bigsexy

<p>Becky the time will pass quickly. I remember when i originally called for my appointment was back in october and I wasnt able to be seen till march. The time flew and now here I am. </p> <p>I did have a bit of a dissappointment today. I called my insurance today to find out why it is taking so long for them to approve the surgery and they claimed that they had yet to receive anything about it. I called the woman who is in charge of submitting for approval and she was really rude and dismissive and said that she had. I tried to get her to listen to me about where to send it to (based on my conversation with the insurance rep) and she was less than enthused to hear about it. Needless to say I'm pretty sure she didn't take down any of the info I gave her. </p> <p> </p> <p>I then called alba and said - that I was hurt by how inconsiderate this woman was and that although I am anxious to get on with this - my intention was to help find out where the breakdown of communication was and expedite fixing the issue. And that at no time did i deserve to be treated so poorly. I also expressed my displeasure with the fact that such a person was a representative of the practice and that it was making me rethink who I was going to have perform the surgery. Of course that was said out of anger and frustration and I want Dr t to do the surgery because he is a very skilled and caring dr. That still doesn't justify being treated very poorly by this woman. </p> <p>I will say this though. She is definitely not a reflection of the core values that Dr. T, Nina and Alba have. I truely believe they have the patients best interest at hand. I have always been treated with respect by them and have the utmost confidence in their abilities. Will keep you posted on the updates.</p>

Josette - i wouldn't feel discouraged at 53 lbs. the average person loses 1-2 lbs a week. you are about 37 weeks out from surgery. so the weight range of loss is 37-74lbs. You are right there in the middle of that range. You should be proud of your accomplishment. Those people that are in the 100lb range are either exceptionally good losers, there are some or they are "just keeping up with the jones's". I'm not saying they are liars but its human nature to embelish a bit if others are doing better than you. Keep up the great work you will be at your goal in no time.

Oops, Despite being 50% Canadian, I failed to see that I was posting in a Canadian section. Apparently all three are available there as well. Good luck in whatever band you are given..

I guess I am a Layman but if I recall correctly the differences are subtle- the Swedish band has/had to be closed by sutures. The lap-band and MIDBand have proprietary clasps or latching techniques that keep the band closed. The MidBand is also a bit wider and their website claims that it is low pressure. I am not sure what that means but that appears to be the major difference. The ports are slightly different in appearence as well. The lapband is made entirely of silicon and the midband has either titanium or surgical stainless steel as part of it. All of them essentially work the same. Only the lap-band from Allergan/Inamed is available in the United States. Although a Johnson and Johnson company aquired the swedish band and it is currently in phase 3 testing by the FDA. The MIDBand is a french product and available in the UK, France and other EU countries. I think it may also be available in Thailand. I suppose if my insurance didn't cover it I would choose a vacation in France or the UK over Mexico anyday.

<p>Weight lifting can be both aerobic and anaerobic. Back when I was a football player in college, we had trainers who would tailor our workouts to build lean muscle mass and maintain a heart rate that would promote weightloss and fittness. They were essentially circuit training exercises. Lifting weights, stretching etc. The weights we did were light and done in bursts. As many reps as possible in a 40 second time frame using good technique and form, with 20 seconds rest between sets. 2 sets per station before moving to the next. We would do this everyday and took about 1 hour doing 2 laps around the 15 stations. Not only does your heart rate stay elevated the entire time because you are quickly moving from station to station, but you are gaining lean muscle mass. The kind that best burns fat. Good luck. I have just started to get back into training again - so hopefully that will help me shed the weight faster.</p>

I think you may have taken what Dr. T said about soup choices as can never have soup at all. He said to avoid cream based soups because of the extra calories. There are tons of other soups out there. For other ideas - call one of the nutritionists he works with. I am sure they will be more than happy to help you out. Good luck. I am about to be banded by dr t = can't wait.

