TSB

I'm sorry your husband said this to you. It sounds like an insecurity issue on his part. The topic of the impact WLS has on marriage/relationships was covered in my seminar too. I wish I could remember exactly how it was put, but in essence they told us if the marriage was already a healthy marriage, that WLS in and of itself would not have the power to change that. But that in marriages where there are already issues, sometimes the weight loss gives a person the confidence to get out of a bad marriage. I am also fortunate that my husband is supportive of my decision to pursue WLS. The only trouble I have run into with him is that he pulls the "should you be eating that" crap. I have to lose 10 % of my starting weight as one of my pre-op requirements. He has only said that twice. The last time I told him that he needs to worry about what he puts in his mouth and I will worry about what I put in my mouth :thumbup: He hasn't gone there again. Since I am the one that does the grocery shopping and cooking, my journey has even gotten him to make some healthier choices. He has even mentioned in passing that maybe he should consider WLS, he is 5'10" and weighs about 280. Sorry, didn't mean to ramble :rolleyes2:

Thanks. And, yes, I did have her put me on a cancellation list. Fortunately my office is around the corner from the hospital and I live only 15/20 min away. So, I am able to do last minute scheduling changes with fairly little inconvenience.

Are you talking about an upper GI or an upper endoscopy. They are two different procedures. Upper GI is when you swallow the barium and they do x-rays, they don't stick anything down your throat. The upper endoscopy is when they put the camera down your throat. I had one once before and was knocked out for it. The reason I am having one, per my doctor's refferal, is because I have a history of GERD and NSaid use. There is nothing in my insurance policy that requires it.

It is strange to me to see people posting that they have doctors that don't give them any kind of specific pre-op or post-op diets. I don't know how to do a poll, but it would be interesting to know how many of us are in programs that involve working with a nutritionist before and/or after surgery. I am pre-op still, if my doctor told me you need to lose X amt of pounds before surgery, but did not give me any guidelines, I would be lost.

I got a book at my nutrition class all about the whole process of bariatric surgery. There is a section in it that has habits of successful habits of WLS patients --a list of Do's & Dont's. Anyway, weighing oneself everyday was promoted as a do. The rationale was that the patient would be awared of small weight gains and get on top of them before they became big gains. Until this past Thursday, I did not have a scale at home, so only ever weighed at doctor's appointments. Now that I have the scale at home I find myself weighing almost everyday. I am hesitant to trust what my at home scale says, until I have a better idea of the variation between it and the doctor's scale. I am trying to wait for my next appt on the 18th. My at home scale said I was down to 200 this morning . But since the only weight that "counts" is the one the doctor's scale registers, I am not touching the ticker yet. I hope there will not be a huge variation between my scale and the doc's. :mad2:

What an awesome accomplishment! When did you start your pre-op and what was your surgery date?

I am sticking pretty close to the plan outlined for me. Primarily, this is because one of my pre-op requirements is to lose 10 % of my starting weight (21 lbs.) But, I also try to balance that with not feeling deprived. So, for example, I turned 40 this past Monday. My husband took me out on Saturday to my favorite Mexican restaurant. I planned for it by being extremely disciplined in the days prior and ate & drank what I wanted (like am going to NOT have a few margarita's to commemorate the big FOUR-OOOOOH). That being said, I am not yet at a point where surgery has been scheduled and my pre op diet consists more of guidelines than directives. If I was scheduled for surgery and told you need to do X,Y & Z for the next two weeks or you may not be able to have surgery, I would absolutely stick to it.

CONGRATULATIONS! :thumbsup:

During my pre-op phase the nutritionist wants me to stay between 1200 & 1400 cal. to include 60-80 grams of protein. I am not to use protein shakes until after surgery. One of the desired outcomes of this eating plan is to try to lose 10% of my starting weight prior to surgery. The rough plan given to me by the nutritionist for sticking to the 1200 cal was: Breakfast - 300 cal Snack - 100 cal Lunch - 300 cal Snack - 100 cal Supper - 300 cal Snack - 100 cal One of the hardest habits for me to get out of is having my largest meal at Supper. I tend to "save up" for the end of the day. I am trying to stick with this formula, though I usually forgo the morning snack and have fewer calories for breakfast and reallocate those calories to the end of the day. I don't know if it is simply a learned habit from years of the same pattern, but I am just hungrier later in the day. I do make myself eat something for breakfast everyday now. That was something I never used to do.

