SpecialK

Well, I give the Bodybugg folks credit for getting on the site and clearing the block that was on from me saying I'd had lapband surgery on my medical questionnaire thing. They had blocked me activating my device until the nutritionist cleared it and that was done today. Unfortunately, I took the cable to synch it to work today along with all the other stuff and left the cable at work and now I'll have to wait until tomorrow to try to synch for the first time. Fenton, I hope I'm not too disappointed in the food tracking part. I've been paying $9/month for MyFoodDiary now for 2 years because I liked it so much for food tracking. I was going to turn that off and just pay the $14 for the Bodybugg website when the initial 6 months ends. We'll see.

It is so neat to see how excited you are -- I was right there a year ago. Wow, time flies. I'll try to answer your questions but keep asking, that is what we are here for. 1. Yes, you inevitably will have some kind of clearances to go through if you are going to have insurance pay for it. It does vary alot. I had to do a cardio clearance, psych clearance, sleep apnea clearance was waived because I had already done that and use a CPAP and the hardest clearance of all is either 6 months on continuous diet program evidenced by a medical doctor, nutritionist. They wouldn't just take WW weigh ins, etc. I also had Aetna and they wanted 5 years of weight history showing I had been attempting weight loss with a doctors guidance and had been obese during that time. This nutrition stuff and weight history seems to be what is the trickiest to finish off but you'll get there. 2. Thin hair -- I also have thin hair and this is an issue for those who are losing weight fast like we are doing. You can help minimize it by taking Biotin (I get mine at CVS) daily and also by being totally dedicated to getting at least 70 grams of protein a day in. People who are cutting calories can find it tough to meet the protein requirement unless they use some protein bars or protein drinks (I do) to help make up the difference. 3. There is actually a good book called Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies and it has some pretty good practical info in it. 4. I used alot of the receipes and ideas that were on this website for the Full Liquids and Mushies stages of eating and that was a help. 5. I had Dr. Price as my surgeon and I went in there being pretty sure lapband was what I wanted because I knew it was a considerably safer surgery from the complexity of the procedure, the mortality rate, I didn't want my stomach and intestines permanently rerouted, I like sugar and I heard about dumping and no sugar at all for RNY patients that had gastric bypass. So when I talked with him at my initial appointment, I told him why I thought I wanted lapband and why I didn't think I wanted RNY. He asked me if I knew it would take longer to lose my weight on Lapband, that I'd lose at a slower rate and maybe not lose as much in total as RNY and I said yes, I'm willing to take time to lose. He said, okay, we'll do a band on you. You're a good candidate. ...and the rest is history about -86 lbs now in 10 months. I will tell you it is financially more of an incentive for doctors to do RNY, more surgery costs, more hospital costs but if you know what you want, stay strong. I did have a friend on this site that chose RNY and had some health reasons to do so and I supported the decision that was right for her. You are the one who has to live the rest of your life with the decision you make. I also had a couple other friends on this board who are still fairly young and have young children, and wanted to go with the less risky surgery and future lifestyle flexibility and the doctors seemed to be very supportive of lapband for younger mothers/fathers. Best wishes in your journey. Be sure you take some Before pictures - front, side, and back and a close up of your face before you lose and you will be astounded at the change.

Well I oops today and headed to the Dr. office to see Dr. Miller for a checkup and hadn't checked my home voicemail since Friday and they had let me know my Monday 8:30 am appt was cancelled because he wouldn't be in. Silly me... maybe another senior moment since my birthday is this week. Very nicely, they gave me 8:30 am with Dr. Choban instead this Thursday so that was perfectly fine with me to reschedule. The Mt. Carmel Bandsters thread has been pretty quiet lately. Everyone doing okay? I just got a Bodybugg - like the people on Biggest Loser wear to help track calories burned. More as I learn and get it set up and see if I think its helping.