This is from my surgeons patient handbook LAP–BAND® Adjustable Gastric Banding System Diet Instructions AFTER Surgery • Stay away from carbonated or citrus drinks to decrease nausea – “sugared” drinks are OK for a source of carbohydrates at this time • No foods that are “doughy” or “sticky” - like soft white bread, coconut, chips, popcorn, or dried fruits - they could obstruct the band • Very fibrous foods such as broccoli, asparagus, celery, artichokes, pineapple, and rhubarb could also obstruct the band if not overcooked and cut into small pieces • food that is difficult to digest includes nuts, almonds, and peanuts • Caffeinated drinks are not usually an issue • Drink lots of Water (48 oz – 64 oz/day). Avoid gulping water, sip small amounts slowly and gradually through a straw. You may find that cold water tastes better than lukewarm • Do not drink while you eat or within an hour before and after eating • If overeating occurs during the immediate post-operative phase, vomiting is expected with an increase risk of having the stomach tissue slip up through the band. IMMEDIATE POST OP DIET: Ice chips, 30ml of water every 15 min or nothing by mouth. A barium swallow (Upper Gastrointestinal study) is scheduled the next morning after surgery. DAY ONE: Clear liquids only (liquids you could see through), broth, Jell-O, apple juice, tea or popsicles. There are also clear Protein drinks – Ultra Cal liquid (Mead Johnson), Isopur (GNC store – raspberry, punch, or orange, has O carbs and whey protein), and Enlive (Ross – 10g of protein per 8 oz). It is common to have post-op swelling around the Band as a result of surgery. Do not be alarmed if you are unable to tolerate or swallow liquids easily. You will be monitored for this in the hospital, then discharged. FIRST TWO WEEKS: Transition to liquid diet including skim milk and tomato juice (a good source of protein and can be tolerated by LAP-BAND patients, unlike Gastric Bypass patients). Continue with full liquids such as creamed Soups and yogurt including a “protein shake” (Ensure Light, Boost, Instant Carnation Breakfast) at least twice a day. See detailed dietary guidelines for Lap Band patients. TWO TO FOUR WEEKS: pureed or blended foods (for example, applesauce, yogurt, creamy soups, cooked cream of wheat, farina, cream of rice, pudding). Patients can puree the following foods with skim/soy milk or broth: • Vegetables • meats • Casseroles *Patients who eat solid food too soon run the risk of dislocating the band, thereby developing an enlarged upper gastric pouch. Transitional Period to Solid Food on or about the FIFTH WEEK: Regular diet until first scheduled assessment for adjustment (sixth week post-op). Continue “Sugar-free” products. Expect to eat ½ cup of food at a time or 1 ounce – 1 ½ ounce by the 5th week Beware: the majority of patients will find it difficult, if not impossible, to eat whole chunks of meat, although ground beef is generally tolerated if well chewed. Food must be chewed well. It is important to make good food choices. To avoid hairloss eat protein-rich foods first at every meal (3 meals a day). Alcohol has a lot of calories, and therefore should be avoided.

Congrats - it took me till the age of 32 to realize i needed help. I am about to be banded and cannot wait. Keep up the good work

oh one more thing - the next support group meeting is Tuesday. May 15th 6-8pm Educational Resource Center (ERC) Building- Hublein Hall Corner of Hudson and Jefferson Streets Hartford Hospital campus FREE Parking at lot adjacent to building Led by Nina Arnold, MPH, RN, Certified Support Group Leader & Success Habits Instructor Guest speaker is Linda Mendonca, Personal Touch Manager for Nordstrom Discussion: The New You and the New Fashions

