trish5713

hey! i'm trish. i'm a 21 year old veterinary nurse in the poconos in pa. i'm getting banded by dr. harrison at lehigh vally hospital on 8/12 (as long as insurance comes though). i'm so excited!!!

hey! so i'm getting some info about the whole banding thing and i found out that every doctor around me that does it requires a 6 month diet with meetings to make sure the patients can handle the diet i guess. makes sense. but my problem is my bmi is like 41.5 and i'm afraid that if i lose too much weight i won't be able to get the band. eek! anyone have any experience with this kind of thing?:help:

there should be some kind of code word or secret handshake so i know who i shouldn't waste my time with. i'm sick of not dating. the only real date i've ever been on was my junior prom and i don't think it counts since i went with one of my "just friends." maybe i just live in the valley of no good men.

Where are all these men that don't care about looks? i've certainly never met them. i know i'm not picky (except for no creeps obviously) and i'm more confident than most of my thin friends that have boyfriends. and i've found that when guys say that they don't care about looks really it means they don't care if you have a weird nose, small boobs, bad skin, etc. i have heard on numerous occasions "you're a great girl but i'm just not physically attracted to you. can't we just be friends?" i've basically given up on finding a guy that can deal with the weight (and isn't a creep) because i don't think many exist.

i'm gonna get some knee high boots. don't know why but always wanted them. and i want to sky dive. bikini would be nice. oh and i want to run into the guys that have rejected me because of my size and then kick some dirt at them with my boots.:tongue2:

i had my first appointment with dr. harrison at lehigh today. he's the "new" guy doing banding. he's not really new cause he's been laporoscopic stuff for a long time and has been working with dr. borse doing bands for a long time also. he seems like a really great guy and is all about team work. he was like "as you're doctor i'm your partner in this and we're gonna do it." i finished my 6 month program too and really don't have many complaints. i just wish there were more lap banders in my particular group but i guess that's cause everyone has different schedules. the bariatrician was a little eh but the dietician they have there is great. now i'm just working on my insurance crap. the woman at dr. harrison's office that's in charge of all that was really helpful when i told her how nervous i was about being approved. now all i have to do is wait on the insurance stuff. i've got a date, 8/12, so now i'm just waiting it out.

hey poconomom! i'm from stroudsburg too. i just finished the 6 month program at lehigh and i'm getting banded in august by dr. harrison. did you go to the free seminar? you can always just reregister and start over if it's something you still want to do. i had a great experience with the program. everyone is really nice and they're all there to help you get ready for surgery. if you have any questions about the whole thing just send me a message or e-mail me or something. :wink2:

Hey. I'm all done with every other Cigna requirement which is why this is annoying now. My hospital is sending in my paperwork for approval so I'll talk to them next week when I go in for my last group meeting thing. I just know my pcp is gonna charge me for the letter if that's what I need and that's annoying. Thanks for replying!

so i have my last group meeting two weeks from today. i was around 259 when i started and this morning i was 261. i need to be under my starting weight to get approved by my hospital. i'm really scared i won't be able to get rid of 3 pounds in time! i've been working on this lap band thing for about a year now and i hate that my weight might get in the way of my life once again. it's hard for me to stop eating when i'm "satisfied." actually i don't even know what that feels like. i know hungry and i know full. i've been trying, really trying for the past six months and it seems like my weight just yoyos no matter what i do. i feel like i've already failed. i'm trying not to feel discouraged but i'm just afraid i won't make it. i need this surgery. i've tried everything else. i just can't be fat any more, i really can't.

thanks so much for posting this! i have cigna and thought i had everything covered. jeez i hate insurance. so i haven't really told my pcp about the lap band thing and now i guess i have to face the music. do i just ask her for a letter about my weight over the past 2 years? do i have my hospital call her? i'm so confused...

Hey! My eval was abot an hour or a bit more and I just had to talk to the social worker that runs the pre-op program at my hospital. They just wanted to know that I understood how life changing the surgery would be and if I had a support system. Because I was under 21 at the time I also had to talk to a psychologist so they could know I was mentally stable. I've heard that people have had to answer questionaires at longer evals. I was really nervous about mine but it ended up being no sweat. As long as you understand what the surgery entails you should do ok.

so i'm about 3-4 months pre-op and i had to sign a contract with my dr. that i would lose some weight before surgery. i was thinking of doing atkins since i've never tried it and it won't be for very long anyway. good idea or bad idea? has anyone ever done it? do you just cut out carbs or is there more to it? thanks.

my brother has always had trouble sleeping and his psychiatrist was warry of putting him on any meds. so she told him to just lay down, close his eyes and say 1 in his head, breath, say 1, breath, and so on. i was skeptical at first but i tried it on a really long car ride and i fell asleep. apparently it helps keep your mind empty. i do it alot now if i'm stressed and can't sleep. might be worth a try!

