JaxBandster

I went to get my policy today and found out that it can also be used to supplement an existing insurance policy. Nice to know if you have a co-pay and/or deductible.

I made this list when I was trying to decide whether I wanted lap band surgery or not. 1. Don’t want to look pregnant 2. Want to look good in jeans and leather 3. Want to be able to get up from the couch without needing a crane 4. Tired of GERD 5. Want my feet to stop hurting 6. Want to be able to fit into theater and airplane seats comfortably 7. Don’t want to be fat Karen riding Fat Bob (my Harley) 8. Don’t want to be embarrassed 9. Want to be able to tie my shoes, shave my legs without effort 10. Want to be able to shop in the regular size departments of stores 11. Want to be able to exercise with Annia (my Rottweiler) 12. Want to be healthy 13. Don’t want to be a fat woman in a bathing suit 14. Want to be able to get myself up off the floor 15. Want to make a good impression on job interviews or business meetings 16. Want to FEEL sexy 17. Want to be able to sleep without having to be inclined 18. Want to look in the mirror and think “hot” not “slug” 19. Don’t want to be heavier than my husband 20. Want to be able to have tummy tuck

Brooke, I haven't gotten my band yet (my date is 02/07/08) but I've read a LOT and I would recommend following your doctor's instructions to the letter and to be completely honest with him/her and yourself. Take things VERY slowly whether it be drinking liquids, trying new foods, or sitting down and eating. Lastly, ready everything you can get your hands on. Good luck!

That sounds good to me! Dr. Baptista even told me today that 3 or 4 days after surgery I can ride my motorcycle if I'm not sore and not on pain meds! yippee!!! Guess what???? I lost 8 lbs since last week on the pre-op diet!!!!! It wasn't even Water weight, it was actually fat! Pretty cool huh? Hope I can keep it up! LOL I've been very good so far but I know it will get hard at times to stay on track. It always does.

That's the diet I'm on. 30 gms of carbs a day not including green leafy veggies. I've been on it less than a week. Went in for my 2nd appt today and I've lost 8 lbs! Holy cow! They also said it was most all fat and very little Water weight. Between this and the liquid diet two days prior to surgery my liver should be in FINE shape! :huh2:

I started a high protein/low carb diet last week in preparation for my Feb 7th surgery. I have to stay around 30 carbs a day. Not quite the Atkins Induction phase, but close! The one thing that saves me is that I don't have to count the carbs in green leafy vegetables so I can eat lots of salad (just watch the dressing) and load it up with cheese and ham (look for Cabot Cheddar Cheese 75% and 50% low fat, 75% is better for eating straight, 50% is good for cooking with and it melts!) In one week I have lost 8 lbs!!!!! If you look hard you can find all sorts of things that are really low in carbs. I had to laugh today when my husband came up to the check out line in the grocery store with a bag of pork rinds! Absolutely no carbs at all. Atkins Carb Advantage shakes are pretty good as are the EAS ones. Drinking a lot of water will also help to keep you full. Hope this helps!

I spoke with my insurance agent again today. She informed me that it is a supplemental health insurance policy and that it is done through American Heritage Life which Allstate owns. She said that I could give out her name and number and that anyone from any state could call her and that if she wasn't licensed in a state she could definitely refer to another agent. I will at the very LEAST get $500 plus $130 per appt. The ambulatory surgery rider varies depending on the doctor's report but could be as much as $1,800. I figure that is worth a $61 premium. My agent's name and number is Karalee Sievert 904-819-0595

Went to one of my pre-op appts today one week after beginning my pre-op diet and I have lost 8 lbs!!!!! Wow! I thought that it was just water weight but she informed me that the scale said it was mostly all fat and very little water. I'm really amazed. Of course, if I could stay on this kind of plan and never be tempted by food again I wouldn't need the band, but I know otherwise after repeated successes leading to repeated failures. The band will keep me from reverting to bad habits and keep me on the straight and narrow. ALSO!!! I asked the doctor about riding after my surgery and he said that as long as I'm not too sore and as long as I'm not taking pain medication then I should be able to ride in 3 or 4 days!!!!! Yahoo!!!!!!!! :tt1:

Thanks for that information. I will check into it. Hopefully, I will get employed soon after my surgery so I can get coverage again. I don't mind paying out of pocket first as I was planning on doing that anyway, but knowing I can recover a portion of the costs is nice.

