Margie122

Hello, Thought I would chime in on this one. I am hoping to be banded in November for two reaons, 1 - I have a "deductible" on my health insurance that I've already met and I don't want to pay an add'l $2,000 in 08 for the surgery and 2 - I don't care if it's the holidays, I just really want to lose weight! I'm hoping to be at least 75 pounds lighter by next summer and I'll need those two months to do it! Why wait? Your surgeon may require you to do a pre-op diet, and I know I couldn't do it over the holidays! Best of luck... Margie

Hello all, I just got the call from BIDMC and I am seeing Dr. Schneider on 9/27. :whoo: I could have gotten in to see him on 9/20, but I have an all day class that day. I'm very excited! I'm this much closer to a surgery date. Margie

Hello Jowjow, I started this process in July. At my hospital, you had to see the nurse and the doctor that runs the program on one day and have an EKG and bloodwork done. Then they would find out if you needed any add'l testing. I did not. I had to wait a month for my appt because I was travelling for work. Then I had the nutritionist visit and the psych visit. I am hoping tomorrow to get my date to see the surgeon. Once I see the surgeon, I will get a surgery date and they will submit my info to the insurance company. Have you contacted your insurance company yet? I'm hoping for a Nov surgery date. Good luck with the process! Margie

Ahh..that's what I get for trying to type too fast. TICKERFACTORY . COM

I don't know why it comes as a "trying to conceive ticker" but it's www . tickerfactor . com I purposely spelled it out with spaces so you could see it. Margie

Carol, Go to Trying To Conceive Ticker and select a weight loss ticker. You will need to create a password and put in your stats, etc. Once you configure your ticker, you will cut and paste the ticker info into your signature line. If you have any additional questions, feel free to send me a message and I'll try to help. Margie

Well, it's still not looking like a lot of people are planning on November yet :bored I'm sure the board will pick up soon. Jrsyshoregrl - your sister is going to have the bypass. That should be interesting once she has her surgery and you have the lap-band to see what things are the same/different etc. Was your mom successful with her surgery? I am the only one in my family to ever consider WLS. I have a friend who had the bypass a year ago November and he has lost over 100lbs. Margie :bounce:

:faint:Oops...I mean welcome AILIE!

Welcome Allie, :bounce: I'm not banded - yet, but hope to be in November. Six months sounds about right to go through all of the informational seminars, office visits etc. I am almost at the end of that process and it really has flown by. Best of luck! Margie

Ron, I don't know the doctors at B&W, but it is an excellent hospital. You can check out doctors online in MA at: Page - Board of Registration in Medicine I look up doctors there all the time, it's a great reference tool. If you are interested click on "physician profiles". Margie

Hello Jrsyshoregirl, I don't have a surgery date yet, but if all goes well I will be banded in November . I just completed my psych visit. The next step is to meet with a surgeon and get a surgery date (I want November) and then the insurance approval process (which I am dreading, even though I meet ALL of their criteria). Do you have a surgery date yet? Margie

Hi Ron, by BI do you mean Beth Israel? The Deaconness? I didn't know there was a Dr. Robinson there..... ??? I've only heard of Dr. Sanchez, Dr. Jones, and Dr. Schneider at BIDMC........ Thanks cheri - I am pretty sure they will use starting weight too...but it worries me a little bit. I probably won't stop worrying until my health insurance company says the operation is APPROVED! Babs - congrat's on getting your surgery date, you must be super excited. October 5th will be here before you know it. Metalband, I still managed to lose a little, even after going a bit over my calories on Labor Day weekend. So far, so good! Thanks everyone, Margie

Hello all, I had my psychological evaluation yesterday at BIDMC. It went great! I was relieved it went so well, because I had heard some others did not have a great experience. She said she thought I was an excellent candidate for lap-band. They will meet next Thursday to discuss my case. I'm excited. I hope to meet with a surgeon this month. I am concerned though...my insurance said my BMI had to be 40. It was 41 point something when I started, but I have been losing weight (they told me I needed to lose at least 10lbs prior to surgery) and now my BMI is 39 something.....They send your STARTING weight to the insurance carrier right??? I hope this doesn't screw up my insurance approval process I'm not going to worry about it....I'm sure it will all work out. Hope everyone is doing well. Margie

Rabid, The women's polo shirts usually are a little more fitted (hour-glassy) The man's shouldn't look too different. I wouldn't worry about it too much. If they do make comments, I would take Cerrin's advice and talk to HR if it really bothers you. I find that when someone makes an insensitive remark they are really just trying to get a rise out of you. I try to ignore rude people like that. If it's someone who is really harassing you though, I would go to HR and let them know it isn't ok. If you were in a wheelchair would it be ok for them to make fun of you because you can't walk? These people need to grow up! Best of luck. Margie

