Kami63

I personally despise Cigna. I am a revision candidate so it is a little different but they wouldn't work with me at all 3 years ago I tried to get approved and they paid for $25000 in tests and then denied my revision... They are crazy! It took 8 months of the tests before they "denied" it. I waited 3 years and now I have BCBS .... Hoping they are not crazy too. Congrats on being approved and good luck with your surgery

Wow. Sounds fishy. Good idea to go to another surgeon. Good luck! Oh btw they have credit cards like care credit that you can maybe qualify for. They are all over the Internet.

I'm at the same point with BCBS. I found out today that they approved the lap and removal in two days but they want a lot of appointments to approve the revision to the sleeve. They want proof I have been overweight for two years, a nutrition appointment and a psych appointment. I am lucky they didn't say that I need 3 months supervised diet. So I will get to work! Good luck to you

Hello all!! I had my pre-op appt w/ Dr. Fox and I was so impressed with the time he spent and the detail I got of the procedure. He spent a little over an hour with me explaining EVERYTHING! Has anyone here had him as a surgeon and already has the band? If he is as good at surgery as he is informing his patients of ALL possibilities, then I have nothing to worry about! I would appreciate any feedback! Thanks!

The other day I was walking to my car and my Diamond engagement ring fell off and went clink clink clink on the ground. My first reaction was pretty normal: "OMG" and started running after it, but then I almost got teary because when I started this journey I was not even able to wear my wedding and engagement rings because I had gotten so heavy, and now they are falling off!! I am going to wait a little longer until I lose more weight and have them resized. I cannot believe I have to have them resized because they are still the same size from when I got married!!! Anyone else have a great NSV? Melissa

Yeah, I thought it was pretty remarkable. I have had NSV's but none so frightening and so wonderful at the same time....LOL

I think I have 6.6cc but I cannot be too sure because they lost my freakin' chart... BAD THINGS... cant see how you lose a chart, but they are "working" to find it. (BS). They supposedy took out half my fill but last time I went in she said there was 5.6cc in there and she gave me 1cc, so I THINK I am at 6.6cc. If they took out half then I was over 10cc when they took some out (cant be right can it?). I now have very little restriction, back to being hungry all the time. I return on 04/20/08. Hopefully by then they will find my chart and I can make sense of this madness! signing, Frustrated Melissa

ABC, Thanks for the support. I am going through a rough period bc they removed a lot of fluid from my band. I am struggling just to not gain weight bc I can eat too much and I am always hungry. I am trying to stick to the rules so I don't gain weight. It is GREAT that you lost 40 pounds, so keep up th egood work. I guess every now and again we have setbacks, but the main thing is that we ARE LOSING!!! Melissa

I have lost a little over 50 pounds. I wish I could see more progress, but this is what I look like. I will keep on trucking! (sorry, I didn't think to put on makeup) Also should have made them smaller, but you live you learn... This is my first pic post for before and in progress...

I am also a slow loser, and to top it off I ended up being too tight bc they said I needed more restriction to eat less to make the weight come off. I excercise regularly so I guess they though I didnt have enough restriction. I ended up getting an orange REALLY stuck and had a very violent episode... That screwed everything up bc I was already too tight! I got so swollen I could not get anything down. They had to take out half of my fill:eek: I though I was hungry before.... That was nothing. I would give anything to have restriction again...but this time I have learned my lesson: DOnt let them fill me too tight just bc the weight is coming off slower. Every one's body is different....My body just doesnt want to let go of the weight very quickly...Maybe it knows best (LOL). I do not feel bad about my slow weight loss, and neither should anyone else, if they are following the rules... Keep your heads up high and remember, you ARE losing weight, at whatever rate! And never make the mistake of letting them fill you too tight because it could cause permanent damage (thankfully everything came out ok with my episode) Melissa

My doc likes us to be on the South Beach diet. That seems to work when I stick to it to a "t". I count calories too bc he wants us to be aware of what we are eating... It is not hard if you follow the rules! Melissa

People will always comment. It must be in their nature to notice when someone doesnt eat that much. At first it was bothersome, but it doesnt bother me now. My Hubby and I always share the dinner unless he is really hungry then I get something from the Kid's menu.... It always works out. In fact we went out this evening and had a really yummy low cal meal at Rockfish. We had trout and only spent $14 for the both of us...now if that is not savings, I dont know what is!!! :cursing:

Good luck tomorrow!!! And just remember it gets better...and if you need support your fellow banders are here!:biggrin2: Melissa

Just talk to him about how you feel. Maybe he really doesnt realize how hard this will be for you. My Hubby was very good, but I had discussed all of the possibilities before the surgery. Maybe just ask him to not eat all of that in front of you for now. At least that would be a start. If he is unwilling to see your point of view after you talk to him, then YES you have a right to be pissed off!! Goodluck with the Hubby talk! Melissa

Nikki, You are very welcome :tt1: I just know how it feels to have those aggressive goals and not make them. I had a really rough time in the beginning because I was expecting for it to come off quicker. But now that I realize that it is coming off, I will just keep working towards my goal. You just sounded a lot like I did when I first started, and I didnt want you to fall as hard if you dont make your goals....But again, I wish you the best of luck and hopefully this time next year you will be smokin' !!:cursing: Melissa

