Ailie

My doctor requires lap band patients to spend the night, so I'm planning on bringing my own pillows to at least have something familiar and comfortable. Past experience tells me I won't be sleeping very well that night as I never sleep well when it's not in my own bed.

I got my date... May 21! I'm very excited!!! Of course, I didn't lose any weight (didn't gain any either), so I'm on the liquids earlier than planned -- two liquid meals and one light meal. Surprisingly, I'm doing okay with this. I think the stubborn streak has kicked in and I know what I have to do in order to make this whole procedure go smoothly. But I have the date and I'm doing a happy dance...woohoooo :thumbup:

Thank you everyone! I'm so excited.

Hi all. I live in the far western reaches of Massachusetts, very close to the NY border...the Berkshires actually.

Hi Coco. I was supposed to loose 20 pounds too. I went to my appointment with the surgeon and hadn't lost (didn't gain either) anything. So what he suggested is doing liquids. At the moment I'm doing liquid protein 2 times a day, no-fat cottage cheese once a day and a light meal at night. Since Wednesday I've lost 8 pounds. Of course 2 weeks before the surgery I will go completley to liquids. It definitely isn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I'm not really hungry and feel pretty good. Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

Oh...I definitely know that feeling. I'm not hungry. I drink the Protein stuff and I'm fine. But I would love something solid...maybe a big piece of pizza or something But I agree, by starting this now and being very strict about it, it will only help after surgery :thumbup:

I'm scheduled for May 21. Can't wait!

You pretty much described my night of hell doing the sleep study. 45 minutes to put all those wires on me. The room was at least 75 and I am used to sleeping in a much cooler room. Every time I moved my legs, I could feel the wires pulling, which kept me awake. If I managed to get 2 hours of sleep that night, that would have been a lot. The diagnosis was that I do not go into REM sleep. Ahhhh, no kidding, that would be because I didn't sleep at all. They got me up at 5:00 in the morning and started pulling all the wires off of me. By the time I got home at 6:00 I was sick to my stomach, and completely exhausted. I didn't even make it upstairs to bed. I crashed in my chair and slept for 6 hours. Oh, and I do snore a lot, and I've even woken up gasping for air. Do I have sleep apnea? I think so, but there is no way I'm going back to do that test again.

I read the book and loved it. I like their matter of fact attitude. And yes, after reading it, I have taken meat out of my diet as well. It was an eye-opener. Haven't gone vegan yet. I still eat the eggs and drink the milk. Who knows, one day I may, but I'm not ready for that yet.

Congratulations! I just heard the news that my surgery has been approved as well. I won't find out until I meet with the doctor on April 15 when it will be, but it's just one step closer. Keep us posted!

I'm so excited. I found out on Friday that my insurance has approved the surgery. I go to see the doctor on April 15 and then we set the date. Now it seems very real and I'm feeling all kinds of emotions, but I know in the end that this will be a very good thing. My friends and family are firmly behind me, which helps a lot. This forum has been a great tool for me. I have learned so much. Ahhhhh...I'm so excited.

Hi. I'm hoping for an April date. I finished all the testing a couple of weeks ago, and it's all in the hands of insurance now. I hope, hope, hope they come through soon with an approval. My fingers are crossed.

Hi Onelove. I'm in Mass too...the Berkshires to be exact. I've begun the journey as well. All I have left is my psych eval and nutritional counseling and all test results go off to the insurance company. I have my fingers crossed. Welcome to the group. I don't talk much, but I've been reading a lot. There is a lot of great information here!

I'm so glad I caught this thread. I have very bad heartburn which is currently under control with meds. I don't have my date yet as I'm still going through the testing phase. I'm encouraged by the fact that so many people were able to get off their meds after surgery. I have my fingers crossed.

I'm going tomorrow for an endoscopy. From what I hear, it's not too bad. Hey, I'm good as long as they give me something to relax, which they assure me they will do. I've been having some pretty bad heartburn for over a year now. I finally went to my primary and he put me on something for it. Now that I'm getting ready for the lapband surgery, this doctor wants to check out what's going on. Good luck and keep us posted!

Hi Shamrockgirl. I am in Mass too, only on the other side of the state. I've just started with all my appointments after waiting for a few months to get started. It's all coming at me quickly now and I'm very, very excited. Congratulations and good luck on this incredible journey.

