ericsmom

Ericsmom - H 337/ S 322.5/ C 286 / CBMI 49.1 (-51 lbs total)

Thanks guys! I'm excited to actually wear them. Although they are pull-on elastic waists, they will still be great to wear. They just felt kind of awkward when I sat down in them in the dressing room, so I'll follow your advice and try them again in 10 days :eek:

Good luck to you both :eek: It is the best thing I have ever done for myself. I found out a co-worker at the school I work at is having the band on October 10th and he has asked if I will be his mentor. I said I'd love to and told him that his homework was to check out this site. He'll be having his surgery in Duluth, MN at St. Mary's just like I did, but with the other surgeon who is skilled in this procedure, Dr. Medland...I've heard good things about him as well. Keep us posted on your journey to lapband land...

Beth - you are just too sweet to ask!! It was great...the 6th graders started today...they looked so SMALL!! There are 5 6th grade classes in our wing and each one took a tour to my office. I explained to them about signing in if they are late, making sure to bring notes from their parents if they are late, NOT asking me what time it is when they sign in (the clock is behind them and they can turn around and look), and if they get four unexcused tardies they will have after school detention (I saw a lot of eyes get pretty wide when I said that!). Then I explained the discipline procedure and told them that my office is a welcoming place and they can just stop by and say hello, too. It doesn't always have to be the place they go when they get in trouble. Tomorrow the 7th and 8th grade start. I know all of those kids already, so it will be fun to see them again. Thursday we have a meet & greet from 5p - 7p for the kids to bring their parents to meet their teachers. I'll be there in my office, too. My son started his freshman year of high school today. It was a great day and he was very excited. I'm hoping his enthusiasm stays...he seemed to be excited about each of his classes. Tomorrow they merge the 9th grade with 10th - 12th, so the halls will be much more crowded than today. That's about all of my day in a nut shell. I should go to bed, but I wanted to check in first. KARI - you go girl!! Your pictures rock!! I'll have to post a picture or two of me this weekend when I have more time. Tomorrow's another weigh day for me, so we'll see where I'm at. BETH - hope you feel better! My DH is sick with congestion and a sore throat today. We can't figure out where he picked up the germs...everyone we can think of that he's been around hasn't been sick. He took Nyquil and went to sleep at 9pm tonight.

I second what they said... I was on liquid for two weeks pre-op and did the magnesium citrate starting at 1pm drinking water every hour and then the MC at 4 and then more water every hour until 9pm. It kicked in bad about 5:30 or so and didn't let up for a long time. And get yourself some vaseline for your backside privates...it stings somthing fierce!!

I had a twoterville moment today...I tried on and fit into 26/28 pants!! Real pants! Not stretchy ones...Okay - so they JUST fit and I'm not quite ready to wear them to work yet, but they were on sale for 11.99 and I knew when I do fit in them comfortably they won't be on sale or they won't have my size, so I bought them and put them away for a couple of weeks :welldoneclap: But I got them over my stomach and around my butt - so darn it! They FIT!!!

Tiger Liliy - this website http://obesityhelp.com/forums/lapband should be able to help you get answers to your questions. Also, contact your insurance company and ask what they consider co-morbidities.

OMG Michelle! You have me totally cracking up!!! Thanks for the support and advice, girls. I talked to my mom tonight and told her that my sister didn't say anything when she saw me. All she would have had to say was something like, "Look at you!!" I mean, she has called a couple of times to see how I'm doing, but she hadn't seen me since my surgery. She and I have never been super close - I remember one time she told me I was bossy when we were younger. Aren't all big sisters at one time or another? My mom said that I get enough support from friends, co-workers, you guys here at LBT and other family members to make up for her not saying much. I'm fine - it's all good - I just bought 26/28 pants today!!

