medussa

You are soooo brave to admit this to everyone!!! PLEASE GET HELP NOW! Go to rehab. If you don't, you wont need to worry about your band or your weight or your children....you will be dead. I am sorry to be so blunt but I see this everyday because of what I do for a living. I am so scared for you because I know what drugs do to the body. You needn't be concerned about the band. The drugs you choose probably wont affect the band but they WILL AFFECT YOUR HEART AND YOUR BRAIN. The cocaine and ecstacy will put you at 100 percent higher chance to have a heart attack. It skyrockets your blood pressure and as a result you could end up rupturing a blood vessel in your brain and have a hemorrhagic stroke. You are already at risk for blood pressure problems because like everyone here, you carry extra weight. The drugs will intesify that risk. GREATLY! Again, I am sorry to be blunt, but sometimes it needs to be said. You NEED TO BE SCARED! I wish I could take you to work with me. I deal with death every day and those people that die prematurely....in their 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's.....the majority of them have drugs on board. Ususally cocaine or some form of it. The exercise is great for you...but if you are doing aerobic exercise while on cocaine, your heart eventually may not be able to handle the overload. It is already working too hard while on drugs....do not go and exercise too! You already found the courage to admit your problem here. That is the biggest step. FIND THE COURAGE TO GET HELP NOW! Now is the time before you move on to a daily habit or choose more or other drugs to obtain "the feeling". I know you can do it! You care about your kids, your health, your God, your life. You took the scary plunge and tackled your weight with getting the band. YOU CAN DO THIS. It wont be easy, it wont be fun, but you will be alive and healthy! We are here to support you!

you Are Not Worthless!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My last straw.... I woke up christmas morning and could find NOTHING to wear. I mean nothing. I usually wear sweats around the house and scrubs to work. It had been a while since I had to get dressed "normally". Now when I say I had nothing to wear, I mean Nothing fit over my hips. I could not and would not go to my family xmas party in sweats or scrubs. I stayed home, cried, ate, cried, ate more, cried. Finally I got on the internet and discovered the band.... then I wept for joy because I knew that this was going to help me save myself.

I am curious about this as well. Meat tenderizer is powder. Do you just mix it with water and drink? Can you get it down if you feel like you are going to PB? Comon...expert advice needed

Ok I know that every doctor wants you on their version of a post op diet but I was liquids for like 2 days and then moved to pureed for the rest of the week and then went to soft stuff(mushies) and then by the start of the third week was on normal food for the most part. I doubt you did anything to your band. Your body would tell you something was wrong. Ease up on yourself. No one is perfect. We all cheat and bend the rules at times. Just get back on the wagon. Maybe call your doctor and tell him you were so hungery you had some cottage cheese...tell them it made you feel so much better and you tolerated it. Ask if you can move to the mushie stage.

My PCP actually offered to write me a prescription for an anti-depressant when I told her I was consulting a surgeon about the band..... I actually laughed and told her I would stick with the band....I'd rather be thin and happy than fat and happy.

HOLY FREAKING CRAP!!!! Sorry for the language but I wanted to say worse. I CANNOT BELIEVE THEY LEFT YOU PUKING EVERY 15MIN FOR AN ENTIRE NIGHT!!!!!! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO THEY NOT KNOW HOW HORRIBLE IT IS TO PUKE RIGHT AFTER ABDOMINAL SURGERY....THE PAIN.....ARRRHHHH!!!! Its too bad you didn't have the surgeon's phone number to call him everytime you puked to make sure he got no sleep and had a miserable night along with you!!!! That just pisses me off. They knew they needed to fix that from the start and left you hanging. I am sooooo sorry that you suffered like that! I hope to god you are doing better. Keep us posted please and let us know you are getting through all this!

Thanks for clearing that up. Just to give you all a chuckle, I honestly thought it stood for Non significant victory. It was killing me every time I read about someone's NVS....I kept wanting to write back saying that "of course that is significant....don't call it non significant.." Glad I never responded!

Since you are handing out definitions.... I know what a NSV is I just dont know what is stand for....if that makes sense

That is very cool. Where and how do you get one done....who do you go to? What does it cost?

