faithmd

Wow! What a FANTASTIC loss! I agree the fills and unfills must be really stressful, but you are losing VERY well!

Quote: <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset">Originally Posted by musicalmomma I just need a place to vent a little and thought some of you would understand where I'm coming from... I feel SO alone! It's like I have the plague ever since I started the pre-op diet! No one calls me...friends are breaking appointments with me and making up lame excuses why they're 'not coming'. I know it's all because I can't eat with them. What I don't get it...this is a VERY vulnerable time of my life. I am two days away from surgery and NO ONE seems to care! Just because I can't pig out, I get ditched! Now I know what the next six weeks will be like as well! I guess I can count on recouperating alone too! I am so sad and this should be a happy time! I consider myself a good friend. I am there for you through thick and thin. I don't bail when you're at a low point. I encourage you and life you up when you're down. Is it too much to ask a little of that in return?? The most recent LAME excuse for not hanging out with me was verbatim "I have to get some sturdy underware tonight"! Can you belive that crap???? It hurts to much. I don't do that to people. I care about people's feelings. This sux!!!!! </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> That blows! I had never thought about this aspect of it. You're right, I guess if I got out with a friend (and I only have a couple) it is to eat. This is going to sound sad and bad, but I don't know if I'm glad that I don't have to go through what you are at such a vulnerable point in our lives 1) because I haven't told anyone, or 2) because I don't have close friends. I concur with what someone else said that perhaps there is a touch of jealousy on some of their parts. Either because you are making such an amazing change in your life, or because they wat to be free from the shackles that food has on us. I think this stinks! MM, I know that you are the type of woman who is wonderful and who later on down the line when they need support, will be right there for them. Me? I'd be there for them, but I'd make sure to subtly point out that *I* was there for them, even though *they* left me hanging when I needed them the most. I know virtual friends aren't quite the same, but we can all try to help one another through this. Congrats on only two more days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<!-- google_ad_section_end --><!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

Dagnabit, I still sit at 327. I visited my PCP today and I've only lost three pounds total this past month. GRRRRRR!!!!!! I can't wait to get banded next month, hopefully it will help.

Remember, you can have the band and if you arent' satisfied after a year of really working with it, you can always reconsider and have the bypass or the Gastric sleeve. Once you've had the bypass, you can never have it completely reversed. It may be right for you, but I know it's not right for me. I didn't gain 200lbs overnight, and I'm not going to lose it overnight.

I guess some surgeons do fill a couple cc's in VG and large bands, but it sounds like Ernie has the 4cc band, so 2cc's does seem crazy full to me. Lots of men require the large band, their stomach walls are thicker (on average) than women. Ernie, I hope that you won't have to pay anything out of pocket for this second band. It was your surgeon's choice to put the smaller band in.

Ask your surgeon at the seminar, every surgeon is different. Mine says two years, others say 18 months. Certainly women have oopsies all the time, but I would think to be as safe as possible and let the band get seated well, you'd want to wait about 6 months at least. My surgeon actually makes you sign something saying you know that you aren't suposed to get pregnant for two years. I think that's to cover them in case you do and then you slip or have other issues.

LOL! I just realized that TMP could easily work for both... Too Much Pussy/Poonanny or Too Much Penis/Pecker Sadly a problem I'm not familiar with lately. Maybe if I get some of this weight off...

See, I thought SLE was a rule-out as well, but Betsyjane on here said in another thread that her doc did some labswork to make sure she wasn't in the midst of a flare-up and when she wasn't, then he banded her. Things must be changing. But I agree with WasaBB, you do need to call your surgeon and let them know.

Apparently she started a new thread about it, here's the link: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f78/back-surgery-my-band-35520/

See, she knew I was thinking about her!

Good luck to those with dates coming up! It's only three weeks away for me, too. Hopefully I'll be able to be a June Bandster and not a July one! I'm booked for the 20th, but if the Allergan rep can't be there for me to have the AP place in the 20th, I'll have to be moved...and I won't know for sure until about the 18th. Eeeeep! That means I have to go through yet another round of the crappy bullsh*t pre-op diet (was five days into it when I was cancelled for my date on May 21st). That's money out of my pocket because my MD's office requires you order a certain diet.

WasaBubbleButt might be able to help you find some aftercare, I remember seeing her post a list of doctors in someone else's thread who was having problems finding aftercare. May I ask where you live? Did you move recently that you can't go to who you were? That is a consideration for me as well, I know that even though I am having the band done in the US that doesn't guarantee that I'll be able to find aftercare if I move or go on vacation. I know the practice I'll be seeing does not see any patients other than those they banded. I understand the concern for puncturing a band they didn't place, or the risks to them if something happens and the patient slips, then they get sued, even though it may have had nothing to do with them and everything to do with either the original surgeon, or the patient themself. But that doesn't make it easier on those of us who need follow-up.

Juli, sorry to hear of the loss suffered by you and your GF (and family). Stevee! Congrats on the new job and starting today!!! I LOVE this thread. I've been a hag for forever (since about 12) and lately I've been discovering my love of lesbians, too (that came out wrong, I should say I've got a lot of new dear friends who happen to be lesbians). I tried dating women in my past, but discovered that sadly I'm about as str8 as they come. I really enjoy the freeness (is that a word?) of what you all are discussing here. It's GREAT! Man, I miss those multiple O days...