Congratulations! What a great feeling it is to know you're on your way, isn't it! So happy for you

Michelle - no my sister is not overweight - she never was until she had two kids and was probably up about 50 lbs. Then she got involved in Herbalife and dropped it all and now she's a size 6, I would guess, and according to her hubby obsesses with her weight so as to not go there again. I am built like my dad's side of the family and she is like my mom's. She just has a quirky personality that sometimes just makes me go "hhmmmm". She and I have never been super close, but as adults we are doing much better than when we were kids. And yes, hugs from my dad are the BEST!!

I work for the Superior, WI School District and have BCBS BlueLink. Do your research - get out your policy and read it...make phone calls... I forgot to add that I have obstructive Sleep Apnea and bilateral degenerative osteoarthritis in both my knees, so I had two co-morbidities, too... Good luck to you! I hope you can determine it would be covered.

I grew up in a house that had garage sales, but didn't go garage saleing... I'm having one on the 16th of this month and I hope others are thinking they are getting great finds with my 4X clothes I'll be selling! Since there will be sales all over my end of town that day, maybe I should go look for some bargains for my shrinking body!!

I went to my first orientation on Feb. 8th of this year and had my surgery on July 5th. My psych eval was processed very quickly by my psychologist so that I could be considered at the monthly board meeting. That is usually the hold up prior to getting insurance approval. My insurance co. required a BMI of 40 or more (mine was 58+), one or more co-morbidities, and proof/documentation of past supervised diets (Weight Watchers does not keep records at a corporate level, but if you did that maybe your local chapter would have some record - I also did a medically supervised liquid diet at Miller Dwan Medical Center in Duluth, in addition to taking Fen-Phen for a year and a half until they found the combination caused heart valve damage). I had a laundry list of other attempts at weight loss. So after the orientation I met with the RN and Dietitian of the program, met the surgeon - he said yes I would be a good candidate, took the MMPI psych test on March 20th, reviewed it with my therapist on the 24th, she typed it herself because their transcriptionists were learning a new program and it would have taken a long time to get. If I got it to St. Mary's by March 30th, then they would review my case at the monthly board meeting on April 5th. After they accepted me into the program, it went to my insurance for pre-approval. Once I was pre-approved then we set a date. They were very good about getting me in as close after August 29th as they could as that was the last day I had to work (end of the school year) and I had 8 weeks off for the summer. So July 5th I had the surgery, stayed overnight, and was home by 10:30am the next day. I rambled quite a bit - did I answer your questions?

I'm comfortably in my 3X's now...I'm selling anything with a 4 or 5 in my garage sale...I'm keeping one pair of pants and one top for my "before" clothes.

It's a quiet night here at LBT. Everyone is probably out for the weekend enjoying their last long weekend before summer starts winding down. We went to my SIL's yesterday for a family BBQ. They asked how I was feeling and if I have had any problems (that seems to be the most common question I get from people in general). I ate a hamburger patty with ketchup, a scoop of homemade potato salad and a little scoop of pistachio whip. Then I had a small square of DQ ice cream cake - my first ice cream since surgery. It was really good and I was happy with the piece I had. Pre-surgery I would have had another that was bigger than the first. Then today we were at my sister's for my nephew's 5th birthday. My parent's were at the hospital when I had my surgery. I haven't seen them since August 10th when I picked up DS from staying with them for a couple of days. My dad hugged and hugged me and told me he was so happy for me and so proud of me and told me that I looked just super. My mom was full of compliments, too. My sister, on the other hand, didn't comment at all. We've talked on the phone and she knows how much I've lost, but I thought for sure she would have at least said something like, "lookin' good". But you'd have to know her to realize that I shouldn't be that surprised that she didn't go there. I always have to bring it up. And the funny thing is when I was persuing gastric bypass 2 years ago and told her, she said, "You know they are going to cut you open." That floored me because her SIL had gastric bypass the year before!! Makes no sense to me. I saw her SIL today and she knew I had the band and was very pleased to hear that I was feeling great and that it went so well for me. My sister is hard to figure out. I don't see her very often, so as long as I am surrounded by supportive friends and family here, I'll be just fine

Tiger Liliy - I was born at Unity!! I was going to have my surgery there, but they started doing it at St. Mary's in Duluth, so I had it there on July 5th. I had Dr. Jay Lenz...he was THE BEST! I love him!

