Doxie

I had my lap band removed in 2016 after having it nearly 8 years. I had no fill and could barely eat. It didn't slip but I had to have my esophagus dilated a couple of times. The Dr that removed it wanted to do a conversion to sleeve a few months after but I thought I could keep the weight off. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and another chronic pain illness about the same time so it seriously hampered my ability to be active. I put all my 94 lbs lost back on. I also had a lot of scar tissue from the band which caused narrowing at the GE junction and poor esophageal clearing. My Dr wasn't sure he'd be able to do the bypass so I went into surgery not knowing if I was going to wake up with a new stomach. He did get it done but said it was very challenging. I'm so thankful that he was able to give me the bypass. I'm sorry I waited so many years to do it. I was afraid of the bypass. I'm 11 days PO.

I had mine on May 9th. Recovery going well.

My bandiversary was 12/2/09. I have gone from 271 to 193. I have gone from a tight 22W to size 16 and those are feeling looser. My shoe size went from 9W to 81/2M...(yes honey, I did need new shoes :thumbup:). I have given bags and bags of clothes to charity. I have more energy and so much more self confidence. My husband just returned from his deployment (he left a week after my surgery) and he says he has a new wife. He's still getting used to the changes in eating as well as looks. I told him I've become a girl again and I take longer to get dressed. I had pretty much quit wearing make-up and fixing my hair prior. Tips: take it slow, it doesn't happen overnight. At first I spent a lot of time here and gave lots of thought to what I was eating and making sure I was doing everything just right. Now it is pretty much second nature and just part of who I am. Struggles: My biggest struggle is getting my exercise in. I plan on doing that after the holidays once life has settled down and gotten back to normal and hubby and I have a routine down. It's so great to see everyone's success. :thumbup:

I got ya'll added to the July sheet.

Hi all, I've been kinda MIA for the last couple of months. I was spending all my time getting my garden ready and planted, my hubby came home on his 2 week R&R leave, we had a wreck on the way to the airport to pick up my hubby and the cars were totaled but thank God no one was hurt so we had to get a new car, son graduated from high school and we had some out of town company, oh and daughter got engaged last Sunday...whew. I've done pretty well with my diet but not paying too much attention. I've only lost 4 pounds in the last 2 months but that's 4 more gone and I'm getting so close to onderland, I can't wait. I am wearing a 16/18. When I go to the store, I still head for the plus size section and then have to stop myself ~ and smile ~ cuz I don't have to go there anymore. Since I changed jobs in March, I'm struggling with getting my eating pattern down. I work late and try not to eat but sometimes I just need a little snack to keep me going. I haven't had a fill in quite sometime, the last one I had to get removed. I go back and forth on whether or not to go try a tiny one. I might make an appointment and talk to my surgeon about it. There are times when I can't eat much but other times I feel like I'm eating too much. I rarely PB anymore, usually when I try and get that "one more bite". You'd think I'd have learned by now. Hope all is well with everyone as well. :thumbdown:

How have you done in your first 6 months? Do you feel better now then you did 6 months ago? How many fills have you had? I did pretty good this first 6 mths, I need to get back on track because the weight loss has slowed but I guess that is to be expected and as long as it keeps going down, I'm happy. I feel so much better, I see pics from last year and I just can't believe the changes. I've had 4 fills and 1 unfill.

I was going to wait until I got home from work to check the TriWest website for my referral status but I couldn't wait. I checked on my first break and then again at lunch. Nothing there yet. I had pretty much resigned myself that it wouldn't be until tomorrow. I checked again when I got home and the page took forever to load. I wasn't even paying attention and looked down and saw that the page wasn't blank as it had been earlier. What? It was actually in there and said APPROVED. I stared for just a minute, too shocked to move. I seriously was surprised to see that it was approved already, I was just hoping to see that it was in there pending. Wow! I'm excited and I don't know...a little apprehensive? I immediately called the surgeons office. The lady that answered was super nice and told me I'd have to talk to another lady and I'd have to go to orientation and then get a consultation. I left a voice mail for them to get back with me. Hope it doesn't take too long. :smile2:

Our family is from TX but being in the military my kids have lived all over and my accent is only slight, mostly comes out when I'm angry or upset.... My MIL is a classic "warsh" user. This is one of my daughter's pet peeves, esp when we lived in WASHINGTON state (no R) and she asked her grandma how exactly do you "warsh" clothes and grandma replied "in the warshing machine! AGH!