Becky - don't worry about the disorganization - it isn't that bad. I was more frustrated because I attended the same class twice and it takes me an hour+ to get to hartford. Each person's insurance is different so length of time to complete all the required tests etc will vary. Me personally my insurance is pretty reasonable. I completed all of Dr. Ts req'd tests etc in a matter of weeks. Dr. T required me to have bloodwork, psych eval, online information course (took about 15 min), barium upper GI, ultrasound (because of an enzyme in the bloodwork), EKG and 2 nutritionist visits (only 2 because my insurance did not require, however most require a min of six months dr supervised diet). Then after the EKG checked out the cardiologist said the anestethiologist would require a stress test and echo. I got those done the following week. It would have been faster but I couldn't find time in my schedule to get to hartford from the shoreline and coordinate all the appointments on the same day. The one thing that he makes all patients do is attend a class and then 2 support group meetings. The support group meetings are only once a month. The ones I happened to attend fell within a couple weeks of each other. Although you are encouraged to attend them every month even after the surgery. All in all it took about a month for me to be submitted for insurance approval. His office formulated my case and submitted to insurance a week ago. It is still out for approval but should be back in a day or two. So I haven't yet had to jump through any hoops. We are proceeding towards surgury and I am scheduled to have a preopp appointment this thurs. There are many insurance companies out there so be prepared. I got a letter from mine prior to my meeting with Dr. T outlining the requirements. He also will not see you unless you fill out all the paperwork in the patient package available online or in the class. Dr. T does not require you to lose weight before surgery however you do have to do a 10 day liquid diet prior. Its purpose is to shrink the liver to make it easier to manuver in your belly. As he said - if you don't follow the liquid diet - he will know!!!! The diet has the aforementioned intentions but results also include initial weight loss. To try to get used to drinking protien shakes I have started incorporating them into my daily meals. I have one for Breakfast and one for lunch with a yogurt or cottage cheese as a snack in between. Then I eat a sensible dinner with protien veggies and carbs. I have been doing this now for about a week and have already lost 9 lbs. I figure - it will make it easier to move to the all liquid phase if i get used to it now. Nina, Alba and Dr. T are all really nice people. Nina and Dr.T have a good bedside manner and in my opinion are genuinely concerned for your health. Word of warning however. If you smoke he will not opperate on you. In his words - smoking is the number 1 preventable cause of death. Obesity is number 2. I suggest choosing charlote meucci as the nutritionist - she is a wonderful lady that cares about healthy weight loss and is one of the people that works closely with dr t's office. but dr. t's office gives you a list of all the people you will have to see and you can choose from there. I still am nervous but NOT as bad as I was before. I also have days where I think- "im such a wuss - i should be able to do this on my own." What helps me the most is surrounding myself with people who know what it is like to be overweight and care about your health. I have actually had to cut ties with a couple of friends who were not supportive of surgery. turns out it was jealousy that caused them to act out. I haven't told a lot of people but the ones i have think its great that I am doing it. I have also spent tons of time here lurking in all the threads. Particularly following those who have had tremendous success in the before and after photos area. It came down to this. In my entire adult life i have been able to lose weight just never keep it off. I always gained back more than I lost and gradually just kept packing it on. I was an athlete in highschool and weighed 185 lbs. My highest weight was 326 and maintained that weight for about a year now (now i am 317). That is an avg of 10 lbs a year for 14 years. I tried all the diets, pills etc but always failed or created an excuse to fail. I decide that the lap band was the best alternative way to permanent weight loss but quickly came to the realization that it is only a TOOL and it isn't around our brains. I had a come to Jesus moment if you will, that told me the band is only there to assist me in losing weight and help me keep it off. it doesnt cause me to lose weight by itself. But i was going to have to overcome a serious food addiction and recognize that portion control and food selection play a key role. Like I said i am still waiting to be banded so i cannot speak from experience, but I know ultimately this is the right thing for me. Unfortunately, I have met people along the way to me making this decision (in real life and on other forums) who were looking for ways to cheat the band even before having the surgery. Those people will never lose weight and should not be included in your support circle. For me - I am not going to risk my life in surgery (although the risk is quite low for LB) to cheat the tool. If you are like me - in that this is the your last ditch effort to lose weight and you know that the benefits you will receive far out weigh the sacrifices you will have to make then it is the right thing to do. Not only will the tool assist you in losing weight, if you have other comorbidities - diabetes, sleep apnea etc these things too go away. It has been proven that these other disease cure themselves when dramatic weight loss occurs. Hope that helps. please feel free to ask anymore questions.

My surgeon recomended the clear isopure bottle for the day after surgery only. After that he recomends unjury, adkins, or eas. I quite like unjury but you have to mix it yourself. Adkins is chalky but tollerable. I tried eas this morning and it is great. 17g of protien per 11 oz serving and it is premixed. it has 110 cal. and no sugar. On a side note when dealing with my nutritionist, she said that the body needs about 50-60g of protien a day so you don't lose hair or look like death but like others said here can only absorb so much at a given time. You might want to spread that 50g out over the day. Also if you are on full liquids right now the calorie content in that shake if you were to drink multiple may cause you to exceed your daily caloric intake. I'm sure everyone is different but from what i understand most drs recomend 800-1000 cal a day. some will tell you up to 1200 but i am sure it depends on the patient and what is best for them. Talk to a nutritionist about it.

Lauren - apparently you are not a lone case. Drs. consider the surgery sucessfull if you have lost 65-70% of your excess weight. If you had 100lbs of excess weight you are sucessfull. Keep up the good work. Increase excercise and continue on your diet and the lbs will keep coming off.

Thanks donamarie - I just called Alba - to see if everything went through with insurance etc. Unfortunately got a voicemail. I am actually feeling much better about things lately. I purposefully had not told my parents or brother about it because I felt they would think of me as a failure and I didn't want my mom to worry. I happened to be on the phone with my brother the other night and he asked me if i ever thought of bariatric surgery. He is a big guy as well and had a friend who has lost over 200lbs with Gastric bypass and apparently was considering it. I said - ironically i am about to go into have the lap-band procedure. He was shocked but really interested. I sent him to this site as well as the allergan site to find out all about the procedure etc. He called me the next day and said he found out his insurance covers it and he is starting to research surgeons in his area. Unfortunately he lives across the country so we cannot do it at the same time but none the less a huge relief has been lifted off my shoulders. None the less i am prepping myself for my preop date. I have started some meal replacements with the liquid shakes so i can get used to them but eating solid protien at dinner. Next week i will start replacing some of my solid protien dinners with liquid to prep for surgery. I figure by the time i get my date liquid diet will be second nature.

