WASaBubbleButt

So what did the problem end up being? You posted this a week ago, what did your doc say?

It isn't going to work until you get restriction. ALL of us had surgery because we can't do it alone. What if you get your next fill under fluoro so you can get restriction on the next fill? Six fills... that's ridiculous! Understand, I am not blaming you but I am blaming your fill person. I hate these huge mega bands, it takes too long to get restriction and people become disappointed and give up. Don't be one of those people, be firm with your fill person and tell them this is without excuse, take control here and tell them you/your insurance company is not going to continue playing this game. Be firm, get it done.

I don't want to be a cave woman, I would imagine they did the same. LOL I'm just not into camping, I do not want to share my bed with frogs and bugs. Yuck. Once you get to a normal weight and have control over it you would do darn near anything so you don't have to give it up. ;o)

Blechhhhhhhhhhhhhh........ Bugs should be against the law! As should camping. Yick.

NOOOOOOO! Never onion rings again! In my college days we pooled our food. We had onions, Bisquick, and beer. Ate onions rings for three days. LEFTOVER onion rings, mind you. NEVER AGAIN! They make me gag just looking at them. I love food. Today I know how to eat verrry healthy and very cheap. I don't eat cheap because I have to, I just like those foods. Dirt = gooooood food! Yum! Beans, produce, yummy! When I was in college I worked with Mentally Retarded adults. They wanted to go camping. Yeah, I do not think so. Not me, not camping. My parents lived near the campsite in a big house with an indoor grill. Guess where we made dinner? Then my staff slept in tents, I stayed with Mommy and Daddy! ;o) Bugs, they camp too. I am not a bug, I do not camp.

THANK YOU! I gave up explaining that a long time ago. I only see it on band boards, I never see it on sleeve boards but I cringe each time I see .... "My doctor said to eat 800 calories a day and if I do not eat 1500 calories a day I don't lose." Oye veh....

Shoulder injections... they work soooo well! I love my sports MD! ;o) Oral steroids, I can't take them. I turn into a.... not nice person. I mean REALLY NOT NICE at all! Mood swings, all of it. Don't be surprised if you are *really* thirsty too!

I can't say I have been rich but I have wanted for nothing. I have also been so poor my neighbors and I used to pool our food on Sundays to see if we had anything to eat. (Can't eat onion rings to this day, college days and long story.) I'd be poor and thin ANY 'ol day over rich and fat. In college I was poor and thin, then I was well to do and fat. Today I am very comfortable and thin. BTDT... never fat again! Camping sucks.

I know what you mean about losing 100# and trying to imagine what that would be like. I am a LOT farther out than you considering my band time as well as my sleeve time and I've lost 132#. I never thought this day would come. During weight loss it is exciting each time the scale goes down, but after you get to goal and have time to think about it it's different. You sit back and think, "WOW! I lost a person!" Hind sight is the eye opener with WLS, that is when you figure out all the stuff you learned while you were losing it but didn't realize you knew it. If I knew then, what I know now... things would have been easier in some ways and harder in some ways. I have a box of Velveeta cheese in my cupboard. One day after I lost about 20# I was at the store and I realized... I've lost **10** of those! That's a lot of Velveeta cheese. Today when I need to get back on track I look at that old, nasty, expired, gross cheese and realize.... I have lost 66 of those. Melt that and glue it to your hips! That's a lotta lotta lotta cheese. That box is probably freeze dried by now but I do not care. I will never throw it away. That was what kept me realizing just how much I was losing and today it's my icon. ;o) In my wildest dreams I never thought I would reach a point where I had over 100# to lose. When I finally looked at myself and realized I was pretty darn fat and it was time to do something about it I just got depressed and ate more. Today I look back and I think it was all worth it. I wouldn't want to regain but I'm glad I have this journey. I have learned more about myself than I ever would otherwise. I have skills and knowledge that I wouldn't have if I hadn't have lost all that weight. I think there is something about being a 100# plus - person. Meaning, those of us who have over 100# to lose. It's just different, the mindset, what we learn, what we experience. Hard to explain but it's different emotionally and physically. I'm not saying it's better or worse, it's different. I'm glad I got fat because I wouldn't have had the journey. Someday I will be the wise old lady down the street and all the little children are going to want to come to my house and hear my stories. I already have a ton of them! But it's a journey like this that will create that little old lady I'll become someday. Lisa, I see you as being exactly the same. I think you will be the cool old lady down the street that kids will love.