I forgot to weigh until Sun and just now getting around to post. I'm down 1 pound. I really had hoped to be under 200 by my birthday (and when my hubby comes home for 2 weeks) next month but I don't think I'll make it...I should be close though.

I had a NSV I don't care to repeat. I have a beautiful gold bangle bracelet that hubby bought me his 1st tour in Iraq. I wore it to work yesterday and when I got home and started taking off my jewelry, it wasn't on my arm. I panicked. I quickly ran back to work and there it was, laying on the floor by the desk where I had been sitting. I think it came off when I pulled my sweater off and I never felt it come over my hand. Whew! I am so glad I found it.

:w00t: Hugs for you. My hubby deployed 1 week after my surgery. I didn't get to give him any good send-off sex . I keep him updated with pictures each month and we talk on the web cam several times a week so he gets to "see" me then. He'll be home next month for his R&R leave. I do have one kid at home still but he's old enough to feed himself and I do some cooking but it's nice not to have the pressure of cooking a big dinner for hubby and trying to figure out my new eating style...gotta look for the positives. Do you have someone to help you with the kiddo for those first few days after surgery? Keep busy and time will fly by and he'll be back home before you know it. I can't believe it's been almost 5 months for us already.

Good morning ya'll. I'm down 1# this week. I'm getting close to onederland ... I haven't been there in about 6 years.

Fran is very matter of fact (maybe her European ~or whereever she's from~ background?), she visited me pre-op but had a couple of patients coming from far away to meet with or she would have been in my surgery. I didn't realize she attended the surgeries. I played lots of phone tag with Jody too but once you get past those initial appts and the evals, it's pretty smooth sailing. I know they do a lot of lap-bands and bypass but I don't ever see anyone else on here that has been there. The daughter of a co-worker just had a band from one of the other surgeons in the office last month. Have you gone to any of the support meetings? I have not... I work in the evenings so I can't but I usually just come here for support.

It will be interesting to see what really goes down between Mike and Ron next week.

Ron reminds me so much of my FIL...it just creeps me out to watch him each week. My hubby was so much like Mike, looking up to his dad with blinders on. Even though hubby knew his dad had faults, he "loved" him so much he had rose colored glasses when it came to his dad. Not until his 40's did my husband start seeing his dad for what his is, master manipulator, selfish bast***d. He finally has seen that he's been enabling his dad all these years, he might not have agreed with his dad but he never said anything and by that silent agreement, his dad took it to mean that he condoned his behavior. I hope Mike and Max wake up sooner than my hubby did.

I found some Hors d' Oeuvres sized silverware and that's what I use. I couldn't find any toddler utensils that weren't big and chunky and baby looking. My favorite size forks I found at the kitchen store at the outlet mall. I also found some forks and spoons at Target and they are a little smaller

Happy Birthday, Hope you have a great day! :wub: :wub:

what I did for the psych eval was go to my PCM and he put in a referral for the psych and as soon as I had the ins approval, I called and made the appt myself and had him send the eval to Jody.

I was able to get the evals done through Ft Carson/Tricare so I didn't have to pay the $750. I asked my surgeon and he was fine with it. I really don't know if there is anyone else at Penrose other than CSSA and you're going to have to deal with Jody until the evals are done for any of the drs in the office. I think that most surgeons are going to want you to have that foundation of the psych eval and nut. consult. They want to you to be prepared.

I too played lots of phone tag with Jody. I don't think you can schedule a next date until after she receives the paperwork from the evals. Once you have those done and she gets you next appt scheduled, you should get your surgery date at that appt. I know it seems like it takes forever but you'll be done before you know it. Hang in there. The insurance has nothing to do with them being a Center of Excellence. It could be that BCBS is hard to deal with or won't pay enough of the claims and they don't want to accept it anymore. I don't really know because I didn't ask and I don't know if they would even tell me. This quote is from the FAQ page of the Surgical Review Corp that oversees the Bariatric Centers of Excellence and how the insurance companies relate:

They've had a sign up in the office for quite sometime that they would no longer be accepting BCBS. I don't know about the losing the Center of Excellence but I LOVE my surgeon and have had nothing but a wonderful experience there. I had to go in for a slight unfill last Fri and he came out and got me himself from the waiting room. He had rescheduled most of his appts that morning because he had to go assist with something else but he made sure I got in and took care of me first before he left. What is it that you are not comfortable with? Is it because they don't accept the BCBS anymore?

