ssflbelle

Susan I found it I wondered what happened. That was a great idea. Perhaps we can get some activity in here as I know after my first consult I may have tons of questions as I begin the process of getting to that surgery date.

Hi Miami. Welcome to the boards. I am up in Palm Beach County. I will be seeing Dr Bass in Hollywood for the first time on July 22. I have waited 6 weeks to see him and getting excited to start this process. Amanda

I am not banded yet but my reply to the same question was to continue to: do my plastic canvas needlepoint, make my 3 dimensional beaded items, sew, exercise and beat the heck out of my bed with a tennis racket. :thumbs_down:

Cool another Floridian! There seems to be a group of us who are getting to be friends over on the thread called Spring Hill Florida. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/introductions/66476-spring-hill-fl.html#post914919 Come join us. I understand there is a Florida Forum Florida Local Lap-Band Support - Lap Band Surgery and Lap Band Discussion Forum and I 'd love to see it get stronger as they don't seem to post over there much lately.

Hi Bev and the others Bev we are very much alike in our physical problems and questions and love of sweets. I swore I was reading my own posts and not yours. It is so nice to see I am not alone. I am still waiting to have my first consultation July 22nd. I have researched since Jan of this year and feel sure this is the WLS I want. I like the fact that I can will still be able to have a sweet from time to time and not feel like I have to eat the whole bag of cookies or whatever it is. I have been following WW (for the umpteenth time in my life) and started using the sit down machines at Curves for about 2 weeks now. As of June 30th I gave up drinking diet soda and now drink my crystal light and diluted juices out of a sippy cup. So I am beginning to slowly make some behavioral changes before the surgery. Sorry I can't answer any of your questions but those who have the band already seemed to have provided a lot of answers. I must say I am very impress with the weight losses I see here. Greg are your tickers correct? WOW Man you are really working at getting thinner. Keep going strong and hope to see you all on the boards.

OK Ladies do you need some help getting around the site and adding friends? Go toward the top of this thread see the User CP on the right hand side of the screen do a left click on it. Under the control panel you will see contacts and friends left click and you will see a box where you can add the contacts and friends. I believe I sent a few out last night and I think all you have to so is accept the invite and then we are on each others profiles as friends. I hope I explained this correctly and it helped. Amanda

Hi fellow Floridian. I use to live in New Port Richey and in my job travelled once a week to Spring Hill and Zephyrhills. Now I am live in the South East area and don't travel at all. There is a Florida forum board here Florida Local Lap-Band Support - Lap Band Surgery and Lap Band Discussion Forum but it doesn't seem to be to active, in fact the last post I see is dated July 4th. Maybe we all should stir it up over there a bit and if we all post something we can get the Florida forum going again. Also I was wondering do you all want to be on each other friends list than we can email back and forth to each other also? If so I will send each of you an invite.

Hi Jan I have not had the surgery yet but will be meeting with my Dr on July 22nd. I am 52 years old and also live in Florida in Palm Beach County- South East Florida. Where are you located? I also am hoping it take away the desire to eat, especially at night. During the day I am fine but this night binging is really bad.

Yep I hope this night eating will change for me also. I feel such guilt as I do so good at breakfast and lunch eating healthy foods and come night I blow it all. But I don't really blow it with junk food likes desserts and chips etc but with the quantity of the good foods. Like 3 to 4 protein bars or string cheese and crackers. But I know I shouldn't be eating the bars and cheese either. I sure do hope with the lap band this will stop. Good luck to you all as I know what you are all going through with the night eating.

I am not in NC but I use to live there and became aware of a Raleigh meetup group for WLS. If your interested in additional support other than from the hospital send me a private email and I send you the info.

Renee So glad the others were able to help you as I am not banded yet. However I live in Florida and was wondering where in Florida are you located. I am in Palm Beach County- South East Florida

I have had to wait 6 weeks for my first consultation and it is coming up on July 22nd. So once I meet with the Dr I will have a better idea how much longer I will have to wait.

