strikeuptheband

Hi LeighDee, We never did do the salmon yesterday. He opted for grilled teriyaki instead. I sat forlornly sipping my Protein drink while he and my son enjoyed the chicken. I had one small bite and it was awesome. Had a falling out with BF last nite. I have a puppy that I keep confined to the kitchen at nite (less mess to clean up:unsure:) The puppy whines sometimes and last night she was also probably afraid of the thunder and lightening. BF said at midnite he couldnt take it anymore and left for home. 3 hr drive in a thunderstorm....howzat for support?? He is also supposed to be my support coach for surgery but now I am thinking of asking a coworker who is also working on getting this surgery. She's been a hell of a lot more supportive than he has been. I have been putting off making a decision about our relationship since I am now obviously working with a food deprived brain! But perhaps hes already made a decicion for me. We will see. I thought after that, wow, what a perfect opportunity to blow it and raid the fridge....but I didn't and this morning I woke up 3 lbs lighter!:biggrin2: Sorry to vent, but it really helps to get it out. I get a tremendous amount of support from reading about other people's journeys. Hope you are having a good holiday.

Kathystrick, You are still all by yourself on the 18th. The positive point of that is you will have your doc's total undivided attention!

test...still trying to figure out this ticker thing.

LeighDee, Glad you made it through the day! I made it through watching him eat his potroast while I sipped away on my Protein drink. Didn't sleep well because my lower back was giving me grief. I wonder if thats my kidneys wondering why they are so flooded all of a sudden or because I was hunched over my sewing machine for too long. Had to do curtains and hem 2 pairs of pants for my babygirl (who is in her own apartment at college). Today we are one step closer. The plan is to grill salmon steaks on a cedar plank today. Never had that before. I plan on allowing myself just a taste without feeling guilty. And, great news, the scale says I have lost again so I can update my ticker! Have a great sunday. url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/weight-loss/woABKSN/] [/url]

Me too LeighDee, You must be getting banded on June 2nd, so am I! I am on day 2 and BF has had a roast in the crockpot going all day. Its driving me nuts! I am tired, but trying to take it one day at a time, sometimes one hour at a time. We can do this. Just hang in there. We will have such stories to tell when we are thin, healthy and successful!

I am getting the Realize band in Missouri and fills for life. Cost: $12,500. This also includes a few visits with physical therapy and dietician. Sounds like this is the least expensive so far. Its day surgery but the cost includes 1 nite if I need it. I am self pay because my employer wont put it in our plan. Good thing its not more, this wiped me out. At least I will be thin as I work till the end of my days!! Won't be able to ever retire but I think its worth the sacrifice.

Hi everyone. I work in the mental health field and supervise community support workers. I have 3 grown children and one lovely talented granddaughter who is 8 years old. Been battling with the scales since my last one was born and she is now 20 and in college. I debated long and hard about trying to justify spending so much money on me, but the joint pain and other health related issues finally convinced me I better get it done now. I started the pre-op diet today....ugh and we had a going away party for an employee today...and am scheduled to be banded June 2nd. I am seeing Dr James Pitt from Columbia Bariatric Associates in Columbia, MO. Dr Pitt has been banded so he knows first hand some of the problems we might encounter. That's a plus for me. He's got a great team and I really enjoyed all the meetings I had to have to qualify me. At home I have a terrier mix named Bandit and a cat named BooBoo. they get along about like Odie and Garfield. They can be entertaining when they aren't out to kill each other! Good luck to us all on our journey.

Yesterday I went to the final surgeons appt and preadmission to the hospital. All the hoops have been jumped through and friday I start the 10 day pre op diet. On June 2nd, I will be banded!!! Hope I make it thru the pre op diet. Thats gonna suck (no pun intended).

Hi, I have been reading these threads now for several months and posted a few times. Thought now that things are starting to roll, I would introduce myself. I have been fighting weight problems since my youngest was born...and now she's 20! So I can't write it off as baby fat anymore:sad: I am 5'3" and BMI was 37.1 at my last visit to the Dr. I am being banded (hopefully, will know for sure on May 20) the first week in June. I have had my psych eval, orientation, initial surgeon's visit, seen dietician and physical therapy. Today I got bloodwork done and see the surgeon and do hospital preadmission next tuesday. Its coming at me like a freight train!:biggrin: My insurance, or rather my employer will not approve the insurance, so I tried the VA option, as I am a veteran. No go there either unless I was willing to gain up to a BMI of 50. Now how smart was that advice! So I have gathered all my pennies together, said forget it to ever retiring and got enough together for self pay. I will be getting the Realize Band at Columbia Bariatric Services at Boone County Hospital in Columbia MO. My doc is Dr Pitt, who has had lapband surgery himself. I would like to find others who have gone to this hospital or live nearby. I livd 2 1/2 hours from Columbia so I would not get to go there often for their support meetings unless I schedule a fill on a day that it meets. It would be nice to talk to people in the same area so we can compare notes.

I have thought of weight loss surgery for several years. I was hesitant to put myself first because this is a huge investment. Well, now my youngest is half way through college and I decided its finally my turn. So I am being banded on June 2nd. I still struggle with thinking its OK for me to spend so much money on me when my kids still need my help. I know I will be healthier afterwards, but I stll feel guilty spending this much money. I am self pay because my employer won't put WLS in our insurance plan. Guilty...but I am gonna do it anyway!