PB = Productive Burp It is a burb that includes food, usually something you just ate, that is caused by eating too much or a variety of other reasons. I believe there is a list of acronyms somewhere on the forum.

Once I find out the exact name of the policy I would just find a local Allstate agent and see if they offer it. I was really astonished when she told me about it. I had gone to her in order to obtain a copy of an EKG they performed on me a few months ago when I was taking out a life insurance policy on my husband and myself. My doctor said he could use the EKG the insurance company did in lieu of my having to pay for another one. I'm really glad I had to contact her or I would have never known about it.

My insurance company is Allstate. All you have to do is fill out forms and pay the premium. I would imagine that other insurance carriers might have similar types of coverage though. I will try to find out the exact type of coverage (and plan name) tomorrow when I speak with her again. She actually had two types of plans to offer and was going to see which one would reimburse more and get back to me.

So Randy, are you trying to tell me that you have other ways to occupy your time besides riding during the winter?????? Right now the weather sucks!!! Overcast, rainy, temps in the 50's, and just yucky overall and it's not supposed to get any better. I'm hoping it clears by the weekend as we are supposed to be doing an inaugural ride called the Scott Speicher ride to benefit POW/MIA's this Saturday. I will definitely look for Carol as I'm really wanting to find out. Of course, I'm meeting with my doctor tomorrow so I can just ask him then. :smile:

Hi Tina! I am on a pre-op diet which requires that I consume no more than 30 carbs a day, sort of a modified Atkins Diet. (Glad I'm not have to do the induction phase of that plan!). Two days before surgery I go to Clear Liquids. I have already lost about five pounds on the diet alone so I'm getting a head start. I am sort of looking at having the band inside of me like I would if I had a rod in my leg or arm, or a hip replacement, etc. It will be something that helps my body to function properly My surgery is on 02/07. I am definitely depending on this group and a couple of others I am on to keep my head in the right place. I know that in order to be successful I am going to have to lean on my fellow bandsters from time to time and let them lean on me as well. Good luck!!!

Bandster Bikers MC!!!! LOL Hi to all the scooter trash out there!!!!! I'm Karen and I'm due to have my surgery on 02/07/08. I'm really excited and really nervous! Okay here's the part where you guys begin to hate me. I live just south of Jacksonville about 45 minutes from Daytona. I ride ALL the time as much as I can. I have a 2008 Harley Fat Bob (one of the new designs for Harley). It's kind of old school/drag bike looking and I LOVE MY RIDE. I have another appt with my dr this Thursday and the first thing I am asking is when I will be able to ride because as we all know, Bike Week is the 1st week in March! I will probably just run down for a couple of days during the week because the weekends are just crazy! We are also planning a ride later that week with some friends from the HOG chapter in Tampa. They are heading to the Big Easy which I have never been to so I am hoping that I will be in good enough shape stamina wise to make the trip. I'm including a pic of my bike. Looking forward to getting to know everyone and who knows, maybe I can host a get together for those people who are going to be heading this way for either Bike Week or Biketoberfest!

Hi and welcome to the group! Congrats on your weight loss so far! That's really amazing! When I spoke with Dr. Cywes's dietician last week she said that it was okay to grab something like a palm size peanut snack before dinner if you are really famished. The higher in Protein the better of course. If you are getting hungry right after eating then I would think that another fill is in order. Maybe just a small adjustment. I think it would be really nice to have a small group to meet with. I met someone on ObesityHelp who has a small group locally as well so they are definitely out there. Otherwise we can just make our own

This is probably the part that worries me the most. I LOVE food. How will I handle not being able to eat like I used to? Will it make me depressed? Will I regret doing something to my body that will be difficult to reverse? So far I have done a really good job of preparing myself mentally and telling myself that food has way too much control over me and that I don't like it having that control. I constantly remind myself of all the wonderful ways I will benefit from losing weight. I can't wait to look and feel sexy. I can't wait to have more energy and to love the person I see in the mirror. But I know that there will be times when my "drug of choice" is going to beckon me and I will grieve for the fact that I can't pound down a huge plate of spaghetti or buy a six pack of cupcakes from the grocery store and eat three of them in a night and the other three the next morning. But hopefully I can stay focused on the important things and not on the immediate gratification that food offers. Sorry for rambling. Just going through more pre-op jitters :doh: I hope we hear from Lola soon.

