Alexandra

That is weird, and I don't know anything about it. I'll move this thread to the Feedback forum where maybe Alex will see it faster. Maybe he'll know.

Bambam, I know exactly where you're coming from. Those guidelines and suggestions are there for when we feel we can incorporate them into our lives--they're not anything you haven't heard before. Without restriction you are exactly where you were pre-surgery, and you are correct, it's no help being told what you "should" be doing. It can't help at all unless you have proper restriction. Once that restriction is there you will have to watch what you eat and how you eat it, but IT WILL BE DRAMATICALLY EASIER to do that. I promise. You'll be amazed at the difference good restriction will make.

Hi Renata, Congratulations and welcome to Bandlandia! I'm sure you'll find that those pains disappear soon; you've gotten some great advice. The important thing to know is that they are not unusual and there is nothing wrong with you. :confused: Be good to yourself while healing, and don't forget to keep us posted!

Good luck, gal! We're all rootin' for you. Don't forget to come back and let us know how it went! :confused:

I'm approaching 6 months also, and am almost exactly where you are. My loss is between 32 and 35 lbs and has been stable for about two months now. I'm not unhappy with it, but think I need more restriction so I'm going for my second fill this week. I'll admit to a bit of nervousness about it--since I almost never get anything stuck anymore I'm worried about forgetting how careful I must be to prevent it after the fill. But these 32+ pounds lost have made a huge difference in my life! I'm down several sizes in clothes and have reclaimed my entire "thin" wardrobe from the depths of my closet. Some of them are even too large (these are clothes in size 24--I've never been what anyone would call "thin" ). I don't look any different to myself, though people who haven't seen me in a while do notice a difference. And my husband says I'm a lot easier to wrap his arms around now. :confused: I'm loving this band thing, and am so glad I was given this chance to get control over this lifelong affliction of morbid obesity. On to the second 6 months!

The post-surgical stage can be an emotional one, Teri, so don't be hard on yourself for being sensitive. Be as good to yourself as you can; you've been through something and are still healing. Sure, you might want to add Protein shakes to your intake at this point, or at least some milk. I sometimes use a Protein powder that blends pretty well with milk if I just shake it up--it's very simple and not bad tasting at all. And once you have some real protein in your tummy you'll definitely start to feel better. And yes, I am the voice of experience with regard to quitting smoking! I quit in 1987 after at least ten years of an almost pack-a-day habit. And I had been raised in a smoking household before that. It wasn't until I moved to the suburbs (well, outer Brooklyn) and quit smoking that I realized there are other smells in the world! :confused:

Wow, Teri, that is a lot to kick all at once! You know, if you really like the taste of Diet Coke there's no reason you can't drink it flat. I have not at all kicked my caffeine habit (coffee is my poison) and see no reason to try. But CONGRATULATIONS on quitting smoking!! That is the most amazing thing you can do for yourself up to and including banding. You will be amazed at how your sense of smell will come back and within a month or so your lung capacity will improve. It's a whole new world out there without nicotine. And think of the money you'll save!! If banding has done nothing else for you--and I'm sure it will, indeed--making you quit smoking is an enormous gift right there. Welcome to the smoke-free world! :confused:

As utterly absurd as this is, it just goes to show there is indeed a sucker born every minute, and an inventive mind to take advantage of them. I'm just glad the word Lap-Band is in the description, so curious people can find information for themselves. People can and do sell whatever they want on E-bay, but we don't have to buy. Some bandster probably just had nothing else to sell.

This just goes to show there is indeed a sucker born every minute, and an inventive mind to take advantage of them. I'm just glad the word Lap-Band is in the description, so curious people can find information for themselves. People can and do sell whatever they want on E-bay, but we don't have to buy.

Wow, I am SO PSYCHED about joining the Y!! We have discovered a whole new (and recently renovated) world of activities and diversions. I don't know if all Ys are like this, but the one near me has state-of-the-art facilities and great hours. Yesterday morning I took a "Back In Shape" low-impact aerobic class, this afternoon the girls and I went swimming (well, bouncing in the Water if you want to get technical), and any evening during the week both DH and I could work out while the girls are at the babysitting area. The babysitting costs $3.50/hour per child!! I am totally ramped. Everyone has a Y near them somewhere. Check it out!!

Thanks, Donali--I knew there had to be something I was missing!

Hee hee! Sorry, I didn't realize not everyone uses this shorthand. DH is "dear (or darling, or darn, depending on your mood) husband" and DD and DS are the same for daughter and son. These abbreviations are widely used on parenting boards.

The only restriction I am experiencing is when food gets stuck. I obviously don't have enough saline. Almost any food with the exception of steak or chicken breast goes through without any restriction. I can eat a very large plate of spaghetti. A large hoagie type sub, pizza for days. Two bites of chicken breast and my chest explodes!! haha. This definitely sounds like you don't have enough restriction. I couldn't eat a large hoagie sub if my life depended on it! I think I'm up to 2.0 or 2.5 on my band after 2 fills. BTW, How much are you all paying for fills? The actual amount in your band is irrelevant. But it sounds to me like your doctor is taking the "sneaking up" approach on your fills. Are you tested for restriction at the time of the fill? Did you have a period where you could feel the restriction right after the fill? I'm not answering about the fill cost, because my insurance is covering mine. I do know that those with fluoro cost a lot more than those without. How does your doctor do them? Are you saying that once you got your fill to the right level that it is actually physically difficult to eat larger quantities??? YES!!! That is precisely the point. If I go past a certain point with food I absolutely MUST stop or risk serious pain. There's a point BEFORE that where I know I've had enough--stopping there is what I'm trying to learn how to do consistently.

