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Josette - My first consultation was $94.50, then I had a pre-op appointment which was $76.50. Thats $171.00. My follow-up appointments and fills are included in the price of the surgery fee for one year. I was required to see a psychologist and took a battery of tests, which cost about $400. Then I had to see a Pulminologist which was about $265. A sleep study (over night deal) was $3,600 and the resulting purchase of a CPAP machine was $1,500. The nutritionist was $100 and included three visits, on pre-op, two post op (which I never did). Then there was the visit to the primary care Dr and the mass amound of blood tests, which came to approximately $600. This was all BEFORE the surgeons fees or hospital expenses! I think all of mine came to about $26,000. *gulp* That was so hard to spend that kind of money on me! But I'm glad I did.. VERY glad! Skye - My thoughts and prayers are with you and your man. With a sparkling attitude like yours, I can't help but believe that you and he are both going to come out of this with flying colors! I'm so proud of you, girl. GFG Members - I'm glad you like the Spring Challenge! I'm looking forward to it as well. I really need to get myself back on track with water and exercise! And speaking of exercise, it's a beautiful day here in Boise, Idaho and Lmvilla (Linda) and I are meeting to walk along the river this morning. I know that Feels2Young2B40 and Kim_8 get together to exercise too. The buddy system is a great way to keep motivated. If any of you in the group live close by one another, get together and keep each other moving! Love you guys and gals! Have a Terrific Tuesday!

I have no clothes that fit me anymore! Everything is getting too big, except one pair of size 22 jeans that I just got into. Stupid things, I was wearing 20s in other jeans and couldnt get them on! Anyway! I went shopping for some pants to wear to the gym. I picked out 2 pair exactly alike, one size 18 the other size 14/16. They were cotton, elastic waist with a draw string. I tried on the 18s first and they fit but they were a bit snug. They were 100% cotton and I figured they would draw up, so that wasn't going to work. When I picked up the 14/16s I saw the tag, and it said 18. I had on the 14/16s!!! LOL! I was stunned! How in the world can someone who weighs 246 pounds get a size 14/16 on?! Someone please tell me! *laughs* So my NSV is, I not only bought the 18s but I also bought a pair of 18 Lee's jeans. I walked into the dressing room with three pair of pants and bought two! Do any of you realize how shocking that is?? *laughs* I do! And that's my NSV for today. Thanks for letting me share! :confused:

I think that only you and your Dr will be able to determine when you should get a fill. Most Drs wait the full six weeks to give the swelling time to subside. That way, you know you are getting restriction from the fill and not just residual swelling that will go down and then leave you needing more fill. It's also not a fair estimation of how much you can eat when you are still swollen. I got my first and only fill six weeks after banding.

Woohoo Katerzz and Juliek!! Congrats to ya both. Now.. where are your pics?? *grins*

I'm getting so excited by seeing so many of you gearing up for the challenge! Sorry Kathy, no sugar and no flour means just that. If it contains sugar or flour, and you eat it, you dont get your 3 points for the day. I know this is a biggie to a lot of you so it carries the greatest reward for achieving it. Remember, if you can go everyother day without it, you will still earn 3 points every other day. So don't think that will count you out. If you believe you need whole wheat grains, eat brown rice. And there's nothing that any of you could say that would convince me that you need sugar. I could give in and say, ok, but just in coffee.. but I honestly believe that cutting back on sugar will help us in so many ways, so I'm sticking to the original rule on #3. (Examples of flour foods - white or wheat breads, pastas, Cookies, cakes, pie crust, bagles.. you get the idea. Example of sugars - sweet drinks, cookies, candy, granual sugar, ice cream, jellies, syrups.. again, you get the idea. Canned fruit is ok if you chose Light syrup or low sugar. I know that sugar substitues aren't the best, but for this challenge they will be allowed. Perhaps later on we will have a more serious challenge where even those will cost you points. *evil grin* Thanks for finding my goof, Tricia. I've fixed it now. Hang in there Mystjin and try to make the best choices you can for now. Remember, your journey can start now whether or not you have that band inside you. Getting your head prepared for the changes in food choices will help you get a jump on things. You're in my prayers! Lmvilla - Grilled chicken and steamed veggies baby! Salads have a lot of hidden calories in the dressings, cheese, etc. I'm so excited for you! Time has flown hasn't it??