Wow Miranda! That's great! I'm also doing self pay and glad I'm not having to suffer through the insurance hoops. My surgery is on Feb 7th and it can't get here soon enough! Good luck!

Congratulations!!!!! Especially congrats on the stop smoking thing!!! How are you kicking the habit??? My best friend is doing commit lozenges. I hope they work for her.

Cool! You go the day before me! But two weeks of liquids? Ouch! That is the one thing I have found to be really interesting is how varied the pre-op diets are. I started Atkins full force today and as long as I am doing it right I think I will be okay. I know I have already lost a few pounds as I started transitioning over the weekend and was down today when I stepped on the scale. I definitely know that nervous and excited feeling. I too sometimes think it's really far away but then I think about how quickly the time has flown just since the holidays and I know it will be here before I know it. Nice meeting another Feb-bandster!!!!!

There seems to be a few support groups in the Jax area. One is JacksonvilleBandsters. They are a yahoo group that I just joined so I don't know much about them but they seem to be a more reasonable size group and a little more intimate. They meet the 1st Tuesday of every month. There is another group called Self-Image support center that meets the second Friday of every month. What did you not care for about the Jax Weight Loss Center's support group? Too large? They have so many patients I can imagine that their support groups are pretty large. I think I would probably get more out of a smaller group as well. Congrats on your weight loss so far! Have you reached your sweet spot yet? How has the band worked for you in general? I'm just beginning my pre-op diet (basically Atkins) and then I will do Clear liquids two days prior to my surgery. I have already lost about five lbs just by eliminating carbs! My DH finally asked me the question that everyone asks this morning. "Why can't you just lose the weight by staying on Atkins?" :smile: I told him that he already knew the answer to that question. That I CAN lose and HAVE lost on many plans, 90 lbs on WW, 60 lbs on the 3-hour diet, etc., but I always return to my poor eating habits and gain it all back. I am counting on the band to help me STAY in check because I won't be able to consume the mass quantities of food I have before and I know that I will need to eat my Proteins and veggies before any carbs in order to stay healthy. He seemed to understand that. Looking forward to meeting you. I'm keeping Lola in my thoughts today.

Wow Lola you are getting yours tomorrow/today! Congrats and write and let us know how you are doing!

I'm getting my band on Feb 7th! Going through Jacksonville Weight Loss Center. Dr. Cywes is doing my surgery. It's really nice to meet people who are local to me!

Hi everyone! I'm Karen and I am soon to be a Bandster. My date is Feb 7th and I am going through Jacksonville Weight Loss Center. Dr. Robert Cywes is my surgeon. He has probably done more Lap-band surgeries than anyone in the area so I am feeling pretty comfortable with him and his staff. Tomorrow I begin the Atkins diet until two days before my surgery, then I will go on Clear liquids. I have actually already started eating better, just cleaned out my pantry (which is now practically empty, I never realized just how much carbs I ate!) The fridge and pantry are now filled with high Protein lean meats and vegetables along with some fruits and dairy. I was told the reason they want you to do the Atkins diet is because they don't want you going through carb withdrawal at the same time you are trying to recover from surgery. Sounds logical to me. I have told most everyone, and while not everyone is entirely comfortable with me having surgery, they are still supportive. My husband and daughter are going to be dieting with me so that will help. I am hoping to lose at least 100 lbs, if I lose a little more that will be icing on the cake but 170 is my goal. I am currently unemployed so I figured that I would take the opportunity to be able to have the surgery, heal, and get used to my new lifestyle without having to worry about when I have to go back to work. Getting employed will be first on the agenda AFTER I get my band! At this point in time, everything is sort of surreal. I keep having to remind myself that this is really happening, that I am really going through the process and this is reality. When I remind myself, I sort of mildly panic just because I know it is going to be such a life changing event and those are always a little scary no matter what they are. So don't be surprised if I come on here at the last minute saying OMG what the heck am I doing????????? LOL Seriously though, I have been contemplating this for over a year now. I've been to a seminar, an orientation, I am a member on two boards, I have read everything I can get my hands on so I know that I have made a well informed decision. All I can do is follow my doctor's instructions and then the rest is in the doctor's and God's hands. I'm looking forward to meeting all my fellow Feb Bandsters and becoming new and improved with you!!!!

Me at my current weight. Taken Sept 07. Where I want to get (back) to. Actually want to be about 25 lbs less than this (the corset is holding me in quite a bit! LOL)