minpinmom

It is for Active Duty Members and Family and RETIRED military and family. You have Tricare Standard automatically (comes free with retirement) Tricare Prime you have to pay a small fee a year (I think its around 200 a year, but I can't remember). I have Prime, and it is wonderful. I would def. check it out to see if you have coverage. What state do you live in and I will post the Tricare link with phone numbers and such for you.

After 1 week (Tuesday) I get to have creamy liquids. In his pamphlet it just says don't blend meats or solids to make them drinkable. I believe we can blend soups and such, as long as they would be "drinkable" I can't wait. I have to go to bed early each night, my hunger gets worse as the day goes on. I am going to tell my Dr. on Tuesday that I am starving constantly and see if he has any suggestions.

Thank you so much for posting that, I never could visualize what a "slip" looked like.

I have obsessed so much about Lap Band, I rarely discuss other things that are going on in my life. Something that I have done recently and I am very proud of, I took my course and qualified for a Concealed Handgun License. I have always been a crack shot, my Dad was Military and now a Gun Smith. My family are all avid hunters. I believe I am the last of my family to get their CHL. Last Saturday, I sat through an 11 hour class to complete my training. I also qualified with my .32 auto and, if I may brag a little, I scored a perfect 250! Out of 50 shots, ranging from 3 yards, 7 yards and 15 yards, I shot perfect every time. (I told yall I was a crack shot!) I sent in my paperwork a couple days after surgery. Now I have to undergo the 60 day FBI background investigation. Shouldn't be a problem, I have worked for the Government and held a Secret Clearance - this is about the same as getting clearance for my CHL. Well, needless to say I am very excited. No longer will I worry about walking to my car at Wal-Mart, or when I have to travel alone. Thank you Texas for recognizing my right to bare arms! Our theme for Training Day: "The individual who owns his own personal firearms, and commands the skills necessary to use them well, owns a peace of mind that his adversaries cannot match" - Jeff Cooper

Girl, you keep with it, and you WILL be approved. Tricare isn't stressing the details right now. I didn't have any co-morbidities, but I was approved without because I was 200% over the ideal body weight. If you want the link to the Met Life Ideal body weight scale, let me know and I will post it for you. I had asthma as a child and had sleep Apnea, but had surgery to correct it when I was 18. I was afraid my Iron would be low when I did my blood work, I started taking Iron pills a few days before and there were not any problems. Thank you for being a Military WIFE! I am an Army Brat and an AirForce wife. My hubs has since been medically retired or we would still be in. I love the Military life and miss it tremendously. I will be praying for your hubby over there. Pain wise, the IV was the worst for me. I HATE needles. After surgery, I didn't even have any pain meds and I am not even taking Tylenol now. I am a bit achy, but not Oh My God I need meds pain. :-) It was uncomfortable, but not horrible. The only thing I wasn't prepared for was that it is hard to burp. I feel a pressure in my tummy and can tell it is pressing up, but can't get out. Then all of a sudden, I feel a little burp come up. So freakin weird. My family got tired of me talking about this too. I swear I spend almost all of my spare time on the website. It kept my hope alive when I felt I didn't have any. Now, I feel a bit free -er, I don't spend QUITE so much time on here As for Min Pins - they are my Life. We don't have children and they are truly our babies. One of the first things I said in the Hospital is - I miss my girls! Min Pins can be so BAD, but when they are good, they are sooo good. :-)

I had surgery on Tuesday and I am on liquids and I "think" I am hungry. I WANT everything I see, but it is a different feeling. Before surgery, I could down a slimfast in .05 seconds - now, I can barely drink one in 2 hours. It seems thick and sweet and gross. So I guess I am really NOT hungry, just wanting to eat. Somethings that have helped me, adding spices to regular broth, today I had Hot and Sour Soup (strained) it was like a gourmet meal! Though, I would LOVE suggestions too. I have read the entire thread on Liquids, but man oh man, I can't have any of those. My Dr. would FREAK out if I had most of that stuff. I can't even have creamy liquids till next week!

