Catalystmb

I pay virtually all of my bills online. I went to pay Circuit City and the website I have to go to(fnanb) shows an icon for healthcare financing. I have included the link to the page I would be going to. I have not clicked on the healthcare option as I have insurance. I hope this is a nice resource for some of you self pays. https://service.fnanb.com/FNANB_Consumer/Login.do ETA: I clicked on it as it is Chase and there was a place to sign up you raccount IF you already had one. I clicked on the FAQ's and apparently the doctors office would have a form. Still a good resource. Here's the FAQ's. Within it there is a link to see if your Dr accepts this. Chase FAQs

Now don't laugh but there is a website called 3fatchicksDOTcom. It's a great site. I starting reading years ago at its inception. It was founded by three sisters and their attempts at losing weight. They were basically journals at that time. They are now an ad sponsored site (still FREE). They do reviews of diets, diet books, etc. They have message boards and journals. It's a really nice place. The three sisters have been successful and not so much like we all have. One may have even had WLS, I'm not sure which one. I havenn't read there for a few months since being dead set on LB. They have a thread/forum etc for WLS too. Check it out. Others around are links from Prevention mag. WW as was stated above. Diet or Diets DOT com Sparkpeople Runners worls has forums Special K had something over at Yahoo groups a while ago when the Protein Water came out. The Biggest Loser - but its a pay membership like WW. A few years ago we all (form the dept) went to see a nutritionist and it was $12 a week. There was some good guidance but like I have said elsewhere (and please no one take offense)..If you need great diet and exercise advice/plan, ask a fatty. We know them all!

Sue, By any chance did you happen to have the study in NY? Yours sounds eerily similar to my situation. ALSO, I was told that my insurance does what is called a split night- meaning, IF I had signs of apnea they would mask me halfway through the night. Me waking up with no mask meant, hey, I don't have it. A week later they say I need to come in for another night. They say they don't have enough data(she woke me up around 6am) and that I had episodes denoting SA. F that! I went on vaca for a week and a half and told them I'll talk to my doctor and then reschedule IF my insurance covers it. I called the Pulmo today and he will review the rreport and let me know tomorrow.:thumbup: Grrr...... ETA: Oh. and the sticks they shove up your nose..NO THANK YOU! Mine had a semi circle which hung on my chin and bothered the shit out of me. I also have a germ problem and told her that her bacteriocidal wipes would not rid any pseudomonos(sp) on them......

I was told no soda. Makes no sense to me. The bubbles escape...wouldn't stretch the pouch IMO...BUt I will follow the rules. Gum, easy, the glob would def. get stuck. I do find it odd though that they want us to make healthier choices..and are pushing (mine pushed) all the other diet sweetener crap. Splenda would damn near kill me and Aspartame should kill me but it runs through my veins. I'm on my "wtf am I thinking" wave this week. I'm having doubts .....but that's my problem right now.

Although I am hypothyroid and supposed to be intolerant of cold, I CRAVE the cold and am always too hot. I am not "flashing". I'm just always warm. Others around me just attribute it to being overweight. For example every morning after I have showered, done hair and makeup I start persipring to the point I need a paper towel to dab at my face and neck for several minutes. Is subsides about twenty minutes after I am on my way...but it always happens. I do have hbp under control with Lopressor. Anyone else out there always hot? With or without thyroid troubles? Did it change once you lost a significat amount of weight? I always remember being like this.....but I have been heavy for more than 10 years.

There was a definite difference going from being thinner to being obese in the way I was treated by salespeople. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f17/do-you-think-there-discrimination-against-obese-people-49367/ Scroll down on the above post to see my blurb about what has happened in JCP and Fortunoffs to me. I have a mind to go back there someday with a fistfull of cash pulling a Julia Roberts/Pretty Woman scene about commission!!

If you're still offering, I would love the file, thanks. I have the new OFFICE, is it compatible? Thanks so much. This is great of you to do. :Dancing_wub: catalystmb@gmail.com

Hope4Joy, YES YES YES I am playing the game too and hating it....but its what I have to do for them to cover it. It is going by quickly though. My first weigh in with my doctor was in Jan so I am hoping to be scheduled some time in June. I have many tests that are required so I have been scheduling things at a leisurely pace. I'm TRYING to use these few months to change the way I approach eating. I also am working the protein shakes needed during the pre op and post op phase into my lifestyle now. I get frustrated because I definately have eaten in a none band way and I know once I get banded I can't do that anymore. I dont know why I still do it.....once I get stuck or have pbing, I hope it makes it easier to NOT eat that way(too fast and too large portions). I still have the EGD and Venous duplex to do.

Diet Coke addict here! I tried several times to quit since deciding to get the band. I am still in pre band stages and hopefully I will quit when time comes. I am either addicted to the aspartame or the caffeine. Can you be addicted to fizz? lol

It sounds as if they forgot to give you the second page of that diet! Seriously, it doesn't sound healthy. I personally know a DOC who was on some weird diet. We hadn't seen him in about two months and WOW had he lost some weight. He reported around 70 lbs in 12 weeks. I told him that I was investigating the band and asked him what he was doing. The Sadkhin Complex® This is his plan. You tape balls to your ears and then eat fruit and veggies alternating with whole milk. THATS IT! No freakin wonder why a person would lose weight. Now he is a physician but I guess we have all reached that "I have to do something drastic" phase. I know I have. He did this for 12 weeks and says he does eat normally now. We see him once or twice a month usually....I'm sure when he goes back to eating normally it will all come back...like it always does. PLEASE ask you Doc how he/she feels about this drastic food restriction.