I have done alot of genealogy work on my family and many of those ancestors trace back to the early days in Gallipolis and I've want to go down to that area on a history expedition but have just never made it. Anyway. Things I took to the hospital -- a handheld game or book to read, magazine, etc. I ended up waiting 3 extra hours in pre-op due to a really difficult case of some kind that backlogged the surgery schedule so it was nice having my brother to talk to for all that time but once I got back to my hospital room, he took off and I was on my own the rest of the evening so the game/book was handy. Someone also had told me to consider taking a bottle of Chloraseptic mouth spray to use on my throat after surgery because you have a sore or dry throat from the tube being down but I really could have done okay without that. Someone else told me to buy some Liquid Tylenol in advance in case I was having any pain or headaches and didn't want to try the pill form of Tylenol, etc. during the liquids stage. I actually again, didn't need this. I just used the hospital's nightgown, robe, slipper socks and went home in the same clothes I came in, didn't bring a nightgown, robe, slippers of my own. I did bring toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, deodorant as I remember it. Is that what you were asking?

Century Cards http://swords.cc/ohcc/oh_card.html If I make it message me: Lbs lost, Name on the card, background (see below) I will send you the link & instructions. Heart, Butterfly, Lotus, Rose, Plain Gold, Pink Ribbon, OH symbol.

I'm sneaking up on 90 lbs but probably won't make the 100 mark until our bandiversary in March but I'll be thrilled just the same. Congrats to those of you who have already lost 100+! There is something called a Century Card from the Obesity Help website you can get made with your name on it. You can choose from a Heart, a rose, or something else as the background and it it gold with 100 lbs lost Century Club member on it. See link below.

I weighed this a.m. right before heading off to the surgeon and was happy to report I broke into the next set of new numbers...Yea Friday, January 23, 2009 aJoneen.........0 evelas5000......0 Desdemona.......0 Fenton.........-5 HarleyGirl......+.5 Hopeinapril.....0 Lynn1215........0 NurseNiki.......0 Nycm00.........+1 Potatie.........-1 100 POUNDS LOST scrappy_friend.-2 SpecialK.......-3 Sugarbean......-2 100 POUNDS LOST Sharona.............-1 Tess415........-8 Thin2bme.....-3.2 WestCoastMom....0 Wishin4.........0

My Bodybugg came Friday and I am in the midst of getting it set up and using it. I forget if any other Shamrocks are using one? Also, when you go to activate it has a medical history questionnaire and it did have a question if you've had any type of bariatric surgery and when I answered yes on that, it blocked me from finishing my activation until I consult with their dietitian and get a clear to keep going and let them develop the program. Bummer but I am wearing the Bodybugg itself now and its no big deal, I slept with it in bed last night without noticing it so that is good because you are supposed to wear it for as close to 24 hours as you can so that it measures your whole day of calorie burn. Then you connect it up with a USB cable to your computer and upload the data to empty the device memory to the website that does the tracking. So far because I have the dietitian block, I can't do the food tracking on their website for the calories eaten part so that when it does calories burned against calories eaten it should tell if you are getting deficit going meaning more calories burned versus eaten means losing weight. Chime in if you are using one and what you think and I'll post here how its going for me. Next surgeon office visit for me is Monday 8:30 am and I'm staying off the scale until Monday before I go so I'll update our tracker after that. Congrats to all who are doing so well. I really slowed down in the last month thus the even more dedicated tracking of calories and activity and food eaten. I'm committed...maybe a little obsessive about it at this point. Whatever it takes....

Tess, that is so great that the scale has started moving again for you, I'm in the same place kind of bouncing up and down around the same 2 lbs but I know I'll get there if I hang in and hearing you are now moving down, gives me hope too. Congrats.

Kpodski--- you took the first huge step -- admitting you have a problem and asking for help. We are here for you girl. Do this one day at a time and if you need a band adjustment to tighten you down, go girl, go. I know how powerful smoking is not from me personally but I have a sister who has smoked since her teens and she is past 40 and now needs neck fusion surgery and her surgeon has told her she has to quit smoking at least 3 weeks before surgery and stay off smoking after forever or else he doesn't want to attempt the surgery -- he feels that strongly that her life and healing of her neck surgery needs that healthier air/lungs etc. So, congratulations on the quitting smoking, I know that is really really hard. My sister used to say losing weight and keeping it off for me was just like quitting smoking for her. She agreed to quit smoking once I had my lapband surgery but that was 10 months ago, and alot happened since then and she just couldn't quit. I pray now she can. Are you writing down what you are eating? Getting exercise? Pick back up and get in gear girl! We're here for you. Tough love and all ..though.

