Wheetsin

Ketones are virtually impossible to escape. You could go to bed with 0, then wake up with some from not eating while you slept. (Morning breath is a variant of ketosis breath). Trace ketones - just up your Water intake or add a few more calories (not additional meals -- think like a glass of milk). If you're worried about it, ask your OB where your ketones were at (they will register from the lab work), and if it's a concern.

I don't drink wine really, I've had some tastes since banding, didn't feel anything. Did it burn you pre-band?

Moved this to the Lounge for you. :wink2: I'm not really good with motivational quotes. I like: "Even sunshine burns if you get too much" "The early bird may get the worm but the second mouse gets the cheese." Do those count? :wink2:

I can't tell you for your case, but I can tell you what I've been told. First, I asked my surgeon about fills & pregnancy (before I became pregnant). At the time, his guidelines were that if 1) morning sickness is not an issue and 2) you can meet your OB's nutriotional guidelines, then he does not think it's necessary to have the fill removed. I'm 8 weeks today. So far I've not had even the most remote sign of morning sickness, knock on wood. I have had a significant decrease in appetite. I really don't want to eat anything, the thought of it puts me out. I've been making sure to get my Vitamins, folate, Omega 3, etc. Yesterday I had my first OB appt and I've lost a little over 10 lbs since learning I was preggo at the start of the month. I mentioned this to the OB and she wasn't concerned. She told me that I still had "plenty of reserves" (gee -- thanks!), and that as long as there were reserves, I didn't need to be too worried about what I was eating because either way the baby would get what it needed. For the last 3 weeks or so, with very rare exception, I've been eating about 3 - 4 oz solid food per day, plus liquids, fresh juices, etc. I've also been trying to get in at least one milk-based pritein drink per day since I'm not a milk drinker, no longer carry the emphasis on Protein that I did within my first year or so pre-op, and would prefer to cut back on the calcium supps a bit. The OB asked what my surgeon advised, and I told her that I haven't called him since getting the positive on the preggo, but that (see guidelines above) was what he he had said previously. She said that sounded fine. I'm sitting at right around 40 - 50 lbs to lose, depending on the scale and the day, so let's say 45 because that's right in the middle. If your ticker is accurate, you have a bit more to lose, so I'd *think* that if my 45 lbs of reserves is enough, you're in a similar boat. But I'm not a doctor, so take that for what it's worth.

One of my favorite quotes. "A lack of planning on your behalf does not constitute an emergency on mine."

One thing I try really hard to avoid, even when I'm super mad, is taking it out on "whomever" I'm talking to. And I try hard to refrain from saying things like, "you guys" or "you" and try to be more neutral... perhaps using the company name or saying "your company." I never used to give a shite about it, they were all employees... then once upon a time I was asked to spend some time on the phones as a customer service agent (I was contracted to redesigning part of the job and the company I was working with felt it was important that I "know" the job... debatable, but I was making REALLY GOOD money for a customer service agent!!) Holy cow, I can't tell you how miserable it was. Having a phone job is beside the point. People screamed at me, it was always "you did this" (umm no, I'm not even in your state), etc. It's insane how people act about things like that. Your story reminds me of one of the times someone managed to drag me into Wal-Mart. I was with a work friend who was refunding something during our lunch break. The person ahead of her was this lady with seriously like 8 kids. It was the dead of winter, and the lady had these grimy, broken down sandals she was trying to refund because one of the straps had broken. The lady was insisting she had just bought them "about a month ago". The workers kept telling her they weren't even in the system, and their store wouldn't have stocked sandals in January. THe lady got really personal with it -- "YOU sold me these sandals, and YOU have a guarantee to refund faulty merchandise..." It was so ridiculous, and pathetic. Just go spend $5 on some new Wal-Mart shoes, would you? Here, take my $5 because it's worth it not to have to listen to you being pathetic and stupid.

If you aren't dehydrated (big bad breath problem), you're probably in ketosis, and having "ketosis breath" (happens when there's an increase in ketones). Mints, gums, etc. will disguise the bad breath in the same way that an air freshener disguises bad smells (e.g. either you temporarily overpower the bad smell with the really strong air freshener, or you get this sick blend of bad smell + flowers). I spend a long time in the "Atkins scene" and this was one of the constants we saw. So what can you do about it? Here were our recurring top 3 solutions: Fresh parsley is an odor neutralizer. It will not mask odors. Chew up fresh parsley very well, then spit it out and see if you notice any difference. Drink more Water. Maybe it won't make a difference, but it probably will. Most bandsters tend to be a bit dehydrated. If your diet will allow it, decrease your ketones (eat more carbs). ETA - be wise with your breath mint solution. Keep in mind that if it's solid, and accidentally goes down, you're probably going to be in pain. I would suggest either the meltaway strips, or the little Gelatin ball-type (can't remember what they're called but they're part of the Ice Breakers line). Or a spray. There are organic sprays you can get that are stronger than anything you'll find at a mega mart, and probably better for you.