i've only had a problem with a few rides and that's only since i've been onver the 250 mark. the superman coaster at six flags new england was a tight squeeze and had to buckly under my stomach and it was pretty embarassing having to wiggle around to fit. i didn't have a problem with any of their other rides though. at knoebel's (does anyone else know what this is?) i didn't do the phoenix and had to really suck in for the twister. at dorney park i was fine on all the coasters. the one that got me was this thing near steel force that is like round and has over the shoulder holders and it spins and swings at the same time. that i got kicked off of because i didn't fit into the "larger person" seat. that was in high school on a class trip. fun times. i didn't have any problems at disney or universal. i was a bit smaller then, around 230 but i don't think anyone a bit bigger than that would have any problems. busch gardens was also good. they have practice seats that you can try out before getting in line. most places that have these have them right at the entrance but a few here were off to the side which made me feel like less of a sideshow attraction. i didn't ride the alpengeist at busch gardens because the sign said the seats may not fit women with "larger" chests. hershey has some coasters with "bigger" seats. this was nice because they look the same and don't have a big sign that says "hey fat people can sit here!" they just use little symbols and you have to read the ride sign to know what they are. i did the great bear there which is a suspended coaster, the type i'm usually warry of because of my stomach and chest after the dorney incident. hope some of that helps!:wink:

well here's my kids. i have 2 dogs, a 9 year old lab named toby and here's beau, my lab-golden cross. he's 16 months now. he's a seeing eye dog and will be going back for his formal training in a few months:unsure: here's one of beau and toby together when beau was a baby. and this is george. he's a 2 year old new zealand white. he looks really pissed in this picture but it's the only one i could find. i also have 2 leopard geckos and a crested gecko but i can't find any pics of them.

USDA recalls 143 million pounds of beef - More health news - MSNBC.com I'm sure many of you have heard by now about the beef recall due to the butchering and sale of meat from downer cows. As an animal lover (NOT an animal rights activist however) this is beyond disturbing. However, the fact that really pissed me off was the fact that this meat was largely bought by the government for school lunches! How this can happen in an industrialized nation like America is simply disgusting. And the simple reason for it is not enough man power. The USDA and FDA have both had to endure massive lay offs due to decreased funding so not as many inspections are taking place. Meanwhile we're worried about global warming, the war(s) on terror, and building a frickin wall across the US/Mexico border while our children are eating meat that's not fit for human consumption!?! What is this?

has anyone gotten approved by cigna while having no co-morbidities? i don't have any (probably will in a few years though if i don't have the surgery) and was wondering if this will affect my chances of approval. i meet all the other criteria and stuff. thanks!

doesn't matter. you have to show a 6 month weight loss attempt over 6 consecutive months. i don't mind the 6 month thing since it's a part of a lap-band education and life changes (psych, nutrition, etc) seminar/support group thing.

My first piece of advise would be to get a crate. Get a larger one then you need now and create some kind of barrier so that your puppy can only turn around and spread out a bit (if it's any bigger she'll poop in one side and sleep in the other). She will cry and whine and scratch and bark but this is normal. Do not let her out when she's carrying on. Trust me. I know it's hard but it's for the best. If you respond to her crying she'll learn that that's what she needs to do to get you to do what she wants. She won't cry the whole time. She'll probably fall asleep in a little while. It's not mean in any way to crate a dog. They crave warm, cozy places and they like having a little place of their own. If possible, put an old piece of clothing in there with her so she'll have your scent with her. With my puppies, I've gotten a cheap fleece throw and slept with it for a few weeks before they got here. Also, you can play a radio at low volume. That can be very comforting. A crate is much nicer than being in a room where she can have accidents. As far as being confined for 5-6 hours a day, is there any way to avoid this? Keeping her in the crate/small room for this long is setting her up for failure (failure = accidents). Can a neighbor take her out? Can you come home durring the day from work to take her out? I always tell people that a puppy should only be kept in a crate for as many hours as they are months old. Like if your puppy's 2 months old, she can only be crated for 2 hours. The exception to this is sleeping at night. When you let her out of the crate, don't make a big deal about it. I always had the hardest time with this. Just quietly take her out and then make the big deal about when she poops/pees outside. I've raised 2 seeing eye puppies, my own dog, and have basically heard it all from fellow puppy raisers, friends, family, and clients. Once someone finds out you're a veterinary nurse the questions just come out. If you need any help with any thing please send me a message. Seriously. Good luck with the little darling!:cursing:

really? i'm at about a bmi of 42 now and my doc wants me to lose some weight before the surgery to shrink my liver. i thought they went by the starting weight. stupid cigna.

i'm sorry to hear about what your brother-in-law went though pix. however, gastric bleeding is always a possible side effect when taking any kind of NSAID (aleve, ibuprophen, aspirin, etc.). That's because it blocks the chemical messages (prostiglandins, specifically cox-1) that cause the production of mucus in the gastrointestinal tract. without mucus the acids in the stomach destroy the lining, causing ulcers and sometimes bleeding. it's not really a reason to stop taking these drugs but you're doctor should always know what you're taking, why, and how frequently.

now brady and moss are being little babies and not playing in the pro bowl. real professional guys

weeeeee are the champions my friends.........

i'm soooo excited that's it's almost here! i'm dying the tips of my hair blue, that's how confident i am that the giants are gonna win. come on g men!

this is insane! i seriously doubt that this will get much further since it's pretty much crazy. what about all the fat congressmen? where will they eat? do they think they'll be able to get people to stand on a scale before they eat? would there be a fat bouncer? not a bouncer that's fat but a bounce that...bounces the fat people. this is crazy. but it's not like these government guys have anything else to worry about. (that was sarcasm by the way. not sure if it would come across in typed words)