WDW Luver

I am not post band (yet!) but I met with the nutritionist yesterday and she was explaining the process. They are not as conservative pre and post op as what I have read here. There is no pre op diet and post op is 2 weeks FULL liquids (no clear liquid stage), and then to mushies. I am leaning towards maybe being more conservative as long as I can stand it and do at least a week or so on Clear Liquids then to full liquids. I really don't want to have anything screw this up for me! Has anyone been more conservative than their dr. recommended with their post op diet?

I am being ultra CYA on this. I am seeing my PCP each month, seeing the nutritionist 3 times (once a month) and today signed up for some special group exercise classes at a local Weight Loss Center led by certified exercise trainers. I will do those once a week for the next 3 months. I am going to make a special "check off" sheet for the class leader to sign each week that I attend. The classes are designed for you to just attend once a week and then do the rest at home. I am really hoping this covers all of my bases. My Drs. office doesn't have any experience with the 3 mo program. They are completely set up for the 6 mo. program. So they aren't really sure what needs to happen for this. The nutritionist does behavior mod as part of her meetings already.

Too funny, you just reminded me of a trip a few years ago with friends and about 1/2 way through the week they said "We have to find something else to eat, we are SO TIRED of burgers and chicken strips". DH and I just looked at each other and went :drool: Our 2 families had eaten at exactly the same places the entire time and none of the 4 of us had eaten a burger or chicken yet! Nor did we the entire week. Make sure you check out the entire menu and don't just order the first thing at the top of the menu!

LOL! that is funny about the copay! Once you get the psych eval sent is there anything else you have to do? I think I would be calling the psych office once or twice a day to "check on things" so that they get tired of you and hurry it along!

Disney has made a lot of changes to their menus and food in the last few years. Yes, there is a lot of burgers, hot dogs and chicken nuggets, but in many places there are also other choices. In many locations the chicken nuggets are now grilled instead of fried. Most meals come with an option of fruit (grapes), carrots or applesauce instead of fries. Some places have sweet potato fries instead of white potatos. There are some very delicious wrap sandwiches, grilled chicken options, salads and vegetarian choices around the parks. They are using wheat buns for their burgers and dogs and wheat crust for pizza. Many of the sit down restaurants have grilled fish and grilled chicken on the kids menu, and include an appetizer of a salad or veggies or soup--great options for banded life. That is why I always suggest that you take a look at the menus before you go ( the link I gave above has all the menus for every eating place on property and they are kept current) and have an idea of where in each park you think has the best options for you.

