jes1014

I'm in Lansing! I am still jumping though the insurance hoops but I will be having my band done at Sparrow, hopefully in Nov. I didn't realize that there was an option besides Sparrow and Ingham. May I ask why you chose that one over the two hospital programs? Just curious

I'm still pre-op and my husband is 100% supportive but I had to say that I love how your brought your husband around! I am only telling my husband, the two girls who work for me and my boss - they can all keep their mouths shut. No one else needs to know and I know that most of them well not be supportive at all.

This is mildly rant-ish... I like the center that I am with but jeez this is taking forever! They have so many hoops I have to jump through before meeting the doctor and all of the appointments are 2 weeks apart. My info session was over a month ago. I just got a call that I'm finally meeting with the doctor next Wednesday. That's great but they also told me that I have to wait another 2 weeks before they schedule surgery because he has to write up a report for me before they schedule it. And, I have to do Optifast for 4 weeks so the soonest we're looking at is the week before Thanksgiving (and my son's 2nd birthday). :crying: I may push it out until the beginning of Dec. just so I don't have to try to entertain right after surgery. I just hate this waiting! I'm the type of person who deliberates for a while but once I make my mind up, I am ready to GO! Thanks for reading. Just had to get that out...

I think their slowness comes from the fact that the center operates independently of the surgeon. They all make their own appointments but they share files. My fills will be with the surgeon (he has office hours on Wednesdays) and my support groups and general check-ups will be with the center. Throw in insurance requirements and you have yourself a nice long wait. But who am I to complain? At least my pre-op diet is "only" a month. :crying:

When I did Optifast 3 years ago, I used this recipe list Personally, I liked using Faygo diet chocolate soda with a vanilla shake or diet cherry soda with chocolate shake. I also used to add instant coffee and a bit of cocoa powder to the chocolate for a mocha. I still have a lot of my extracts from last time. Guess I'd better dust them off for my 4 week pre-op diet :cursing:

I've already decided to toss my scale once I start my pre-op diet. I am very much a scale person (I will weigh myself at 2 in the morning when I get up to pee because that is when I weigh the least :huh2: ) Talk about undermining your progress! I know if I have access to the scale, I will be weighing myself constantly and beating myself up for not losing as much or as quickly as others.

Does anyone know when the new model is coming out? I really want to get one but I'm torn over buying one now at a discount or waiting for the new line.

I just returned from the info. session and I definitely fit my insurance's parameters so I scheduled my appointment for the medical evaluation and first part of the psych for September 11. :biggrin2: My program is pretty strict, though. I have to do Optifast for a month before surgery (good thing I did the whole Optifast program 2 1/2 years ago so it won't be that much of a shock) and they require an overnight hospital stay. I have weekly meetings for a month before and after and then monthly meetings on top of a boat load of visits with the exercise specialist, dietitian, and therapist. One good thing is that they do allow coffee I was told today that my surgery will most likely be scheduled within 2-6 months after my first appointment. Since I won't need any outside tests (sleep study, EKG, etc), I might be banded around Thanksgiving! I'm so excited yet very nervous! Okay, I just had to share. I'm not telling anyone but my husband so thank goodness for LBT or else I might burst! :eek:

I am hoping to get my band this fall and I would also like to have one more child. During my research I read that banded women are more likely to have a c-section. I was wondering what your experience has been? Did any of you have complications due to your band that necessitated a section? TIA!

I've been thinking about being banded for several years now. 3 years ago I went on the Optifast program and lost 50 lbs but I have gained half of that back after having my son :crying: My BMI is just a hair under 40 and my insurance requires either a BMI of 40 or over 35 with two co-morbidities. I don't have any clear-cut co-morbidities and my PCP isn't too thrilled with me wanting to be banded so she's not really working with me to plead my case to the insurance company. I'm going to the seminar next Friday and it is with the same weightloss center where I did the Optifast program. With that program, I didn't attend the maintenance meetings so I hope they don't look negatively on my application because of that. I have decided that this is the right path for me, I just hope I can convince everyone else (PCP, Insurance, WL center), too! Sorry for the ramble! This is a great board and I have learned so much already!