We have a lapband guy that comes to our monthly get together at the Polaris mall and he just had Dr. Curry do his surgery in November and was very satisfied and also chose that because of being self pay and it was much less expensive. His username on this website is Barbarossa. Let me see if I can find a posting of his and you can send him a Private Message for more details if he doesn't see this here. Good luck and hope you'll consider coming to the mall and we welcome pre-band, and post band from any program including self pay. I should also say that Mt. Carmel has three bariatric surgeons and they've all done several hundred or more lapbands and RNYs too. I totally understand the need to check out Cincy if I was self pay.

Hi tekdiva -- are you an IT techie? I work in IT as a project manager. Let me know if you have questions. You can send a PM (private message) by right clicking on my specialk userid name and it gives you an option to send a question that isn't posted to all on the board. Good luck.

Hi Lisa, nice to have you joining the group here. Here is a link to the Ohio Introductions thread but you're welcome to just post a brief intro here on the Columbus thread too if that's where you're from. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f56/introductions-please-introduce-yourself-here-before-going-another-thread-27406/index13.html Columbus Thread: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f56/columbus-area-42327/index31.html Hope to see you at our Polaris Mall gathering on Feb 14th at 2pm in the food court area.

Sarah -- good to hear from you too. Don't sell yourself short lady you are so doing well... I'm stuck at my current weight even though I'm adding more exercise this month (which might be building muscle) and so my month goal to hit 90 by my birthday is pretty much out the window but I'm still working toward it -- for whenever I get there. I know you will get there if you've done this great already. Be sure to take some motivation pictures and/or measurements and you might be surprised at how well you're doing on NSVs and those sure do count too.

Debbie - couple thoughts from the peanut gallery -- Dr. Miller extracts my existing fill level out each time I see him and I say I think I want an adjustment and he can then re-verify that my fill level is what it is. I had a pretty good variance from the first fill under fluroscopy versus what he said was in there when he did my second fill in the office, etc. So, I'd go ahead and let them do my next fill under fluro and they will know if you have a leak. I bet if its a very slow leak, you can just go back and get additional fill unless you want a replacement. I'd try the conservative approach myself too if that was my option. Dr. Miller is a very nice doctor - but very firm with me every time I see him which is fine with me, something I need to keep me on track. He always questions me pretty well about what I'm eating, what exercise I'm getting, etc. and that is holding me accountable. I'd say give him another try if you can get in to see him much quicker than you can get in to see Dr. Choban but if you like her 'bedside manner' much better, than I'd wait to see her so that you feel good about the experience of continuing to keep following up with your band to be successful. Hang in there, you inspired me in my early days and now I'll do what I can to return the favor.

LadyRoz -- so nice to see you posting and checking in with us. You were one of the originals along with DebbieK and others that encouraged me as I went through all the clearances and jumped through all the hoops and now I can hardly believe its been 10 months as of tomorrow since I had my surgery. Great hearing from you.

Yes I had Dr. Price and loved him. Dr Miller sees me for my fills and I like him too. Debbie is right that Dr. Miller is pretty firm with me about getting exercise and following up regularly but that works for me. On the office staff, call and leave a message for the office manager named David. Explain to him that you have Faxed something twice and its not being acknowledged as received. When you call the main office # you get a chance to select the phone book for the office to leave a message and you can put in David and get his voicemail and not Charlene's. Best wishes.

