RaleighGal

They make liquid tylenol for adults...it does not taste that bad and you do not have to take what seems like a whole bottle of the children's stuff. Good luck to you next week!!!

I see Dr. Bruce (and his PA Will) at the same practice. I have had noting but a positive experiance :-) Everyone is always friendly and they take the time to answer all of my questions. I do not kow about the maintance fee, but feel free to let me know if you have any other questions. I was banded November 2011.

Stay motivated...my 6 months went by SO fast!!! This is the time where you make the changes in your daily life like going to the gym and changing your eating habits. I was banded in November...feel free to message me if you have any questions! Best of luck to you :-)

I have United Healthcare as well, if you are talking about the same program I had through them...it is great! I had a nurse that checked in with me before surgery (during my 6 month wait period) and asked me lots of questions and kept me on point. I even called her several times to ask questions about the surgery, process, insurance coverage, etc. After surgery, I was paired up with another nurse to make sure I was healing ok and had no signs of infection. They called every few weeks. I had surgery in November, and still talk to my bariatric nurse about every 4-6 weeks. When are you looking to have your surgery? In regards to the psych evaluation, I had to call the Behavior Health number as well and they gave me a list of providers. I just called them and found one who does the pre-bariatric surgery visits. Prepare to pay an extra amount to have the report sent to your doctor. Feel free to email me with any more questions. Good luck to you :-)

I work out at Rex Wellness in Garner...but not too far from the Knightdale area :-)

I just saw this thread...I was banded on 11/17/11 and live in South Raleigh. I love the idea of a local group getting together. :-)

My lap band journey started in May of 2011when my husband and I after trying to get pregnant for over 5 years went and saw a fertility specialist. At the time I weighed 345. Now don’t get me wrong…I really do appreciate honesty and bluntness…but the doctor took one look at my chart, and told me I was too fat to get pregnant and have a healthy pregnancy. He said he could take my $40,000 but the chance of it working was slim to none. He then drew out what the lap band procedure was, wrote all the negatives I had against me with PCOS and gave me the name of a practice who could do the surgery in the area. Needless to say, I was blown away! I cried and cried, and when I got in the car to drive home, I realize he may have given me the kick in the butt I needed to finally lose weight for good and called to schedule my slot in the next information session regarding Weight Loss Surgery. When at the meeting, I realized that out of all the choices presented, Lap Band was for me. I had to do the 6 month weight loss program for insurance. I was determined and motivated! During this time, my husband was also seen by an urologist and we found out that he has retrograde ejaculation and is being seen by his doctor on a regular basis now. I had my Lap Band Surgery on my birthday, November 17th. This morning, I weighed in at 257. I know it is still a bit too soon to get pregnant (from what the doctors say), but I hope I can go in today and prove to this doctor that I have been working hard, and have made the lifelong changes that will support and healthy and safe pregnancy. I guess I am looking for a game plan today…some positive words that will put us on a path to becoming pregnant when the time is right. My husband and I decided that we will see how the doctor is today, and see where our comfort level is with what he has to say. Wish us luck today!!!

Keep up the great work!!! Your surgery date will be here before you know it

I also tried the grilled nuggets from Chick-Fil-A and they were yummy!!! I added the fruit salad with them and could only eat a little of that. I am still after 2 months having a hard time with fresh fruits and veggies. Red Lobster is one of my favorite restaurants now...they have a grilled selection dinner that has grilled shrimp, scallops and chicken. I eat the shrimp, scallops and half of the steamed broccoli, and take the chicken and rest of the broccoli home for lunch the next day. If I need a quick lunch on the go, Taco Bell has pinto beans with cheese which is loaded with protein and goes down easy.

I use to weigh myself every day...became obsessed with it. When I asked my doctor why my weight fluctuates so bad, he told me that I needed to pick ONE day a week to weigh myself at the same time. So now I weigh myself on Saturday morning when I wake up. At first I had my husband hide my scale so I was not tempted to weigh every morning. I made a chart with all the Saturday dates through the end of the year so I can track my progress. Good Luck to you!

I had my surgery on a Thursday and was back to work the following Monday. From 3 hours after surgery I was up walking around and moving. I took it easy at work and the advantage was I only worked Monday-Wednesday, then had 4 days off for Thanksgiving. Listen to your body and rest when you are tired! Best of luck to you...Happy New Years!