Yeah - taking the time to post this here cut into the time that you should have been on the phone with your surgeon. Log off and call.

If your sleeplessness is definitely tied to your thoughts (e.g. as you relax thoughts arise and you can't turn them off, or you fall asleep only to wake up shortly after and be immediately focusing on your thoughts), then consier seeing a psychiatrist. I know, they have such a stigma around them, but -- think of them as psychologists with medical degrees (can write prescriptions). A very dear friend of mine is a psychologist and tried the relaxation route, the OTC sleeping pill route, the prescription sleeping pill route, etc. but found no relief. Finally he went to a psychiatrist with his problem of, "I can't turn my thoughts off." He walked out with a prescription that's not a sleeping pill and not habit-forming (I really can't remember what the Rx was... he told me but this was a while ago and I'm drawing a blank), but he now sleeps well every night.

Metabolisms don't die unless you're dead. If you're alive, and not some weird medical anamoly, your metabolism is doing its job. Your metabolims can adjust to your diet. This is why changing eating habits and doing nothing else very rarely works for complete & sustained healthy weightloss. Here's an excerpt from a previous post I made: When you decrease your caloric intake, your metabolism also decreases. However, your metablosim doesn't decrease because your calories decreased. It decreases because your body begins to break down the lean mass (remember -- muscle tissues are easier to break down than fat)... in essence it starts to eat itself. At the same time your body also has the programming to know this shouldn't be happening, so it slows down your metabloic (and other) processes so that its lean masses are broken down slower. It doesn't want to eat itself, so it's going to slow down the metabolism. Anyway, the body's goal in decreasing the metabolism is not to keep up with however many calories you're eating, the goal is to have to feed off itself as little as possible. Then you get into the irony of -- that fuel that was created by metabolizing your lean mass being converted to sugars by your liver, with the goal of keeping your fat stores in place. Losing weight by metabolizing lean mass is going to produce a really weak, flabby, unhealthy end product. They key is to avoid burning muscle and get the body to burn fat, so ideally you'd target between your BMR and AMR, and not a fixed number like "1,000". That's another misconception. This is why the balance of diet AND exercise is so important and really not negiotable when you're looking for a healthy and sustainable weightloss. Did you arrive at 1200 calories as a person threshold, or was it a generic guideline you went with? You should target a calroic intake betweem your AMR and BMR. If you believe your metabolism has adjusted to a 1200 calorie diet, then it's up to you to make up the difference. Not one bit. Let me throw another question back at you to help put it in perspective. If we were starving ourselves, how would any of us manage to maintain our weight long term? If we were starving, wouldn't we eventually die of starvation/malnutrition? The "full" sensation is triggered where the band is placed. Hence a small amount of food above the band will result in a "full" signal going to the brain. This is why restriction is key. If the food isn't there long enough to register this signal, then you're not going to be satisfied on small amounts of food. (Long story made very short). Hope this helps. :wink2:

With 20/20 hindsight the blessedly short 2 day pre-op diet wasn't hard at all. At the time, what was the hardest was remembering that I was supposed to be on it. I would be at work and think, "Hmm, I should make so and so for dinner.... Doh! No food for me!" The first day I did that easily 10 times.

There will be plenty of time for cheese once you've had your surgery. As you first wean off carbs and other addictive foods (cheese is probably my most favorite food), you'll find that your cravings diminish. For the most part. The carbs do, and most others will get better. I found my cravings changed completely from what they were pre-op. if you're on clear, sugar-free liquids and need something different try sugar-free popsicles. They're nice and sweet, fruity, and being frozen brings a whole new texture to our bored & tired palettes.

I got pregnant just before my 2 year band anniversary - like 2 weeks before. My surgeon advised waiting 1 year. In fact, he required it. The extra time was me wanting to get a few more pounds off, and trying without any luck for pg.

I don't know my loss by month other than a rough guess. I think at 3 mos I was about 50 or 60 lbs down, 6 months about 120 lbs down, and probably 140 at 12 months. I'm currently 2 years post op and about 165 down. As you see, weightloss really slows after month 6. Every higher BMI patient I've spoken with found this to be true. My pre-op BMI was around 56, give or take a point. My current BMI is 33 give or take a point. I've gone from size 32+ to 18, sometimes 20.

