gojaguars

Sounds yummy, I will need to try this one! Good Luck!

Thanks AJW for the carb info. My Dr. has us count carbs as the main focus keeping it to 30 or less for each day. The higher protein, low carb diet really helps cut out the cravings and seems to help us feel full longer. I have just found that I would rather eat the majority of my carbs than drink them. No matter what foods your Dr has you eatting, we have to help the band work for us to achieve our weight loss goals. It is a tool to help us, not a magic wand. Read labels and make the best choices you can and if you fall off the plan, don't beat yourself up, we are human, just get back on plan and keep going. Good Luck to all of us!!!!

Hey Everyone!! I too, have not been on the website in a while and it is great to see how well all of us May 2008'ers are doing. It has been a year for all of us now and think of all the weight we all have lost. It is incredible!! My best friend and I had our surgery on the same day and it really helps that we also work together. She is about 5 -10 pounds ahead of me with her weight loss and very close to her goal. I started heavier than she was. We are so happy we had the surgery and are getting back our lives. We never used to exercise before our surgery. my friend now gets up at 3:15am every morning and walks an hour before we go to work. I do my walking in the evening when it is cooler, walking my dog. It feels so good to walk and just breathe normally, take the stairs at work and be able to breathe when we get to the top. I like walking and shopping, even if I don't buy anything. My feet no longer hurt all the time and I can wear sandals instead of sneakers with my inserts. I am in a size 16 now, go to the pool and lay in sun or on the beach in a bathing suit! Our friends are work are so supportive and love to see what we eat as it always looks so good. We are very creative with our low carb diet. We have inspired many of them to eat healthier. Also, there are two women at work that heard we had our surgery and are in the pre-surgery appointments now and they look to us for encouragement and support. We have our moments and cravings, but the difference now is that we have it (much less than the old days) and we get right back on track and realize that means we have to exercise more and cut back some to make up for it. There is an accountability factor that we did not have before. I know these are little things, but to those of that have carried around the extra weight for years, it feels so GREAT!!! Nothing tastes as good as feeling thinner does!! We wish everyone all the best and keep strong and we can reach our goals....we have already done the hardest part....we had the surgery. To those struggling, talk to your doctor about it, they are a wealth of knowledge and have seen it all, they are there to counsel and encourage us also. They want us to succeed in our weight loss journey. Big Hugs and CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF US!!!!

Good Luck with your surgery Homecare! I was banded 5-08, and at about 100 lbs less now. It has been the best thing I ever did for myself. I am not much of a drinker, but our Dr has us on no more than 30 carbs for a day and I know that wine has quite a few carbs, so you will have to really watch that and choose wines that are less carbs or you will have trouble loosing the weight. You can have a wine spritzer, lower carb wine with diet sprite. It is very good, or another low carb drink is vodka mixed with Crystal lite soft drink mix, it has no carbs at all. So just be sure to read labels and research all your choices so you will be successful in your weight loss. I wish you the best of luck !!!!

Hey! Yes, it is difficult the first couple of weeks. I promise it gets so much better and you will not even be able to tell you have the band, except for your appetite being smaller and not feeling hungry so often. I was banded on May 7th and so was my best friend. That first couple of weeks while your body is healing is and hurting is sometimes hard. It seemed like the port was poking me, it hurt whenever I turned or twisted. But for me it seems like one day I woke up and was not hurting anymore. I love it and it was the greatest thing I have ever done for myself!! I have lost about 42lbs so far and am so happy and feeling GREAT!!! After the pain subsided and once we started on regular food, we did not feel much restriction and as we got closer to our 1st appt for the first fill, we were so hungry and wanting to eat all the time. With the first fill we did not feel that much restriction and we were sometimes hungry but were so excited for the next appt. After the 2nd fill we did have more restriction and it was noticeable. After a couple weeks the band loosens up and we were ready for our 3rd fill. It has been so great this time, the restriction seems perfect. I get full and it lasts a long time, no stomach growling, no feeling deprived from not being able to eat like I used to. I don't think about my next meal. Our dr has us limiting our carbs to 30 per day and high protein. It really helps with the appetite suppressing. My food intake now is coffee in the morning, sometimes scrambled egg with cheese or 1 cheese stick, 1 protein shake like EAS chocolate or Atkins low carb chocolate delight and dinner, usually some chicken or other meat and vegetables. I really am full and satisfied and best of all......loosing weight!!! We have noticed that a lot of the work is in our heads and retraining ourselves from the years of overeating and not eating properly. We will all learn to Eat to live and not Living to eat. My friend has the problem with BM's. Alot of the medicines you can take are high in carbs so be careful with that, but the dr office suggested that she use Miralax and it has no carbs and you can increase your fiber content with vegetables etc... Hope that helps. This site is great for support, keep reading and asking questions. We are all at different stages with our bands. Good Luck and best wishes to all of us!!!! Take care :thumbup:

BBK, What a beautiful picture!!!! It is just stunning, you look like a movie star!! You are such an inspiration to the rest of us. It just goes to show how hard work and dedication can change your life. Congratulations!!! Thanks for sharing your journey with the rest of us!!