Well I pretty much have everything happening this week! I had my reweigh yesterday (and made the 40 BMI!) and took the computer test and met with the nutritionist. Today I went to the Center for Metabolic Health (Dr. Clarks other WL place) and got set up for Exercise Classes to meet my insurance requirements. When I got home there was a message that Dr. T had reviewed my chart and passed his requirements so I called and set up a one on one with him on Friday. Then I was able to get my psych eval scheduled for Thursday! That is just about everything in one week! But after this week it will just be a waiting game. I have to do 3 month of diet/exercise/behavior mod for my insurance before I will even know if they approve me. I think that puts the earliest I could have surgery at about August or September.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Things are happening fast right now! I know that after this week though I will be in a hurry up and wait mode for the rest of the summer. I went back to the Weight Loss Center on Monday (yesterday) and had my weigh in. I had the extra 5 pounds that I needed and made the 40 BMI that I had to hit! A lot of water, coffee, big breakfast and a little more help (darn, forgot to empty my pockets!) and I even had a pound to spare! :wink: Then after I ran to pee, I took the computerized evaluation and met with the nutritionist. Today I called a Weight Loss Center that is actually owned by one of the Doctors. I need a "certified exercise professional" for my insurance 3 mo. program. They said I could be seen immediately so I threw on shoes and a bra and headed over there to find out what they could do. This place is really pretty cool. A very personalized and medically supervised Weight Loss center with prices that seem reasonable (by diet center standards). I decided to sign up for 10 weeks of one hour long group exercise classes. They assured me that it will be able to be adapted to my physical limitations--basically I will sit in a chair. I certainly would prefer to workout with trainers that are familiar with working with obese people and special physical limitations. And certainly I prefer a workout class with others of "my size", not those little skinny, leotard wearing girls with the perfect makeup and bouncy ponytails. They also have a store of protein shakes and drinks and soups and puddings etc... I bought a few things to try. This place really seems like a great program to go with the banding. And if I am not approved by my insurance then I will probably look at the rest of their services. So I get home and there is a message on my machine that the Dr. has reviewed my chart and he has approved me to go forward! So I call and the one on one appointment with him is set for Friday. I called and got my Psych Evaluation set for Thursday. PHEW! In one week I will have met with the nutrionist, set up my physical activity, met with the psych, and with the surgeon. Then it is just waiting while I have 3 monthly visits with my PCP and 2 more with the dietician and do the 3 mo. weight loss program. And DH is so sweet. I tried to make the surgeon appt for a Friday afternoon when he is off work, but the office closes early on Friday. But DH is going to just take off of work and come with me anyway. :wub:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Things are happening fast right now! I know that after this week though I will be in a hurry up and wait mode for the rest of the summer. I went back to the Weight Loss Center on Monday (yesterday) and had my weigh in. I had the extra 5 pounds that I needed and made the 40 BMI that I had to hit! A lot of water, coffee, big breakfast and a little more help (darn, forgot to empty my pockets!) and I even had a pound to spare! Then after I ran to pee, I took the computerized evaluation and met with the nutritionist. Today I called a Weight Loss Center that is actually owned by one of the Doctors. I need a "certified exercise professional" for my insurance 3 mo. program. They said I could be seen immediately so I threw on shoes and a bra and headed over there to find out what they could do. This place is really pretty cool. A very personalized and medically supervised Weight Loss center with prices that seem reasonable (by diet center standards). I decided to sign up for 10 weeks of one hour long group exercise classes. They assured me that it will be able to be adapted to my physical limitations--basically I will sit in a chair. I certainly would prefer to workout with trainers that are familiar with working with obese people and special physical limitations. And certainly I prefer a workout class with others of "my size", not those little skinny, leotard wearing girls with the perfect makeup and bouncy ponytails. They also have a store of protein shakes and drinks and soups and puddings etc... I bought a few things to try. This place really seems like a great program to go with the banding. And if I am not approved by my insurance then I will probably look at the rest of their services. So I get home and there is a message on my machine that the Dr. has reviewed my chart and he has approved me to go forward! So I call and the one on one appointment with him is set for Friday. I called and got my Psych Evaluation set for Thursday. PHEW! In one week I will have met with the nutrionist, set up my physical activity, met with the psych, and with the surgeon. Then it is just waiting while I have 3 monthly visits with my PCP and 2 more with the dietician and do the 3 mo. weight loss program. And DH is so sweet. I tried to make the surgeon appt for a Friday afternoon when he is off work, but the office closes early on Friday. But DH is going to just take off of work and come with me anyway.

Obviously I am a huge Disneyworld fan. I would suggest that you go here: www.allearsnet.com and check out the Dining section. They have the menus from all of the restaurants. Have an idea going in where you the best options are in each park. For instance there are a whole lot of options in Epcot so if you know ahead of time of a few places (counter service and/or sit down) that you can get things you want then it will save the last minute "no, I can't eat anything here" issues. The good news is that Disney has gone to healthy options. You can get alternates like baked chips and bags of carrots or applesauce most every counter service place. Breads are now (I think all) whole wheat. And many places have sugar free Jello for dessert. Also, if you have a card that indicates you have a lap band then Disney is very accomodating and will usually charge you the child price for buffet and "all you can eat" meals. If you have any questions or need any advice let me know! Disney is extremely accomodating of special dietary needs. Oh, and keep in mind that you will be doing a whole lot of walking so that does help to balance out some of the not so great food choices!

*UPDATE! * I had my reweigh today and I MADE IT! Had to run and pee as soon as I got off the scale but I did it! Never been so happy to be fatter than usual!! Still no idea if the insurance will approve me, but for now I go through my insurance mandated 3 mo program and then find out if they give approval.

It all depends on your insurance. But most insurance companies that do look at history only look back 5 years on your weight--and many of them don't look back at all. Just choose the highest weight for each year to give to them if needed. Do you have any of the top comorbids: heart, cholesterol, high bp, diabetes issues? If you don't then many insurances won't qualify you. So you would need to be at 40 BMI to qualify. Check out the Insurance Section of this board and see if you can find what others are saying that have your same insurance. You can also just call your insurance co. directly. That is actually the best thing to do first-- some companies (the company you work for ) choose not to have the bariatric ryder in their insurance contract, in which case you are really out of luck.

For my insurance I had to get actual copies of my medical records with the weights recorded. I think it is pretty much the same for most all insurance. Any dr visit that took place in those years where they took your weight is fine. I got several from my PCP office, but found out they had no weight recorded for last year--I was in a Cam Walker the entire time so they never weighed me. But my Gyn office had it because they made me take it off and get weighed! Check with your PCP office/gyn office (if you are female!), any ER visit you might have had, urgent care etc. As long as you stepped on the scale and someone wrote it on your record you can get a copy and present it.