I am looking to find an easy to use online calorie counter/tracking system. I tried to use the Realize My Success one and most of the foods I entered were not found on the website. Any suggestions would be great. I hope to find one with a large food library. Thank you!

Like so many others on this site, 2012 is a new year with our new bands! I was just banded on 11/17. Two of my top weight loss goals for 2012 are going to be to only weigh myself once a week (so hard not to get on the scale daily and fixate on the number) and work out 4-5 times a week. My number one personal goal is to hopefully be pregnant by the end of next year. I love how you made a list of your top 10, I am going to take the next few weeks and add a few more new years resolutions to my list! I enjoyed reading your list...lots of great golas you can continue into 2012!!

Thank you for the advice... I joined myfitnesspal, I am still looking around and figuring out the site, so feel free to add me...jenny27529. I like how many options of food choices there are.

Thank you for the advice... I joined myfitnesspal, I am still looking around and figuring out the site, so feel free to add me...jenny27529. I like how many options of food choices there are.

Wow, what wonderful news!!! I was banded on 11/17 and I hope I can experiance your joy by this time next year :-) I also have PCOS and we have been trying for 5+ years. Again...Congrats!!!!!

I just had my 2 week post op appointment on Friday and my doctor said I could continue the cardio (walking, eliptical) but NO weight lifting till after the holidays. He said anything that puts strain ont he core needs to wait for now.

Ok, so I went to the doctors this afternoon and when I asked him about being hungry, he said that my band has little to no restriction now (no fluid) and that I need to make sure I am having my 3 “meals” a day and 2-3 “snacks”. Since I am on pureed foods, I need to make sure that the quantity I am eating contains the required Protein to fill me up. My next appointment is on the 14th and he said that we will do a fill then so I have better restriction. I asked about doing one today but said that I am still healing. He assured me that once I started to eat more foods that my hunger would go away some. So I guess I will continue to hang in there and hope that when I introduce soft foods on Monday that the hunger will slow down. I also got clearance to go back to the gym to do cardio and Water aerobics (low impact with no strain on my core). Keep us posted with what your doctor says on Monday!

Matt, we are in the same boat...I had my surgery November 17th. I have my appointment this afternoon so I will let you know how it goes and what my Doctor says.

I just recieved a gift card for GNC and I was wondering what flavors of their protein powders were the best? I use the Unjury Chocolate Splendor now. Thank you!

Thank you for all of the great protein shake suggestions! I have not gotten too out of the box yet with adding different ingredients. Where do you find the sweet frozen cherries and how much cocoa powder and splenda do you add? Thanks!

Tomorrow makes one week since I have been banded. I am healing well…minimal pain and some slight indigestion which pepto helps. I have been on Clear liquids (broth, crystal light, popsicles, etc.) since November 13th. I am so excited to move to Full Liquids tomorrow where I can add in Protein shakes, pudding, yogurt, strained cream Soups, etc. With the excitement comes some slight nerves as well… *How much should you eat at a sitting? *With only Full Liquids, how many times a day did you eat? *How different does something like pudding feel going through the band vs. liquid? *How do you feel when you are full from eating? Thank you for your help and advice. I am so excited that I took the step to a new me. I will be on Full Liquids for a week, then move on to pureed Foods.

I had to only drink clear liquids the day before surgery. Best of luck to you tomorrow!!!

I am one week post op today… yesterday I felt great and it was a pretty day so I went to the park and completed a 2 mile walk (the track had slight hills). I was only going to do a mile, but I felt good so I did 3 more laps to make up that second mile. I have done some shorter distance walking this past week, but nothing over I would say a half mile. I woke up in the middle of the night with a stabbing/sharp pain under my right breast. If you lay your hand flat under the breast on the abdomen, that’s where the pain is. The pain has been here all day. I have tried a heating pad and that gives slight, temporary relief. My husband said to call the doctor but I do not want to overreact. Has anyone experienced this? Do you think I over did the walk and rubbed something internally? Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

That is fantastic...congrats! I am going to start training in January for a 5K this Spring. Loosing weight has me motivated to do so much I never thought I would do.