Slainte

I'm using Dr. Bryan Anderson from St. Al's. I've only heard good things about him. I think there's a Dr. Valentine in Nampa that is starting to do Lap Band (he used to only do bypass) but I've never heard a good thing about him - even before I started exploring the weight-loss. There's also a Dr. Oakley who had only been doing bypass and I think he's branching out to Lap Band. He was my niece's Dr. for gastric bypass, but she was pretty unimpressed w/ the whole procedure. She's 29 Yrs old and has lost 181 lbs in the last 2 years (From a size 26 to a 6!) but she had an awful time after the operation an was back in the hospital several times in the months that followed. I think her biggest complaint was the Dr's bedside manner and follow-up. When she kept getting so sick and back in the hospital he finally just said it was a psychiatric problem and offered very little help. Finally by trial and error she figured out what she could tolerate and for the last year has done really well. Even with all of that she's still SO much better than she was when she was carrying over 300lbs on her 5'0" frame.

Just had my initial weigh-in on Tuesday 2/5/08. Since then I've had my psych eval, nutrition consultaion and lab work w/ my family doctor. Have colonoscopy and mammogram scheduled for next week which only leaves sleep study - - - AND LOSING 25 POUNDS ON MY OWN! I was blown away! When I went to the initial seminar on Lap-Band las summer I was certain they said you had to lose 10% of the amount you want to lose before the surgery - not 10% of my total body weight! They want it off right now so I'm on a starvation diet and it's so frustrating! I haven't read a lot on this web-site to see what other doctors are requiring, but I'm curious to know if this is common. The diet is Protein powder in 8 oz milk, cottage cheese, low-fat meat (preferably canned chicken breast or tuna) and vegetables. The first 2-3 days were ok, but boredom is already setting in and I'm trying to figure out some way to mix it up a bit. Any encouragement is appreciated!

Thanks, Mikey. Sometimes it helps just knowing I'm not the only one struggling! There are SO MANY positive and sunny posts that I was starting to think there must be something seiously wrong w/ my head! But it sounds like you've been thru much worse than I have. I promise I'll keep my head up for one more day. Then tomorrow I'll make that promise again. I appreciate your response!

Dying of boredom w/ the food, had to be fitted w/ a CPAP, injured my knee and can't exercise. I feel like I'm at the bottom of a VERY deep hole and can't see out. After consistently losing 4 lbs a week I actually gained a pound this week. Now I'm freaked out and my natural response is to want to turn to a nice, big, fatty hamburger or pizza. I haven't jumped off that bridge, yet, but I'm right on the edge. Tried to go ahead and get a surgery date and they won't even talk about it until EVERYTHING is completed. And the surgeon is booked all the way through April so the soonest I can hope for is sometime around the end of May. Please, somebody, say something encouraging and give me a pat on the head and a "there, there" and convince me I can do this. I'm already so invested financially and emotionally that I know I can't quit, but have zero enthusiasm right now. Has anyone else hit the wall like this?

Where to start? I'm having Dr. Anderson in Boise do the surgery and they didn't give me a time-frame for losing the 25 lbs. I've only had 2 stumbles since I started on 2/6 (a glass of wine on Valentine's Day and a Power Bar one day when I was feeling really down. Bad habit.) Depending on the time of day & which scales I use I've lost between 4 - 9 lbs. I'll have an "official weigh-in" on Wednesday which will give me a better idea of how I'm doing. I guess that's ok for 2 weeks, but I'm surprised by how little information I got at my initial weigh-in. It was "You have to lose 25 pounds. Here's your diet." I also wish I'd knows how many other requirements I have to complete before I'll ever see the Dr. Mammogram & colonoscopy? That wasn't mentioned at the information seminar I went to last summer. Thankfully my insurance will cover them, but I had to meet my $1000 deductible so there's another $1000 I wasn't ready for. I was told that the diet I received at my weigh-in was "pretty restrictive" but that when I saw the Nutrionist she would have a different diet with more choices. The Nutritionist laughed - she said the one I got at my weigh-in IS the one with more choices! The really restrictive one is veggies and Slim-Fast! I did join Curves today so I'll have an exercise regimine that requires accountability to someone. I haven't been exercising the past 2 weeks and hope that by working out the weight will come off faster. Thankfully I have a VERY supportive husband who is sort of following the same diet and rides his exercise bike for an hour every day. He's lost 12 pounds! But I know men lose faster and also realize his committment to exercise makes all the difference. He wants to take off 40 lbs and will probably reach that goal before I lose my 25! Anyway... I'm glad there's a place I can vent a little and also see how other people handle the obsticles that come up.