:thumbup: knewme. You can't look back because you can't change anything there. Only look forward. And 25 pounds down is awesome! :smile: I always look at the hunger pains as my body burning some of that excess fat. Not long until that first fill and hopefully you will get some restriction, but remember that slow and steady is the best and it sometimes takes a few fills to really get to that comfort zone. I am still not completely sure that my insurance is going to approve me, so all that I am doing may be for naught. I weighed this morning and I have completely lost the 5 pounds I had gained. Damn stomach bug. :drool: So I am not going to worry about gaining it again. I am just going to eat normally and go ahead and use some of the tips others have given to make sure I am the correct weight when I hit the scale on Monday.:thumbup: There is just something so psycholgically messed up about trying to GAIN weight and being disappointed that I lost weight. I think my head is spinning!:thumbup:

Yep, it more important to make your weight for qualifying than to lose at this point. It could set you back a few months if you have to do a supervised weight loss program before surgery but it is better to wait a few more months than to be denied. If you think you need some help with the smoking talk with your Dr. There are some things they do that don't involve the nicotene. A friend of mine was put on a specific low dose anti depressant that helped him out a lot. Keep in touch! Since we are the same size we are good support buddies! Maybe we will end up banded around the same time.

That really stinks! I have major foot and ankle problems that severly limit my mobility and use a Cam Walker some times when the pain is really bad. It sounds like you are more mobile than I am. It would seem that as long as you can walk around you should be fine.

My WLS drs. office did the weigh in the night we went for the informational seminar. They use their weight for your "official" weight. But they told me that I could come back and reweigh any time since I was "looking a bit dehydrated" that night :rolleyes2::wink::tongue: . It sounds like some offices are way more strict than others. Mine lets you leave your shoes and clothes on and won't ask you to empty your pockets (or bra. . ) I have read that some will make you take off extra stuff and may even put you in a gown to weigh :tt1:. Then you have to stuff the weights in your undies I guess! You and are the same size. I am 5'4 and about 230. To be at 40 BMI they told me I have to get to 236. They don't "round" the numbers up so you have to hit it exactly. If you use some online BMI calculators they round up so I think 231 or so comes out to 40, but that won't cut it with the WLS. Good for you for quitting smoking! If nothing else that will greatly increase your health and life span. Are you working with your Dr to make it easier? There are some great products and prescriptions available on the market these days to help you quit for life. Call your WLS and ask them if you can get an "official" starting weight on the record so that you can then go ahead with your diet and exercise program. Do you have any comorbidities? If you do then getting to the magic 40 BMI isn't as important as long as you stay above 35.

I may have to get the weights! I was doing fine and had gained a few pounds but I have had a stomach bug for 3 days. But I have made appointments to go in and see the dietician on Monday so I have a few days to rehydrate and have a few milkshakes :rolleyes2: That will be my official starting weight. I am planning on a big Breakfast and a grande/venti/tall biggumest Starbucks Mocha before I go in! Hopefully it will all go well. The funny thing is with all the talk of hiding things under the clothes, I usually wear a cam walker on my leg--sucker is big and at least 15 pounds or so! I tried to get them to let me leave it on to weigh in (pain in the butt to take off and hard to stand without it) but they said it had to go.

Pretty much all of it! I still don't even have my official pre surgery weight since it was 5 lbs too low when I went for the seminar. So I have been working hard on that! I just got all the paperwork the office gives you done and got my 5 year history of weights copied and sent to me from 3 different offices. I will turn all of that in on Monday when I go to reweigh and do the computer test and I have to meet with the dietician. I have to do a 3 mo "behavior Modification" plan for my insurance with dr. supervised weight loss, dietician visits and exercise. But I really can't exercise since I can't stay on my feet for longer than a few minutes so I have to see how my dr works that out. So the minimum that I have is the 90 day plan to satisfy the insurance requirements. And in that time I will also do the things that the WLSC requires. I actually saw my dr about 2 weeks ago and we discussed all of this so I am wondering if I can actually count that as the beginning of my 90 days.

I initially really wanted to have mine done the week after July 4th because my kids will both be away at camp and it would be "easy" to do it then. But I don't think that is realistic at this point so I am just trying to be patient and hope for the best as far as when and how I will make arrangements for my kids.

Ai, yi, yi, yi! That is a lot of tests! I just called and made my appt for a visit with the dietician and to do the computer test. I called one of the psychs and they said she is backed up over a month. Then another wasn't in, and the 3rd won't schedule me until after I do the computer test at WLSC. So hopefully I should have all my paperwork together by Monday (except my letter from my doc) and ready to be turned in. And this stomach bug will be gone so I can get a nice BIG Breakfast and a large starbucks coffee and weigh in and hit the 40BMI mark! Do you have to do a 3 mo or 6 mo supervised diet?

