sistasassy

Yeah! I am underway! I had my consult yesterday. All went well. I see my shrink next Wednesday for my psych evaluation which I am sure will be fine and the nurse is setting up my nutritionist appointment as I type! I had this horrible moment where I almost swayed over to the RNY but I was sick about it all night and called first thing this morning to announce that I was definately ready to be a bandster. I am ready for the hard work. I am ready to get my tool. I feel sooooo much better about this decision than the other. Yeah for me!!!! p.s. I also checked out the RNY forum at another site and they were not NEARLY as supportive or kind as the people at this site. It was a factor in my decision. I want to be able have others to share with and who can sort of help me along the way.

Okay, I have been on here asking questions. Reading alot. Getting a good feel for everything. All has been fine and dandy cuz I have been ultra busy for the past couple of weeks. No time to really really concentrate on my consult date. Well, it is tomorrow morning and it is all reality now. I have been up and moving alot today to get the stress out but still it remains. Am not taking any extra Xanax as I do not want to use it anymore than needed. (yes, we all had this talk one day) Was anyone else this nervous before just their little old consult appointment? I think it is excitement that I am feeling. REALLY looking forward to getting this ball rolling. Think I may take a long warm bath. That seems to take the edge off. Pray for me! :smile2::w00t::scared2:

I am so glad there are others out there that were as freaked out as I am. I am soooo looking forward to getting my band. I want to see weight move off of me. I know there will be bumps in the road. I am also glad that I filled out all the pre-appointment paper work a week ago instead of waiting till today. I think that would have added to the anxiety. I got a nice hot cup of coffee (decaf only for me) and I am calming down some. Thank you so much for the encouragement.

I was wondering what preferences were to ice vs. heat post op. I am addicted to my heating pads and have a hard time putting ice on places of pain. Is ice good for the first few days and then move to heat or what? Wondering if I need to get a few hot/ cold packs in the freezer before I have surgery.

I take Cymbalta (60 mg) everynight before bed. I take Xanax (.25 mg) every four hours to keep relatively new and wild panic attacks at bay. (Sigh....why do I set myself up for attack?) I have not gained from either of those. I did gain while they were trying Zoloft, Ativan, Klonapin, and Abilify (that medicine HATED me, probably cuz I am not bipolar).

How soon after surgery can you have sex? I would think there would be no restriction on this but am asking just to make sure. :cursing:

Thanks Brandy. I need all the encouragement I can get. I have been working very hard on not being so committed all the time. My wonderful worldclass hubby has played a big role in that too. He has begun really taking on a lot of what I do and he has been delegating out to the kids as well. People at church (staff over me) have tried to do the same with some of the load I carry there as well. I also have dealt with a brother who was horribly injured in a motorcyle accident for the past two years. He is Type 1 diabetic as well. He needed a lot of round the clock care and my mother and I were there for him all the time. Then, last summer, I went to work for the employer from Hell. She was the owner of the business(es) that I was managing and demanded 200% of my time. My family truly suffered during that time. I was always working. I left there in December and took a much better and happier job. It was a about a month into it my new job that my panic attacks started. That is why my docs feel that they will be short lived. They think it is sort of residue from the past couple of years. I will be sooooo glad to have them gone but will learn to cope if they decide they are here to stay.

Well, I am guessing that if it is purely positional and which definition you chose, you truly could do it right there in the hospital! :cursing:

LOL @ home from the hospital! :cursing:

Awesome. My hot hubby will be whining after a couple of days so I was hoping the wait would be short. :cursing:

See, I don't have GAD (generalized anxiety disorder). I really don't have much depression either. These were out of the blue AFTER a number of years of high stress. I was finally in a good place in my life and then BAM, I was at work one day and everything began to go black. My heart started to race, my blood pressure went through the roof, I was freezing cold but sweating like a maniac. I honestly thought I was dying. My employer called an ambulance and my hubby. I was wisked off to the hospital and it was there, after hours and hours of testing, that it was diagnosed as a panic attack. The drug parade began that night. Over the next five days I was in the ER by ambulance 6 times. No one ever took the time to talk to me about what was actually happening. Finally, on the last ride, a paramedic explained how a panic attack works. I began to get a grip on them then but the drugs I was on were not working in various forms and fashions. Some made me shaky all over. Some made me sick. Some made me hyper. Some totally zoned me out. My life is too busy to be a mess. I have five teenagers, a husband, a dog, a household to run, a business to run, and a ministry. Screwed up is not an option for me. My PCP finally switched me to Cymbalta. The shakes went away within days. My shrink switched me to Xanax (at my request) from Ativan and my mind cleared and I was no longer a grouch. I am a normal functioning person again. My family smiles at me again instead of hiding in their rooms. My "comforter" son is no longer spending his time sitting by my side trying to comfort me and dote on me. He is off being a kid again. My dog is not clinging to me anymore (she would not leave my side and would howl if I had to leave -- not normal behavior for her at all). I am not drugged or loopy or zoned out. I am me again. Could I type clearly on mega drugs? No. I can type and think this is pretty well done and pretty well explained. I felt more of a relaxed sensation after nursing my sons that I get from the Xanax. After nursing I was wiped out from the nursing hormone. On Xanax, I just keep on going with no pause in the day. I take .25 mg of Xanax every 4 hours and have a prescription for it. I am closely monitored by my docs and pharmacist. I do not feel guilty or embarrassed by taking this medication and often joke about it to those who know and love me. I will feel the same about my Lap Band. Like I said before. I just wanted to know if I would be able to take my medication after midnight on the night before surgery. If I were a drug addict, I don't think I would be being cleared for surgery. The Cymbalta is being used to settle my system down. The Xanax is to stop the panic attacks. You have to understand that they are not just once a month or so. They will come 5+ times per day if I am not taking the Xanax like I am supposed to be doing. I have also seen every ER doc at our hospital and am assured each time that my meds are right on target for my disorder. That many doctors cannot be wrong. :cursing:

Sue, I believe that if you gained the weight (or carried the weight or whatever) that you would have a good chance. The only kicker would be if you insurance company were to say that you had to be at that weight for a certain length of time before approval.

doglvr, I figure I will believe the same thing. My panic attacks (the big ones) usually result in all the heart attack testing cuz it is so hard to tell the difference -- other than the fact that I live through the panic attacks.

My doctor is in Illinois and has never said one word about Medicaid not covering fills and they told me right up front the things it would not cover. Not sure if you are in Illinois or not. Good luck in your search.

That would be awesome to be able to start losing weight before all the pre-op stuff and after the initial weigh. I have no trouble dropping 20 pounds or so. It is the keeping it off that I have had trouble with.

LOL @ Maryland being southern. Too funny. :biggrin2:

Thanks Brandi. That is exactly it.

My insurance will cover a BMI of 35 with comorbidities, which I have, but the doc and the hospital are firm at 40. For the first time ever I am afraid to burn a calorie. Still attempting to be healthy anyway though. Sigh....such a maze to get through. :crying:

Hang in there Froggi. Will be praying for a shorter wait time for you.

I had wondered about that as well. My BMI is just barely 40 and MUST be 40 or above for the doc and the hospital to accept me. Was afraid that a pre-diet would knock me out of the running but know that the weight will just come right back on. That is one of the questions I am going to ask my doc when I see him Wednesday just to get it clarified for sure.

I am curious to know what happens at the meeting with the nutritionist. My insurance only requires that I have the psych evalution and the nutritionist. Can I get a few people who have met with the nutritionist and find out how she/he affects your ability to have the surgery?

Thanks Froggi. I kind of figure mine to be short and sweet (well was wondering about the sweet part) as the doc's nurse has already told me that I will be having my surgery in July most likely. I just wondered if it was a "pick at your brain" sort of session like the psych session. Glad to know that it is not. :rolleyes2:

I wondered if this would be the case when I get my band. I wondered if my mindset would begin to change. I love healthy foods. My problem has been too much unhealthy available. I have already begun to try to change my eating habits and avoid "eating temptations". I have been confronting "favorite" bad foods and really evaluating why I eat them. I have found that a lot of them are just because they are there. It is not because they are good or good for me. It has been helping me make some better food choices.

Thank you Lunabeane. I know I will probably not be on Xanax forever but for now it is the only thing that works. I would rather this than the shakey aweful feeling I had on some of the other meds. I have scaled back (on my own) on my Xanax a couple of times and have ended up in the ER both times. All of my docs say not to scale back and to give my body time to "reset itself" and that we will scale back later. I do not want to feel defensive about taking my meds the way I do. Everyone has assured me that any level of addiction that may become involved would be minimal and would not even require a rehab setting to weaning off of them. Doctors and nurses alike assure me that taking my meds faithfully the way I am is the best way to be FOR NOW. I only began having these attacks in February and they were virtually uncontrollable in the beginning. My system really got out of whack and the docs feel the meds will calm it down but that it will take time. As Lunabeane stated so well, I just wanted to know if I would be able to take my Xanax after midnight with a sip of Water. Does not take much for me to get them down. And, yes, I wondered how soon I would need to take it after surgery since I would have a fair amount of other drugs in my system from the surgery. I don't want to under medicate beforehand or over medicate after. I am very very cautious with how much I take or with any combination of meds I take. I am also in very close contact with my pharmacist about all my meds as well as a back-up pharmacist for confirmation (my uncle is the head pharmacist at a huge and widely respected hospital. Everyone has assured me I am safe taking my meds daily the way I do. I am in NO WAY a drug addict and if you were to meet me and speak to me in person, you would in no way know I was taking any medication at all. My job is highly technical and very professional and I do it well, even on this medication. Thank you for all your responses though. I know they came with good intentions and I do appreciate them and am greatful for the time you took to respond.

I don't even have a definite surgery date yet and I have heavy friends trying to persuade me not to have the surgery. I hear things like "Oh you look good just the way you are." and "I would NEVER voluntarily put myself under anesthesia just to lose a few pounds." and "I would be embarrassed to have anyone know I was having that surgery. You're not telling anyone, are you?" I just look back and tell them that this is my decision to make and that I am doing this for me and my family. I want to feel healthy. I want to sleep good at night. I want to get out and hike and rollerblade and swim and run. I want to do all those things without wondering if I will die on the spot of a heart attack. I wonder each night if I will wake up in the morning. I want to see my kids grow and their babies and maybe even their babies' babies. I want to live. I want to look sexy for my hubby. He loves me as I am but he will not complain if I am a hot little hunny by his side and in his bed (sorry for too much info there but is true). I am making this choose not for my friends but for me and those I love. Don't let ANYONE get you down for the choice you have made.