jetti

Kat Nothing gets me moving like Spanish music does!!! I have been to 2 concerts this year by my favorite group - Aventura - and I didnt sit down the entire time! Even drove down to Virginia with a friend to see them!!

ok I feel like the outsider...I LOVE Spanish music...Aventura is my fav as well as Don Omar, Wisen y Yandel, RKM & ken -Y, Monchie & Alexandra plus a bunch of others. I also like R&B and rap plus a mix of some "pop" alternative.

ok I am a little confused...I have been reading alot of threads about people get fills at different fill centers and I was wondering what the reason for this is? I understand if you have your band done outside the US what the need for a fill center would be but why would you go to one if you had the surgery in the US? Wouldn't the surgeon do the fills? Also concerned if insurance will cover the fills. do they generally cover fills if they cover the surgery?

does anyone know if there is a time frame that you should wait from after banding to flying out of the country? I am not sure when I will be banded yet but I am hoping before the end of the year and I am also looking to take a vacation to visit a friend out of the country possibly in January.

hi everyone! hope you all had a great long weekend! I was mostly lazy on sunday and monday after working all week at both jobs I took the 2 days off as a mini vacation the only thing I did was went to play mini golf - my new obssesion and I baked some chocolate chip Cookies yesterday and then I spent the rest of the day trying to force myself not to eat any and I did not succeed - I had about 4 and let me tell you 1 of my cookies is the size of 2!! I am super jealous of all you ladies that will be going to Disney. I went for the first time a few years ago and I was like a kid in a candy store...I LOVE IT!!!! i can wait to go back again!!! have a great tuesday everyone!

patty I am glad to here everything with your mom turned out great!!! Also glad that no one was hurt in the earthquake. thats one positive about NJ we dont get any earthquakes!! hope everyone had a great weekend and labor day!

Hi I have flown from NJ to cali recently (7 hour flight) and yes the seat belt was barely able to click but that was the worst of the flight. just make sure you have some music and or magazines and books to try and keep yourself occupied. Just keep reminding yourself what is going to be on the other side of the flight - a new you! good luck on your adventure and just keep thinking that you are getting closer and closer to your band!

2) I have never been into drinking or drugs. 3) My idea of a good Friday night has always been putting on comfy PJs and cuddling up with a great book (what a dork). 6) I am the only one that colors in my son's Coloring Books! these look like they could have been part of my own list. I love to color!!

I have 2 moments that are not quite embarrassing but they were very hurtful. 1. while vacationing in Spain with my best friend - we are both big girls - we were just walking around the city enjoying ourselves on a night out. we were walking up the street and there was a group of guys standing outside of a little bar staring at us as we were walking and as we came up to them and walked passed one guys says out loud "you know, you can find something special in any women except those 2" none of his friends said anything and he didnt say anything else but what he had said was enough. once we turned the corner we both just stopped to catch our breathes because it felt like someone had kicked us in the chest. we continued on with our night but it did put a little damper on it. 2. another vacation with the same friend this time to DR we were once again minding our own business laying on the beach in our covering 2 piece suits and these 2 guys walking down the beach made the usual beached whale comment. I was just so baffled by this. I mean what were we doing that was bothering them so much?? the best part of both of these incidents is that the people that made the comments were American and all of the locals in both locations had no problems with us what so ever! in fact they could not get enough of us!!!

I would love to be able to go to college but currently I work 2 jobs just to pay bills and make ends meet so attending school right not is not realistic but I truely hope that this is just a temp "excuse" and I will one day be able to make this one dream come to life. Sounds corny I know but every since I was about 5 I wanted to be a teacher for young children and that just grew as I got older

hmmm... 1. I make the best chocolate chips Cookies 2. I am a dork and have a crush on a friend and no one knows 3. No one will watch Aladdin with me because I repeat EVERY word 4. I don't smoke or drink - never have never will 5. I am paranoid of being in a car accident - I have been in a few and it still continues to mess with my mind 6. I still miss my first love who broke my heart 7. I always wanted to be a teacher but messed up by not going to college and i regret it almost everyday 8. I love kids but I am afraid that I will never find the right relationship and I will never have kids 9. I LOVE to laugh 10. the only books I have ever reread our the sisterhood of the traveling pants books and I cant wait to read them again most of those are things that nobody knows about

this has got to be the thing that freaks me out the most. I am not banded yet and I think I can handle the change of diet and all of that but to me my hair is the one thing I have going for me right now. I always had short hair and right now it is sitting at my lower back and I am trying to brace myself to have to cut it once I get banded and it starts to fall out. My hair is the ONE thing that I get compliments on so its going to be very hard to lose it. but hopefully once i lose some weight I can be known for something else besides my hair

Good luck with your surgery and don't worry about the flight. 2 hours is a short flight and you will be back on the ground before you even know it. You will probably be preoccupied with a million things on your mind that you wont even realize whats going on