I have taken several water aerobics classes through the Westerville Parks and Rec Center. The instructor who did the Healthy Hazel Halloween teaches a class called H2O Bootcamp - i.e. water aerobics and her name is Jill Schmall. This winter session the class starts pretty late so I couldn't take it and not be too tired to drive home after. But if you can do it, she's a blast. There is also 3 other water aerobics classes at 5:30, 6:30 and 7:30 start times. Look online for the WPRC catalog under City of Westerville. A different lady teaches the 5:30 class and that's the one I was going to take this session until I joined Urban Active Fitness gym and the water aerobics classes, and use of their lap pool any other time I want, was included in my gym membership so I dropped out of the Westerville Pks class. I will tell you that the lady that teaches the 6:30 and 7:30 sessions has a reputation for doing alot of arm exercises and she doesn't have folks move around in the water or work with styrofoam dumbbells, noodles, etc. like the 5:30 or like Jill's class does. It all depends on what you'd like to try. In the summer, I took the Westerville class at Highland Parks pool outside and it was fun. I'm planning to do that again this summer if Jill is teaching again. :thumbup:

Here is a link over to the February get together at Polaris mall. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f56/central-ohio-get-together-february-14-2009-a-85222/

Lisa, great to hear from you on your successes. Yes, braces are wonderful as an adult - my sister got them at about 30 or so to correct a problem she'd had since a child with prominent front teeth and our parents could never afford braces so I just hope you will SMILE SMILE SMILE each and every day! You have so much to celebrate with your 70+ lbs you've already lost. Congrats on those great NSVs -- I can totally see you in the hot new heels since I have met you in person..Strut your self - be proud. On the relationship front, yep, I've been hiding under a rock for most of my overweight adult life so its so hard picturing myself as someone a new person in my life will accept with "bags and sags" as you all say but I do hope I can find someone still who will see me for the real me and look long term on how healthy I'm working to be. I met a younger guy through a local lapband support group and I emailed him a few times and exchanged a phone # but he hasn't figured it out...maybe I'm totally terrible at this flirting thing or maybe he's figured out I'm too old, or whatever. I'm moving on and if he calls we'll see. Don't be thinking I'm sitting at home waiting for him. I'm out there living life! And for our dear Fenton, yes, he is a big guy and I'm also looking long term that he is losing for the future so I see that as sexy and attractive at his current size. :-)

Someone asked about a Spinning class and yes I did try it once before... It was a little too much for me with my size but one thing my friend who invited me to go didn't tell me -- they make special padded bicycle shorts padded on your tailbone area because otherwise when you get off that bike, you are walking like you rode a horse about 100 miles. I did get a gel seat cushion for my regular bike and it just has a drawstring to help secure it on top of the regular seat and I've been told to try that this time (yes I am going to try it again) instead of buying the bike shorts while I'm losing. I've been told once your down where you want to me, the shorts are a good investment. Good luck and start slow. I doubt I will make it through a whole hour class (about 50 minutes).

Okay, this date for the next month's meeting is on Valentine's Day and being the eternally single one, I won't have a date for that day/evening most likely so I will probably be able to make this afternoon get together. Plan to wear something red or pink that day in the spirit of the holiday. That includes the guys!

Inches lost-- anybody interested in making a separate thread to track total inches lost since sometimes weight is not our only measure of success. I'm working out quite alot right now and I think I'm changing in clothes but not seeing any lightening speed on losing weight. I'd propose a Total Inches Net since we started with it being a combined number of inches for chest, waist, hips, upper arms, and thighs. ?? Let me know what you think. I'll confess that some of my old measurements didn't fit within the 60 inch standard tape measure but I have to let you know at something like Michael's or JoAnn Fabrics they do make tape measures for us quilters like me that need like 120 or 144" tape measures. Now I can assure you I'm glad to report that my hips definitely are under that number! whew!

I'm good with a separate Friday Weigh in Thread to put that info over there and keep this for support and harrassment of each other about other things...hee hee.

I'm hoping to make it to the mall tomorrow but I'll check and see what the weather situation is by about noon and let you all know. Sometimes they say we'll get 3-5 inches and its really no big deal, other times, we get it harder than they thought. Oh well, it is Ohio and typical January that we're going to have some snow!