... that I love so many of you! I am overwhelmed with by the encouragement, support, cheerleading, friendships, love and trust among all of us. Where else could we bare our scarred up, naked bodies (and hearts) and feel so great about it afterwards? I have made some very special friends here and the list just keeps growing by the day. Anyway, I just felt the need to say thank you and to gather you all up in a big !

I wouldn't force it. Remember, you are getting liquids in your broth and fudgesicle too.

I agree. Get a slight unfill ASAP. There are too many LBT members who have posted about these symptoms causing serious problems when not taken care of. Just taking antacids to stop the reflux isn't going to fix the reason you're having the reflux in the first place. Get the fill adjusted, feel better and you won't have to take meds.

Tuna is an excellent choice. I mixed 2 Tbs of fat free thousand island dressing in mine, rather than mayo and relish. Even though you could eat a lot of fish, as long as it isn't breaded, don't worry about it. Fish is an excellent source of protein and won't do you any harm. Here are some foods I ate during the mushie stage: Bean with bacon soup Cottage cheese and peaches or applesauce (use lite or sugar free fruit and low fat cottage cheese) Frozen peas and carrots (boiled until soft) Oatmeal (I use 1 tsp of real butter and splenda in mine) Very thin sliced deli ham with low fat or fat free cream cheese lightly spread onto the ham then rolled up Mashed potatoes (bake a potato in the microwave, scrape out the fluffy insides with a fork, top with 1 tsp real butter) If I think of more, I'll come back and add them. If you are getting 60-100 grams of protein per day, and you are staying in the 800-1,000 calorie range then don't worry too much about your carbs from the veggies, fruit and oatmeal. And don't feel like a failure! For goodness sake. This isn't even the time to be worried about weightloss and food quantities. That will begin once you get a fill. My Dr. told me that until I got that fill, I would be able to eat just like I could before banding - although I shouldn't do that! You're doing just fine. It's natural to be hungry after all this time of only having liquids. It will settle down soon, trust me.

The Gone for Good Club's Spring Challenge How it works: On April 26th, after the final weigh in for April, I will start a May GFG Club thread. Those of you who wish to participate in the challenge should post on that thread and title your post - GFG Spring Challenge. All of your updates will be kept by you on this post only! This way we don't end up with a 100+ page thread. Simply go back to your Challenge post and Edit it to update. Everyone will be on their honor to keep a record of their daily points. Any GFG Club Member can join at any time during the challenge. The dates of the challenge are April 26 thru May 31. The member with the most points will win. How to earn points: 1. For each day that you drink a minimum of 64oz of water, you earn 1 point. 2. For each day that you exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes (doesn't have to be all at one time), you will earn 2 points. 3. For each day that you do not eat foods that contain flour or sugar, you will earn 3 points. (sugar substitues allowed) 4. For each pound you lose during the challenge, you will earn 1 point. April 26th thru May 31st is 36 days, so there is a possibility of earning 216 points. However, for those of you who achieve a perfect record in any of the first three categories by earning points every day, you will receive a 5 point bonus for each perfect category at the end of the challenge, making it possible to earn 231 points if all categories earn a bonus. Of course the weight loss will vary so we won't know until the final day (May 31st) who has won! The reward: The winner of the challenge will be awarded the Gone for Good Club's Medal of Honor which can be added to their signature line. (This is a slightly bigger version.) However, all who participate will receive the reward of better health and a lower number on that scale, so I want to see all of you participating! Good luck to everyone and may you all lose!