I have a lot of info on my blog - but, let me know if your Dr. says it isn't covered, I can give you the Tricare paper stating its coverage and the codes that it covers. Everything is updated in Tricare's system now - but the Dr.s office seems to be where most of the confusion lies. It was approved on Dec 10th, I started on that day, once I convinced the Dr.s office to call and not just tell me it wasn't covered. It went pretty quickly. Once the paperwork was faxed to Tricare, it was approved in less than a day. You have to STAY ON TOP of your Dr.s office. I called them and Tricare daily to check progress. They were sick of me I am sure. Rest assured, it is covered, and the easiest insurance their is if you qualify. Please let me know if you have any questions, I am helping a couple of others right now too that have had problems with their Dr.s office. Here is my email address too wendy@beldwinkennels.com

I have Tricare, and had my surgery on Tuesday, I had to pay a $12.00 copay for my first consult with the surgeon, then $11.00 for the hospital stay. Sweet! No diets, no psych eval, no nutritionist, nothing - if you qualify, they pay at 100% Your Dr. may be out of network - or doesn't have their facts straight - Tricare is so new at accepting Lapband, not all the Dr.s know about it.

I didn't have any pain meds except in surgery/recovery while I was out. They asked me if I wanted any once I woke up, but I am one of the few that get sick with Narcotics. They left my IV in, but unhooked it. They wanted me to have everything by mouth and not rely on the IV. But it was there if needed. That night at the hospital, I couldn't sleep cuz I was coughing so much, they gave me some Phenergin to prepare for the pain meds (keep me from getting sick) and it knocked me out!

We had surgery the same day! I didn't have any pain meds and took liquid Tylenol a couple of times (soreness from coughing). I am wondering the same thing, I keep taking tiny sips out of fear really.

I had to stay overnight because my insurance company required it. I was ticked at first, but it was a super nice hospital (5 star). Really, they didn't do anything that I couldn't do at home. Although if you are having any problems with nausea, I would suggest staying in the hospital, they can get you well faster with the IV.

The port is the largest in the middle - directly above my belly button. (which you can't see due to all the swelling) yeah - thats why you can't see it :-)

I was just banded, but I have had my bullet for about 2 years and LOVE it. I use it for everything. I also have a food processor, that got put away when I got my bullet . . . never to be seen again :-)

Here are my scars, right after surgery and 2 days later.

Thank you! I am so freakin excited! I can't wait for next week, I know I will feel so much better.

YES! it is really odd, my tummy is making all sorts of sounds - and I feel like I need to burp, but the band seems to be holding the air back, so it is a weird feeling. Every now and then, I burp and it is so nice :-) Of course I have the pain from the anesthesia gas - I have been walking for it and it seems to help. Also, the Gas X Strips.

This has all gone so fast, I didn't want to skip or forget anything that happens - so here I am at 8:00 in the morning, the day before surgery, recounting the events of the prior days. My Pre-Op appointment was on Friday of last week. I found out about it 2 days ahead of times and was so excited. Don't get me wrong, I HATE needles and knew there would be blood work, but I didn't even care. I had to be at Dr. Spiegel's office at 9:30. We arrived and were the only people in the waiting room (my hubs and I). One of the staff members called me back, took my weight, and we sat down at the table to fill out paperwork. I was given a small book/pamphlet with all of the instructions, dos and don'ts, what to eat, what I can take, everything. I signed the paperwork I think there were like 10 pages (I didn't really read it, I just initialed and signed :-) They gave me 2 prescriptions to be filled one for pain and one for nausea. Then they gave me a pre-printed map to the hospital. No copay or anything like that. We arrived at the Hospital, about 15 minutes from his office. University General Hospital. Wow. Talk about posh. Free Valet parking at the front, they met us at the door to check us in. Everyone was so incredibly nice. The hospital is privately owned by the Dr.s who work there - and they do wls, plastics & some ortho, so they cater to the wealthy. The rooms are all private, huge, wireless internet, 42" flat screens in every room, it is so nice, I may want to stay a few extra days. They immediately took me to an office for pre-admissions. Then walked us to the waiting area for the testing. They had HUGE tables of fruits and treats and drinks and anything you could think of in the waiting room. (Hubby liked that) They had me fill out a paper on history and took me into a room to do the tests. They drew my blood, did some heart test, asked me like 1000 medical questions (not exaggerating) and then walked me down the the xray department. They took the xrays and then walked me to the front entrance and said have a great weekend. All in all the entire thing took about 2.5 hours. I was very impressed, and more excited than ever. Tomorrow is the day!

