yvonne74

I could eat Salads every day. Or I should say before surgery.. I had my first salad last week and it wasn't as good as I remembered or thought it would be.. Is that strange?

October 2011, .............296 Dec. 2011....................286 Surgery 3/9/12............ 277 squeezing and sucking it in as much as possible 28 pants current ....................... 256 22-24 pants height... 5'3"

I alternate between Bob Harper and Richard Simmons "Sweatin to the oldies".. On the days I don't do those I use the wii Fitness Plus... I'm hunting a treadmill on CL but seem to be too slow to catch them before they are sold.

Very rarely do I eat all my calories that MFP gives me. Only thing I watch is my carbs and my protein. I was told to have between 60-80g of protein a day so thats what I aim for..

I have two sisters. The oldest went with Gastric bypass (5yrs ago), my youngest sister went with lapband (2 yrs ago).. So I got to see first hand how both surgeries work. After seeing my oldest sister struggle with "dumping" and weekly visits to the dr for B12 and Iron shots, I was determined I would not do bypass.. When I finally got up the nerve to go to the seminar, I was convinced I wanted lapband. However, the PA I talked to told me that I would not lose enough weight in a year to be a success therefore, I needed to get the sleeve. My sister told me to check another Dr so I did. I went to a 2nd Dr who told me that I was too fat for the lapband and it would never work on anyone who has a BMI over 50..They refused to see me again until I got my BMI under 50.. I couldn't go to weigh-ins, or procede with anything.. Feeling discouraged, I went to what I told my husband was my last Dr.. If this Dr wouldn't do it then I would just have to be fat b/c I wasn't getting the other surgeries.. This Dr said heck yes it would work... Three months later, I had the surgery and here I am today feeling much better about everything. My advice to you is IF this is what YOU really truely want to do, then find a Dr who will work with you. Do not let anyone tell you that it isn't possible or this isn't for you.

Thanks ladies! My fills are $12 co-pay. I was told that I only had my $35 co-pay for the surgery. That is what I paid.. So far, I haven't gotten another "bill" or anything so maybe it has been taken care of? I do think my surgeon over charged Tricare. They billed tricare over $82,000 for the surgery!! Thats a lot for a surgery if you ask me!

Good! I don't know anyone here that has been banded. with that being said, no one knows I have been banded. Been married almost 8 with a 15 yr old step-son,a 5 yr old and a soon to be 4 yr old.

5:30am Breakfast (string cheese x2 and hummus) I start getting hungery between 9:30 and 10:00 so I have a small snack (almonds, or carrots with PB) 11:30 ..Lunch (I alternate between Boca Burger/Turkey Burger/Morningstar burger or Grilled Essentials Chicken) and occaisionally 1/3-1/4 cup of veggies 3:30 snack (same as morning snack) 6:00/6:30 if not later... steak, chicken or like tonight 1/3 cup of refried Beans, 1oz of steak and 1 tbsp of guacamole

Banded March 9th in San Antonio but live in Killeen

Down 30 pounds is great!! I get the nauseous feeling every couple of weeks. I will have a few days where I barely want to eat and the thought of food makes me feel sick.

Ok, my hubby is retired army. When I got my EOB, I was told that I only had to pay co-pay. A few days ago, I got a letter in the mail from Tricare saying that I owe my provider $4,308 .. Wondering if this is an oversight or if I was given wrong information when I scheduled the surgery.

Are you active duty Tricare? Congrats!

I just viewed my meal report for the past week and noticed that my sodium was WAY up there. Guess I need to try and get that down. It could be making me retain water.

I am weightloss_dreamer on MFP if anyone wants to add another person

I know I shouldn't be concerned with the number on the scales but like everyone I want to see a difference in it.. I am weighloss_dreamer on MFP if anyone wants to take a look at my meals.

Good question! I've only lost 14 pounds since March 9th. I am starting to feel restriction and the amount I eat is a lot loss than before. Its disappointing to not see the scales moving down.

Wouldn't your Dr put in a larger band? My poor sister has been through 3 lapband surgeries. This last one was b/c after two surgeries they figured out her band was too small so they gave her a bigger one. Lynn... Sorry to hear about your troubles. Glad you are trying to get back on track and taking care of yourself. I've lost 14 pounds since March 9th. However, the scales have stopped moving which I hate. I've been trying to change up my exercise so I am not getting bored so that helps some. My youngest is going through some clingy faze so its making it difficult for me to go to the gym.

When I did the pre-op, then registration the day of my surgery, I was told I had nothing to pay other than my co-pay. Yesterday I had a letter from my insurance company saying that I owe the Dr $4,308.45 (the amount they wouldn't cover). The hospital/Dr charged my insurance over $82,000 for my lapband but insurance would only cover a little over $76,000. Of course neither my insurance nor dr's office is open on the weekends. Talk about shocking mail!! (I do have my pre-op paper work that says "method of payment for surgery... " and cost of surgery "$0"

The implant (band) .. $42,537.10 OR services...............$28,551.90 Recovery room...........$1616.30 Med-Sur-Gy (whatever this is) $2,085 Pharmacy ...................$899.00 IV solutions..................$1006.50 MED/SUR supplies...... $183.30 Sterile supply.................$2350.70 Lab..................................$6.00 X-ray (barium swallow) $770.20 Anesthesia........................$223.70 Drugs...............................$1792.70 This is the itemized bill.... I had1 hernia repair (required 1 stitch) .. The guy did hit my voice box going in so I was hoarse for a few days. Guess I might wait to see if the Dr sends me something.. Or call insurance first

I couldn't believe the amount billed either! I knew self pay wasn't that much so when I saw it I was thankful I didn't have to pay it.. Then I get this one.. Hope it is just a "write" off amount. I wasn't expecting to pay this much.

I had mine minutes after leaving the recovery room. For me, I had to stand up by the xray machine and sip on chalk (um, I mean some thick white liquid). Thats it.. nothing esle

Everyone is different. Some feel restriction right away and others don't until several fills later. I started feeling a tiny bit of restriction after my first fill about 3 wks out. I had my 2nd fill on Monday and by Thursday I could tell a difference especially since I had my first stuck experience eating almonds. Last night was my first real challenge. I went out to dinner with a few of my coworkers and they don't know I had the surgery. We were all talking and having a nice time that no one even noticed I only ate 2 pieces of shrimp and 1 rib.. (Talk about WAY less amount) Before, I would have eaten the whole meal and then some.

I haven't been able to post on this site for days now... If anyone wants another buddy on MFP, my username is weightloss_dreamer

Any word?

I am weightloss_dreamer on MFP.