Maitai

hello J Long time no hear. Sorry I have not posted but I had a wisdom tooth removed and it was killing me ....lots of pain. Anyway, I was wondering how are you doing with the band? Have you found a support group in UCH? I am close to my surgery date with Dr. Murr and I'm getting a little nervous , but nothing that I can't manage. I think I am a lot more excited to step into the unknown. Hope you are doing okay.:tt1:

Helloo slim, My surgery also is on the May 14th. And I too get nervous, happy, doubtful all in a matter of seconds. Where are you from? I am in Tampa, Fl anxiously awaiting to get banded!

Hello everybody, I am new to this thread....but I will be banded on May 14th. Today( May 10) is my last day of work before I get banded. I need the time to "nest". My parents will be coming from out of town to stay with me for a while and I want to have everything ready. I did my preop on the 8th and it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. So now, I am trying to keep busy because if not I keep thinking about the anesthesia and start getting butterflies in my stomach. Good luck to all!

Mine was one visit every month. As I was explained it in the seminar, you could visit your dr. on the 30th or 31st of one month and make the next visit for the 1st of the following month. For my last two months I went on the 25th and was back for my last visit two weeks later. So as long as you go each month it does not have to be every 30 days. But double check with your insurance.

Ms. Trina, Keep up the good work. Come in here and vent if you must and keep on treading. Like someone else said, they are just jealous. Like a friend of mine said...you first have to admit that you have a problem before you are able to do something about it. And not everybody has the strength to really look at themselves and keep evolving and keep improving on things to make their lives better and more fulfilling. The haters will always be along the path the trick is to remain focused and with the eye on the prize. And remember..."Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls aren't there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show us how badly we want things." (from a lecture given by Randy Pausch, diagnosed with terminal cancer at age 47) I always think of this when the trail in this journey get a little rocky. Good Luck !

Thin, That is a great idea about the snowcone machine. I am planning to get a juicer and a food processor. I too am scheduled for the 14th of May....I just did all my preop today. But I'm not required to be on a liquid diet. I am though eating mushies because I had a wisdom tooth pulled out on Monday and can't chew, chew, chew. I figured, sooner or later I will have to drink my nutrition, mine as well get used to it. Funny note: Today I met with my surgeon during my preop's and I mentioned to him that I had a wisdom tooth pulled out and have stitches. He begged me to look at them , then said.. That hurts more than your surgery will. I HOPE IS TRUE!!!!!

May your surgery go without any hitch and everything go as planned.

Hello to all, I am too being banded in May..May 14th to be exact and I love the playfulness of the shrinko de mayo name... Now...if I can only figure out how to get the logo I would be set. Anyone out there can help me??? Good Luck to All!

Hi, From what I've heard the weight loss surgery portion of insurance is an option that companies can buy when they offer insurance for their employees. You should call your insurance and see if they offer this option with their coverage. If they don't, then maybe you can talk to your Human Resources office and see if they would allow you to get a rider for your policy that you can pay for yourself or maybe even they might offer to pay for it. Anyway, that was something that was explained briefly to us during our original seminar when they discussed ways to pay for the surgery. During the seminar they encouraged everybody to call their insurance and inquire and find out if our particular policies covered WLS. So I don't think it really depends on what insurance company, but I believe it depends on what kind of coverage you have. And some companies have the WLS portion excluded as a benefit they opt not to pay for. GOOD LUCK!

Hello! My company offers a once a year wellness exam where they do quite a few blood tests. I was able to use those results since they were no more than 6 months old. I guess it depends on your doctor.When I was getting all my evaluations done(psych, nutrition, etc) I took those results with me and they were ok. All I was missing was my CBC...and they offered to draw it there or if I wanted I could have it drawn through my PCP.

Hello Kristy, My surgery is also on May 14th. Although in an earlier intro I wrote the 12th....what was I eating??? :-) Good luck!