Annie, Firstly, congrats on your great accomplishments getting healthier! Do you go to support groups? Does your surgeons office offer support groups? I think he would gain lots of insight if he went. I'm sure, like you hinted, that he is coming from a place of concern (with love). No one else can "get it" like you can. Do what you have to for YOU! Again, great job!:tongue_smilie:

1! Congrats!

Some trainers also do semi private sessions. Splitting that money among 2 or three other people is a GREAT savings and you really do get the attention you are paying for.

My six month wait is up in June so I imagine I will be done soon after that.

Yes, they are the same.:crying:

I have friends who have had either the Roux or GB. one of them is nearly emaciated. She struggles to keep weight on. I see that there are some banders who have surpassed their goal weight and even are a little surprised to see that they have gone lower and lower. I also read in some of the posts that there may be worry?? Worry to have an unfill...worry about losing too much.... Will the band stop working when you are at an ideal setpoint? Will the band keep working until you have gone way beyond what you or your doc thought was the lower end of "goal"? Is the answer as simple as a slight unfill or will the body(at the current fill) adjust and stop losing and fall into maintenance? I would be thrilled to arrive at goal but I know I would be hesitant about an unfill if it kept getting lower. How are you guys handling that if it is an issue?

After a general seminar which was with an audience of about 30 people we were scheduled for a smaller "class" of about 8 people with the NP for the practice. There we were given packets with our individual information in them and the tests required for each of us. I have a post here about what they were. From memory they are: Psych eval Cardiac eval (stress test for some) GI eval & EGD Pulmonology eval and PFTs & sleep study Venous Duplex Blood panel Abdominal Sono Dr.s eval and letter of necessity Meeting with Surgeon with family/support member Attend a support group I think thats it. I'll look for the post. OH, and the biggie....the SIX month Dr supervised diet with weight tracking.

There are several contributing factors to upper thigh and lateral leg pain. Some of them arrise from "pinched nerves" ((not that you don't have one))others come from impingements/entrapments of nerves from muscles, inguinal ligament, quads. Meralgia paresthetica is often misdiagnosed as pinched nerves or something else. Your Doc, PT, Chiro or Massage Therapist can put you through some range of motion tests to discover which it really is. Meraligia paresthetica is a condition where the LCFN- lateral femoral cutaneous nerve is impinged. Obesity, pregnancy, low rise jeans wearers, toolbelt wearers, gun holster wearers can suffer. Only a Dr. can diagnose. If it is MP a first line approach to relief would be (of course I would say this...:shades_smile:) is giong to a good neuromuscular Massage Therapist. A few sessions of them cross fiber frictioning and stripping the muscles of the anterior thigh can do wonders.

What relieves or aggravates the pain? Is the pain more medial or lateral on the thigh?

It never ceases to amaze me the people in our lives. At this pint I would go way overboard and "leak" it to her that you LOST something like 425 pounds. Be really serious about it. On a bad day I would be in her face and she'd be on the receiving end of a LONG LONG speech....other days Id live to slap her one for ya'! You KNOW you are not your number....high or low! You've come so far and are doing SO WELL! Your is one of the threads I look forward to reading! Thank you.

How did you fair with the tornadoes yesterday? I have friends in Austell and they said the place was a mess.

HarleyGirl, I always vote with my dollar. I also send letters, both of praise and concern. I think this instance warrants an email or phone call to GNC. Believe me they WANT to know that this crap goes on. I think the stores are franchised. In any case, corporate would want to know. Here's there comment form. It also lists a phone number. GNC Helpdesk If you don't contact them you really have to go give them a glorious Julia Roberts/Pretty woman visit when you get to goal! The pissants!

Screw em! Here ya go, a little sunshine for ya'!

Hey all. I'm at the sleep center right now. Nicely appointed rooms although VERY small. Sat TV and I am on their wireless network. I told them I would like to go to sleep between 11 and midnight( I am off tomorrow). I will be hooked up then. this is a split test meaning I will be monitored for a few hours and if I have any episodes of apnea I'll be placed on the CPAP...r the CPAP will be placed on me! I don't think I have sleep apnea but who knows. I am told that I snore but not tha tI have stopped breathing. I'm a little uncomfortable because I have a little "germ" problem but am generally OK. I was a little worried about not having any button up pjs but the nightgown I have is fine I am told. There were some other posters either having a study tonight or soon. It's no big deal, SO FAR. :drool:

Weel. I wasn't waken up in the middle of th enight so I did not have to go on the CPAP.:banghead: I looked at the data and I dipped down to 89 O2 sat a few times during the night. Those episodes were short, about three of them. Ok, been verified that I snore like a freight train. :cursing: When I got home I opened a letter form the insurance about the approval and a blurb about how the approval does NOT mean they WILL oay for the test. WTF??~! All I need now is insurance troubles. I do not have a few hundred to a few thousand to drop on these tests!