Joaquin

I was banded on 1/21 and so far I am just doing the treadmill. My goal for this week is to increase my time to 45 minutes ( 4 days a week) and then return to the elliptical on my 4th week. I was told that I can resume all exercise after 6 weeks but I am a little afraid of the core work. I will have to just play that part by ear. I plan on resuming my classes at the gym at 6 weeks but I may have to take them a little slow. The classes that I was taking prior to the surgery were high impact so I am a little afraid of having the port pain.

Cigna will appove at 35 BMI if you have commorbities. I did not have any commorbities so I had to make sure that I stayed about 40. I very happy to say that I am 3 weeks post op and my BMI is now 36.2!!!

I take a Salsa class at the 24hourfitness and it is awesome. I burn more calories in class than I do using the equipment. I have to wait 6 weeks since I am still post op but I have my return date circled on my calender. One word of advice is that the instructor can make a big difference in how many calories you burn. Find a good instructor and go to every class that they teach. The more you go the more you will learn the choreography and then your workout becomes even better.

I am a big fan of the elliptical. I am 3 weeks post op so I am still just doing the treadmill but the elliptical has been calling my name. I prefer the gym quality ellpicals and the amount of calories that I can burn in an hour is amazing. I ususally use the treadmill as a cool down.

I sucked on a mini kit kat and it was great. By the way I was banded on the 1/21 by Dr. Marsden, and I have been afraid to eat more than a 1/2 cup of food at a time.

I was banded 1/21/08 and I am currently on my liquid stage. I was advised to eat soups but never advised that they had to be clear liquids. I got tired of eating chicken broth so I got a little creative. One day I purchased a bowl of Broccoli Cheese soup and made 3 meals out of it by pureeing it and then adding water. Then next day I made a pot of potato soup and did the same thing. I watered the soup down and I am trying to make sure that I only consume 1/2 cup at each meal. I lost 10 pounds in one week with my pre-op diet and now I have only lost one pound. Did I stretch out my band already?

thanks for the great advice. I think that I was just being a little paranoid.

I made some homemade baked potato soup and watered it down for my liquid stage and I froze the other half for mushie stage. I do find that I have to keep adding water since it will thicken up since I am eating it so slow. I hope that I have not been messing up.

I was banded by Dr. James Marsden on Monday, January 21st. I feel a lot better but the gas is a killer.

I really don't think that they will reduce it. Just take advantage of the time and prepare yourself for a new beginning. I really hated having to do it also but in the long run I think that it was a good thing.

I just got banded on Monday and they gave me a pregnancy test prior to giving me the anesthesia. They will not operate if you are pregnant.

You look awesome. I will be having my surgery tomorrow with Dr. Marsden and I hope that I do as well as you are.

Just make sure that when your paperwork is submitted your bmi is above 40. I barely made it but I was approved with a 40.1.

I had the same dilemna. I had to make sure that I did not loose a lot of weight. Cigna will look at the starting and ending weight and you really want to make sure that your ending is lower than your starting. When my paperwork was fianlly submitted by BMI was 40.1 and I was approved. I pretty much just ate what I wanted but with each visit and I make sure to loose at least one pound.

So if I have my appointment tomorrow will be starting the diet tomorrow also?

I have my meeting with Dr. Marsden tomorrow and I am wondering what I should be expecting for the pre-op diet. I believe that it will be high protein low carb but how long does it usually last? I am hoping to get banded within the next couple of weeks. I really love it if I can have it around the holiday coming up so I can use that extra day off from work.

None. You will have to do the six month diet but I will go by very quickly.

From what I understand they are looking for you to loose weight from your initial weigh in. As long as you weigh less then you did on your first month you should be ok.

If you have Cigna you need to call everyday, trust me. Otherwise your paperwork will just sit there, and never get processed.

It took forever but I was finally approved. My advice like everyone elses is to stay on top of it. Call them everyday!

I have the same surgeon that you have and my paperwork was , submitted to Cigna on 10/22, but I have not heard anything yet. I noticed your surgery date and I wonder if mine will also be around that time. I am ok with a January surgery date so that I can use my health account Visa to pay for it.

I am very sorry to hear that. Did they say why you weren't approved?

If I am approved I will have to go to Decatur also. Where you able to go in first thing and be home by the afternoon? I am just asking because I have a child.

This is the best news that I have heard all day. My paperwork was submitted on Monday 10/22.

Is that the nurse practioner? I have been meeting her for the last 5 visits but I have never seen her like that. By the way did any of you all have to go to Decatur for the surgery? If so how far is it from AIGB?