Jody, thanks for the news about Frangi. I am so happy to hear she is doing well. Becky we are thankful for your update too. That sounds great that you feel well enough to be at the desk on the computer updating all of us. Sending all the well wishes we have for the both of you!! Thank goodness for pain meds!! Take care!

Northwest Nance, thanks so much for sharing your information about your 1st fill. My friend and I were banded on May 8th and our 1st fill will be June 20th and we are nervous about it. I am really relieved now and I think she will be too. We have been getting more hungry as the days go by and are looking forward to the help of our fills. Thanks for sharing and best wishes to all of us!!:rolleyes2::thumbup:

BBK, I am glad the band dr will be fixing your port. I agree with you, it is better to let the expert fix it so your band is not damaged and he will know how it is supposed to be and look. I am sorry to hear you are unhappy with your breasts. Can you get a 2nd opinion from another PS before you let the PS do the revision? I might be worried about him doing more surgery. We are all wishing you all the best. You look MARVELOUS, just marvelous!!!:rolleyes2:

Becky, so glad to hear your surgery went well and can't wait till you feel up to posting. Take care and let everyone take care of you and put all of your energy into healing. We all have you in our thoughts and prayers! Frangi, sorry to hear you had a time getting into the hotel, but hopefully some of the pre-PS shopping relaxed you a bit. (retail therapy is always great!) We are all keeping you in out thoughts and prayers too, and we will be anxiously waiting to hear how things go for you too. Best wishes!!!

Frangi and Becky, I just wanted to wish you both the best with your PS, I will be anxiously awaiting your updates as you feel up to it, as I know many others will be too. Thank you both for sharing your journey with everyone. I am in the beginning of my journey and am learning so much from the both of you. Take care and sending the healing vibes your ways!!!!

Hey everyone! My friend and I were both banded on May 8th and we also work together. We get 30 mins for lunch too. Some of the things we have been bringing for lunch that seem to work for us to have time to eat without any worries are: Ham or Turkey with a piece of provolone cheese rolled up inside it, Cream cheese with green onion chopped up in it and rolled up in the Ham or Turkey. Tuna fish with diced onions, little mayo and mild banana peppers and some of the pepper juice to make it wet. Salads work well too and we splurged and had some boiled shrimp with our salad the other day. We also add a large dill pickle or cheese sticks sometimes. We are still trying to get creative, but we have been really satisfied with these lunches and making them the night before helps and we don't have to heat anything to eat. Hope the ideas help. Best wishes to all of us.

Hey, I am so sorry to hear about your trouble with your fill and that you had to miss the graduation. I hope it was video taped so you can purchase it. But I know in the long run, even though missing your daughter's graduation was hard on you, that loosing weight and being healthier for the rest of your life and being able to live longer is the priority. I am so glad that they were able to do the revision the same day. Best of luck to you!!! And to the rest of us too!!!

Frangi, thanks so much for the info. That is really interesting. I had noticed some others mentioning the barium swallow and was wondering about that too. So this was very helpful to me and I am sure others too! Thanks for sharing!

I am a new member of the banded family and I am not sure what y'all are talking about when you refer to using flouro when you get the fills? I was just banded on May 8th and next appt is June 20th, so I better get up to speed on all of this. Sorry if this sounds stupid. I guess I just thought they could tell where the port is and that they use a certain amount of saline in the needle and that is that. Seems that some have mentioned that you should drink after the fill in the office to be sure all is ok before you leave. Any other advice for us newbys? Thanks so much for sharing!!! I am in Jacksonville, Fl and my dr was Dr Robert Cwyes at the Jacksonville Weight Loss Center, his partner is Michael Baptista. They are both very nice. Tel 904-399-4004, in case anyone is interested to see if they do fills for other drs. Good luck to all of us!!

Hey everyone! I am in Jacksonville too. My friend and I were both banded on May 8th, so we have not had fills yet, but I would highly recommend our doctor's office. Jacksonville Weight Loss Center, Dr Robert Cywes and Dr Michael Baptista. Telephone 904-399-4004. They are located on Beach Blvd near where Atlantic and Beach Blvd meet, Southgate area I think. I know when we had our surgery the Drs give you their personal cell phone numbers and we can call they any time no matter what time of day with any problems or questions. We have witnessed patients calling them while we are with them for appointments and they always excuse themselves to take the calls. We were impressed with that. Give them a call and check it out. Best wishes and good luck to all of us!!!

