy to have medically necessary treatment covered, or almost impossible. Unfortunately, for "elective" things like bariatric surgery LOTS of elements have to fall into place.

I went again yesterday, and discovered that swim fins can really change the experience. Turns out my (relatively) small feet weren't doing enough work--I wasn't kicking efficiently--and that's why my arms got so fatigued after just a couple of laps of crawl. With swim fins my legs do a lot more and better work (and I can feel it in my legs), so my arms get a bit of a break. And since I can cover more distance faster, there's more gratification in counting laps.

Michael, in some states you are not even eligible for individual health insurance if you are eligible for a group plan. Please make sure that's not the case in Texas before you go too far down this road.

I can't help thinking that a child isn't always a blessing. Good for the Duggar family that they can make being Quiverfull work for them, but heaven knows not everyone is equipped to accept as many children as an active sex life will throw at them. I can't imagine the emotional, mental, financial, and physical demands such a large family makes on parents--and siblings, for that matter. Heck, with two kids and a spouse I love more than life itself, sometimes I feel like my house is overcrowded.

Christine, if your BMI is above 40 you meet the medical criteria of morbid obesity, and therefore are medically qualified for bariatric surgery. Now, whether your specific insurance carrier will cover it is a whole 'nother question. It sure sounds like you've reached that same physical and emotional point that brings so many of to surgery. I know EXACTLY how you feel, certainly felt that way myself, absolutely. In my case it wasn't "clubbing clothes" or intimacy with my boyfriend--it was being a safe parent for my children and knowing that my life and health were in danger if I didn't do something--but the pivot point is different for everyone. Just know this: you are not alone.

Hi Christine, The fact of the matter is that insurance underwriters really don't care how we "feel" when they're making coverage decisions. Morbid obesity is a medical condition, and only if you can be medically qualified will treatment for this condition be approved by insurance. So the question really boils down to: What is your BMI?