whiterabbit

I had a friend who went through with the procedure a few years ago tell me what helped her was taking a picture of herself in the same pose every two weeks her entire journey. She kept the images in one folder and set them up as a slide show as her screen saver after reaching her half way mark. Because she saw the changes every single damn (basically bombarded with the images) her brain saw and acknowledged the change so when she was at her goal weight the slimmer and healthy her was someone she knew well and accepted. I plan on taking this approach myself

Took me two weeks. I think it helped that my insurance is also my doctors. We have Group Health.

Acceptance, if you provide certain information. I have Group Health through Microsoft and they wanted to know what other things I have tried and for how long. My starting weight was 335, I have lost 21 on my own while trying out the diet I am going to be living on for the rest of my life. It has been a struggle but I am getting there. My comorbidities are sleep apnea, high blood pressure, herniated disks in my back, and asthma. I put in my application and in two weeks was approve. I had to wait for a month for my pre-op packet to come in the mail. I had blood labs, a mental health eval, x-rays, a mammogram, respiratory appointments I had to do before I could get on the list. I did them all in one day a week later. I have been to the mandatory support group and next I will be meeting with the dietitian for a diet review. After all of that it is surgery time.

Someone tell me it is not a bad sign that after your shrink eval you hear "yeah... I am going to have to ask that you come back and see me next week"?!?!?!?! I think I nearly gave my shrink a stroke with my family background *snickers* I warned her it was going to be a bumpy road. I am simply hoping it was the lack of time. I felt like she was kind of rushed. When I got there the ladies at the desk were on the phone kind of frantic talking to someone. How long are evals supposed to take? Someone told me they can be up to 2 to 3 hours and mine was barely 45 minuets. The shrink also said she would not charge me for the return visit.

Nope, just decided to do it the hard way with lost of working out. So far so good

not upset in the least As for my doc being rushed. i saw her once for 45 minuets then the second time for almost two hours. she was not rushed she denied me and said i needed medications before she would approve me to manage my bi polar disorder. even with a sterling letter of recommendation from my reg doc (who i see every month and helps track my mental health) the shrink would not approve me.

I am sorry but nothing and i repeat NOTHING is worth loosing who you are. I lost a year and a half of my life on those medications. i would rather go through the pain of loosing weight the hard way than become a medicated zombie. I tried battling my mental disabilities their way and it did not work. meditation, talk therapy, diet changes and monitoring the things that set off my ups and down works and I have been well balanced and had a very positive and productive life since dumping that poison down the toilet and taking control of my life. I may not drop weight left and right but I am loosing at a healthy pace and that is good enough for me. I don't care about skinny, I care about healthy. i had my teens and 20s as a skinny sexy little thing All I want now is to get my BP down, make sure my heart and mind are healthy and set a good example for my children. In a way I am kind of glad this happened. It helped me (once again) find the inner strength to get up off my ass and do something about something in my life I did not like. I did not like meds, i did something about it. I did not like smoking, I quit. I do not like being fat and I am working my butt off to loose the weight. I am sure in the long run I will achieve my goals as I always have by busting my hump.

I did not pass LOL. I knew I was not going to but I was hoping. I was told that I needed to see a shrink on a reg basis and that the person giving me the eval did not approve or meditation and talk as a good enough treatment for bi polar disorder. So no good eval no lap band. I flatly refuse to take pills ever again. I lost 1.5 years of my life in a drug induced haze because of shrinks and medication. I missed my son's first words, first steps and goddess only knows what else. I am just working on loose weight the hard and painful way with working out.

So I found out yesterday that all of my band will be covered 100%. Good news yes but sadly I have to have 6 months of doc reviewed weight loss. I am crossing my fingers and hoping my constant contact with my PCP for over 2 years will be enough. Every visit we went over my diet and work outs. If it does count then I should be banded as soon as next month. The second I found out my husband's insurance might cover things I ran out and got my EKG and sleep study to cut the time down. My doc's notes were delivered on Friday so I should know by the end of this coming week what I have to do. Man I am so bouncy I feel like i am going to jump out of my own skin! :bored::wub:

I found out today that since my issue is not centered on food I might be able to for go the 6 month diet. I have documented proof of a non successful diet and work out plan. With my PCP, Endocrinologist, Nutritionist and Banded surgeon all are going to write up documentation to press for hormone therapy and banding to counter act the years of medication.

