MrsFraga2016

A support system is all I'm looking for! Sounds great!

I met with my dietitian today and was told about my pre-op diet. I was concerned because I have been reading about people who were put on a strictly liquid diet before surgery. My dietitian however would like me to go on a 1000 Calorie diet that consists of eating regular food. I don't know why they have me doing this but it makes me nervous. I would rather not eat regular Food before surgery because I feel like I'm not going to stop myself from overeating. Has anyone else had to have a 1000 cal regular food diet before surgery?

I am a first grade teacher from Connecticut who started the pre-op process in April of 2013. My surgeon assured me on multiple occasions that I most definately would be able to get the surgery done before school started at the end of August. I speedily finished all of my necessary appointments needed to submit my case to the insurance company. The entire time I went to the surgeon, I was told that Cigna (my insurance company) was the enemy who took 30 day or more to get back to them. I called Cigna at around 4:00 today to inquire about my surgery case. Afterall, my doctor told me they would submitt my paperwork ASAP and I had last seen him on July 10th. The representative at Cigna was very nice and put me on hold to see how everything was going. I explained to the woman the same thing I told the doctor. 1.) I am a first grade teacher. 2.) I HAVE to get the sugery done this summer before school starts on August 28th. 3.) If I do not get the surgery done before school starts it will affect my students and their learning. 4.) It will put off when I can get the surgery until October (if they do not hurry up) because no teacher in their right mind would let a sub teach their class the first month of school. The first month of school is where you set your classroom rules and establish a classroom environment. This is especially important in the earlier grades where they are not as familiar with school routines yet. We also get all of our fall benchmark testing done in September. After waiting 10 minutes on hold, the woman says that "Your doctor did not submit your paperwork until July 30th." Wait...what? I saw my surgeon on July 10th! Why did it take 20 days to submit it when they told me they were all set?! The Cigna rep told me that she could not speed the process up any more either. At the most they could try to hurry it after day 24, but that's right when school starts.... After getting off the phone with Cigna, I called my doctor's office to raise holy hell, but of course, they're on vacation until August 12! I am so disappointed with them right now because they knew I HAD to get this surgery done before school started. I can't wait till they get back so that I can hear their excuse for taking 20 days to submit my paperwork. I now have to 1.) Go back to school without the surgery done and explain to everyone why. 2.) Take 1- 2 weeks off from my poor class to recover Sorry for my rant. I'm just so upset

Mis73, I am astounded by your weight loss. Congratulations to you. I hope I can achieve what you have achieved. You must be the poster child for lap band! What a success story!

My surgery is not scheduled yet because I am playing the 30 day waiting game with my insurance company. The dietician said they do not want their patients drinking a liquid diet before the surgery because it is not realistic of the life after surgery. I thought the purpose was to shrink your liver and your stomach.The foods they allow your to eat beforehand are restrictive healthy foods, but still, I'm sucking at doing that diet now let alone when I have to decrease my 1800 calories diet to 1000!

I am currently awaiting on my insurance to approve after getting all the necessaries done. I was told that my insurance company, Cigna, takes up to a month or more to approve by my doctor. As for the liquid diet, every doctor is different. If you like Soups, take fresh veggies and cook them and then make Soup out of them. Asparagus makes a great soup as well as broccoli. All you do is boil it and add it to the blender with some of the liquid you cooked it in. Then add seasonings to taste. Simply, easy, healthy, and liquid.

Years ago, when I was in high school, a friend of the family had lost a lot of weight naturally. He said one day he just woke up with the realization of, "It's okay to be hungry." What a revalation in a world where we grew up being told we needed to have clean plates and that dessert was something that you had after dinner, even if you weren't hungry anymore. I think a lot of us feel hungry now and think, "Oh no! I'm hungry!" I too need to realize, it's okay to be hungry. If I go to bed and feel a rumbly tummy, who cares. I ate meals and I am by no means starving. It's okay to be hungry.

My whole life I have had a problem with night time snacking. I guess you could say I learned this behavior from my parents who to this day still night time snack. I could be the healthiest person during the day--eating healthy food, portion control, and exercise, but there's something about 8pm that kicks my night time grazing into motion. The psych eval guy told me I have "binge eating disorder" which to a certain degree I agree with. He also told me that he had to write something on the insurance papers to "diagnose me" with. Sometimes I'm not even hungry and I snack anyway. Then *POOF* there goes my whole day and I've consumed 1000+ calories from dinner on. My habit is funny. I eat while I'm watching TV at night. I snack primarily from 8pm-10pm. I only snack if I'm watching TV. My dietician told me that "everytime I think about snacking get on the ellyptical" that I have in my living room.....yeah right. Others have told me to shut the TV off and do something else. TV is my way to relax at night while I'm alone and my boyfriend is at work (after my long day at work). I've toiled with the idea of going upstairs to bed at 8pm and watching TV on my IPAD. I know my lazy butt will not walk downstairs to get food and I do not eat in bed. Does anyone else have this snacking problem? Does anyone have any advice? I need to break this habbit NOW.