Colorado Chick! Congrats on your nearing surgery! I am a slow loser. It has been 5 months since my surgery and 32 pounds have come off. BUt I do not feel like a failure because everyone is different! I LOVE MY BAND! I have lost 52 pounds total (20 pre-surgery) and I would never go back. It may be harder for some than others but the main goal is that the weight is coming off! I follow the rules and exercise very frequently. I can now enjoy riding road and mountain bikes and doing spin classes at the gym. Just that in itself is a victory! I wish for everyone that they lose at a higher weight, but it doesnt always happen that way. I WILL get to my goal, it may just be a bit longer. Good luck on your surgery. We will see you on the band side and hope that you lose at your satisfactory weight, but if not we are all here for those rough times when you may feel discouraged. Melissa

Nikki, Congratulations on your sugery!! I agree with the other poster, 17 pounds is a bit of a stretch to expect, but sometimes 10 lbs is also. You can work your butt off (like me) and maybe not lose as fast as everyone else. ( I avg 5 lbs a month with heavy excercise and pretty good eating habits). Everyone is different. It is great to have a goal and work as hard as you can to get to that goal, but if you don't quite make it, you should still be very proud of what you have accomplished. Your friends should love you for who you are, not what size bathing suit you wear. I definitely dont want to discourage you, but I want you to understand, we dont always make our goals....Good luck on your goals!! I'll be rooting for you to make it!!:thumbup: Melissa

I wish I could eat a sandwich...LOL Good Luck! Just eat what you can and hopefully it will all work itself out!

I have people say really mean and stupid things all the time...Like "hey skinny girl, pretty soon we wont beable to see you" .... COme on I am still a bit above 250, I am not dissappearing.... Some people are just rude!! On the other hand, I have a few friends that are soooo supportive. When I get a new outfit, they simply say "looking good!" or "you are doing so well" I think it all has to do with how secure the person is themselves... if they are not secure they cannot be happy for you... Melissa

I thought the same thing. But my doctor told me he wants me to eat less than 1000 calories a day. It is really hard to do, but I do it. I worked out less this week because I was overloaded with schoolwork, but for the most part I get 4-5 hours a week of excercise in. I wish I knew what would work for me. When I was eating 1400-1700 calories a day I was barely even losing anything at all. That is when the doctor told me to reduce my calories to under 1000. I feel helpless sometimes. I work and work at it and the weight just doesn't come off like other people. Thank you for your concern. I would probably be concerned if the doctor was! Melissa

Jacqui, I find you and all the others who have lost the weight, very inspirational. Those who now discriminate against you for reaching your goal, should stop and think about it. Would they have gotten the surgery and now be on their journey if it weren't for generous people such as yourself that open up and continue to share their success? I know that before I embarked on this journey, your story along with several others gave me hope that I can take my life back and be the healthy person one day that I know I can be. Thank you for continuing to allow us into your life. I am sure that I am not the only one who feels this way. Sorry for the long post. Just feel strongly about reverse discrimination! Melissa

I know exactly what you are saying. I ate about 2-3 bites of my food one day and the waiter kept coming by and asking if the food was ok. It was akward. Finally, I told him that I just wasnt hungry...LOL I guess he thought it was strange. He gave me a look and then asked if I needed a box... That wasnt the only time either. Most of the time, I just eat off of everyone else and tell the waiter that I ate already. Maybe one day we wont get wierd looks because we will be smaller. I think they expect us to eat a monster sized portion of food because we are big... Oh well. I just ignore it all. I know what is going on and so do the people I am eating with. The waiter doesnt really matter in the long run... Good luck! Ps. alot of restaurants will let you order from the kid's menu if you ask!

CoolCrystal, DFW? Me too! As for your confession, I had a few myself before I had the surgery. I've had a few since as well. Try to be as prepared as possible. read read read. You will do fine. As for bread, I CANNOT EAT IT. No way. no how. Chest pain ensues immediately after swallowing. I don't mind now though. I was soooo addicted to bread. Any kind of bread about 5 times a day bread....LOL I am fine with no bread. (I never thought I would say that! ) Like the others said dont beat yourself up. Last meal syndrome is VERY common. Anytime you need to confess, we are all here to hear you out! Good luck on your journey!

Overweightmom, I am right there with you. I know what it feels like to lose slowly. I am 4 months out and since the surgery, I have only lost 18 pounds. For me this is ridiculous. And just because you started with a high BMI doesnt gaurantee fast weight loss either. I eat less than 1000 calories a day and work out at least 5 days a week for at least one hour. I follow the rules. I have been over and over what I could be doing differently. Sometimes I even think I am crazy, but nonetheless, I should be happy that 18 more pounds have disappeared forever. Hang in there. Us slow losers are not failing in any way, we are just not built for fast losing. On the bonus side, because we are losing slowly, we are giving our skin time to retract!! Please dont compare yourself to others, it will only make you lose your inspiration! If you need support we are always here to hear you out! CONGRATULATIONS on your success! Melissa (slow loser)

All doctors are different. I had a 3 month follow up on Thursday, and I was pretty happy with my result because I count the weight lost from day one. He doesn't count the pre-op pounds. He told me that I was losing too slow. We went over the rules again and he identified that I was grazing. Grazing according to him is when you take longer than 20-30 minutes to eat your meal. Although I wasnt eating that many calories, I could have eaten less because I wasnt paying attention to when I was full. Since then I have been paying attention really well to the clock while I eat. When I do that, I eat less! It is amaxing what you dont realize that you are doing. So my advice is this: Talk to your doctor. Go over everything you do in a day with food. He may beable to identify something you are doing that you dont even realize. After all, he or she is the expert and should HELP you follow the band rules. We will see about the weight loss from here. Hopefully I will see the results of my calculated moves with food... Keep on Truckin' guys...