I too take the Flintstones chewables. The B/A drugs were talked about and they gave me a card to order if I wanted them, but also told me that the Dr. likes Flintstones "must be complete" Chewable I take one in the morning and one in the evening. Just my advice, don't take the Wal-Mart off brand of Flintstones, Yuck! They taste horrible!

I can't believe I am sitting here, writing about my surgery. It has been such a long trying road and I have finally found my path. On Tuesday, February 19th, I showed up at University General at 5:30 AM. They have free valet parking and the people are so freakin nice. They took us up to a waiting room with our loved ones. About 5 minutes later, they took us to the back to the pre-op area. We each had our own nurse and area. We were given a gown, cap and sticky slippers to change into. Hopped on the bed and my bed started getting nervous. I wasn't too nervous about the surgery - mostly the IV. I know that sounds silly, but I have an abnormal fear of needles. Well, the IV went in fine, they hooked me up and brought back my honey. I was second to go in for surgery, so I had to wait a while. At about 8:15, they came to get me, I kissed hubby and they rolled me back. I got to see the operating room and then went into lalaland. I woke up and remember hearing the anesthesiologist telling me not to rub my eyes. My throat hurt like hell and come to find out that was because of all the scar tissue from previous surgeries in my throat, it got all torn up from the breathing tube. They asked me how the pain was and all I said was please don't let me throw up. They gave me another dose of nausea meds and then I guess they gave me some pain meds in my IV, not for sure. Soon after they took me up to my room where my hubby was waiting. I felt pretty good, started chewing on ice and using Chloraseptic tabs for my throat. I was up and walking with an hour of getting in my room. About 2 hours later, they took me down for a CT scan. They made me drink this horrible concoction and then lay down on the CT table (that hurt, I am not gonna lie). The CT scan took maybe 3 minutes, the guy was awesome, got me up WITHOUT any pain. Then wheeled me back to my room. They brought in a lovely lunch of broth, water and jello. I sipped on a few things. I had no hunger at all. I didn't take any pain meds until late that night. I had made probably 40 rounds of the hospital walking constantly, and I had begun coughing (which hurt like hell), so that I could sleep they gave me some pain meds and let me tell you - wow, I couldn't tell you my name at that point. I slept until about 4 that morning, then woke up and started walking. They let me take a shower around 7AM and released me around 9. All in all, it was uneventful (thankfully). The staff was awesome and I am so glad that it is over. I am officially a Bandster!

Too funny, I can't wait to get to creamy soups! Yumm - as my hubby, who has always been skinny, downs an entire package of Oreos in front of me! I keep thinking, everyone else can do it, so can I. We will get there!

I was banded 2 days ago (Feb 19th) I am on Clear liquids and pre-mixed protein drinks, we are not allowed to do any type of powders - ever - that sucks, cuz I spent tons on powders before hand. Oh well. I am not hungry, actually have a hard time drinking the slim-fast/atkins drinks, but wow, I could only imagine a cheese bread stick from Pizza Hut Yumm! (This from the girl who can't stomach 1 oz of slimfast - I guess I am experiencing head hunger!)

I was banded by Dr. Spiegel on Tuesday! I am home and doing great. My advice - do it!

I am home and doing great, the worst pain I had was from the breathing tube, but I have tons of scar tissue in my throat from a previous surgery. I have only taken pain meds once and that was in the hospital. I took liquid Tylenol last night (thought it might help me sleep.) I will blog about it tonight or tomorrow. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.

I have gone to my seminars and everything and can't for the life of me remember what he requires for post op food stages. Could be I read too much Lapband Talk and swirls my brain :-) I am going to call Monday and get another packet, but a friend of mine is going down town this weekend to hit some health food stores - I wanna go and get some supplies. Anyone know how long his stages are and what the requirements are? Thanks for the help! Oh, and keep your fingers crossed that Monday I get a surgery date.

Me too ugh! I just hit the back button, but then it shows the thread as unread.