I think I read somewhere that Pam Anderson would brush her teeth so that she wouldn't eat Snacks as well. She said the toothpaste tasted horrible with food so she didn't want to eat anyway. Everytime she wanted to snack she brushed her teeth instead. Thank you to everyone for the tips and tricks. I told my dietician about your suggestions today at my appointment and she's excited for me to try them

Wow! What a great idea this is- to take a pic in an old outfit. You look great!

I had a very bad experience with my pulmonologist. I went to Pulmonologists of Norwich, CT at Backus Hospital. My doctor, Dr. Radu, had no personality and it was very awkward. While I did not have to get a stress test, she ordered a rung of other tests. 1.) A sleep apnea study 2.) Breathing tests (because I have asthma) The sleep study was AWFUL. You go to the hospital and have to be hooked up to all these wires and monitors and are expected to sleep while someone is watching you on a camera. The tec kept coming in and waking me up (after I would FINALLY fall asleep) because the wires were coming out of my nose. The third time she woke me up, she woke me up to tell me I had stopped breathing 40 times that night (and it was only 12:30 and I went to bed at 10:30). She then took the wires out of my nose and put the rediculous CPAP machine on my face (after never having used it before). As a mouth breather, I had to wear the full mouth and nose mask. The CPAP machine pushes air into your mouth so your throat stays open. It was hard at first, but I got used to it. I somehow fell asleep, but woke up to me ripping the mask off my face in my sleep at 2am. The tec came in and put it back in. I magically fell asleep again and slept until she woke me up at 5:30am. While I am glad to know that I have severe sleep apnea, the test was an awful experience. I'm supposed to go for my breathing test this Saturday, but I don't need it to get my surgery. I'll probably cancel it. I hope I didn't scare you too much. This has just been my experience.

If you have a smart phone, try using the app "lose it". It is free and a wonderful tool to help you count calories. You can even scan the barcodes of the food you are eating using the camera and they automatically pop up on your food "journal". This is what my dietician suggested I do. She also told me to exercise 15 minutes per day. Going for a walk or using an ellyptical for 15 minutes a day is better than not doing anything at all Hang in there!

I have heard whispers of this pre-op diet online and would like to know what you all have experienced with it. Tell me what you ate for meals, how you felt on it, etc. My doctor has not told me start my pre-op diet yet, but I want to start it ahead of time. So far I have seen the dietician once. I see her again on July 18th, 2013 (a month after my intial appointment) and I have not lost any weight. She gave me some complicated goverment issued plate booklet to follow and I just find it too time consuming and difficult to figure out. I'm the type of person that if you tell me what I can eat and can't eat (like Atkins) I succeed. Her program reminds me too much of weight watchers and counting points for each ladder of the pyramid, blah blah blah. If you have had success eating certain meals, let me know. I'd LOVE some good advice Thanks!

Current status: pre-op Surgery Date: (hopefully) August 2013 Current Weight: 369 lbs. Age: 27 Occuptation: 1st grade teacher I began my lap band journey in April of 2013 by going to the initial semiar. The very next day I called the surgeon to book my appointment and got the next available appointment...a month later in May. In May, the doctor gave me the list of lovely appointments: dietician, psychiatrist, pulmonologist, blood work, and upper GI test. I FINALLY completed all of the necessary doctor's appointments and have since learned that if I had waited any longer for my surgery that I would have been pre-diabetic within the next 5 years or so, and that I have severe sleep apnea. I am currently playing "the waiting game" with my insurance company, Cigna. The doctor's receptionist sent my paperwork in on July 10th. I have heard rumors that Cigna takes a month to get back to it's patients. Does anyone have any tips on what I can do pre-op while I play this waiting game? Thanks

I was very lucky in that the receptionist told me she just had a cigna case sent back because they require a "letter of medical necessity" from my regular care doctor. I went right into my general doctor today and got the letter. Hopefully my case won't get sent back! aviva1979 Do you know if I call and bother Cigna to hurry up they will? Haha

Will do Chicago. Feel free to likewise read up on mine. http://mssinclairandtheforbiddenjourney.wordpress.com/

Thanks. I do too! The hard part is I really want this surgery done this summer not just for me, but for my students. As a teacher, getting a substitute is a PAIN IN THE BUTT! I also would not want my students to have a sub for 2 weeks. I would feel bad for them Hopefully I can get this done before school starts on August 28th!