Hi. My name is Allison and I live in western MA. I started researching the band a while ago, I want to say maybe 4 or 5 months. For me it has been a long journey in that for the most part I wasn't getting anywhere. At the time I made the decision that this is what I wanted to do I had a different insurance so I didn't need a primary care's referral, but I wanted to talk with him just the same. Unfortunately the poor man has been out for a while so I didn't have a chance to talk with him. In the meantime I signed up for a seminar which was in October. I got a call and was able to get in with the surgeon at the end of November. By this time I was very excited until I found out that there was a problem with the insurance. So, with a week left before I had to change my insurance, I did all kinds of research on the better plan, managed to talk to several people who didn't know any more than I did about the insurance they offered and managed to get very frustrated. I did however manage to get the insurance changed. Finally in January I was able to get in with my primary. This time I did need a referral though because of the different insurance. That part when through fine and now all of my appointments are going through. Wednesday morning I'm scheduled for a blood draw, an ultrasound on my gall bladder and a stress test. I have my appointment with the nutritionist coming up soon. On the 27th of this month I have an endoscopy. So even though I'm excited, I'm a little overwhelmed. But it is one step closer to what I really want. I'm so glad this board is here. I've learned so much from so many people on here so I feel like I'm going into this more prepared than I would have if I did not have this resource. Thank you for listening. I'm going back to do some more learning now. Allison

Hi and thank you for the warm welcome. I'm getting very excited. But it is coming pretty fast now after a long wait time. :mad:

(Waving from her corner of Western MA.) Hopefully I will be on the lap band wagon soon too. Just waiting to get in with my primary to get the process started (again).

Well, this is a new year and I'm hoping things go more smoothly. To make a very long story short, I went to a local seminar and filled out the application. The last week of November I got an appointment with the doctor. Come to find out, even after I spoke with someone at the insurance company, the doctor's office has had a very difficult time with my insurance company and 9 times out of 10, the insurance company (after a 6-month waiting period) will not cover the surgery. So, with one week left of open enrollment at work, I did a lot of leg work to find out if the insurance at my work (I was under my husband's policy) would cover it. You would not believe the run around I got. I called the home office of my company and the woman I spoke with didn't know enough about the insurance policy so she sent me to the website, where I got the phone number of the company. I called the company and spent 20 very frustrating minutes on the phone with them. I asked if they would cover the surgery. I was told a flat out no. Well, after several more minutes he admitted that if my primary care said it was medically necessary, then they would cover it. In the meantime, my husband calls the doctor's office to see which insurance plan they had the most success with. Even though they couldn't advise him other than to say that there have been several people who have the insurance that I was looking into and they had good luck, the woman did suggest that we call back the new insurance company and get a person's name and some kind of confirmation number from them so that if in the long run they turned the claim down, we would have some kind of back up. When my husband told me that I had to call again, I had a fit because I had all I could do with trying to pull information from people. In the long run, he called, got the information and the confirmation number (he also got a lot more information than I was able to drag out of the guy I spoke with). So, on the last day of enrollment eligibility, I signed up for the new coverage. Now, the only problem is, I have already seen the surgeon, but this new coverage is an HMO (the original insurance wasn't) which means I have to basically start from the beginning and go to my primary care...who has been out of the office for several months due to an accident. He has to send in the referral for the surgeon and so on and so on. Sigh...I'm very tired and very frustrated. But, with the coming of the new year, some things look promising with this new insurance, so once I can get into the primary, it should only be a short period of time to get the ball rolling. Sorry...I had to vent. Thank you for listening.

I only have one at the moment. It's a celtic knot on my upper back between the shoulder blades. I am planning 2 more...one is another celtic knot that my son drew and that one is going on my foot. My daughter is interested in anything egyptian, so I thought I would get the Eye of Ra on my ankle.

I am that close...actually in the Pittsfield/Dalton area. It's very rare to hear from or about other in this neck of the woods. Hi neighbor

I'm from the far western regions of Massachusetts, very close to the Vermont and New York borders.

Hi Cindy. I'm not banded yet either. I'm only now getting started with the insurance thing. The insurance we have has a 6-month program you have to go through with them before they will approve. That's on top of all the stuff you have to do through the doctor. It's going to be a long wait, but I'm preparing myself by reading and learning. Good luck with your insurance.

Hi Melissa. I'm pretty new here too and not banded yet. I went to my first seminar a couple of weeks ago and got my first consultation with the surgeon coming up...well, not until November, but that's okay. I'm spending my waiting time doing a lot of reading and learning about the process. Good luck and welcome!