Lori Voss Green

I am the type of person who will do ANY and EVERY thing to avoid throwing up. My daughter is 16 now, but when I was pregnant with her, I threw up every day for pretty much 9 months. Since then I will avoid it at all costs. Even when I've had the flu and KNEW just throwing up would make me feel better, I will do what I can to keep that from happening. Now that I have the band, I am even more terrified. I am so afraid if I do throw up, something will go wrong with the band. I just keep my fingers crossed that I don't have to face that problem!

I tried the nuggets tonight. Not bad. Hubby hated them. LOL

I was actually coming to ask something similar. I had surgery on Aug. 7th. My first fill will be on Sept. 20th. It seems like FOREVER. The last few days I have found myself feeling hungry often. Actual stomach growling hungry. I eat 3 meals a day, 300-400 calories per meal per my dr's instructions. Sometimes I am still left feeling hungry at the end of the day. My question was going to be does this get better after finally getting the first fill.....?

Hahaha trust me, I know how you feel. Not having to pay anything was a huge part of why I finally got my surgery! Also, I bet you made that Customer Advocate's day! I can't tell you how very rude and mean a lot of people can be and are when they call and speak to us. No words can describe how nice it is when you can not only tell someone something good, but also when you know you are making a difference in someone's life.

OMG...please ignore all of the typos and grammatical errors in my last post. That was........bad.

FallonB....out of pocket means the most you pay yourself. Sometimes deductible is included in that amount, sometimes the two are separate. If you are using providers who are in network, they are required per their contract to accept whatever BCBS figures to be the allowed amount. Anything they bill over that they have to take as a write off. For example, if they billed 70,000 but BCBS allowed 10,000.....they would have to write off the difference. Then, if your deductible is met, you will owe a % of the 10,000 until you reach the out of pocket maximum. So, if you have an 80/20 policy, once your Deductible is met, BCBS pays 80% of the allowed amount (the 10,000 in the example here) and you pay 20%. That 20% you are paying is what goes to the out of pocket maximum. So the MOST you would pay out of pocket would be your deductible then whatever the out of pocket maximum is. Take my policy for example. I had a 600.00 deductible. After deductible was met, BCBS paid 80% of the allowed amount, I paid 20%. My 20% went toward my out of pocket maximum of 1200.00. Once my 20% added up to 1200.00 (because my deductible didn't apply to my out of pocket maximum), they services for the rest of the year are covered 100% of the allowed amount by BCBS as long as the providers are in network & the services is a benefit of my contract. I had surgery (not lap band, different) in January. My deductible and out of pocket maximum was met with that....so I had 1800.00 in bills that were my responsibility. However, after that BCBS has paid 100% of the allowed amount for my claims. So when I had surgery (lap band) in August, I had no patient share because my deductible and out of pocket maximum were met in January. Hope that helped!

My 1st isn't until Sept. 20th. I am sooo impatient.

I am about to be set loose to go back to eating "regular" foods. I will be honest and say I am feeling overwhelmed and intimidated. I am so used to junk food/fast food/easy & quick foods. I feel like I don't know what to eat. I am not sure what foods to pick. I don't know what are the best choices. I am worried I am going to go back to the bad foods.....just smaller portions. Help?

Thanks, everyone!

So what happens if you don't get ENOUGH calories and/or protein in a day? I have found that I have days where I am just not hungry at all. Sometimes I FORGET to eat because I don't feel hungry. Once back on regular food, my nutrionist has said to eat between 900-1200 calories a day and 60 g of protein. No mention of carbs/fat. (Is there a goal for those!?) So if I don't hit the calorie and protein mark in a day, what is the result?

I actually am being allowed to go back to regular foods on Tuesday, which is why I was wondering.

Yay!!! Good for you!! I work for BCBS of IL and one of the best feelings is telling someone when they call in that their surgery was approved! Having the 6 months of weight loss program removed from the approval criteria has made it much easier for people to get approved!!

Good luck to you!! For me, it was the best decision I ever made!

I have yet to have my first fill, so honestly the smaller bites, chewing A LOT, and eating slow hasn't been an issue. am working on it now so that I am prepared, but I will admit it is hard when there are no issues if you don't do it. I've been on mostly mushy foods too, so chewing is difficult to master when the foods you are eating don't require it much. I just know that I, for one, have NO desire to find out what stuck food or eating too fast and throwing up feels like.

I have found one of the hardest things for me is to NOT drink with my meals. I am so used to have my drink when I am eating. I am doing good at NOT drinking, but it really is something I have to be VERY aware of.

That's a relief! It's hard for me to get that much Water in because I work 10 hour days. We're taking phone calls all day & they frown up taking "personal breaks" in between our scheduled breaks. I joke that I have the bladder of a gnat and can't hold my water. Drinking plain water for me is hard, I have to FORCE myself. Adding the Crystal Light makes it easier for me to drink. Still can't hold my water though! LOL So does anyone have any food suggestions when just starting back? There are so many foods I don't like. I feel like I'm a bit lost on HOW to eat healthy.

So if I am drinking a bottle of water & add Crystal Light to it, can I count that as part of my 64 oz?

Eating too fast can cause food to get stuck. Also, it takes 20 minutes for your brain to know you are full. If you eat too fast, the brain doesn't get that message in time and you then over eat.

Thank you all for the responses, SO glad I am not alone. I was a bit freaked!!! I did call the dr today and the nurse just said to let it dissolve. That's nice and all for what is still INSIDE, but the piece poking out was driving me nuts. I ended up clipping it as close to the skin as possible. It's still there but a bit less annoying. Good to know my insides aren't going to unravel. LOL

Is this possible? On one of my small incisions I noticed something that, at first, I thought was the edge of a scab. However, upon inspection I am almost positive it's a stitch. I had no external stitches, just whatever was internal. Could that be what this is? Of course I am going to call the dr, I just wanted some thoughts from the wise people here.

I joked with my husband that I was afraid to use Tweezer because I don't want to unravel my insides or have it just coming out like a multicolored scarf in a bad magic trick! LOL

Tuesday will be 2 weeks post op for me. From the day I started the pre op diet (2 weeks before surgery), I have lost 21 lbs. So, that's 21 lbs in just under a month. I am proud of that........yet part of me feels like it's not enough. How do you get over that feeling?

I am 2 weeks post op today. I have gained back 2 lbs that I lost. Is this normal? I am still in the soft food stages and I am eating 3 meals a day of a cup of food or less, as instructed.

I am feeling really frustrated today. I feel so hungry. I've had some soup and some sf pudding and some cottage cheese. I just can't get over this feeling of being hungry. How does everyone deal with it? Ideas? Suggestions? Been drinking lots of water, which isn't helping either.

Thank you all for the responses! Jim....I think that is the issue. I have SO much to lose that right now 21 lbs seems.....insignificant. My husband was cuddling with me last night and told me he can tell I am losing weight. While it was sweet of him, I honestly don't believe those words. I mean, with so much to lose, how can anyone tell a difference with just 21 lbs gone. That's just my mindset right now I guess.