I'm right there with you. I take Zyrtec, Singulair, Flonase, and the Advair along with 2 HBP meds and prilosec for reflux (common with asthma). My asthma is allergy based as well. That's why I'm hopeful that the shots might help. Never had asthma until I lived in WA state and was exposed to year round allergens. Now I'm just all messed up and allergic to most anything that grows. I also have to have supplemental oxygen at night because I now live in a high altitude and don't get enough oxygen when I sleep. I was complaining to my allergist that my BP is not going down like I thought it should with my weight loss. She said that since I hadn't got my asthma under control lately that that can contribute to higher BP too (as well as not using my CPAP/oxygen, she really reamed me for that too) and finally in the last few weeks since I've been diligent with my asthma meds, my BP is starting to drop. So much that I may get off one of the meds soon and my PCM told me the other day that if I need to take Sudafed for stuffiness...go right ahead. I don't know if the drop in BP is due to taking the Advair like I'm supposed to or because I've been better about using my oxygen and the CPAP, maybe both~maybe neither...maybe the weight loss finally catching up, who knows, I'm just happy it's finally going down. I guess I'll learn to live with the ankle and hip joint pain and headaches and other twinges and occasional side effects I get from the Advair. Sometimes I feel like I should wear a mask when I go outside, esp in the springtime. They are adding on to the hospital where I work and it seems to be windy more often that not and dirt is constantly being blown around, it is so awful to walk by but I can't escape it. Maybe I'll tie a bandana on, what kind of looks do you think I'd get then?

Hi Diva, I feel your pain with the need for the Symbicort. I take Advair 250/50 and have for 9 years now. The Drs all try to tell me that it doesn't affect weight but I know it does. I also think that this medication contributed to me having high blood pressure ~ it is listed as a side effect and along with the weight gain (and inability to lose weight), how can you not develop HBP? Because all asthma meds contain some form of an inhaled steroid, we tend to have problems with Water retention (hence weight gain). It's a vicious cycle. If you don't take it, you can't breathe as well and can get very sick...if you do, you have all the nasty side effects to deal with. The steroid is what reduces the inflammation in the lungs that make it hard to breathe. I had slacked off on the Advair and got sick enough I had to go on Prednisone for a week back in Feb. It really slowed things down for me, I didn't gain but I didn't lose for a bit either. Where you taking anything besides the Singulair before the Dr prescribed the Symbicort? I would hate for you to get sick again and have to go on a course of Prednisone to get back on track. If you think the Symbicort is bad.... I know you were teasing with your comment about not taking it unless you are dying, I used to have the same thoughts....until I super sick last year with bronchitis and realized how serious having asthma really is. I didn't realize how many people can and do die from a bad asthma attack and it is so easy to go downhill fast. I was very flippant about carrying my albuterol with me and having trouble knowing when I need to use it. I tend to wait until I am so far gone that the albuterol isn't very effective. Do you use a peak flow meter? I'm trying to get better at using it. I also have most of side effects listed (they are pretty much the same for Advair and Symbicort) but when I quit taking the Advair, I tend to get so sick it doesn't make it worth it. I'm just trying to learn to live with it for now. I am starting allergy shots again today and I am hopeful that if I reduce my allergic reactions that it will in turn help my asthma and maybe I can get off these nasty meds eventually. I enjoy reading your posts and wish you all the best. You are doing great.

My Dr just recently ordered for me to use an auto Pap for 2 weeks, I went and picked it up from the medical supply company and it had a card in it. I took it back after the 2 weeks and they read the results and determined that my pressure needed to be reduced from 10 down to 6. I will at some point do another sleep study but this is something fairly easy that your Dr can order for you in the meantime.

Great to hear this Debbie...I hope you are finally getting better. I'm so glad that you have the support of your husband. Take it slow and you'll be back on your feet before you know it!