Me too, me too!!! I just found out my date today. Surgery on June 2nd. How awesome. For 17 years, I celebreated my wedding day on that date. Then got divorced and tried to forget it for the next 20!!! lol Now I have a New Me date to celebrate every June 2nd!!:cursing:

In about an hour I am leaving for my surgeons visit and pre admission to the hospital. I will know later today when my date is. They say most likely on June 2nd or 4th. Hope the 2nd so I can be recovered enough to hang around (and probably not do much else) on the 6th for our Relay for Life. They say walking is good after surgery, but I dunno about all night!!! I am excited to be a June Bug!!:thumbup:

this forum is in my favorites. And it used to work...but the last 2 days it took me to the search engine. When I clicked on "Why am I Here?" it said you tried to go to a site that does not exist. gimme a break. I just kept clicking on all the 'similar' links until one opened up to here. Then I saved it in my favorites again. Dunno yet if I can get back with my new saved link. Guess I will find out next time I log in. I love this place and yes, we do exist!!

OK so I am talkin to myself. Just trying to make the ticker thingy work.

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OK and anyone know how to make my ticker look like a ticker? I copied and pasted it just as it was and didn't change anything!

I live 2 1/2 hours from where my doctor is. I took off a day for the psych eval, and another day where they booked my physical therapist, dietician, bariatric coordinator meeting and an evening support group all on one day! One visit left next tuesday to see surgeon and pre registration at the hospital. Then I will take 2-3 days off after surgery. I have a desk job so I doubt I will need much time off. Good luck to ya!

My doc is now using the Realize band. I go tomorrow for dietician, physical therapy appts and to see the coordinator, and to a support group in the evening. They also are going to want a chunk of change tomorrow...I am self pay. Then on the 22nd, see surgeon and hosp preadmission. lab work, xray and whatever and surgery date is probably going to be June 2 or 4th. I am really getting excited about it. I have stopped drinking soda's now for the last week and I think that's gonna be harder even than the liquid diet!!

I am going to get the Realize band. After getting nowhere with my insurance or the VA, I am going to dig under my couch for money to self pay. I see the dietician and physical therapist on May 8th and Dr pre-op consult and hosp preadmission on May 22 and surgery on June 1st or 3rd. Its amazing how quickly things start to happen when the doc's smell cash. To my understanding, the Realize band has a flatter port and less prone to 'flipping.' In exchange for being one of the first to get this one (he's done gobs of other lapband surgeries, tho), I get free fills for life if I go to the Realize band website and keep track of my food and exercise there regularly. Sounds fair to me! Can't wait to get banded!!

Jason, I googled VA loans and all I can find is info on home loans. Do you have a link to where I can check out if VA will give you loans for medical needs? Thanks,

Thanks, Jason. I might need to look into getting a loan. Hate to do that tho, and it gripes me that the VA wont do this life saving surgery but they will (maybe) give you a loan so you end up paying for it.:sad_smile: Gee, and usually I am such a happychick! Can you get any more info from your dad? Did the VA eventually do the surgery and just charge him or did he get the loan and pay another doc to do it. I have a doc all lined up and have approval, but my work insurance wont cover this. Thats why I went to the VA to see if I could get it thru them. I knew as soon as I saw the skinny *itch of a doc that the answer was gonna be no. She said I could just diet and exercise (like I haven't been doing that and failing and hurting myself for the last 30 years???) I wonder if the VA rate is cheaper than an outside doc. The doc I saw would do it if you paid up front 12,500.

Judy, I live in Missouri. Let me know if there is a way to upgrade UHC, if I can pay the difference in the premium that might be worth looking into. What gripes me about the VA is they won't do it for Veterans, but I have read on these boards that dependents of veterans who have CHAMPVA or Tricare seem to be able to get it done. (Don't mean that dependents are any more or less important), but if they won't approve it to those of us that put our name on the line and gave active service, geez....and I can't qualify to be a dependent of anyone because 1. When I was married, I wasn't his dependent cuz I was active duty, and 2, now I'm not even married to him so I am still not his dependent! (hehe but thats ok). Good luck, hope you get approved somehow!

How much does my mind weigh???? I will take weight loss any way I can get it!!

I have UHC where I work also. They will cover IF.........your employer has chosen to include WLS in the plan. I found out after I went to the seminar, went to the psych doc, and paid out of pocket for the surgeons consult that my employer has excluded WLS. They explain it like if you buy a car without air conditioning, then complain that the AC doesn't work, the company won't do anything about it. Its a crock, not fair and I am really ticked off by it. Plan B for me was to hook up with the VA Center since I am a veteran. Was told yesterday that they would only do that surgery if my BMI was over 50. Well, geez louise, its at 37 now and I can barely walk, have high BP, high cholesterol, triglicerides, and am prediabetic. I will probably be dead before I reach a BMI of 50! My surgeon will do it for $12,500 if you pay up front. I think there are other places that charge less but you might have to go to Mexico for that!!:wink2: Now I am trying to come up with Plan C. I don't have a clue where to turn next. Anyone have any ideas?

I haven't been banded yet, but am confused a bit on this PB business. I haven't seen this question yet, so I will ask. Suppose you get nausous (from the flu or something). Is it even possible to throw up once you are banded? If stuff past your band in your lower stomach is churning, how do you get it out? Can stuff go back thru the band and out? Sorry if you are reading this at lunchtime. I just wondered.