MacMadame

I'm just going my regular 3x a week. I still have to fit in the bike and pilates and swimming in there somewhere! I have completed week 5. On to week 6!

I ran for 20 min straight! I was sure I wouldn't be able to do it, too. So 45 min. on treadmill.

Welcome to LapBandTalk!

Is it like Mobsters on MySpace? My neighbor had to be on bed rest at the hospital with her youngest. It sucked.

Some surgeons put everyone on a two-week high Protein liquid diet so they drop some weight fast and shrink their liver. Some just want you to lose weight and have slightly less hard to live with diets. Like you can have one meal a day or you can just do Atkins. I didn't have to do anything. I had already lost weight before I saw my surgeon and he was happy with that and didn't care if I lost more.

I would never have RnY. I think the procedure has too many design flaws and there are better options out there. Btw, do you have medicaid? I know they don't pre-authorize WLS, but I've not heard of others. I see you have having a number of choices: 1) If your surgeon's self-pay price is less than $20k, work something out with him that, if you are denied for reimursement, you will pay him the self-pay price and not what he would normally charge insurance. 2) Self-pay somewhere else so that even though you are paying slightly more than 10,000, you know ahead of time what the cost is. My surgeon charges about $14,000 last time I checked and we are in a high COL area. You could probably get a band for about $12000 if you shop around and are willing to travel. You could also go to Mexico and pay around $7000. If you go out of town, make sure you have a fill doctor lined up who will work on you when you get back, btw. 3) Research all the surgery types, pick the one you think is best for you, and self-pay for that through a medical loan. Btw, the sleeve is an excellent choice for self-pays because you get weight loss similar to RnY with much less complications and it's not that much more than a band upfront. Plus not having to get fills lowers your cost on the back end. 4) Do whatever insurance will pay for, but only if you do your research on that surgery and are sure it's going to work for you. There are probably other choices but I can't think of them right now. :confused:

I'm not in a similar situation, but I do know that Gary worked with the Obesity Law people so it's possible that his files were given to them. I think it would be worth contacting them and trying to find out where your records went.

My surgeon's partner wrote this article about getting an Adjustable Gastric Band and it talks about Realize vs. Lap-band. I thought people might be interested in a surgeon's perspective: LAPSF To address the above comments.... Realize band is high volume, low pressure and Lap-Band is low volume, high pressure. (This is mentioned in the article I linked to.) The theory is that the wide reservoir (high volume) with it's low pressure keeps food from getting stuck as easily making it easier to eat real food. My surgeon mentioned this in a seminar, but he also cautioned that there is no data so it could be marketing hype. It certain sounds plausable, but who knows?

There is no "of course" about any of this. Even if you believe the Bible is the Word of God -- which I most emphatically do not -- it still is very much open to interpretation.

Welcome to LapBandtalk! I see you found the Feb 09 subforum ... enjoy!

Well that person is entitled to their opinion, of course, but I think that's a crap theory. :confused: Exercise is strongly associated with success in losing and keeping it off for *all* the surgeries. I know a lot of bypassers (well, it is the most popular, so that's expected) and the successful ones all exercise -- A LOT. Success with WLS is statistically associated with the following: -exercise -no grazing -no drinking with meals -no drinking soda (even diet) I also think it's important to match the surgery type to your eating issues and also to make sure the post-op lifestyle is something you can live with. There are four surgery types and they all have their advantages and disadvantages and they all have a slightly different approach to how they work and they all have different post-op lifestyles. Eating issues would be things like do you have a sweet tooth and do you want a negative deterrent to keep you on the straight and narrow? Are you a volume eater? Do you prefer an Atkins-type diet to a South Beach one? Do you have metabolic issues that keep you from losing weight easily even when you stick with the program and how serious are they? How good are you at taking pills and going to the doctor? There are more, but these give you an idea of the kinds of questions you should be asking yourself as you do your research into what surgery type you should get. Here's a chart that compares the four surgeries, btw: Weight-Loss Surgeries Compared

Pilates, 50 min. And there was this exercise that killed the Pilates Geeks but I thought it was fun. I loved it; it's only fair I have my turn.

You both apply separately as mentioned above. You both meet Aetna's requirements too so I think it's looking good for you both.

Nope. :confused:

Um, it's the internet. They breed out here. I think I she is starting to look too processed lately. I don't think she's ever been pretty; but beautiful, yes.

I know you said you wanted to hear from bypasses, but I would like to encourage you to look at all the surgery types, including the sleeve and DS, and not just the band or bypass. Weight-Loss Surgeries Compared

Yuck, a flipped port! But it sounds like your head is in a much better place today. I remember a rough spot I went through at about 8 to 12 weeks out when I was pissed off about everything that was to do with my surgery. But it all gets easier with time!

Well now that he's admited to his flaccid issues, sure.

In my case, the answer is Zero. Just because people are willing to be exploited, doesn't mean they aren't though. The reality of being on those shows can be a lot different than how it seems on tv and people don't always know what they signed up for until they are there.

Welcome to LapBandTalk! You might be able to find a Curves buddy by going to the subsection for your state.

Welcome to LapBandTalk! Have you had a chance to check out the rest of the board. There is a whole section on Complications! Now it's going to be scary and maybe it will give you a skewed view, but I think it's smart that you want to know these things.

Lots of surgeons have "program fees" but they are after you select that surgeon and have decided to use their program. They aren't non-refundable! Are you sure this isn't a charge for the surgical consult? Pretty much all surgeons charge for that since they actually practice medicine during it.

Stationary bike, 45 min. 9.25 miles.

I always weigh on Monday so that will be easy. :-D I only run 3x a week. I bike 2x and do pilates 2x. I need to work swimming in there somehow too.

Hey, I didn't watch last night. I just read the recap on TWoP so I could follow what you guys are talking about. Big Medicine is in re-runs on Discovery Health. I don't know when it's on because TiVo just picks it up and when I noticed some episodes I watch them. It's supposed to start up again in Feb, I think on TLC.