pennreporter

I haven't been banded yet...(June 1), but my daughter has, Feb 2008. I'm going to try to follow in her footsteps on the numbers. She absolutely never ever gets on the scale. For her it's not about the numbers, it's all about how her clothes fit. The only time she knows how much she's lost is when she goes to the doctor. She started at 265-275 approx and a size 20-22. She just recently went to doc and she weighs 180 (she's 5-10), but she's wearing a size 10, close to an 8 (having plastic surgery in three weeks). So don't get hung up on the numbers. Are you seeing in difference in your body and how your clothes fit? And we all probably also know that eating the same things every day and not varying calories and variety is not always the best. My daughter eats a wide variety of foods (no steak), just very little of anything. So throw the scale away or put it in the garage away from where you can check very often. Good luck. I'm a horrible weight checker and my scale is going in my storage shed as soon as I have the surgery. Trisha

That's good to hear. And i agree, I'm kind of getting double my money's worth with having two surgeons, esp with one being the chief of surgery for the bariatric department. Glad to hear you've been happy with yours. Wish me well for the two week pre-op liquid diet. Good think I like Protein drinks. My plan is to keep myself as busy as I can so I don't think about it much. :glare: Trisha

I'm in the Poconos and having band done at Geisinger. Since they primarily do bypass, would love to find other banders having their surgeries at Danville, PA Trisha

I'm from Tobyhanna, PA (Poconos). Surgery is June 1 at Geisinger in Danville. Their protocol is the six-month plan, but that's just to get you to the approval stage. At six-month appt. they send all to insurance co and surgeon. So it's actually more like 7-8 month program. If I were rich..lol...I would have headed on down to Houston to my daughter's surgeon and had it done months ago. But since I'm not....lol Good luck. Trisha

Welcome. I just found this site also. Am also on another one that's more local to my area but it's mostly bypass people, not banders. My surgery date is June 1. My daughter had her February 08 and you couldn't find a happier person. She's lost about 85 pounds and real close to goal. She's having plastic surgery next month. I can't speak from my experience because I haven't done it yet. But even with my daughter and the people she knows who are banded, it's different for everyone. Lisa (my daughter) has her band I think on the tighter side (her option), and there are clearly things she doesn't eat. But the biggest biggest thing for her is being extremely careful about eating late at night, but again this may go to her band being tight. If she eats too late at night and hasn't given enough time for food to digest, she had a very hard time sleeping. It's also gotten better since she got a script for mild antacid. she doesn't eat breat, pizza, certain shell fish, and almost no red meat like steak...ground beef, yes, and no dry chicken breast. But she went from 265 to about 180 right now (she's 5-10), size 22-24 to a size 8-10 even at 180 lbs and acquired a new boy-toy. So it's all good. There's a great book out there by Mohammed Ali's daughter who is banded. It's Fighting Weight by Khaliah Ali. Great informative reading. Good luck...the loser's bench will feel good!!! Trisha

June 1, 2009, surgery date, Realize Band, in Danville, Pennsylvania. Good luck to all...we will soon be on the loser's bench!!!! Trisha in da Poconos

I did. I was 15 lbs shy of being within my ins. co's requirements. My primary care doctor even told me to put rolls of quarters in my pockets if I had to. He was very supportive. What is really bizarre though is that once I met the weight requirements, they then required me to lose 10 percent of my total body weight as part of their six-month schedule of visits/testing protocol. So then I ended up almost where i started...go figure. And then on my sixth-month appointment when I had lost my ten percent, the doctor told me to be sure not to gain or lose any before I met with surgeon...craziness. Surgery is June 1. So it was all worth it. Although in hindsight, if I had to do it all over again, I would have just taken the cash and went to Houston where it's cheaper and the surgery is done much much more down there than here in my area. Trisha in da Poconos

Hello all. New to this site. I'm from N.E. Pennsylvania, the Poconos. I'm scheduled for surgery June 1 and I'm 57, which OF COURSE my doc had to point out to me...(like I didn't know it)...that my success might not be the same as my daughter's success. But then I guess it depends on how you define "success." My success is not having a new boy-toy like my daughter. lol. Mine will be not having knees and joints ache going up the steps and not having to live with my CPAP machine. So I'm real easy to please these days... Glad to see there is an over-50 group on here. Trisha in da Poconos

My daughter is having hers done June 4. Unfortunately I'm having my band done June 1 and can't fly down right away with her. I think I'm more nervous than she is. With your doctor that's doing the surgery is he board certified in plastic surgery? Is he your only option? I'm not sure if board certification is something that's done in other countries but that's a big deal here in the states. My daughter's doctor is the doctor that is on the TV show "Big Medicine". In fact she was hoping if the show got picked up for another season, one of her clients is involved with the show and she was hoping she could get hers done for the show and save some money. She's having the lower body lift and breast reduction. There must be some way to check on your doctor, search for referrals. At least your doctor is a specialist already. I get nervous when you hear about dentists doing breast implants..(which we had that here in my town). Just ask as many questions as you can think of. Good luck. Trisha

I'm having surgery June 1 with the Realize band. I feel somewhat of a guinea pig with my surgeon. The hospital that my insurance requires me to go to, they're not real big on banding. They do mostly bypass. They're switching over to the Realize band. My surgeon who has not, by FDA requirements, attend the training seminar that he is required to attend before he can do it by himself. He's done the other band. So the chief surgeon who has done the training session will be assisting. So I'm getting two surgeons. My surgeon has only done 20 bands, chief surgeon over a hundred. My daughter has had the other band with no problems. So I'm excited about having surgery, but somewhat nervous about doctor, although Geisinger Hospital in Danville, PA is an excellent hospital and my surgeon was very patient and didn't get his feelings bruised when I asked a gazillion questions about his not having done many of these procedures. he's done hundreds of the by-pass. But reading the posts on here has helped explain the differences between the brands. Thanks so much. Trisha

Mine is June 1. So I understand. My daughter had her's Feb 2008. She's lost 85 pounds, down to a size 8 and is going June 2 for her plastic surgery (lower body lift). The worst part directly after for her was the gas. My surgeon has said he has a procedure where sucks some of the gas back out so it's not so bad. But for my daughter it was only a day and a half. She had her surgery on Tuesday in Houston, flew back to NYC on Friday and worked Saturday. She's kept her fill pretty tight and has only had a few "incidents" that kind of freaked her out but it was more not being aware of what was happening. She now takes a mild acid reflux med which has helped a lot. But a size 8 she is and a new boy-toy and she's a happy little camper these days....lol. So good luck!!

Good Luck and congrats! Mine is June 1 in Danville, PA. It was a long 6.5 month qualification process, but can't wait for my date. Not looking forward to two week liquid diet. My daughter's doctor only required 3 days. Oh, well, gotta do what ya gotta do. We'll all be on the loser's bench soon. Trisha

Many insurance companies will automatically deny to keep from having to pay. Get your letter, make sure you have everything complete, file your appeal. Then if it's denied again, there are attorneys that that's all they do is handle medical appeals. My daughter was denied but she met BMI requirement but not the comorbidity (blood pressure, etc) requirement. So it would have been hard for her to fight it. She just ended up going from NY to Houston to have it done. Luckily my insurance company has approved but I was ready to fight if they denied. Good luck. Don't give up. Trisha