You know, I'm glad you brought this up! I've been meaning to ask our resident expert, Donali, about this. Donali, according to Fitday I burn 3310 calories a day just living. That seems like twice the number of calories recommended for me to take in. How can that possibly be right?

Thanks, Leo! :confused: Very nice of you to say!!

Hi Bambam, I hope you don't mind but I started a new thread with your message in the Support section. This is a very important message that you have and I want it not to be lost in this thread about meat. You'll get a lot more feedback there, I think.

Hi Sara, Whew! You certainly sound motivated! I can tell you that with an HMO it's tricky to be reimbursed after the fact. What you pay for the surgery will bear no relation to the amount BCBS would have paid for it if you'd gone down their road and been approved in good time. So even if they did reimburse you later you wouldn't get anywhere near what you paid out of pocket. So how important is the money to you? It's not very hard to show past diet failures if you have a cooperative PCP. I didn't have any actual "proof" of anything, just a long letter detailing my life of failed attempts. My PCP had diagnosed me with MO months before I applied, and said she'd been working with me continuously to try to manage my weight. If you were told the procedure is covered, you have a very good shot of having it paid for if you qualify. But getting qualified can be a time-consuming and frustrating process. Yet when thousands of dollars are at stake, it may be worth it to try. So the bottom line is I wouldn't place any bets on being reimbursed after the fact. Doing that goes outside of most HMO's procedures and they will probably just refuse on those grounds alone.

I'm one of those who has been obese since childhood, and I think that had I been banded in my teens I might indeed have ended up a more normal-sized adult. For one thing, I may not have developed and refined the speed-eating technique that I'm now struggling to conquer. But it's easy for me to say that because my particular demons were and are those most directly affected by the band--that is, quantity and speed of intake. If your daughter has other issues--a closet candy fetish, or secret binging, for example--banding might only add one more slight obstacle to be gotten around in the drive to eat. That is to say, perhaps even more than for an older person the evaluation process is extremely important. The short answer to your question is YES, I wish I'd had the opportunity as a teenager.

Sorry I didn't see this question earlier. I'm sorry, I don't know precisely what BCBS's criteria are for qualifying patients for WLS. Perhaps someone with that carrier can chime in?

Hi Tayloram, The same thing happened to me and to a lot of people, though I'm surprised Cigna has tried to pull this on you. Cigna was one of the earliest carriers to approve the bane on a regular basis. What I did was go through my carrier's internal appeal process--which resulted in repeated denials for this same reason--and then went through my state's external review process. I ultimately won and my carrier paid for my surgery last summer. As time goes on fewer and fewer carriers can claim "investigational" since the band was approved by the FDA almost three year ago. IMO it's the weakest of all possible reasons to deny a request for banding. My recommendation is to appeal it as many times as necessary. you will prevail in the end. :confused:

Hi Alexis, you bouncing bunny! I'd be happy to help but first I need to know if your plan is a small-group plan. Does your employer have fewer than 50 employees? If so it will be relatively easy to find out what's covered under your plan. Let me know, OK?

Birdee, while Water is indeed the best sort of liquid to drink, any noncaloric liquid is fine to tally toward your daily goal of 2 - 3 quarts. Crystal Light is very popular, but IMO if you're going to drink that much of anything you might want to find something with less artificial sweetener. Have you looked into the lightly flavored waters on the market? Fruit2O is one, and I'm sure there are others. Think about cultivating a taste for water, though. If your tap water is not good where you are try the bottled ones. Aquafina is my favorite. :confused:

Staci, thank you for the nice words! You made my day!! You know what? I think that's one of the ingredients for a successful bandster life. Banding is NOT a quick fix or a miracle cure, and those who think it is are the ones bound to be disappointed. Frankly, I gave up on diets (and on being thin) a long, long time ago. My goal was and remains staying healthy. I was doing a pretty good job until my kids were born, and then my weight stabilized at a point some 50 lbs above what had been my heaviest weight before that. I'd be happy if I just could get that 50 lbs off, permanently. Heck, I'm happy now that 35 lbs has come off AND IS STAYING OFF. When I want to lose more I know it's within my power now in a way it has never been before. Thank you, Inamed!! That's the measure of success that I use. That, and staying level-headed and sane about it all. :confused:

Hi Staci, It sounds to me like you're well on your way to an approval. Your surgeon is doing everything right; he needs to see the test results before scheduling your surgery date. There's no point in scheduling it before he knows you're a good candidate, right? The next step is for his office to gather all the material and test results and whatever else and submit it to the carrier with a request for precertification. That's what the phone jockey meant when she said "referral." In a non-gated plan (which is what you have) you don't need the PCP's referral but you ALWAYS will need a precertification from the carrier for surgery. Of course, a letter from your PCP (if you have one) describing your history of obesity will always help, and probably should be included in the file submitted to the carrier. But that's not the same thing as needing a referral. It's not usually until the file is submitted that a date for surgery is scheduled. That way the carrier has a deadline to meet. An approval (or denial) should come back within two weeks. There is probably a rule about the time frame in your state if you want to look at NY's dept. of insurance website. Don't worry. I know that BCBS of NY has been more band-friendly of late, and if you were told the band is a covered procedure you're in very good shape. GOOD LUCK and please keep us posted.

I did figure out how to hide the thread you started, in which both of your names were showing. I'm writing this so you're not confused about what happened. As a moderator I don't have the ability to change your username, but I think you can register again with another name and I can delete any posts that show your full name. (I think this was the only one?) Please contact me if you have any questions. You can PM (private message) me by clicking on the PM box at the bottom of this message.