Go to the Search function in the blue toolbar, click on it, then click on advanced search, then select thread titles in the drop down menu under the box on the left where you will type humana. I got 15 results for the word humana in the title. Looks like quite a few folks are asking or have talked about them. I don't know personally as I don't have them. There is also a great Yahoo! group called BandstersInsurance you might want to check out. But the very first place you should call (if you haven't already) is Humana to see if your specific policy covers adjustable gastric banding or not. You see, you and I could both have Humana and my company may have bought the plan with a weight loss surgery rider, and your company may not have and you might have an exclusion. That's why it is so important to speak with your insurance company yourself. Good luck!

I too was impressed with Dr. Deol and found her seminar very informative, but I just didn't have the extra $$ for her "mandatory" support group fee (I believe it is $800, but someone who is her patient could say for certain) in addition to the $1,000 deductible for my insurance company, plus what it would have cost me out of pocket to use the doctors she sends you to for your pre-op stuff. The extra $$ is a big consideration for me.

Yep, what Alexandra said. NO WAY I'd get a fill in an Inamed band until at least four weeks and more likely six weeks post-op. There's no way to be able to assess how much restriction is left over from the surgery itself. Also, the band hasn't seated itself in place with scar tissue yet, a fill before it has healed could cause it to move. Of course every srugeon is different, but I'd wonder...

You have basically no restriction yet. You haven't had a fill. Even after your first fill you may still be hungray and able to eat anything. Some people say that it takes two or three or more fills to find that "sweet spot." I know that doesn't sound great, but unfortunately it sounds like that's the way it happens. Then there's the issue of head hunger versus stomach hunger. Are you truly hungry (stomach rumbling) or do you just want to eat? I know I just want to eat much of the time. It's the way we are, if it wasn't, we wouldn't be overweight in the first place.

There's an entire forum here about food and recipes, here's a link to it: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f9/

Wait, if the doctor put in too small of a band for you, then I would think the doctor should eat the cost of putting in the small band and reband you with the larger band. After all it was his mistake to put in the small one, see it was very tight, and then close you up. I would bring that up to him. After all it's your body. If you leave too tight of a band in, the chances are much higher of an erosion or dilating your pouch above the band because things won't go down, of developing problems with your esophagus because of PBing or sliming, etc. I'm glad to hear that you are getting treatment, though. I hope you continue to improve quickly!

Oh goodness joshjakemommy, of COURSE you'll be okay. Take some time, read around here and get to know us, we're here to support one another. Just because you slipped up once in your pre-op does not mean there will be any problems at all, many many doctors do not require a pre-op diet at all. You are FINE. Relax and try to get back on track as soon as you can

I wish you luck, but for some insurances that is not good enough. You need to get your hands on a copy of your insurance policy's requirements for approval. My company's says: Documentation of a coordinated, physician-supervised weight loss program for a minumum of 12 months, started and completed within a 24-month period prior to the reccommendation for surgery. (The documentation requirement may be satisfied by a detailed submission about your multidisciplinary weight loss program or by your PCP's medical records. PCP documentation must indicate a minimum of 10 visits during a one-year period and verification of the minumum required weight loss.) The documentation should include periodic weigh-ins (at least monthly), dietary therapy, physical exercise, behavioral therapy and/or counseling and, if applicable, pharmacotherapy. By multidisciplinary they mean a weight loss program run by a physician and involving a nutritionist, exercise physiologist, etc. Yep, I had to do 12 months and I hadn't made my required weight loss in those 12 months, so I had to keep going until I lost what I needed to. For my insurance Curves or WW or Jenny Craig would not suffice. They will not take a letter from the PCP, either. It MUST be copies of office visit notes and those notes have to include weights and discussions of what I was doing to try to lose weight (exercise, changes in diet, etc.) I hope that your insurance is easier than mine, but if I were you while I was waiting to hear, I'd make sure to visit my doctor and discuss what I've been doing to lose weight and get the diet history started. It can't hurt!

About 25 grams.

Ooooo, been there, done that, got the T-Shirt. That does hurt!!! I agree the worst pain is a lidocaine shot in an inflamed and sensitive area. Did they pack it with packing?

Try very hard not to be too nervous, your blood pressure will be through the roof. Do you have insurance of any kind? If so, they usually pay for emergent complications following surgery, even if they don't pay for the surgery itself. These may very well just be some road bumps on your journey. You won't know for sure until you see him. I know it's somewhat silly for me to sit here and say "calm down" but that's what I'm doing. Do your best to calm down and relax, you have to drive safely and make it to the appointment. We'll be here when you get home and we'll be looking forward to hearing what he had to say.

You can go to tlc.discovery.com and click on the show, there is a message board for it. But I would say that I am fairly certain all the episodes have already been produced. If you go to the MD's website, it talks about them being featured in a 13 episode series on TLC. That tells me that the 13 episodes are already "in the can" so to speak. If it is popular enough, I'm sure it will get picked up again and perhaps if they don't present bandsters this time around, they will the next time?