I have many embarrassing fat moments but my most recent sticks out and I am glad that I can laugh about it. I went to a carnival with my neighbor, her daughter and the daughters friend. The daughter doesnt like rides so I was going on a few with her friend...well we went to go on one of those rides that spins you around and around on your side and all the good stuff. I kinda knew that I was in trouble while we were waiting to get on the ride when I saw a younger but bigger boy have to get off the ride - but of course I thought i'll be fine. so I walk to get in the seat and it is sitting at my lower back so I had to hop up to get into it...YEAH RIGHT lots of luck with that one. so the guy sitting next to me who was a worker gets out of his seat and proceeds to hoist me up by my left leg and I finally make it into the seat after scraping my entire butt and tail bone with the thing that goes in between your legs. then the harness comes down and I close it - or what I thought was closing it. the ride worker comes over and tries to close it and of course I was not surpirse when it didnt close he then tells me I cant stay on the ride. Ok now I have to jump off and then do the walk of shame back to the front of the ride to retreve my flip flops in front of everyone and then walk back to the exit. at least that was the only ride that I got kicked off of!!

so thankful that NJ doesnt require putting the weight down!! i would definitely lie

hi I had my gallbladder out when I was 17 - not due to band issue - and I remember being sore and not being able to cough or laugh for a few days but other then that i felt good. I am hoping when I get banded i will feel the same way

Angelica I also have BC/BS NJ and I am currently trying to go through all the steps to get approved to be banded. I call then insurance company today and they told me that I have to have pre authorization and any requirement would be given to my dr at that time. I do know that most insurance companies require 6 months of a doctor supervised weight loss plan, an MRI of neck and back and a phyc evaluation. I am sure there are more things but those are the only ones I know of right now. I have tried to get most of this done before I pick a surgeon and go for a consult in hopes that I can try to be "ahead" of the game. As for as I know they do not require you do have any other health issues besides the high BMI. Good luck with your approval and your surgery and if you get any other info on BC/BS NJ please post it.

I have in the past year been to 2 info seminars just trying to get as much info and research about the procedure and doctors. Well I am looking to make an appointment with a doctor that I have not attended a seminar for and I was wondering with they will require me to attend their seminar? I work 2 jobs so its not easy for me to request off to go to the seminars and all the doctors appointments so any info would be great. BTW the doctor that I want to make an appoinment with is Dr. Abkin or Dr. Bertha. Any info on those doctors would be appreciated as well. thanks!!!

Jeez ladies all this talk about going to Disney and swimming is get me depressed!! I had a long weekend working my part time job and my feet are rebelling against my 280lb body!!!! I would give anything to kick back and relax by the pool and dream the pain away but anywho...I hope you all are having a great weekend. by the way where is everyone from? I have already heard that not everyone is from NJ I was just wondering

mandy i vote for the suit on the right in my opinion its the nicest. its shows off your great shape better and no offense to anyone but the other 2 are a little more "old lady"

I have always been heavy to put it nicely. The lowest that I can remember was around 180 and that was for a few months senior year of high school when I had lost alot of weight because I was having my gall bladder removed. Needless to say I have continued to gain since then and I now weigh about 280. so in the past 10 years I have gained 100 pounds - funny enough thats how much I want to lose. I thought I was HUGE back then but now when I look at pictures I would give anything to be that size again!!! Well as I am going through the process to be banded I just keep thinking JEEZ its gonna take 1-2 years at least to lose all the weight that I want too and that seems like an eternity to me and then today it finally dawned on me that at least it wont take the 10 years that it took me to gain all this weight!!!!!!!! I will be grateful for anything that I lose because at least the scale wont be going up anymore!!! I dont know if anyone else has felt like I did but to me it was another positive to push me to get the band. Oh yeah and i go for my phsyic evaluation on 8/29 and I am super nervous about what he is going to ask. any words of advise?? :phanvan

Thanks for all the welcome notes everyone!!!

I was thinking about posting the same question while I was drivng to work today. For me deciding to get the band or have gastric was always simple. I don't like how severe and invasive that the gastric is. I never like the idea that they would be cutting things and reattaching them elsewhere!!! I like the thought of losing the weight slower so that my body and mind will have more time to adjust. I know a few people that have had gastric and they lost so much weight so fast and I dont think that is something i could or would want to deal with. well thats just my opinion. I would also like to see what helped others make the decision of band over gastric

north jersey here!!!!

I am 29 single - no kids no husband - and live in north jersey about 15 minutes from NYC. I work 2 jobs to pay the bills and keep myself busy but clearly not busy enough to not eat I love to read, hang out with friends, watch girlie movies, listen to music, dance and travel. I am not banded...YET. I am working my way there going to all the different doctors appointments and all of the FUN stuff. It's a lot but I know in the end it will all be worth it!!! I don't plan on telling everyone about the band. So far just my mom and my best friend know I am doing all of the testing. Unfortunately my friend and my main support recently moved to Spain so I don't have her here for all the analyzing that I tend to do about everything in life and my mom is the smallest person I know so she supports my decision but I don't think she can ever really understand what it is all about. I know I can find support on this board along with answers to every question and for that I am very thankful. well that's me in a nutshell and I look forward to getting to know you all.