I am an Organ recovery nurse. I go out and talk to families about donation and then if they wish to donate their loved one's organs, I stay and make it happen by setting up the process and finding the matching recipients. I work on call from home and so I have access to the computer on and off all day.

WOW those are moving

I got the "stitch" too. It was a cramp in my left side rib cage that came on and off, usually when I was sitting. I could get the pain to leave temporarily when I stood or was lying flat. It seems to be gone now... Port area is slightly tender and only notice it occasionally. It actually kinda itched...almost inside???!!! Weird feeling

I am not the only person in my family who struggles with weight. My younger brother has battled it as well. For many years he was almost too thin from bulemia, and then he stopped making himself sick and just let the weight pile on. I am proud to announce that over the last six months he has lost an amazing 55lbs. He is pretty short, so that is significant. I wanted to throw it out there...how he lost all this weight...and get some opinions. Please just read the whole thing before automatically judging. When I asked my brother what it was that finally helped him in his efforts, he presented me with a book call "The Good Fat Cookbook". He and his wife made a decision that they would start eating healthy for the new year. His wife, my SIL, has always been normal weight to maybe 10lbs over at times. Now she looks like a freaking supermodel in a fantastic way. Basically they started by cutting out of their diet all the really bad stuff like pop and candy... sugar. They cut out the junk food like potatoe chips and Mc Donalds. They cooked their meals at home. Weight started coming off despite not really cutting back on the amount of food. My brother swears they never really went on a diet. As they got into this they started doing some reading. It all led to them cutting out all processed food. They switched to whole wheat bread and Pasta. Bought real food not out of boxes, cans etc... But what did he eat I asked him? Whatever he wanted...bread and butter (real), salad with REAL (fat filled) salad dressing, mayo (real), real sour cream, they cooked with all the olive oil they wanted, meat, meat, and more meat, even the red kind. REAL cheese, nothing low fat, or reduced fat. NOTHING!!!!!! He drank whole milk and put cream in his coffee. They ate it if it was not processed and fake. Real everything. So I read this book and it is AWESOME. I dont necessarily care for the recipies they give, but it gives you a foundation to work with. Basically it says that you NEED TO EAT FAT TO LOSE WEIGHT. You need olive oil and butter and coconuts and avacados and this list goes on. It tells you how all these foods like red meat, fish and REAL eggs are very important. It is not a diet book or a low carb book just a "how all our ancestors used to eat and never got fat" book. It says bacon is good and lamb is better. It says that you should only eat food fried in LARD and that it is ok to do so. It says NEVER NEVER NEVER BUY LOWFAT, NO FAT, REDUCED FAT ANYTHING!!!! It talks about why....which is to long for me to explain. If you want sugar, eat honey. It tells you the kinds of fats that are good and those to avoid. It says to eat like people used to...meat cheese, butter, olive oil, cream, whole milk, whole grains, etc. It talks about how America is one big "low fat nightmare" and all this "diet food" is making us fatter by the minute because all diet food is processed. Ok, so my brother and his wife have done this for almost 6 months. They look fantastic.....neither workout or anything. My sister in law says her hair and nails are awesome as well as her skin. No headaches from my brother, as well as a major decrease in his year round allergy prob. The list is endless. Best of all, according to my brother, he doesn't have to count the calories or spend long hours agonizing over how much he ate. He gets up from a meal completely satified and has NO DESIRE to munch throughout the day. I started doing the research and it looks good. I am a healthcare professional so I do have knowledge of some of this stuff. I cut out a lot of the stuff from my diet prior to LBS. Since surgery I have started eating this way too and have lost 12lbs by eating a relatively high "good fat" diet. I am not filled yet and I haven't felt any restriction and have been able to eat anything I have tried. I am still eating the same volume of food and probably a higher calorie/fat content now. All in all I have lost 17lbs in the last two months. I did have to do a liquid diet prior to surgery and actually gained a pound during that 2 week phase. That 2 week phase was misery. I was STARVING and thought about food 24/7. I was so freaking deprived. Now I do not feel like I am on a diet and I absolutely love what I eat as TASTE is huge to me. I have no cravings. The only difficult part is finding foods that are preservative free and have the right kind of fats used in them. It takes lable reading, but it can be done. Has anyone else gone this route and suceeded?. It is still difficult for me to pass up the reduced fat mayo and salad dressing as well as the skim milk. Let me know your experiences

Yes, my insurance paid for a psych consult as well. I did not get pre-approval. Never thought to.

