stateofzen

Thank you danide for the kind words! pooky, I hope my doc is like yours. I haven't had a fever in well over a week so I'm crossing my fingers everything will look good. Welcome to our new folks, and good luck to our buddies getting banded tomorrow!

You're awesome Lisa. Thanks for the support and the suggestions. I am wearing a pair of pants today that I haven't worn in I don't even know how long. A long time. That makes all of this worth it to me :thumbup:

Good morning! Ok, I need to vent some fears I have now that I'm less than a week away from my surgery. It's not that I'm scared of the surgery-- I'm scared I won't get to have it as scheduled! I've been sick for a full two weeks as of tomorrow, and finishing up a 10-day run of antibiotics today. Problem is, I'm still having to take tons of medicine because I don't think the antibiotics have killed my infection (sinus)-- helped tremendously, but I still have throat and ear pain if I don't take ibuprofen or tylenol every 6 hours. I worry a LOT about what my liver must look like after two weeks of round-the-clock cold medicine, pain medicine, antibiotics, and prescription antihistamines and there is no way to know until Wednesday, when I go in for all of my pre-op work in anticipation of surgery Friday. And then there's the TMI-- since I started the antibiotics, etc., I have had nothing but the big D happening in the bathroom. You should hear my stomach gurgling through the day (or not). This just seems like a bad way to be before I even get the band. I guess the worst thing that could happen is that I have to put off the surgery for a few weeks. It would be disappointing, but not the end of the world. it's just hard, now that it is so close after SOOO long, to think it might not happen. The good news is that for the past two days I've weighed in at 261, which means I am officially down 32 pounds from my high weight of 293 a year ago, and 15 pounds down since I started my unofficial pre-op diet August 10th. I'm praying that I'll be in the 250s before my surgery, something I haven't seen on the scale in probably 6 years if not more.

The Psych eval is probably the same for everyone (I'm a psychologist). You need a "bariatric eval", which typically includes an interview plus a psych test like the MMPI (it's a true-false test) or something similar. Not every psychologist does these eva;s, but your surgeon's office probably has a few they can recommend. I know for me, my surgeon's rec wasn't in my insurance plan, so I called around to my covered providers and just asked until I found someone who did bariatric surgery evals. You might be able to get this referral from the nurses or office staff at your surgeon's. A general note about psych evals-- don't be afraid of them. I'll tell you that about the only time I've seen people get in trouble with the psych eval is when they get anxious and try to present themselves as super perfect-- a trained psychologist doesn't expect or believe super perfection and you're just fine if you're relaxed and honest.

My doc also suggested Biotin to help prevent hair loss.

Welcome Moondarra. *shrug* It's just the way it works in the US if you want insurance to cover the cost of the surgery. Most insurance companies here put up lots of roadblocks to keep themselves from having to pay, and it seems like some insurance companies even deny the first time even if you meet their stated criteria. It's the nature of a for-profit private insurance market-- the less they pay out in benefits, the more their shareholders make and so its like any business where they try everything to cut costs to make money.

My surgeon only uses the Realize Band, so that's what I'll be getting. Though the other surgeon I considered uses the Lap Band, the actual band itself was never part of my consideration-- they seem to be the same to me :smile:

Yay for you!

Cathy- I think your doctor has the right idea on fills and I appreciate you talking about your experience. Waiting months for a fill has always seemed strange to me, but I guess you gotta go with your doc! Thanks for giving me feedback on work-- I only have one class on Monday and one class on Tuesday, so I'm hoping I can just do short work days while I'm tired.

I get what you're saying and I've been there. I took a lot of time getting myself in the right mindset (over a year) and now I'm ready. I think it's ok to put it off if you need to, but it's also normal to have these doubts. Look, I enjoy food and I don't think there's anything morally wrong with liking food no matter what this society tries to tell us (especially women). What my problem is is that I like too much food quantity wise and the lapband will help me with that. You better believe, once I'm healed and restricted and have a mental handle on what I'm doing, that I'm going to go to my favorite high end restaurants with my husband. But now I'll just be sharing a small portion of his plate rather than having an app/dinner/dessert all my own. I'm ready to like things *other* than food too. I asked myself- hey, what if I had the opportunity to move to a different country that didn't have any of my "usuals"- the food I thought I would die without-- would I pass up an opportunity just because I couldn't eat my usual comfort food? And the answer is hell no! So I'm trying to think of "bandland" as a new country, with different food than I'm used to eating, but with so many new opportunities that I don't have where I live now in fatland. Yes, it's cheesy, but it really has helped me deal with this same struggle you've described.