Hi Lala I am in the South East part of Florida and will be traveling about an 1 to 1-1/2 hours South to Hollywood for my first consultation and hopefully surgery. You can called1-800-LAP-BAND and they will send you a list of Dr in a 4 county area. You can check with your insurance to see if the Dr is on your plan and go from there.

Glad to hear everything went well, including the ability to come back home in your own van. That is an issue I will have to work out when the time comes for my surgery. I need my van as it transport my electric mobility device unless the hospital has a huge wheelchair that they can bring to the door I know of no other way to get into the hospital. I have plenty of time to figure it out as I still don't have a surgery date. Good luck in your journey.

Yes I do too. It has been awhile and no follow up. I hope her Daughter comes back and lets us know what was happening and that her Mom is ok.

Steph Great news about the drains and no more bra at night. Wow you have been busy for someone who recently had so much surgery but I suppose staying around the house so much was driving you nuts. I sure do hope the swelling goes down soon and your feeling 100% better. Thanks for sharing all that you have with us. Amanda

Leslie Now I know I am not old enough to be in the Nursing home but you just described me and I never had any children. I would gladly give each one of you an inch or two and have plenty left over. I will be so glad when the girls are lighter but I am sure I will need them lifted and all the skin removed from everywhere. Just hope Medicare will pay for it when the time comes, that is if I am still on Medicare by than.

Wow and you should be Jazzed. 100 pounds in 11 months and 1 week is fantastic and those pictures are proof. You really look like a totally different person.

Did you go to any of the list of Dr for Nutrition and Pychological evaluation and for sleep apnea? I am also surprised that you didn't have a diet before surgery. I am wondering is this his standard way of doing things? Have you spoken to other patients? How many of them had surgery but got no band. I hate to say this but he may be doing surgeries for additional money at the expense of your health and insurance. I would do some checking into this Dr ethnics. Things don't sound right. Just my opinion. Amanda C

I started this WLS process as soon as I became eligible for Medicare in May of 2008. I got a list of Lapband Doctors in South East Florida and the first Dr I contacted was on my plan but the hospital was not a Center of Excellence. Medicare demands that this surgery been done in such a hospital. Ok, so I kept looking, found a hospital they would approve but the Dr is not on the plan. There doesn't seem to be any Dr and hospital in my County that meets Medicares approval. Thank goodness for that Lapband list, as I used it to search for Doctors listed and where these Doctors performed the surgery. Over Memorial weekend I finally found Dr. Bass and The Regional Memorial Hospital in Hollywood, which is a Center of Excellence. I was able to not only register on line but I filled out a 9 page profile. Two days later Tiffany (Co-ordinator) called me. She got the profile and told me about a information seminar on Thursday I needed to attend. Great the ball is rolling. So come Thursday I get in the van and head down to Hollywood but never made it there. About 30 minutes into the trip I developed van trouble Being handicapped and traveling alone I couldn't take the chance that something would happen even further away from home so I turned around and headed back home. The next day I called Tiffany and told her of my van troubles. No problem she would get Cindy to send me 5 on line videos I needed to watch and when I did let her know. Well I did watch those and have finally been given my first consultation visit with the Dr. for July 22nd. In the mean time Tiffany sent me a sample of the medically necessary letter to give to my Doctors. Dr. Alshon was not willing to write me a letter of medically necessary even though he had a sample letter with all the things he didn't know about me filled in. I find it extremely odd that he would not do this.:thumbup: During my first visit with him for pain management of my back, hip and shoulder he commented "NO Dr. would touch you for surgery on your hip, have you thought about WLS". during the second visit when I asked him to write this letter, He said " I don't have the time, you are here for pain management so let's deal with that." However he did send down a prescription for WLS. Never heard of that being done and I guess Dr. Bass will submit that to insurance. Dr. Rogovin my PCP is more than willing to write a letter of medically necessary. :biggrin2: I suppose that is because he has seen how I have struggled over the last 14 years with all my problems and he had mentioned WLS many times but my insurance would not allow it at the time. So now I sit and wait until July 22nd. I suppose that will be he next post I write. Till than Have a Happy Journey Everyone!