Thank you for your response. I will certainly call my Dr's office on Monday. I made sure that the hospital and Dr. were in-network for my HMO. No one so far has mentioned anything about out of pocket cost, not even when I met with the bariatric surgery coordinator--she's the one that did all the insurance filing. I hope I don't have to pay more than just copays.

J, I live not to far from you. I know UCH has Lap-Band seminars so I would hope they do have support groups. You are a step ahead of me since you've already been banded. I also been desperate to find other people from Tampa going through this process. I hope we are lucky enough to find others in the Tampa area in here.

hello j I am also from tampa and will have surgery in TGH with Dr. Murr in a couple of weeks. How has your experience been so far?

jdu, I am taking calcium citrate with magnseium & Vitamin D chewables by KAL which I got from a health store. They are each 500mg so I guess 1 1/2 would give you the mg you need. They are mixed fruit flavor so they aren't that bad. I also have some Centrum chewable Multivitamins. I don't particularly care for those but they are tolerable. Those are orange flavored. I got those from Walgreens. Hope this helps!

I agree with Jack...no need to amputate a perfectly functioning organ. Plus, I don't know down the road, when I might need the rest of my stomach, medically speaking. God willing, with life expectancies being as they are, I expect to live at least another 40 years. I want to be healthy but don't know if someday I get sick and need to use the rest of my stomach. I also like the feeling of control having the Lap Band gives you....could I be a control freak???? Not really, but I know that when you really have to work harder for something, you tend to appreciate more. So, the Lap Band for me please! surgery date: May 14, 2008

bpenney I congratulate you and admire you for having the determination to stick with your long approval process. Just know, that if you were able to hang in there for 2yrs waiting for approval you can surely see your way through the actual weight loss. Cheers to you!!!

So far I have not been required to go on a liquid diet of any kind. My surgery is on May 14th and I have my preops on May 8th...so I don't know if I will be required to do a liquid fast prior to surgery. I have overcome the urge to go out and gorge myself with crappy food in the last weeks because I don't want it to show in my preop blood workup. And one thing I've done is mourn the fact that the amount of food intake will be drastically reduced for the rest of my life. Have any of you out there gone throught this? But I've come to terms with it...so now I'm just looking foward to start losing weight.

Hello Everybody, I would also like to join the May bandsters. My surgery date is for May 12th with Dr. Murr in Tampa. Hope to get to know everybody better and that we can share our experiences together and support one another.

Bea1128 I will be banded on May 14th and I smiled when I read your post because I totally identified with what you said. I did have a period of mourning about around the time I was to meet my surgeon for the first time. I too realized that I would no longer be able to eat the amount of food that I am used to. Not that I was a big eater but I do love sweets!!!! Which I usually eat when I'm bored. That has been my problem all my life, I tend to graze the sweet stuff when I am sitting idle. But I believe as I am getting close to my surgery date I've come to terms with the fact that I won't be able to eat as much, but in moderation . And as for the sweets, I am retraining myself to not give in to all my cravings. When I want to eat something I shouldn't , I usually wait a couple of days and see if I am still craving it. If I find myself not wanting it, then I save that splurge for those days that the thoughts linger. Hopefully, they will come far and few in between after I am banded. Good Luck to all!

I also have the KAL calcium citrate chewables and I found them at my local health food store in the bone health section. Good luck!

Hello everybody, This is my first time posting here, though I've read many of your threads and learned a lot from the advice and support given here. I finally got the call on Thursda from my surgeon's office that I was approved! A whole two weeks ahead of time...I was shocked. So shocked that the call caught me by surprise. I had given a lot a thought to the surgery and researched it as much as I could, but ironically I had no idea of what date I would actually want the procedure done. So there I am on the phone rambling nonsense when they asked me if I had a preferred date. Which I didn't! Has this happened to any of you out there. Finally, I ended up taking their first available date, which is on May 14, 2008. I am soooooooooo excited and a little nervous. But definitely getting ready and looking foward to the date. Good Luck to all!