LOL! That probably doesn't look good in the psych eval follow up that you went off the deep end waiting for the paperwork! Who did you go to for the eval? What kind of questions did they ask? And have you done the computer assessment thing at Dr. T's office yet?

Got my paperwork together mostly now. I got all my last 5 years of weights ready to go, it only took me 3 drs to get it all! I have the paperwork from Dr. T's office filled out so I will try to take all that over there maybe tomorrow. I have to reweigh since I needed to gain 5 pounds. I was doing fine and was at that mark but have had a stomach bug he last few days and am going to have give it a few more days to get some more liquids and food back in me. I also need to get my letter of medical necessity from my PCP and will let him know tomorrow when DH sees him.

Darn. It seems silly that Aetna won't give you a preliminary okay before you go through the 3 mo program. If you go through all that and then get denied that is time and money wasted. The way the Aetna rules read (to me) getting an apnea diagnosis now would do no good-- you have to have had the comorbidity for 2 years prior to approval.

I bought a Wii Fit this last weekend. I figured that even if I can't exercise now I can show that I am willing to make an effort and have a plan in place for when I am able to exercise. WHO INVENTED THIS MALICIOUS TORTURE DEVICE? I plunked down nearly 100 dollars of my DH's hard earned money on this atrocity. That cute childlike little voice is so encouraging and makes it seem so easy. It told me it was just going to do a simple Body Test on me. I picked my cute little Mii and followed the directions. All the sudden my adorable little character starts to blow up like a balloon! I thought she would explode! I think I saw bits of chocolate flying into her mouth. No one told me they were actually going make her look like me . Like I can't look in the mirror and see that I am fat--now I have a fattie mii to workout with. Then it reminded me of the fact that I am beyond overweight. After my balance tests it told me that I probably trip over my own feet when walking. So as of right now this vicious device has told me I am an obese klutz. And I PAID for it to tell me that! I have a mother and children--I can get that information for free whenever I want. And it has told me that it expects me to come and visit it every day. Why? Cause it hasn't told me I dress frumpy, wear too much makeup and could use a new hairstyle? Then I found out that it is going to be stalking me if I don't show up for training? I can just imagine my phone ringing and that childlike voice "Mom (my wii's name), why hasn't your obese klutzy butt been up here to play with me? I am going to raise your Wii Age to 60 if you don't come see me. I have all of your Carnival Game tickets and you can't have them back until you run 10 miles. I am taking over your Sims house and redecorating it with Country Chintz. I WON'T BE IGNORED!" I knew I should have been scared from the moment I started to open it and the first warning on the box was "CAUTION: Everyone in the room will be able to see just how old, fat and klutzy you are when you use this" (I paraphrased a little. . ) Some skinny game developer is laughing his butt off all the way to the bank. I would love to get my fat klutzy hands around his scrawny little neck. . . But who would have thought that trying to gain 5 pounds would be so hard???? (stop throwing things at me!!!) I have been eating nonstop. And eating crap. I am afraid to do anything else on the Wii Fit cause I don't want to screw up my chances when I weigh in. Yeah, it groans when I step on it and says "that's obese!, in that so cute little voice, but apparently that little girl doesn't work for the insurance company. I was going to reweigh this week but I realized I can't get my insurance paperwork together until next week and I figured that I would give myself a better chance of hitting the magic number if I waited a week. When I weigh myself with clothes and a full bladder at the end of the day I am just barely making the 40 BMI. At the beginning of the day I am still around 228--not enough to qualify. But just enough for my evil little Mii to take up most of the screen. I swear when I was watching my skinny children play I could hear my Mii crunching away on a bag of potato chips. Or maybe that was me.. .

I have been!! Good bye Girl Scout Cookies, good bye ice cream, good bye favorite Mexican meal, Good bye favorite Chinese food, Good Bye bbq potato chips. . Hello 5 more pounds!!! I can barely button my jeans and my undies are feeling quite tight so I am thinking that I am really about there. The scale only shows about 2-3 pounds on but I am hoping with strategic dressing I can make up the rest. I am actually going to weigh my jeans and figure out which pair is the heaviest! Way too funny! Hubby has lead shot that is very heavy so I may "borrow" some of that to go in my bra. I just need to find something to put it in. I weighed a roll of quarters as was suggested but they are only about a half a pound each. I want more weight in a small space--although in my bra is no small space! I could probably hide a 20 pound turkey in there and no one would notice! Hmmmmm:idea: