Time to love me

****shaking my head saying YO DOC... pass the pipe back to the nurse**** I do agree with the exercise part, but really..... like you said..... if you had the time that would be ideal, at least you're trying to fit it in to your busy schedule. As far as the calories, you need more than 800 a day. I also agree that you should seek a nutritionist, I go to one now and I'm not banded yet. She is teaching me healthier habits as I head down to bandland. Take care and best of luck to you..

Great attitude! I hope it all works out for you, insurance companies, in my opinion, don't like to see people get healthy.. but they love our money.

Happy Birthday, Pink Mary.... I hope you have a wonderful day!!!:banana

Amy, Welcome to LBT. I am not banded yet, I hope to have a date by Dec. But I do have to say everyone on LBT is wonderful, I've had all my questions answered. It's like one big family. I've been nervous about going through with this thinking I can never stick to the diet that I would need to do, meaning, the possibilities of never eating breads, pizza and maybe other foods I may like. But it's a health decision for me, I will live without these things and from what I hear once you know you can't eat certain foods, you will end up not wanting them anyway. Best of luck to you, your family is beautiful, If you want to chat send my a PM (private message).

First of all, Great job with your weight loss. Also, I wanted to say that I feel the same way about the candy situation, I don't really like it, crave it or eat it, come time for Halloween, for some reason, I do eat one or two mini bars. So what I have done this year was buy candy that I absolutely have no desire to eat. I got Babe ruth and reese's pieces. It worked out great! I did not have one ounce of candy. I also told my 11 year old that if she leaves the candy around the house, I'm tossing it. She has to keep it in her room.

I've had my share of surgery and anesthesia. I had emergecy gall bladdar removal, appendix, 1 spinal fusion & 3 other back surgeries, 1 hip surgery, 2 pain pump implanted w/ cath. in the back (one failed), wisdom teeth, TMJ surgery, 2 c sections and finally knee surgery. All at the ripe ole age of 34. The only problem for me, with the anesthesia, was my bladdar was paralysed for a few days and I needed to be straight cath. every 6 hours. OUCH!! It happened every single time to me!

I know of a complications with the liver being sliced. One girl in our lapband support group was so desperate to have surgery that she put weights around her ankles and in her pockets when she met with the dietician for weigh in (she didn't have enough BMI). When the doctor figures out how much weigh you have to lose, he obviously uses your weight to figure this out. So when the doc went in to do the band, the liver was much larger than expected. She was in the hospital for an extra 4 days, but is doing well. Now for the first weigh in, at his office, you have to wear a johnny.

Once, I am banded I will come back and read this thread. I'm sure I'll feel the same way you do. I think you make a great point of saying skinny people have fast metabolisms, you have the band. Thanks a bunch!

Karen, Good for you!!! no more elastic waist. You really are an inspiration to me and I'm sure others. It's really a great attitude that you have. I wish I was the same way. I, for the most part, don't care what people say. I'm just one that doesn't tolerate being berated for my choice in life and I don't want to listen to "She lost weight only because she has the band". Not to mention, the reason I started this thread, I know how my friends and family feel about the band and gastric bypass already. I'm not ready to explain or defend myself to them. Maybe later in life I will, but I want to be banded and doing well before I take that battle on. Best of luck to you, congrats. on your weight loss so far.

Karen, I wanted to add that your husband is so awesome! How sweet of him to stand up and tell that guy that you were and you still are beautiful. AWWW Here's to your hubby***

Thank God my parents are safe, they said Wilma was scary! They had peak winds of 122. Their pool took a beating, they lost their linai. Anyway.. ROBYN.. let us know how it went with you, when you come back on. I know my parents have no power at this time, so I assume you don't either. Thanks to everyone who sent prayers out*****

Karen, I can feel you on this issue. I hate it when people say, you have such a beautiful face, you'd be so much prettier.. if you lost weight. It doesn't change WHO you are, you're still the same person. I used to walk away and then cry later when people would make such rude comments to me, so I started to snap back. One time someone had said " You have a model face and such a great personality, you should lose weight and your personality will shine and I'm sure you'll have more boys turning their heads at you". she contiuned to tell me that there is no reason to be fat, when you are it just means your lazy and you don't care about yourself. My comment was "You're such a lovely lady as well, I feel if you had that mole removed off your cheek, get a face lift and lose 5 pounds then maybe you wouldn't be on your fifth husband". She was so stunned! She told me that was very rude and I turned back to her and said... so wasn't your comment. Needless to say.. this went a lot further than that, but I walked away with a smile on my face. Ever since then, when I run into her at parties, she is so nice to me.

(((ROBYN & FAMILY))) UGGh my parents live in Naples, Fl and I'm a wreck wondering what's going to happen. I can't believe they did not go to a shelter or evacuate, like they were asked to. They can be so stubborn. I'm glad you're boarded up, be safe.

Good luck with your surgery! I still am sticking to not telling my family and friends. My husband is my rock for this one. Also, I have so many people on LBT that I can share every feeling and thought with, knowing that I will get love and support back. I won't have to worry about being osterized or put down for my choice. I get my date for surgery on Nov. 2nd. I met with the nutritionist last week and she thinks I need to tell someone beside my family so that I'll have extra support. She did say it is my choice not to tell and that I'd have her and the rest of the clinic by my side, no matter what my choice was. From what I am reading.. there are many who said they would not tell and they have, only to be surprised with support. While some didn't want to tell and then did, and regret it. I love this thread! I've learn so much from it.

Good luck! I'd like to ask you a question, If you don't feel comfortable answering it, I'll understand. Did your port flip due to the amount of weight you have lost? My Dr. told me that this can sometimes happen when you lose a great amount of weight. Anyway, you should be so proud of yourself, what a great job you have done. You have me so excited about getting the band. I wish and I hope I'll have great results from the band, just as you have.

You took the words out of my mouth. My friends a body builder and does this treatment every so often. Also, from what I have heard, this is a temp. fix. Once you stop most go back to their old self. This is my opinion, from what friends have told me about their experience, I've never had this done. I think my friend said they paid 175.00 It's awesome when people come on this site and start threads to share the good, bad and the ugly. It truly helps others who might be thinking of doing these things and are wondering if it's a waste of money or if it really works. I hate to see that someone has to be the guinea pig or the example but it will make someone think twice before having this done. It's not just this treatment, it goes for every pill or weight loss and all that goes along with it. I am always looking for what opinions I can find before I do a lot of things that I want to do. Thanks for sharing!

Nykee, also to add to CINDY's comment about looking in the mirror and saying something nice about yourself and so on.. Leave sticky notes around the house, like in your favorite book or on you dresser mirror or where ever you frequent and write a nice message to yourself. YOU ARE WORTH IT! Also.. it is great that you started to take credit for all your efforts, you have done a great job, keep it up. No matter how a person chooses to lose weight it is never easy fighting the food cravings/addictions. If it was so easy we'd all be skinny minnies. So please.. give credit, where credit is due. Lastly, just some input on your pain situation, I have been through so much with back surgeries and all the pain meds. (oxycotin at one point up to 100 mg daily) it is not a fun time. I struggle every day with pain. I had a intrathecal pain pump implanted and this has done wonders for me. If you want any info. on this, please PM me and I'll try to answer your questions, the best I can. (it has a port, just like the lap band and you get fills the same way too) There is another person on the LBT that has gone through the same thing I have and I'm quite sure she'd love to share her story with you as well. Take care..

First of all, Congrats Heather, keep up the great work. BLAZE, HERE IS THE LINK YOU ASKED FOR Before and After Pictures

Yeahhhhhh! Good for you... get ready for a happier,healthier & slimmer you

Lisa.... No wonder why everyone loves you,funny, funny...funny.

I also have BCBS, but I didn't have to do some of the things that others have done. I have to say that I am very lucky. There are 2 other girls on LBT that have the same type of BCBS and we didn't have to have the supervised diets, we also did not have to see a nutritionist. I guess it just depends on your state and then, what level of insurance you have with that company. It's best to call the insurance company and ask for the website you can go to so you can review the coverage for weight loss surgery, if they even cover it, and what is required to get the surgery.I still gathered my history and send it along, just in case the insurance company had a question on my dedication to losing weight.

Here are some threads you can read with soda info. Good Luck! Diet soda? Help -11 days for my lap and on liquid diet Carbonated beverages

~ This is a copy of my post on another thread, I just added some other info.~ If you had recent blood work, EKG or any other test that's required, you might be able to get a copy of those results and use those, instead of taking them again. It has to be within six months (some surgeons allow a year). Also, I did not have to have a sleep test or stress test. For me, I didn't have any medical reasons to have this done. But your Dr. may still have you do it. All Dr.'s are different, and as you will find, insurance companies are very different from one another. Get your weight history together. I got advice from a lady whom was already banded, so what I did was gather history from youth to adulthood. I then put what diet or exercise program I used, start weight, how long I was on the diet & how long it took me to gain the weight back. Example: Age 20 Weight Watchers: 7-8 months, start weight 180, lost 20 pounds and gained 30 back within 6 months. If you have an Ob/Gyn or any other doctor, that you see on a regular basis, you should get medical records from them too. It may have helpful info. like your weight history. Also, I went to WW, curves and any other program I used and got all my history from them. I then handed all this info. into my surgeons office and they submitted it to the insurance company, along with a letter from my PCP (primary care doctor). One last thing (my PCP had me do this).. just in case the insurance company denies you and wants you to go on a supervised weight mangagement plan, make an appt. every month with your PCP and make sure you have them note it as a weight related appt. and when you go, just do a weigh in and tell the dr. that you have been eating a healthy diet to try to lose some weight (have him/her give you a list of healthy foods to eat while dieting,he'll have to note this in your file). This will give you a head start and also count for a supervised diet with many insurance companies. * I know some are asking for a copy of a letter their Dr. sends, this is hard... I know, in my case, I didn't see the letter he sent. From what I gathered from some friends on LBT, most of them didn't see their letter either. Although, I am sure that some people have seen their letter. * I have to say that I do not have my date set for surgery yet, but I have been in contact with my insurance company and I spoke with the person handeling my case to make sure all my info. was accurate. She complimented me on how organized I was with the info. and told me it was very detailed, that I most likely will have no issues with being approved. I gave them everything they needed and then some so that they won't have much to kick back and say I need this and that and this and that. On top of that.. at my surgeons office they do meetings in groups of 4 and out of the 4 I am the first to go because I have everything all done. One of the other ladies is now waiting until Jan. just to see the Dr. I went in Sept. and I have an appt. on Nov. 2nd. So go prepared with you test results, if you have any and all the info. you can get. It may save you a step down the line. Best of luck to you!

Thanks Love Cats and Steph, I was looking forward to seeing some info. on this. Maybe the surgeon, who was doing the seminar, will not do reversal surgery. When I see my surgeon, in a couple of weeks, I'll ask him. I just love being educated on things I don't know about, it keeps me thinking. Wendy & Rachel thanks for posting the info. and your experience.

OKAY.. I'm very confused. I was told that the RNY was NOT a reversible surgery. Is there new info. on this or a new method of surgery to make this reversible? When I went to my information seminar, there were some patients getting the lapband & others getting the RNY, anyhow we discussed both surgeries & we were told that the lapband was reversible but the RNY was NOT. I have made my decision to have the lapband, without a doubt, but I would like to be more educated on the RNY being reversible,as for, I was told that it was not an option. Like Wendy said she couldn't imagine why she'd do a reversal, I wouldn't either.. I guess I am just curious to hear this answer.