I started this WLS process as soon as I became eligible for Medicare in May of 2008. I got a list of Lapband Doctors in South East Florida and the first Dr I contacted was on my plan but the hospital was not a Center of Excellence. Medicare demands that this surgery been done in such a hospital. Ok, so I kept looking, found a hospital they would approve but the Dr is not on the plan. There doesn't seem to be any Dr and hospital in my County that meets Medicares approval. Thank goodness for that Lapband list, as I used it to search for Doctors listed and where these Doctors performed the surgery. Over Memorial weekend I finally found Dr. Bass and The Regional Memorial Hospital in Hollywood, which is a Center of Excellence. I was able to not only register on line but I filled out a 9 page profile. Two days later Tiffany (Co-ordinator) called me. She got the profile and told me about a information seminar on Thursday I needed to attend. Great the ball is rolling. So come Thursday I get in the van and head down to Hollywood but never made it there. About 30 minutes into the trip I developed van trouble Being handicapped and traveling alone I couldn't take the chance that something would happen even further away from home so I turned around and headed back home. The next day I called Tiffany and told her of my van troubles. No problem she would get Cindy to send me 5 on line videos I needed to watch and when I did let her know. Well I did watch those and have finally been given my first consultation visit with the Dr. for July 22nd. In the mean time Tiffany sent me a sample of the medically necessary letter to give to my Doctors. Dr. Alshon was not willing to write me a letter of medically necessary even though he had a sample letter with all the things he didn't know about me filled in. I find it extremely odd that he would not do this.:cool: During my first visit with him for pain management of my back, hip and shoulder he commented "NO Dr. would touch you for surgery on your hip, have you thought about WLS". during the second visit when I asked him to write this letter, He said " I don't have the time, you are here for pain management so let's deal with that." However he did send down a prescription for WLS. Never heard of that being done and I guess Dr. Bass will submit that to insurance. Dr. Rogovin my PCP is more than willing to write a letter of medically necessary. :biggrin2: I suppose that is because he has seen how I have struggled over the last 14 years with all my problems and he had mentioned WLS many times but my insurance would not allow it at the time. So now I sit and wait until July 22nd. I suppose that will be he next post I write. Till than Have a Happy Journey Everyone!

HI there! I am not banded yet either but have been doing a lot of reading on various lap band boards. Not sure where I saw this but one person bought one of those warmers that keep your coffee hot. I believed she plugged it in at the table and put her small plate on top of it and everything stayed warm. Just a thought. Amanda C

HI MicheleK I know what you mean about scared, this will be my first too. Yes it would be a great B'day gift and I sure do hope they approve you. Good luck with your Dr. visit on the 25th. Amanda

HI Phyllser I don't know how I missed this post from you the first time but thanks for the welcome. I do need all the support I can get. I do have a date for the first consultation over a month away. July 22nd and I have to travel 45 miles South of where I live. I guess my trip isn't as bad as you had. I am sorry to hear that the knee replacement has slipped and that you need that one replaced as well as on the other knee. My Dr stated no one would touch me for a hip replacement unless I lost 200 pounds which would put me at 155. You stated yours wanted a BMI of 40. Just curious how tall are you and what weight would a BMI of 40 be? I was surprised to hear my Dr say I had to lose 200 pounds as I have know others who had surgery when their weight was over 200 pounds. Would love to put you down as a friend but I am still learning how to do things in my profile. No doubt you see it is pretty blank, but if you care to privately emailme here I have figured out how that works. :ohmy: Amanda

HI Tied2befit Thanks for the welcome! Dr. Bass is one of the 2 Doctors on my plan. Both of them have done more lapbands than the other Doctors (not on my Medicare advantage plan) who were listed on the paper got sent from lapband.com. So I am confident he is a good Doctor otherwise Medicare would not have approved him and the hospital that he practices out of. I have to have the surgery at the Center of Excellence otherwise Medicare will not pay for it. I can't afford to have the surgery if Medicare doesn't pay, so I have to listen to what they tell me to do. When I was working my previous employer had an exclusion in the insurance plan otherwise I would have had this done years ago.