Thanks Ladies for wanting to share this personal journey with the rest of us. That is so unselfish and kind. I will be praying and anxiously monitoring the thread for your updates and wish you all the best and will send quick healing vibes to the both of you! Are you having the surgery somewhere other than your home town? Just wondering since you mentioned being in a hotel for 11 days? Will you have someone with you to help care for you? Hope so. I am newly banded on May 8th, so just in the beginning of my journey to a healthier life and who knows, maybe a lift too...:lol:lol. Take care. Best wishes to all of us in our journeys for peace, happiness and health!!

Hey Everyone!! I work for a very large financial institution and was just banded on May 8th. I was approved for the short term disability from my surgery date of May 8th thru May 25th and returned to work on May 26th. I also filed the FMLA just to cover myself for job protection, which we can do if you miss 3 days. (that was approved too) Our STD kicks in once you miss the 8th calendar day. Now it took Met Life time to approve it, and it seems like I am going to miss the normal pay day of the end of the month, but they may be able to get an off cycle paycheck on this Thursday, so that is better than having to wait till the 15th. I have to work on it more tomorrow at work with my boss. I work at a desk on a computer all day. Not strenuous, but hard to sit for 2-3 hours at a time without being able to get up when you need to and it is uncomfortable. My job also pays 100% of your pay for up to 13 wks. It is really how your doctor fills out the paperwork for the disability company. I would suggest telling your dr how many days it takes for them to pay you and surely he will be sure you are given enough time to claim the short term disability. My dr was very understanding about it and his standard time allowed is two weeks anyway. :thumbup::thumbup:Good Luck to all of us!!!:thumbup::smile:

:thumbup: Oh, xray1028, that is great. I agree with you, take it slow, and have fun. Only God really knows how it will go. Best of luck , keep us updated.:tt2:

Yes, how did the date go? I hope you have a great time! Another date planned?

Hey Everyone!!! BBK, you look fabulous!!! Thanks for sharing your story with all of us and the pictures are great. I was just banded on May 8th, so am in the beginning of the journey and need to loose about the same as you have lost....You give me hope and inspiration. I know it helps many others too. I hope they get your port fixed where it is more comfortable.Take care and thanks again for all the information and pics. I am so proud of you!!

Congratulations!!! How exciting? How did you meet? Sounds great since you have already talked about your surgery and he is supportive, that is a great start with communicating. Do you know where you are going or what you're doing? Can't wait to hear how it goes. I have not dated in years either. Was married to my teenage love for 21 years and he divorced me last year....he wanted to be single. I am trying to move on with life now and trying to get healthier for myself and my children. Have a great time!!:rolleyes2:

:confused_smile: Congratulations!!!! Thanks for your story. What a great motivational experience. I am newly banded on May 8th and this is inspiring to me and no doubt to many others!!! You are truly regaining your life back for yourself and your loved ones. I am so proud of you and all your hard work.:tt1:

That was what my dr shared, but it never hurts to reread that info. I know when you feel good it is hard to remember that we just had surgery and are healing inside and still need to give our bodies time to heal and adjust. Good Luck to all of us!!!!

Welcome Dixiechic999! Well, I am in FL so no info on drs in your area. But I have Aetna ins and my co-pay was $500 for the hospital and the insurance paid the rest. I also had some copays of $25 for dr visits leading up to the surgery. You should call your insurance co and ask if they cover Bariatric surgery and they can tell you about your coverage. I did not have to jump through any hoops to get it covered just do the various appts ( dietician, nutritionist, pschologist, dr pre op, and have one of my drs send a letter showing I have had 5 yrs of overweight history (my gyn provided that info for the last 7 yrs). So just routine info. My ins had me do the appts over a 3 month time period, so I had two appts a month. Once I complted all the required appts, the dr's office submitted the paperwork to see if it would be covered and I was approved within a week! Then it was just a matter of scheduling the appt with the dr for surgery. I was just banded on May 8th! My best friend did it also the same day, right before me. Our dr gave us two weeks off from work for recovery time. It seems that some others go back to work quicker. We all heal differently. Good Luck with your new life and trying to get healthier for you and your children. I was divorced last year after 20 yrs of marriage. I didn't think I would make it, but it has been for the best. (the divorce was his idea). There is wealth of knowledge here for the taking just read on and ask questions! Take care and Best Wishes!!!