Sheilaj

You won't feel too great for about the first 3 days. After that it's not too bad. You still won't be able to run any marathons but as long as you take it relatively easy you should be OK. When I had mine done I had to be especially careful about bending over and twisting at the waist as I could feel the pull in my muscles where the port is attached. Good Luck!

Hi, Banded on 9/23 and doing great. Had the shoulder pain you talked about and then discovered chewable Gas-x. No problems since. Feeling great and have more energy. I'm having a hard time getting my liquids in though. My first fill is Oct 28th and looking forward to it. I get hungry and my stomach growls alot but the weight is coming off so far.

You need to put up a sign on your door "Danger...feeding the animal inside could be dangerous to your health!" Where does she come off trying to load you up with that stuff. Maybe she needs to eat to make her feel better but you need not to eat that crap to make you feel better. Just remember that. I'm pulling for you and you tell her "beatch, get out of my face!"

I'm a Senior Analyst in Safety Audits and investigations for a major airline. Yep, I never know from one week to the next if I'm still employed. I love what I do though.

I can't decide between Sam Elliott or George Clooney. If either one came knocking on my door they'd be in trouble! Maybe both at the same time..hmmm

I'm all for Gregory Peck. Sooo sexy

I mix soy protein with my Glucerna shake. The chocolate goodness is really good and I don't feel like I'm drinking chalk. Tastes like chocolate milk.

Hi Keri, Another 9/23 Band Buddy!! I'm excited about getting banded. I've seen and heard alot of success stories with the band and I'm ready to be part of the excitement. I'm also looking forward to that last supper..hahaha...Razoo's sounds pretty good too..choices, choices!!!

Hi Dawn, You know I feel the same way. I don't feel like they've given me enough information but in talking to my friends that have been banded they all say pretty much the same thing. Each one of them tells a different story and I hear things like - no public water for the first two months (swimming). Some don't have any pre-op diet info and others never had to diet at all before banding. I guess it just depends on the Doctor. I'll just stick with what they gave me to go by and hope for the best. I'll tell you one thing though, It's not going to keep me out of outback on Wednesday!!

Hi Mousecrazy! I have all kinds of questions, just don't know where to start yet. I saw where you posted a response on the questions about out of network and you said you had Dr. Marsden and of course the surgical center is out of network. Did you have any problems with that? I just want to make sure that they don't penalize you for being out of network. Vicky with the Dr's office keep assuring me that's the case but I guess I'm a doubting Thomas. I just want to be sure. No, they didn't talk to me about a nutritionist. Not sure if I'd be able to squeeze that in as well right now. This has all happened pretty fast once I was finally approved. They did however tell give a diet to follow. I talked to Debbie today and told her I was starving. She said she was going to talk to Patty (?) about maybe adding some protein bars or something along those lines to the diet because she hears that alot. It would be fine with me. I still have a week to go and my stomach is talking to me more than my husband is at this point.

I just talked to a friend of mine who was banded yesterday. The question is has anyone had a scar on their abdomen before surgery and did you have any problems or more pain following the surgery. I'm asking because she has an old gallbladder scar and she says it WAS NOT the piece of cake that she thought it would be and she thought she was in so much pain because of issues with her scar tissue. I have the same type of scar and am being banded next week and I really would like to know if anybody else has had this problem and what I can expect.

Hi everyone. I'm from Lewisville and get banded on 9/23 by Dr. Marsden. Not nervous yet, but wait, still early. I'm on my pre-op diet and starving. I plan to have one "Last Supper" though and told my couch potato husband he's taking me out for dinner. He's a great guy and very supportive, so he said YES of course! What would I do without him? The same thing probably...hahaha

I just got my surgery scheduled for Sept 23rd. Woo Hoo! Not nervous at all right now but sure that will change. My Dr. put me on a restrictive diet and started that today. I'm starving! Somehow thought I would be able to have the "Last Supper" before the surgery but no such luck. I have a stress test tomorrow. The surgeon isn't requiring it but my family Dr. is. He said he didn't want me having a heart attack on the table. What about the heart attack I'm going to have on the treadmill? Oh well, I'm sure I'll get through it with support (from a crane)..hahaha

Congratulations! That's my date too. We'll both be in this together. Happy Losing!!

I also work for AA and my experience is a little different than yours. I have uncontrolled type II diabetes, High Cholesterol and High Triglycerides but my BMI was 33.8, not high enough to qualify for the surgery. I was denied in May and appealed the decision. It was finally approved a couple of weeks ago after waiting for almost two months for a determination. Of course the fact that I gained about 12 pounds in the interim might have had alot to do with the approval. Their guideline is a BMI of 35 with co-mobidities or 40 BMI otherwise. I have a lot of friends that have had the procedure done and they also work for AA and have UHC and they have had no problems qualifying for the surgery. Good Luck to you and hopefully you'll hear something soon.

Hi Mousecrazy, I'm using the same Dr. and surgical center that you used. I'm told the same thing about the center being out of network but they don't penalize the patient for the cost. I see you had your surgery on 7/22. I'm going for mine on 9/23 and want to make sure that the financial part is true. Have you had any trouble with this? Thanks and Happy Losing!! Sheilaj