Yay NYsLegend! You did it :blushing: Rest up tonight and you'll be ready for home. I have to stay overnight too, which is a bummer but my husband feels better about it so I'll suck it up.

I buy the ready-to-drink EAS Carb Control shakes (17g protein) at walmart, and I get the Pure Protein Cookies and cream powder (25 g) from Target. I just tried the powder mixed with Unsweetened Almond Milk today and it was good (not as good as the same-brand ready to drink, but good enough). I know a lot of people buy other powders with higher protein counts, up to 50 grams a serving, at health food stores or online but I've gone for what's convenient and been pleasantly surprised that I actually like the taste as long as it is super cold.

I totally agree on the recovery time. I'm having the surgery next Friday and am going back to work on Monday. Unless something goes wrong, everything I've read tells me I should be fine with the type of job I have. But I see everyone else taking time off work and thinking maybe I'm crazy! Still, I've had laproscopic surgery before (gall bladder) and recovery was quick so I'm sort of counting on the same here. We shall see, I guess! Can't wait to hear from today's bandsters on the other side-- happy surgery, guys and gals!

Hey ladies and gentlemen-- so awesome to come back to see so many people banded and doing well! Sorry I've been missing and not doing my part in encouraging people but I'm a college professor and the new semester started, which means I was suddenly busy. Then, a week ago, I got sick and it just kept getting worse until now I'm on antibiotics, some other prescription med to "dry me up" (my lips tell me it's working- hello chapstick!), and lots and lots of cough drops. I'm kind of paranoid about my liver being in bad shape because of all of the meds, including the tylenol, but I have my pre-op testing two days before my surgery so I'll know for sure then if things look good. I was doing really well on my self-imposed pre-op diet (started August 10th-ish) until I got sick-- now it's been all comfort food when I feel like eating. It's definitely a clue about something I'll have to struggle with post-band. I haven't gained anything, so that's good, but as of tonight I'm back on pre-op until the big day. Anyway, yay for all of you! We're going to kick butt. Also, I think I saw something about a Christmas challenge. Are we doing something as a group?

Can your surgeon's office appeal, supplying the original 35 BMI? It seems to me they'd be willing to work on your behalf-- if you get covered, they get paid.

Hi Cathy- Try following this link: Clothes Exchange for Bandsters if that doesn't work, let me know!

For folks interested in participating in a clothes exchange over the next year or so I have started a community here: Clothes Exchange for Bandsters To join the community, you must create an account at LiveJournal: Discover global communities of friends who share your unique passions and interests.. Then, post a comment on the welcome thread at the community and you'll be granted membership. Once you've joined, read the rules, ask any questions you might have, and start exchanging. You are also welcome to invite other bandsters you know who might not be on this thread, but I do think we should limit membership to bandsters.

Clothes Exchange: Ok, here is an example of one option we could look at for the exchange for people who are interested: Clothes Exchange for Bandsters The nice thing about this is easy picture posting and a quick way to see if the item is still available or has already been claimed. The issue with this (and with a yahoo group) is that it requires you to register at a new site if you aren't already. There is no cost involved, but it is "an extra step" that might make people not participate. A straight up email list is also easy to do, but might be more difficult to unsubscribe from and also might be more difficult to see if someone has "claimed" an item of clothing already. If this is something you're interested in, let me know what you prefer.

I think you have to actually click on the link next to the picture that says "insert signature picture". Try that.

Maybe we could do a yahoo group? Or a livejournal blog? I don't want to get too complicated, but either one would allow "invited" or private membership, and anyone in the group the ability to post pictures. A simple email group like you suggested could work too. I could set up a private email sign-up and then once everyone got one "to the group email", they could save the message and just reply all with pictures. The only problem I see with that is that it might be difficult to get yourself off the email list once you're done and I'd hate to annoy people with unwanted emails.

What a great idea-- I've been craving chips and salsa but obviously going without. Today I had sharp cheddar chips with a little salsa and I'm a convert. Thanks!

This is exactly what happened to me too. I switched to my husband's insurance off of mine (the exact same insurance company- we just had different plans), and am now getting covered through his insurance. It means that this is happening about a year later than I had initially planned, but hey, it's happening and I don't have to take out a loan!

Look at you, getting it done Cathy! I'm glad you managed to get everything worked out with the hospitals.