kimkimmie

Hi Melissa! I am in Jacksonville too (also 5'6" - 35 years old) and I'm just finishing my insurance required 6 month requirement! I have 1 last visit with Dr.Cyves and then they are going to submit my info to Cigna and once approved I will FINALLY be banded! They are predicting March. I was 318.5 when I started the process, and I weighed last week and was at 303.5. They are only having me add 10 minutes of exercise a day and I have to eat under 30 carbs per day. I've done my Psych Eval, Nutritionist visit, and I also did my labs, EKG, and chest x-ray. My file is ready to submit and just needs Dr C to sign off on it. I've researced this for a few years, and am getting anxious and impatient. Thank God you only have to do 3 months. Who is doing your surgery? Have you been to the weightloss seminars? I went to Dr. Webb and Dr.Cyves. I chose Dr. Cyves because of his experience (nearly 800 bands) and that is the only WLS he does. He is also a Pediatric surgeon and before he moved to Jax he did surgery on babies while they were still in the womb. He has to have Amazing skills to have done that! Best of luck and pm me from time to time to let me know how things are going. If you happen to be using Dr. C he has monthly support group meetings the 1st Thursday of every month at 7:30 pm at his office on Beach Blvd. I go to them to learn more about the band and to hear 1st hand from the people that are losing the weigh with their band tool.

Hey Susan! I talked to you a year or two ago! I'm finally getting my band! It should be in March. I am just finishing up my 6 month Cigna requirement with Dr. Cywes. I didn't want to be a self pay since if there were any problems I would be in debt for life! Anyway, I decided since the company I worked for was closing, that in my job hunt I would make it a requirement that the job I took had to have insurance that included LapBand surgery. Well, Citibank's insurance covers it *but again you have to go thru 6 months of physician supervised weight loss first*. I've lost about 15 pounds since October which is when I really started to follow the under 30 carbs a day regimine and added 10-20 minutes of walking per day. I just wanted to say hello! ~Kim

Hey ya'll! I'm here in Jax too. I'm a patient of Dr.Cywes too. I have my last appointment before getting the band on 2/13. They say depending on insurance I should be banded in March. I've been researching and preparing for 2-3 years and have been on the Cigna 6 month requirement for 6 months now. I've been going to the support group meetings at his office. I enjoy it and I like that it is at 7:30pm. It is 1x a month first Thursday of every month. There are some nice people there. Anyway, I can't wait to get my band too!! ~Kim

My surgeon said that once I get the band and well I should start now... I should limit carbs to 30 per day not including any that may be in my meat or non starchy veggies. I would prefer to do the points. I lost over 60 pounds in 2000 on WW... But since then I have gradually gained all of the pounds back PLUS about 25 more on top of that!!! I think with the band I could be and stay a WW success! I have to discuss it with my surgeon, maybe as maintenance. I know that they want us to eat Protein first to be sure we get in in and this keeps our metabolism up and gives us nutrition we need to avoid losing muscle... after we finish the protein we are supposed to move to non starchy veggies... and maybe a little dairy. With 1 piece of fruit and 1 dairy that is really the 30 carbs already so on rare occasion we can have a special meal, but that is supposed to be like once a month or something... ~Kim

Are we related? That is how I feel. When you were little, did your parents restrict what you could have and how much? I wasn'r alowed to go in the fridge and eat in case something was a part of a meal that my mom was planning to cook. Restaurants were not everyday and often we went for special occasions. Now I eat at restaurants every day! I am just like you where if I can get the yummy restaurant food I will get it whenever I can even if I am not hungry, and if it is something I don't like, I typically will not eat it even if I am a little hungry. Now if it something that is just 'ok' like a grilled cheese I would eat it if I was hungry and too tired to run through a drive through or something. I don't know what the psych will say about this. ~Kim

Good morning... I have a BMI of 50. I am a horrible eater, but must say I love everything I eat. I will be making a huge change to start eating dark meat chicken with no skin or some fish or protein shakes and adding fruits and veggies and not doing too much with carbs. This is a whole other planet to me and why I did the WW flex plan over core... With WW Flex I could eat anything as long as it was 32 points. But alas I have messed that one up by overeating when I ran out of points if the opportunity arose. I want to lose the weight. I am scared about the eating and the possibility that I will take on that debt (self pay) and not be able to do it. My hubby already asks me if I am using the $700 treadmil I just bought in March... yeah, I did for a while, but not so much now (I need to use it! Maybe tonight ! Well this is going to cost 10 times more, so I absolutely have to make it work. I am so afraid to give up the food, I am sad to think that I cannot eat some of the foods that I love after the band. I really need to get my head right! I know some of ya'll used to eat like I do now before losing so much weight with the band. How did you transition? How hard was it. Did you suprise yourself, or did you know up front that you could do it? I tried WW Core, and can usually only do it a week at a time because I get tired of the food choices, and these are really pretty much the only food choices that I can have if I am banded, and it won't be for a week, it will be for the rest of my life! I guess the band will help me to give it all up, since I won't be able to eat that stuff without getting sick, and if I can tolerate some of it I won't be able to eat as much! Luckily I don't drink calories with the exception of milk, and I can pretty much avoid chocolate and icecream... maybei can have the low fat kind once in a while as a treat. I'd like to see a thread where people post what they eat each day for all meals, do you know if there is one on here? Thanks for listening!!! I want to be successful, I want to be 'not fat' andi honestly want it more than I want to eat yummy foods, but it is a very close race sadly. ~Kim

Hmmmm I usually eat till I am full, which makes me sleepy (especially at lunch)... My guess is that no longer will happen after the band! Thanks for answering my question.

Wow, thanks for calculating that, yikes! that is a lot of fat and calories! I sincerely appreciate your help and effort. ~Kim

Thanks for making me laugh :huggie: I never really thought about what people eat in Alice Springs, Do you guys hafve Outback Steakhouse there?? I do appreciate all of your input, and rest assured Once banded I will not eat like that, maybe some of the foods some times, but I will have a plan in place. I do get to meet with a dietician, but that is after my $500 deposit so I wanted to test the waters with all of the experts (all of you wonderful and helpful people :clap2: )!! I sincerely thank you all... I almost can't imagine eating that little, but I am determined to keep appointments and meet with the doctor for fills and to avoid drinking any calories except for skim milk and the occasional Protein drink. Nite all!!

Thanks for your input. I guess there are a lot of foods that I will be kissing goodbye forever. That's still OK, I want to live longer, and look better! ~Kim

So is it just as satisfying as being full without the band?