So I had my 3 hour appointment with my nutritionist on Saturday. We went into every aspect of my life from stress to food and exercise to sex life. She was easy to talk to, tough and funny. After looking at everything she told me what i have been dying to hear for years.... its NOT my fault. I ended up crying my eyes out for 15 minuets. For so long I have been telling doctors that 150 of these pounds are NOT my fault. Was I over weight before hand... yes about 50 pounds but no one would listen when i said all the meds and the depo I had been on. They just saw a fat girl and assumed I was hiding a food issue. I showed her a months of documented food and exercise. While I am elated that someone one has finally listened to me I am scared because she informed me that it will make my fight to loose weight even harder. My entire chemical make up is fed up because of what I took when i gained all the weight. So now I have to trust another set of doctors who will be treating my hormonal imbalance along with me getting banded. Being banded will help jump start positive chemical changes in my body. Hearing it will be more work only makes me more determined. now i know 100% what I am fighting and im ready to kick fats ass! I might not have done this to myself but its up to me to fix it and I will! FULL SPEED AHEAD!:thumbup:

I am loving my slap chop! It breaks the foods I eat into small pieces making them banded portion prefect. I was worried it would be a crap product but i LOVE it! Slap Chop:thumbup: + Magic Bullet:thumbup: = SWEET!:thumbup:

Wow that was a little uncalled for. :thumbup: --------- MrMom, All you can do is be a living example. Your wife is an adult and you can not do this for her. Just remember to stay positive. I know it will be hard not to get frustrated with her when she complains of falters but be there for her as best you can. No one can make her loose the weight and stay on track but her.

So I found out that ontop of 6 months for a wait (still up in the air) i will have to do a 2 week pre op diet. I was dreading the liquid diet but I fould out today that my doc uses a 'no carbs' diet. I actually stood up at my desk and did a little dance *lol* So I am basicly on the Atkins diet for two weeks. We talked over my chemical imbalance issues (me being bipolar) and I will have to take a Vitamin regiment ontop of what i already take to balance things out. Between the vegetables and meat list i am good to go.

So I have been reading that the day of your surgery you should only have a few sips of water or suck on ice. If this is the case i fear I am going to have some serious dehydration issues. I take two BP meds and they dry me out like mad. I drop a butt ton of water a day and am always thirsty. Anyone have any advice? as a small side note... I was told no pineapples post-op NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO :thumbdown: *shrivels up and rocks back and forth* my crack... i'll miss my fruit crack! :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Thanks for the info guys. i feel a lot better about it now :smile2:

Ah the test is a piece of cake. The worst part is the goop they put in your hair to put the probes on. My attendant was super cool and even watched a bit of TV with me while I had a late supper and put all my fears at ease. The sleep center I went to was in a nice upscale hotel so everything was plush and it felt more like a vacation that a sleep study. The only down side was I do not like to sleep alone. Having breathing issues and having sever asthma like i do sleep time is stressful without my Hubby near by. The woman who set up my appointment never informed me that my husband could have come with me and slept in the same bed with me for the study. Instead we chatted via IMs while playing World of Warcraft online until I had to go to bed LOL All and all it was not that bad.

I have my clearance from my cardiologist as well as my pulmonologist (i have a heartmumer). As far as education goes I have been going over things with my doctor for almost two year now. My first visit to my lap-band doc was actually pretty amusing. When he asked me what I knew and how I have been getting prepared his jaw nearly dropped. I told him "You are going to be cutting into my body like I am not going to know all the ins and outs long before i come and see you." I have been working on eating and not drinking for about 4 months now and rarely slip. I have really worked on chewing my food more and even (with the ok of my PC DOc) did a liquid diet just to see if I could pull it off. I am ready to go so the thought of waiting 6 months makes me want to pace like a caged tiger. If I do have to do the entire 6 months I am sure I will find a positive spin on it and find a way to pass the time in a positive manner. :bored: susi1662- I wish i could exercise. I had a good flow going but when we moved a few months ago i hyper extended my left knee and other than swimming I am grounded. It is very frustrated

I am really worried about taking my meds as well. Most of my pills are very small but the vicodin pills are huge.

I am scared ot death of my eval. Being Bipolar I do not want my mental issues to be the blocker to being able to get banded.