bestbette

Today I went to my last mandatory seminar prior to surgery, which was a 4 hour educational course. Half of the course was devoted to what to expect and risks, the second half to diet, both pre-op (which I am enjoying now) and the first phase of post op. I'm looking for the High Protien Slim Fast cans but they were not at my local grocery or WalMart. I might let my fingers do the walking instead of driving all around town wasting gas. I'm excited about the procedure and think I've decided on getting the LapBand version. They passed around both the Lap and Realize bands for us to inspect today and although I know the statistics say the results are identical I liked the LapBand better (except for the port). The band itself seemed more sturdy and honestly it looked to me like the balloon on the inside of the Realize band was visibly glued on? Not the most encouraging. As I'm self pay, the instructor said that they will most likely try to get me in early in the morning...arrival time 5am and Sx at 7a and then in the car on the way home by 1 or 2p??? Wow. I'm very thankful that I have a strong support system. I would be much more concerned if I was going home alone.

That does seem a very long time to get everything done! I went to the educational seminar this afternoon (4 hours) which is the last seminar I have to attend. I got tomorrow for my history and physical and testing. I know that it will include basic bloodwork, chest xray, and EKG. Other than that I'm not sure. I don't have any comorbidities that would trigger add'l tests for me. Do you? I'll post again tomorrow and say what else happened. It's all in one day though...not multiple months...

Well I just finished an oh-so-healthy dinner with my mother, which consisted of chips and dip and double pepperoni pizza. Mmm. Over the last month I've tried to "get in" all of the bad foods that I will not be able to have once banded. I think I'm most sad about sushi. I might have to be a sashimi girl from now on. Tomorrow marks the two week date until my surgery. I don't officially meet with the dietician until Tuesday but I've committed to starting liquid tomorrow. If I find out that I can also have a small salad and/or chicken, then great. I also drank the last sweet tea in my fridge this morning :confused3: I'm a little bit worried about this one as I'm a sweet tea aholic. I'm throwing out the remaining caffiene tea bags and sugar that I have in the house. Tomorrow I will also start caffiene free...honestly, that's what I'm really bracing for. I've done some research over the past few days comparing Lap and Realize Bands. I think I'm going to go with the LapBand unless my surgeon tells me strongly otherwise for some reason. I weighed in a 278 this morning and am 5'11'' so here's looking for that scale to be starting a downward trend that will continue for quite a while. I have a 4 hour mandatory seminar tomorrow so hopefully it will be informative, the presenters good, and I won't recv a million work calls throughout. Till then!

Well great, I hope that your insurance company doesn't try to throw you any curveballs. Good luck at your appt Wed with Dr. Brengman. I see him arount the hosptial a lot and he seems a great person and I've heard he's a really good surgeon to boot! Let me know how it goes!

Well I just finished an oh-so-healthy dinner with my mother, which consisted of chips and dip and double pepperoni pizza. Mmm. Over the last month I've tried to "get in" all of the bad foods that I will not be able to have once banded. I think I'm most sad about sushi. I might have to be a sashimi girl from now on. Tomorrow marks the two week date until my surgery. I don't officially meet with the dietician until Tuesday but I've committed to starting liquid tomorrow. If I find out that I can also have a small salad and/or chicken, then great. I also drank the last sweet tea in my fridge this morning I'm a little bit worried about this one as I'm a sweet tea aholic. I'm throwing out the remaining caffiene tea bags and sugar that I have in the house. Tomorrow I will also start caffiene free...honestly, that's what I'm really bracing for. I've done some research over the past few days comparing Lap and Realize Bands. I think I'm going to go with the LapBand unless my surgeon tells me strongly otherwise for some reason. I weighed in a 278 this morning and am 5'11'' so here's looking for that scale to be starting a downward trend that will continue for quite a while. I have a 4 hour mandatory seminar tomorrow so hopefully it will be informative, the presenters good, and I won't recv a million work calls throughout. Till then!

Great, thanks for your reply. I unfortunately had to be self pay as the company where I work does not have an obesity rider. I've wrangled with my insurance company about this but apparently there is no recourse. I was told by my HR department that they would be adding the rider and so I waited two years with that expectation and it never happend and so I made the decision to move forward on my own. I chose Dr. Schroder b/c I know two other women who went to him and both had good experiences. I had to first attend an introductory seminar prior to getting an initial consultation appointment. The first seminar was on June 8 and I had my first appt with the Dr. that Friday June 12. June 19 I went for my pysch evaluation. On Monday I have my 2nd seminar, which is pre-op education. Tuesday I have my H&P and pre-op testing as well as a meeting with the nurse practitioner. Thursday (this is all this upcoming week) I have to attend an additional meeting about the option to purchase addl insurance since I'm self pay. The next week I will be concentrating on trying not to kill anyone since it will be the second week of my pre-op diet and then my surgery is scheduled for Monday, July 20th. So, all in all things have moved along smoothly. But then again I've not had to wait for insurance approval. Have you read the fine print of your policy?

Hello to all of the bandsters out there. I decided to keep a quick blog here to keep track of myself and to share with others. I find that the message boards are a bit busy and I do a poor job of keeping up. Here I can say what's going on for my own reference as well as anyone else who might stop by (welcome). I am scheduled to be banded on Monday, July 20, 2009. WLS was first suggested to me back in 1997 but I think I was too young and generally not ready. I recently have had a family sponsor come forth to self pay my surgery and am very very grateful that I'm able to start this journey. I've already completed my initial surgeon consult and psych exam. I'm scheduled for an additional educational seminar and my H&P next week. I'm a little nervous about starting the pre-op diet and getting underway with giving up my guilty pleasure food but I'm 110% sure that it's for the best. I'll try to post again after my next dr appt!

Hello to all of the bandsters out there. I decided to keep a quick blog here to keep track of myself and to share with others. I find that the message boards are a bit busy and I do a poor job of keeping up. Here I can say what's going on for my own reference as well as anyone else who might stop by (welcome). I am scheduled to be banded on Monday, July 20, 2009. WLS was first suggested to me back in 1997 but I think I was too young and generally not ready. I recently have had a family sponsor come forth to self pay my surgery and am very very grateful that I'm able to start this journey. I've already completed my initial surgeon consult and psych exam. I'm scheduled for an additional educational seminar and my H&P next week. I'm a little nervous about starting the pre-op diet and getting underway with giving up my guilty pleasure food but I'm 110% sure that it's for the best. I'll try to post again after my next dr appt!

Hello! First post... yes, my surgery date is also July 20. I'm self pay so things have moved very fast for me. Scheduled to start pre op diet on July 7th. A little nervous but very excited!