Hello everyone! I was out of town most of yesterday and today until about 5:30CT. It was very weird not coming on here last night. It's a great habit of mine and I enjoy checking in regularly. The questions: 2 questions for all: 1.Does your significant other know how much you weigh-why or why not?Yes, my husband knows how much I weigh. He was there when they weighed me before going into surgery. That was probably the first time he actually heard the number. Now I keep him posted when I weigh each week - he doesn't ask...never has. 2.Most embarrassing fat moment you will never have happen to you again now that you are becoming skinny or thin or svelte or normal??:girl_hug: I'm another one who has picture issues. I am a HUGE scrapbooker and I expect everyone to let me take their picture, but I HATE getting mine taken because I look so HUGE!! I just had my son take a picture of me front view and side view for my 50 lb milestone and that was hard for me to do.

I used to keep a basket of peanut m&m's in my middle school office for the teachers and kids...I think it was an excuse to be able to have them there for me, too. The district has a new health and wellness policy and we can't have that anymore. That's a good thing, though, because now I won't have them there. I got everyone granola bars with a welcome back sticker on them for a treat today. I am now comfortably in my 3X's, too. I didn't realiz that half my closet were 3X's. I thought they were 2's. So I'm set for a while. Then I have 2's stashed in bins waiting for another 40 lbs or so to go. It's a testament to how often I've gone up and down, but now it's coming in handy so I don't have to go and buy many things. I get my chocolate fix by having slim fast shakes - chocolate royale - in my Magic Bullet with ice, like a malt. Yum!

I had to have that magnesium citrate for my pre-op prep. They try and make it fizzy and flavored like you're guzzling a soda, but we all know differently. Nasty stuff, but like Andy Liz said, "holy crap Batman!"

Beth - I see you've updated your ticker! Congrats on the 21!!! I've been so busy at work this week, that I haven't had time to come on the site in the evenings...I'm just heading to bed. Tomorrow is the big district-wide rah-rah thing and then I'll head back to the middle school for school-wide meeting and our wing meeting. I've put in 1.5 OT on Tues and Wed and 2 hrs OT today. There is just so much to do before the kids come next week! I'll check in tomorrow and see how everyone is doing. Have a great night!

Congrats on your wonderful NSV!! What a great feeling it must have been :huggie: I can't wait to find your mirror!

Today my goals went pretty much like yesterday - I drank more water at work today than yesterday and then again this evening. Tomorrow I will drink more water, and when I go out to eat with my boss I'll order something from the WW menu.

I'll set a goal as well... Current 289 Goal 250

I can't believe I lost 7.4 during PMS!! I'll have to see how this week goes while she's visiting (sorry to the guys who are reading this!!)

I did my weekly weigh in this morning and couldn't believe my eyes - I am down 7.4 lbs just this week!! I thought for sure I had skipped a week of recording, but when I went to my chart, it was right. It's amazing what a fill will do for you! And I was worried I ate to much tuna salad :huggie: I know I won't lose that much every week, my average has been 4.5, but it was a nice surprise. I had a teacher come in today to set up his classroom and he said "You look like you've lost some weight". I said yes - I told him what I did. I figure if the head secretary, who is quite a gossip, knows, then why try to keep a secret. He was very excited for me and said maybe we could start a Green Wing health club Tomorrow my principal is taking me to Applebee's for lunch. I was supposed to go to dinner with a teacher, but she had to cancel. I'm kinda glad because I didn't really want to eat out twice. She and I will reschedule for some time after school starts. I also had an NSV today - I wore a short-sleeved sweater that has been in my closet and untouchable. I had my DS take pictures of me today as I haven't been taking any. I figure since I'm almost to 50 lbs lost, it was a good time to take a picture.