Well said!

Here goes.... I have PPO BCBS insurance but did not use it. (did not want to wait another year) I had all the pre screeening done and submitted to my insurance comp. They paid. My prescreening included: Labs, EKG, Pulmonary Function test, CXR, Physical Exam, OBGYN stuff, 2 sleep studies and getting a CPAP machine, and an ultrasound of my gallbladder. Via this I was diagnosed with sleep apnea, GERD, gallstones....blah blah blah. The insurance will pay for that stuff since it is diagnostic. The results could actually make getting approval easier. Maybe get it done thru your PCP if you can and not via the surgeon if you are concerned.

See....the MIND CHANGER...knew I wasn't the only one!

Hem-Hawers, mind-changers, bush beaters, indecision makers. I hate it when you ask someone a question and they cant decide on the answer. Or they answer with..."I dont care. What do you think?" I am tempted to tell them that I THINK they need to make a #$%!$# decision! I agree with you on your gear grinder..... comes in at a close second for me too. God that felt good to vent. Anger Management on LBS website....lol

I was banded may 18th. Despite having BCBS insurance, I was self pay mainly because I was told I had to have 1yr of documented weight loss efforts via my MD. I wasn't going to wait another year so I just paid up front. I was lucky because all my pre-op stuff was submitted to my insurance and was paid for. It amounted to about 5,000 dollars when all was said and done. Before surgery, I was required to pay in advance for the surgery, anesthesia, and the hospital stay. That all amounted to about 8500$. Today I got some insurance papers in the mail and it appears that the anesthesia group submitted a bill to my insurance company (despite being paid in advance) and the insurance paid the bill. The radiologist that did my barium swallow study also submitted a bill and was paid. The insurance paid out about 2000$ between the two. They were double paid. I am pissed because I want my money back. Not to mention that the insurance company was charged less than me. Who do I go to to get my money back?

WHOO HOO!!! Good for you!!! Its good to know that 30 lbs makes such a huge difference in your health as evidenced by your BP and blood sugar!! I hope to get off my meds and someday my CPAP. Thanks for sharing...makes me want to lose more!

I gained a pound the first week of the pre-op diet and then maintained the second week. I lost 10 in the 2 post op weeks and I got to eat right away...on mushies and soft food pretty quick.

Is the child with the cousins? If so, you will definately need to contact DCFS (department of child and family services) if mom wants the baby back. Do it before she comes to the door with the police. That way if DCFS has time to investigate and deem her at least temporarily unsuitable, the kid can stay with the cousins and then they can seek legal council.

Geez, what a mess! I would definately start documenting everything! Times and dates of what happened. You can get DCFS involved and tell them about the drug abuse and living arrangements. They should be able to help facilitate keeping the child in a stable environment at least while they investigate the matter. They usually try to keep the child in family member's home if possible so I doubt that foster care would have to happen. It doesn't hurt to call and ask about your options. DCFS is always on the side of the child and what is best for the kids. If the cousin is best then DCFS could potentially be your best friend. Like I said before, start documenting EVERYTHING. When the SIL said what, drug suspicions, living arrangements, financial stability. If the SIL gets money from family or other help.... or even if she doesn't bother. Keep track of the child's health condition and make the pediatrician aware of what is going on so that they can keep careful documentation. If it ever comes to a battle, the documentation will be EXTREMELY helpful. Good Luck.

I have BCBS too. I didn't even bother because once I made the decision, there was no way I was going to wait another year for further documentation of my failures. My total cost for surgery was 8,000. All my pre-op and office visits were paid via the insurance company, I think because they had no idea what the testing was actually for. That saved me about 5,000 dollars. (I had to have 2 sleep studies before they would schedule a surgery). Anyways, it can be financed. You can look up capitol one heath care loan and apply online if you do not have the cash up front. I looked into it a little and if I remember correctly you can pay off the loan in like 5-6 years so it comes out to very nominal payments a month. I just paid up front so I don't know all the details, but there are options.