Hi Metalband, I've been preparing for surgery in Oct / November...it looks more and more like it will be November. Work has been busy and it's just the way it's turning out. You are doing great with your weight loss. I am on the pre-op diet and need to lose 10lbs before surgery. I'm hoping to lose more. So far I've cut out all soda and coffee. I'm not drinking with meals, and I'm drinking a lot of water in between them. I'm trying to keep my calories to under 2,000 a day and I'm tracking everyrthing I eat on fitday.com. I did go over on Labor day week end, but my highest daily was 2,452. I did a lot of walking, swimming, and general running after children this weekend, so I am sure I burned some of them off. According to fitday, I burn about 3,300 calories a day (without exercise) so I should be ok. Well that's it, hope everyone is doing well. Margie

Hello Mich, I am in the process right now of getting lap band surgery at BIDMC. Here is my experience so far. The first thing I did was fill out the application which I believe is available online at the BIDMC website. If not, they can send you one. Next I had to attend 2 information sessions. You can check online to see when they are on the BIDMC website, or you can call them to get that information. Once I attended the two information sessions I was given an appointment with the Nurse and Dr. H. I had to fast and have bloodwork done first, then an appt with the Nurse to go over the application. An EKG was done and then I met with Dr. H. These visits last about an hour each. Luckily for me, I did not need any add'l testing (sleep test, etc.) After that I had a visit with the nutritionist. The nurse gave me a food tracker and I had to write down everything I ate for 4 days. The nutritioin visit was 2 hours...the first hour is with other people getting the lap band and then she meets with you individually to go over your food journal. Because there are other people there, she can't see us all at once, and she did not skimp on anyone's time. The next thing they did was schedule me for the psych visit. I have mine on 9/6. Once I finish with that, they will all discuss my case and see if I am a good lap band candidate. Once they do that, I will get a call (hopefully!) for a date to see the surgeon....and then submit paperwork to my ins. co ( I have already verifiied I qualify under my plan, but you never know!) and a surgery date! I started this process in July. I am hopeful to have the surgery in November. * There is a $500 "deposit" due at the time you see the nurse & Dr. H. It's not covered by insurance and it's not refundable. Also, the psych lady does not take insurance and it's a $100 up front when you see her. She'll give you a receipt so you can submit it to your insurance but I'm not going to even bother. So far, my experience at BIDMC has been fantastic. Everyone has been wonderful, extremely helpful, and patient Good luck on ( your journey! Margie PS. Since seeing the nutritionist I have totally eliminated SODA and coffee. You can't have carbonation (beer included!) once you have the lap band so I figured give it up now. Also, I have started to not drink anything with my meals which is REALLY HARD but something I've got to do.

Hello everyone, Hope you all have a great Labor Day Weekend. I go for my psych visit on the 6th of Sept and then hopefully to the surgeon and a surgery date! Margie

:whoo:That's hysterical. Yes...definately something to look forward too. Margie

Put salt in his toothbrush. He won't notice it and it tastes nasty. You need a piece of scrap cloth and dollar. Put the dollar on the floor. When he goes to bend over to retrieve it rip the cloth in half and he will think he split his pants. All my good pranks are for the office, sorry!

Hello everyone, I'm 6 days into my pre-op diet and so far so good. Today was the first day that I was really kind of hungry, but I forgot to bring lunch and could only have soup. I'm tracking all of my food intake on fitday.com. So far I'm not doing any specific "diet", just trying to keep my daily calories to 2000 or less. So far I've lost 5lbs, but I have a long way to go considering I probably won't be able to have surgery until November. Work is just too busy and I don't even have the psych visit until 9/6. It's going to be difficult to be good until then, but I'm going to my darndest to lose as much weight as possible pre-surgery. I will be at the ocean (Plymouth) this Labor Day Weekend with several good books. I hope everyone is doing well and has a great Holiday. Margie :ranger:

My psych eval is 9/6 too :ranger: I am not too worried about it. I read on the boards here that the shrink at this particular hospital is a bit wacked herself. It should be fun! After the eval, the doctor/nurse/nutritionist/shrink get together to decide if I'm a good candidate. If they do, then I get to see the surgeon and my paperwork goes in. Good luck with your eval! Margie

Brandy, You look great now. Why not do it now and later ? That was my vote. Margie

Wendell, Water loading sounds interesting...has it helped you stave off hunger? Do you find you are less hungry if you do it before a meal? Thanks for the info. Margie

Hi, My doctors office told me to use Flintstones Chewables. The regular ones, not with anything added. I asked about the gummies....but they said the gummies had no minerals, so not to use them. The Flintstones taste good and are kinda :whoo:fun.

Sorry for your shitty day. my .02 - you should put a workers' compensation claim in immediately to protect your rights and see a good orthopedic shoulder/hand specialist. my other .02 - try mousing with your other hand. I switched to using the mouse with my left hand at work and it has been WONDERFUL. No I am not ambidextrous, but I picked it up in about an hour and I've never looked back. There are a few of us at work who mouse lefty. You can switch the mouse using the control panel. give it a try... Sorry to hear about your friend moving and your other friend with cancer. I can't believe her friends are going to boycott the party..that's really shitty. Hope your day gets better... Margie