Kaybug - Grats on your first fill and your weightloss. You're doing great! Anillacookie - The bootcamp is in a different thread, not connected to the GFG Club. But I would recommend it to anyone. There's a Sarge over there that will kick your arse if you're being a slacker! *laughs* Here's the thread: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=16983 EmileeKaye - 100 crunches? OMG you are super woman! LOL Good for you! Iziksmom - Sixy and sexy club! *laughs* Loved that! Heather - Hun, you are just getting prettier and prettier by the day! I can see it in your eyes and hear it in your words - life is great! I'm so happy for you! PinkMary - I added your super duper weight loss amount to the member's page and given you a place on the Honor's Page. Grats! Many of you are setting great goals and it's a wonderful time of year to get up, get out, and get moving. Come on everyone, join in the action and let's kick it up a notch! I was so busy all weekend that I didn't get our May challenge set up. I'll do that today!

Thanks everyone! Only a group of losers like you would understand! *snickers* I'm sure you all are having NSVs too... so share them already!

*gasps* I know her!!! :faint: Small world huh? *laughs*

Thanks for responding to the cry for Edit. Will we have the ability to delete our own posts or is this a final thing? I appreciate the thought you all have put into this and respect your decision. I'm just trying to be clear on the final ruling. :party:

Aww, I wanna kiss, 3loves! *giggles*

Please don't take this as anything but sincere concern. All of you who are PB'ing on a regular basis - this is going to lead to eventual damage that could cost you your band. Please do what you need to do in order to stop this. Slow down, stop eating things which you know cause problems, get a slight unfill - whatever you need to do. Jachut and I are good examples of people who aren't filled so tight and yet we are still losing weight at a good rate. Please do not think that the weightloss is worth the risk of remaining overfilled or eating troublesome foods. It isn't. You may be happy with the rapid weightloss but if that band has to come out because of problems developed from so many PBs, that weight loss wont be a reality anymore. And, many of you get so tight that you have to resort to liquid calories and typically end up stalling your loss or even gaining because of the sugars contained in liquid calories and the lack of portion control. I hope I haven't offended anyone. I hope that what I've said has made some of you think about this. I want to see all of us succeed, and when I hear so many talking about this as if it's just part of daily life it worries me.

Could we PLEASE have our Edit rights back??? I am getting behind on the GFG Club updates and I don't want to make 15 duplicate pages! PLEASE???

"Random guys flirting with you has to be the ultimate pick me up!!" Umm.. not for me! It scares the buhjeebies outta this girl. When I read Diane's post about this, I groaned and quickly closed it. I fear these days! I don't want that! Don't look at me, don't smile at me, don't you dare flirt with me! *bites nails nervously* I think I could use some counseling. Thank god I have my 6'4 hubby by my side now! Actually, that doesn't make me any less nervous. Yuppers. Issues abound! *chuckles*

Dawg hit the -60 pound mark today! 247! Grats honey!!

I'm not sure if someone here told me about this site, or if I found it on my own. Anyway, it was worth sharing. I've got it on my Favorites list now, along with www.nutritiondata.com.

Audra, I should have done that but I was after that fried chicken! LOL! The thing is, I ended up peeling most of that off of the chicken anyway. It just doesn't hold the same appeal for me that it used to. My friend got the Carribean Chicken Salad - grilled chicken and it was half the calories! So yup, grilled would have been better. Good think I could only eat about 1/8th of that huh?

Ooo! Fish! *runs off to make dinner*

They pretty much go hand in hand. Check out this thread: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=15400&highlight=slime

Can you contact your surgeon? He/she may want to see you right away since you are in such pain. Even though the office is closed, there is usually an answering service that will contact the Dr and have him/her call you. I would suggest doing that now. Keep us posted ok? But not until you've taken care of yourself. *hugs*

K@t, I love ya girl! You rock! *big huge smiles*