Then call and ask them what their definition of "medically necessary" is. Again, this is info they have to give you. It may often include things like a letter from the surgeon, BMI requirements, weight history, etc. BUT if these aren't things they require, submitting them won't do anything toward approval. You need to make them itemize the requirements for you. Insurance battles can be tough, we are our best advocates and cannot afford to take the job lightly.

Mashed potatoes are too thick for liquids. Liquids are liquids, e.g. broths, frozen (popsicles), juices, etc. My surgeon categorized drinkable yogurt as a thick liquid, which was stage 2, along with things like "cream of..." Soups.

A quick google search found: I'm sure you can Google and find more detailed info.

Oh, and family Dr. also told me to insist on a follow-up ultrasound from the OB Wed, and said to call her if they won't do it and she'd order one through the hospital (she had a few miscarriages, and is close to my age... I think her overall empathy level is a bit higher). I called them to see if this had already been scheduled and they were like "We don't know, it depends on whether or not the Dr. thinks it's needed. One might, and the other might not." So I told them to make sure I saw the Dr. who was most likely to think it might. :thumbup:

I talked to my family doc today. She was happy to do the bloodwork. And she sent it for STAT processing, and was going to call me or have the Dr. on call phone as soon as they got results. I know what my number was at the ER, so this will give a good indicator. I'm still having the old bleeding, but she looked closely at all my reports from the ER and said everything else was excellent -- perfect hemaglobin, betas, etc. She said it's a really good sign that there was a heartbeat after the bleeding started, and that there's still not been any bright/new blood. I'm kinda out of my element here but she sounded like she knew what she was talking about. Keeping my fingers crossed, the world needs another heathen!

What are their requirements for approval? "Evidence did not support" and "don't feel it's medically necessary" aren't valid reasons for declining a claim. They can't "feel" anything, feelings has nothing to do with insurance. Either requirements were met or they were not. Would you feel comfortablt typing exactly what your letter says?

All it does is throw us a link to the post with the reporter's comments. It's just a way of giving us a heads-up. (If any of you out there don't know, you report a post by clicking the little "caution" sign that appears below the person's join date, age, posts. It's the third of the four little cons there.) Now - I leave, and you can all get back to topic! report.bmp

First suggestion - find out the reason. If your insurance company didn't include a reason in the declination, then call them and get it. They have to provide it to you. You'll need to know why you were denied in order to know what to do going forward.

Let's see... your surgery was at the end of December, and that puts you right around the "average" 3 month period when people begin to lose hair. Don't worry - except for extreme, extreme cases it's nothing your doing, nor is there really anything you can do for it other than wait for the cycle (all hair is on a 3-part cycle) to pass. Surgery, anesthesia, body trauma, etc. (we've had all 3 with our bands) causes hairloss. Think of it as a reaction to the shock. There isn't a magical cure other than patience... no shampoos you can slather on or supplements you can swallow like candy... other than as a few have found, short haircuts (in dire circumstances - helps hide the thinning and makes for a lot less visual shock). Most people lose hair to varying degrees for... been a while since I ran the numbers but I'm going to say about 6 weeks. When I had my band I lost hair for about 3 months, but only had about 3 weeks of heavy loss. When I had my gallbladder removed (after band surgery) I lost hair for about the same time. Now I can tell that I have hair shifted into the growing cycle because I have 1" hairs sticking out. :thumbup:

Water activities other than swimming. Aquarobics, aquajogging, etc. Water activities are among the best because they take away the impact. If that is too painful, perhaps some hot yoga, but if moving your knee in the water hurts it's probably going to hurt in a hot room just as much.

Carrabas Never been there Outback Steakhouse Don't like it, the one time I've been since banding I had some kind of chicken that came with cornbread stuff. A Chinese Restaurant I suually get hot & sour soup, and/or General chicken depending on how hungry I am. Unless I'm at PF Chang's and then I'll get lettuce wraps. Applebees Don't like Applebee's so I've only been once, had some kind of chicken with mashed potatoes and soup instead of salad. Macaroni Grill I usually get the pasta rustica or whatever it's called Red Robin Veggie burger Ruby Tuesday Don't really go there too much, not sure I've been since surgery Wendy's Baked potato McDonalds Don't eat at McDonald's... no, a few times I've gotten the Fruit n' Yogurt parfait when I was desperate for some food. Chick F La Never heard of it Panera's Soup usually. Once or twice I had some kind of chicken asiago sandwich. Atlanta Bread Company Never heard of it Subway I get tuna salad put into a dish if I'm eating there, or one of the newer sandwiches that are like just part of a 6" in tuna and eat the bread or don't, depending on how the food is doing. Occasionally I get the seafood one. Can you Eat Pizza? NY Style All styles of pizza no problem so far.