leatha_g

Tammy, There is a guy named Charles Collings on the Yahoo Groups DFW Bandsters who has Tricare Prime. I do know he had some issues with this problem too and he may be able to tell you who all he found out takes this insurance. Also, you can find this out on www.obesityhelp.com website as well. If you click 'Find a Doc' you can choose your area and it will list docs, then by clicking on the doc, you can see the insurances they have used in the past. Good luck to you!

Get started walking or working out. Build up your muscles if you can before the surgery. Start practicing eating with no drink until 1-2hrs afterward. Stock up your cupboards with broth, soups, protein drinks, etc. Start a list of all the things you hope to do once you've lost enough weight to be healthy and active again. Look only forward.. Congrats on your date!!

yea. How old ARE you anyway, Johnathon?? wink, wink..

Jerky is an excellent thing to have around. There is a Tillamook brand that is awesome. It can be ordered online as well. I have an aunt who makes her own and it runs a pretty close second.

I forgot to mention. Most all sugar-free candies have an ingredient called malitol in them. This can also aid in getting things moving.

Hi Frank! Great photo! I have MS Picture It! on my puter. I just open the photo in it and there is an option to save it as an email or web-sized photo. Then I choose web - medium. I would think you could resize it with most photo editing programs, but I've found this one to be easiest for me. How's this?

darn.. i was certainly into it... lol..

yep, the diet center used to require a cup of apple cider vinegar in water each morning.

LMAO.. sorry.. chili has fiber.. lol.

It's the bras and undergarments that are the worst.

Good luck to you and congrats on getting a date!! Why do you have to crush your pills?

I took 2 weeks because I travel and lift heavy suitcases all the time. By the end of the first week, I was a new person. I could have gone earlier, but I'm real glad I had the time to concentrate on getting my walking in daily and focus on my liquids. Just remember, some folks' worst day is around day 4 or 5. Good luck with whatever you decide!

Awesome!! This, my dear, is what it's all about. BTW, I think that gray lady you were describing was me. lol.

Exactly. This is the best attitude to take too. Good for you! It won't hurt to begin walking daily either. Any strength you can add to your body will only make your surgery that much more simple and safe. Good luck to you!

Pillondial? or something to that effect?? Yes. this is a pretty big issue, especially if you're really following Protein, protein, protein. There is another thread not too long ago about this. I've resorted to eating Frosted Mini Wheats, snacking on Prunes and being more concerned with fiber instead of protein. Geez... does anyone know the right combination to getting ALL this right? Poor thing. I do feel for you. I know it's better now, but what can I say? Been there.. done that... Ouchy..

Hope you're doing well!! Let us know!!

A friend took some video on Christmas also, so she'll be sending me some stills she's making from the video. I know this one isn't great but it's one that I can actually see how much smaller I am in, so I'm posting it bygolly! I'm hoping to get some better ones. We'll see.

Sorry Paula. I just found this post. To get pics from your digital to your computer, you should have a cord with a USB port. My computer automatically detects when I plug mine in and asks where I want to download the pictures to. From there, I save them to a folder and resize them with a program such as Picture It! Then I can add them to my posts here.

lol. that's a great nsv greg!! I understand completely. I have had the same uneasiness on escalators and stairs. I hated that feeling of weakness too. I get so excited now when I can take the stairs and not have to hold on to the rail. Good for you!! Congrats!

Well. First, you have to consider if you have insurance or not and who will take it. If not, then I suppose you'd want to shop around for prices. Above all that, ask about experience, both from the docs themselves or their patient's. I have met Dr Benevides who does surgery out of SCOR(Surgery Center of Richardson). He's very experienced and his patient's love him, however there are some insurance considerations to contend with. I wound up using Dr. Veninga, who was initially a bypass surgeon but has switched his primary surgery over to lapband due to the safety/less invasive being more attractive. He's got quite a few under his belt now. Dr. Cribbins/Hamm have a great practice and their patient's seem to love them too. There are actually many in the DFW area. go to www.lap-band.com and click on the Surgeon Locator and they'll send you a complete list of all Inamed certified surgeons in the area. Good luck!

lol. nope you're not. and, believe it or not, if our bands are placed correctly, our stomachs are wrapped around them too. however, it does sound as if you have restriction. this is your band trying to tell you something. we call that our 'golf ball' feeling. sometimes, things will come back up or sometimes after a few minutes they'll move on through. just because you haven't had a fill yet, does not mean you can't have restriction. also, sometimes, some of us even get this upon our 'first bite'. i've noticed my new band seems to give me that 'first bite' pain and i have to give it a few minutes to relax. you're not stupid. this is a very valid question. welcome to restriction! ps. if you KNOW you didn't chew well, i reckon this is your clue that you must try to chew more going forward.

I regret not having it done sooner, also. I also regret sometimes that I did not take it more seriously in the first year. If I had, I might weigh 140lbs now, instead of 185. Being that 50 years from now, no one will care if I lost 50lbs in a year as opposed to 100 that might have been possible; I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. lol.

I quit 8 months before, specifically because what you say is true. Attacking 2 addictions at once is pretty tough. However, your surgery and subsequent healing time will definitely be effected if you choose not to quit at this time. Welcome to the board!! Congrats on your approval!

I have deleted the post I created pending further facts around the matter. I still believe anyone who is contemplating this doctor should ask directly how many deaths he has had in the past and what the circumstances were that caused them. I would say this is a pertinent question to any potential surgeon.

Yep. I had my gallbladder removed in August. Seems that's very common with weight loss.