I didn't. My "official" weigh in was at my 1st appointment. That is the weight they will use when submitting me to the insurance company for approval. I get weighed now each time I go visit the nutritionist at the surgeon's office.

When I had labs done for my yearly physical, they came back showing a deficiency in vitamin D. My pcp prescribed 1000 iu per day. She said it was very common here in Maine during the winter for people to be low on vitamin D. The follow up labs I had done 2 months later showed no deficiency.

Well, not banded yet, so I can't speak to the issue of fills. I did have an Upper GI + small intestine series a couple of weeks ago for the first time in my life. It was not particularly pleasant, but I didn't find it particularly traumatic either.

So, my surgeon is dedicated solely to bariatric surgery. Has 2 nutritionists on staff, a PA and an NP. He seems much more pro bypass vs. band. His stated reasons were that most patients undergoing bariatric surgery lose most of their weight during the first year and since bypass patients lose more in the first year than band patients, it is a better remedy for obesity. I am firm on my decision for the band. I am just a little frustrated with all of the services/advice at my surgeon's practice being geared toward by pass patients. I have been told that the instructions for post band patients vs. post by pass patients are virtually the same. The only exception being that as a band patient I can start on solid food 1 week sooner than the by pass patient. If I had an astronomically high BMI and/or had extremly severe health problems OTHER than being overweight, I think I would go with the by pass to acheive immediate and dramatic results. I just feel that since I am still in relatively good healthand I only have to lose between 72 & 87 lbs (haven't decided on a specific goal weight yet), that the less invasive procedure makes sense. Has anyone else had this experience w/ a surgeon? If so, how did you stand your ground with them? I feel a little inferior when I explain why I prefer the band as the surgeon and his staff can always come back with reasons why bypass is a superior method for addressing obesity and its related health problems. I feel as if "the professionals" think I am making a bad decision. It is subtle and ever so slightly condescending, but it annoys me. Anyone have good ideas for "talking points" if/when I have to have this discussion w/ my surgeon or is staff? Thanks.:biggrin:

Hi Cleo. My sense is is that he the numbers on the scale are the focus of this surgeon. He does only bariatric surgery. I am impressed w/ the support in place at his practice. There are support groups, an exercise class, 2 nutritionists on staff who give very specific and individualized nutrition plans to patients. I am not "uncomfortable" with him. I have not asked for a specific # of LB he has performed, I did ask what ratio of lb to gp patients he sees at orientation and I believe that he said something along the lines of 1 in 4 being lb. So, one of the things that has become clear to me, particularly w/ this thread, is that I have a some more specific questions to ask at my next visit. As far as the statistics debate, being a sociology major, I am skeptical about any and all statistics As far as I am concerned there is ALWAYS a bias, both from the presenters end and the audiences end. I really appreciate the great dialogue that has gone on here!

I have Anthem BCBS of Maine. Even with same insurance company, requirements can vary depending on the specific policy that you have.

I am still in the pre-op phase, but I think I would wait until after vacation. Just in case there were any complications after surgery.

That's my 40th birthday! Best of luck to you! :thumbup:

Seems to me, from what I have read here, that there is a wide range of time frames for people. I had my intake appointment at the surgeon's office on March 13th. The clinical coordinator advised me that if everything goes smoothly that a reasonable expectation would be to have surgery sometime in late summer/early fall. The process for me is to have all of my tests done. My only remaining tests are upper endoscopy, psych eval, and sleep study. After that, all of the providers have a meeting and go over my file and decide if I have met their criteria. If I have, THEN they submit me to the insurance company for their approval. I also have BCBS. It is a Point of Service Plan. Their criteria, under my plan, is BMI of 40 or higher OR BMI of 35 WITH a life threatening co-morbidity. So, (and this sounds really bad) I am hoping that the sleep study finds that I have sleep apnea. Because as of right now, my only health issue is high cholesterol and I guess that is not considered a life threatening co-morbidity. Of course, I have a family history filled with heart disease and diabetes, but the insurance company does not seem to have any provision for taking that into account. :thumbup:

TY restless. I do need to ask some more questions about the aftercare. I have been so focused on the pre-op stuff I have to do. I know a dozen or so people who had the band done up Augusta way, and it seemed like they got approved very fast compared to the process I am going through. One thing I like about this surgeon's practice is the fact that they ARE so thorough before hand. I read here about people who don't seem to even have any idea of what to eat after surgery, whereas with my surgeon's practice you have to get the nutritional part nailed before they will even think about submitting me to the ins. co. Pro and Cons --- all part of life :ohmy: I appreciate having a place like this to "process."

TY Karen. I am not unhappy with the surgeon. I live in Maine. I am 15 min from the Lewiston/Auburn Area, where my surgeon practices. I work in an office that is a 5 min walk to the hospital. The only other Surgeons I know of in this area are in Portland and Augusta -- both of which are about an hour away from where I live. So, this is just really a minor irritation and might even be something I am being too sensitive about. I was just interested in finding out if any others ever had this feeling and how they dealt with it --- either within themselves or with their health care provider. I do appreciate and respect all of the input :ohmy:

I also spoke about not wanting to have my physiology permanently altered -- to which the doc said both surgeries are permanent. I also spoke about having seen multiple examples of both surgeries in my personal life, and it seemed to me that the LB examples had better outcomes. The doc's response to that (paraphrasing here) was that his experience and that of his colleagues w/ thousands of people was more relevant/reliable than my personal experience. So in my own mind, my the reasons for my choice are solid, I guess maybe I have not articulated them well. That's what I meant when I asked if anyone might have some ideas for "talking points" that might be more articulate than what I have expressed.

Thanks for the response Heather & 2 Fly. I can see you have both had great success! I have weighed out the pros and cons. And the surgeon actually said on my 1st visit that those who are relatively young, goal oriented and have not yet had their mobilitiy impacted by obesity are ideal candidates for the band. He said it would seem that I meet that criteria. He is not refusing to do the band on me, it just has felt at times like they were trying to sway me. Good thing I am stubborn :ohmy: I guess at this point, for LB specific support this is the place to be and I will just have to be determined to be sucess story :thumbup: I did say to him (and please don't anyone take offense) If I weight 400 pounds, I could see going with the bypass. His response was that obesity is obesity. But to me there are certainly degrees of obesity -- just as there are "stages" of many diseases, KWIM?

I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will be an <200 bandster sometime this Summer. I have to jump through all of the surgeon's hoops before he will submit to the ins. co. I am plugging away. One of the expectations is to lose 10% of my body weight, which is 21lbs for me. So far I have lost 7 -- maybe more, as I only weigh when I go for appointments. I started @ 217. My highest ever non-pregnant weight was 230.:drool:

Per my nutritionist, calorie intake is an individual thing and there is no set recommended amt of calories for everbody. I don't know what formula she used. After my nutrition class, which only provided general info about protein intake, good food choices, portion size, and fluid intake I tried to figure out my pre-op diet calories for myself. I went to a web-site entered my weight, height and age and it came back with a figure of 1500 - 1900 calories per day in order for me to loss weight. However, last week when I had my 1st one-on-one with the nutritionist, she limits me to 1200-1400 calories per day. Apparently the formula she uses is different than the one I found online. I am sure things will be different after I get the band and as my weight decreases.

LOL. At least you have a good sense of humor! I am a mom of a 20 year old son and 16 and 13 year old daughters. They often accuse me of not being able to keep a secret. I just figure it is my inalienable right, as the one who gave birth to them, wiped their butts, stayed up half the night worrying about a teen missing curfew, etc...., to either brag about or lament about anything they are doing in life!