OMG! I love the last line of your sig, that you are in this for the clothes! HA! Too funny!

I kept calories at 600 daily throughout my entire WLJ and did 1-2 hours of hard cardio daily and never really had a true stall.

I do not think so, it wouldn't make any sense anyway. If you don't need comorbidities for a BMI of 40 it makes no sense that they would require comorbidities for an even higher BMI. I wonder if you are thinking about something else, some ins co's won't band someone with a BMI of 50 or greater and then some won't do DS until you are a BMI of 50. Could you be thinking of something along those lines?

Welcome to the forum! I do not know about your insurance company but have you called to see if they cover the sleeve without it being a revision? Does your BMI meet their requirements? Did this insurance company pay for your band?

Parrothead is correct, you need comorbidities for BMIs under 40.

Congrats on a date! This really is the first day of the rest of your brand new life!

Welcome to the forum! It's great to have you here. I've had a band and now I have a sleeve. You couldn't pay me to have another band. Bands are a great way to lose about half your excess weight short term. They are hard to deal with regarding getting stuck all the time, the vomiting, sliming, foaming, it's just a very hard journey. I was totally prepared for hard work in losing weight but I was not prepared for the constant problems with banding. Sleeves are soooo much easier in so many ways. The food limitations many have with banding result in chronic constipation due to an inability to eat vegetables and other fibrous foods. With my sleeve I can eat anything I want but in very small quantities. The passport card is all you need and the total cost is $45.00. You go to your local post office (some require an appt), fill out a form, give them a certified copy of your birth certificate, give them $45, swear an oath and you are done. If you get a passport card instead of a passport book just please know you can only travel to Canada and Mexico by ground. If you want to fly into either country or if you want to travel to any other country you will need the passport book. That is $75 vs. $20 for the card. Then for first time passport users there is an additional $25.00 fee. So for a card it is $45, for a book it is $100 total. Be sure to make a photo copy of your card/book when you get it and keep it in a secure place at home where a friend can get to it in a pinch in case you lose your card. I went alone to Dr. Aceves for my band and sleeve. It's no big deal, there are so many people checking on you throughout your hospital stay it really isn't a problem. If you feel better bringing someone with you then by all means, do! My cellphone works at the hospital well and the hospital has wireless internet connection for you. It's good to have you here!

It's called Body Dysmorphia and most of us experience it. It takes a long time to go away.

Can you tell them you are willing to pay the consult but you aren't sure you want surgery just yet so you can't pay for a psych eval and program fee? At least you can talk to your surgeon and just take this one step at a time?

My 3 month check up (at my one year post op) was primo! The only food group I have cut out is white carbs. Bread, Pasta, flour, sugar, and potatoes. I feel great, I maintain well, life is grand. I feel one hell of a lot better than when I was having band problems and lived on Protein shakes and tuna!

You can see obesity trends according to the state you live in: BRFSS Prevalence and Trends Data - List of All States Just find your state and click for more details.

Jacqui is right, spot training was proven ineffective years ago. You need hard cardio and lots of it. Your body will burn fat where it wants to and you get no say-so over it. :tongue2:/

Surgeon skill plays a big role in that as well. If your surgeon is inexperienced or simply rough during surgery you are going to have a more difficult recovery. I went shopping two days after my band with no problem whatsoever and after my sleeve revision I went for a long weekend up north within a week post op. Surgeon skill means everything in the world. Also, some people just don't do pain well. But I have to say, I never had pain with my band, just sore and uncomfortable and I had a hiatal hernia repair done at the same time. Why would you be eating peanuts 2 days post op?

The problem with surgery loans is that they are unsecured loans so your credit has to be higher. A friend of mine is going through this right now. Every single surgery loan company has told her the same thing, for a surgery loan you have to be around 675-700 before they will even consider it. :rolleyes2:(

If you want me to edit something for you just send me a link and I'll do whatever you wish. Maybe we should talk to Alex about that. I'm not sure why the restriction is there.

VitaLady is a great source but it's kind of expensive, isn't it? Is it cheaper to contact the manufacturer? They have some sort of sample deal they do. After you decide what you like this is the cheapest place I have found when you figure in shipping: Netrition.com - The Internet's Premier Nutrition Superstore! No matter how much you order it's only $4.95 for shipping. I'm waiting for two orders from there myself. Cheaper shipping doesn't help when I forget stuff and have to order twice. ;o) I am no help with Nectar flavors, I'm the rare one that doesn't like any of them.