lindahol

I was banded 11 years ago too. I lost 120 lbs and felt great. It wasn't an easy way to lose weight. I had trouble keeping food down and I know I wasn't eating enough to be healthy, but it did feel great to be at 160 lbs. Over the past 5 years my acid reflux has gotten much worse. I started eating foods that were easy for me to eat and slowly gained about 50 lbs. back. My lapband surgeon left the area so I went to see another surgeon, I had an upper GI done and everything looked ok, except my hiatal hernia and problems with GERD. The hospital that this surgeon works at doesn't preform LapBand anymore. He wants me to have the lapband removed and converted to a Sleeve. I read that the Sleeve doesn't help with GERD so I don't want to do that. Right now I have very little fill in. I've started using Nutrisystem. It's small portions with added protein and vitamins. 3 meals and 3 snacks per day = 1200 calories. The food isn't great but it's easy to follow. Eating 6 times per day and drinking lots of water seems to help with my GERD. I feel better. I've only been on it for 2 weeks so I'll see how it goes. I'm not used to eating this much food, I'm not sure my body will lose weight when it seems I'm eating all day long. Anyone else trying to follow a diet plan after lapband? I hope you get some relief from your reflex problems.

I finally was banded on April 28th and I'm not going to try to tell you that your time will come. It is very difficult waiting for insurance approval and jumping through the hoops. There is nothing you can do but fulfull all the requirements. I was motivated and ready in Oct. I had to do a 6 month supervised diet and decided not to waste my motivation. I managed to lose 30 pounds on my own before surgery. It wasn't easy. I was afraid if I lost weight I wouldn't qualify for the LapBand. My Dr. assured me that my insurance company would go by my starting weight and they would find my weight lose as a positive thing, showing that I could follow a weight lose plan and really was motivated. Now I feel great, I've lost another 9 pounds on my liquid pre and post op diet and am already wearing a smaller pant size. I'm retired and spend a lot of time at home (I Love it). The problem is I dress in sweatpants and baggy t-shirts and didn't even realize I was dropping sizes. Yesterday I met a friend for coffee and put on some jeans that were 2 sizes smaller than 40 pounds ago. I thought I looked pretty good. I'm just starting my mushy food stage. I can't stand the site of Protein shakes anymore. They are too sweet and make me feel nauseated. I make sure I get my protein in everyday by adding unflavored whey powder to my mushy food. It's great to be eating food again, even if it is mush. I rambling on here but I really am feeling great....:thumbup:

I love my coffee and wanted to know why I had to stop drinking it. I was told by my Dr. that decaf was OK. The reason we aren't suppose to drink caffeinated beverages is because caffeine is a diuretic. We need to drink at least 64 OZ of clear liquid a day and drinking caffeine may make us dehydrated.

Thank for the words of encouragement. Clarakay, I'm sure you will do well with the Lap Band. It is harder to lose weight and keep it off when you get older. That's one reason I need the LapBand to help me succeed. I had 100 pounds to lose and am now down 30 pounds while I was on my 6 month supervised diet. Still have 70 to go. It has been 35 years since I was at my goal weight and I can't imagine what it will feel like. I'm sure I will have some baggy skin, but I can live with that. Don't plan to wear any bikini's. I'm on the liquid diet and it isn't that bad. I'm so excited about my surgery I can live without solid food for awhile. Good Luck everyone

I finally got my Banding Date for April 28. I'm on my liquid diet now. BCBS of MN required a 6 month supervised diet and I completed that. During the 6 months I worked hard and lost almost 30 pounds. I used MyDailyPlate.com to log all the food I ate during those six months. It is a great website and very helpful to track what you eat. I plan to use it once I'm banded to keep track of my protein. I'm not nervous about the surgery, but I am nervous about "Will I be successful?". I have spent the last 8 months reading all I can about Lapband and I know some people are successful and others aren't. I pray that I will be strong enough to do this for the rest of my life. I usually get discouraged with diet plans after about 6 months. I need to change my attitude to be "I know I can do this". This is my last chance at losing weight for good. It has been many years since I have weighed less than 200 and I try to imagine what it will feel like. I need some words of encouragement and this seems like the place to get it. Linda

I read about people drinking Protein shakes for Breakfast and other meals. From what I understand you are suppose to eat solid food as a meal. Shakes are liquid and won't stay in the pouch for long. Do the shakes count as part of the Fluid requirements for the day? I'm still in the supervised diet stage of getting insurance approval. I'm sure everyone does what works for them, but I do find it all confusing. What do the nutritionists suggest? Linda :confused2:

It helps to hear that others have gone through some of the same hoops. I spoke to the director of our HR Health plan group today and she agrees that this a unique situation. She suggested I appeal it. The company health board will meet in Dec. and she thinks it is a good time to bring this to their attention. I asked her how they handled other employees that have had gastric bypass or Lapband. I also asked for a written copy of the requirements.

The company I work for is self insured but uses BCBS to determine pre authorization. Today I was told that BCBS is requiring 6 months supervised diet. My company health plan says they won't pay for nutritionist visits. This makes no sense to me. How can it be required by the insurance company but they won't pay for it? Do you think I should skip going to the nutritionist and just ask my primary care doctor to see me for 6 months and document my weight. My health plan says they will pay for the psychological evaluation and they do pay for the Lapband surgery. Has anyone heard of a problem like this?

Where did you find the state law? I would like to know what the law is in Minnesota.