Congratulations on being recently banded. How has it been adjusting to the change? any complications? what are your statistics? did you have any comorbidities?

Unjury is by far the best on the market. Even their chicken broth one is good. Just be sure never to heat over 130 degrees or it will break down the protien and you will not get any benefit. The chocolate and vanilla are great in morning coffee.

I finished all my preop work for the band surgery. It is being submitted to insurance this week. I find out my surgery date on May 10th. I am nervous as hell and sometimes still wonder why i couldnt do this on my own. In fact in my last nutritionist visit i mentioned the same thing. She said that this seems to be a male issue. Most women never have a doubt and the men always second guess. why do you think that is?

thanks - and i know what you mean by disorganized. I went to an informative class a few months back and there Dr. T said you have to attend 2 support group meetings prior to getting surgery. I called Alba to find out when one was and she told me to attend one last week. It was in the middle of the day so i had to take a half day off from work etc. When i got there it was a complete repeat of the class i attended a couple months prior and again it was reiterated that i still have to attend 2 support group meetings. I was pretty irritated because this was a total screw up and ultimately a waste of my time. I'm attending my first support group meeting tomorrow night - hopefully it won't be the same as my past experience.

I have lurked around this forum for quite some time, but as I get closer to my meeting with my surgeon, I have finally drummed up enough nerve to ask some questions. I am sure most people feel a bit hesitant about life after surgery but my biggest concerns stem around being satisfied by what I get to eat. Admitedly, I wouldn't be in need of surgery if I didn't eat anything and everything but there are some foods at this point I think I will have a hard time giving up. They include steak or any summer time grill meat, pizza, and above all beer. I don't drink alot of beer - equivelant to 1 a day. I work in a brewery so part of my job is to drink beer and that I cannot give up. Is this going to be a major problem? Secondly I have read that steak and other red meats cause problems. Am I ever going to get to eat a steak again? Finally is there a problem with eating pizza? A brief synopsis of me - 32yo, 6'1" 325. Was happiest in life when i weighed between 185 and 200 so that is my ideal goal. I have gone to the seminars my dr requires and am meeting with him at the end of the month. Have already met the requirements for my insurance to approve the surgery so it is just a matter of him submitting the request and getting on the schedule (suposedly)!! Looking at getting banded some time in April or early May. Any advise would be helpful. Finally is there a picture area on here where people post pictures of their surgeries or before and after shots. it seems to me i stumbled across some pictures at one time or another but have not been able to find them since. Thanks Bigsexy

All - I have some more questions about peoples weight loss trackers. All across this message board there are drastic weightlosses in very little time. I know that results may vary per person but Andrew 45lbs in 4 weeks is astonishing!!!! Congratulations. Others I have seen who were recently banded have lost a lot of weight too. Some have not. My surgeon says most of the patients he treats dont loose much weight in the first six weeks until their initial fill and then after that it is 1-2 lbs a week. My surgeon also says he does not and will not put any sailene in the band during the sugery. Can anyone shed some light to why this is the case and why there are such drastic weight losses when I've been told only to expect 1-2lbs a week?

I went to my first required lap band class today. I came away sort of down. It is really strange as I was driving there I was totally up for it but after the 1.5 hours I came away wondering if I should go through with the surgery. Funny thing is, I didn't hear anything I haven't read or heard before. I left down because I have the feeling of "why can't i do this on my own?" and "if i am required to walk 1hr a day post op to lose weight, what would be the difference if i were to walk 1 hr a day now" I am also worried about support from my wife, she doesnt understand what it is like to be big, and when i have tried dieting in the past, she continues on doing the things she does and eventually I fall off the wagon and gain back all the weight. Are these feelings normal or am I really not ready.

Andrew - i too searched long and hard before i found a job i love. Started as a hobby and then as a volunteer in a local brewery, now i am employeed there. I won't name the place because I am not a majority shareholder but, I will tell you it is a dream come true. there are not many jobs where you can drink on the job!!!!! I should qualify that statement. I actually don't drink all that much. in fact the only time i drink at home is when i am mowing the lawn etc.

thanks everyone - i appreciate all your responses. It is tough to realize that these cravings will go away but I have to believe they will subside. The beer issue isn't really a deal breaker for me although because i work in a brewery i am worried about how i will be effected. Tasting at the brewery is something that for the most part i could probably spit out however, I am worried that my taster will be off post surgery and I won't be able to do my job effectivly Also since beer is my livelyhood I obviously drink it so I hope folks don't think i am making excuses. Again - thanks for all your responses and I will keep coming for information. Thanks bigsexy