NolaLola

300 calories for 2 months sounds very extreme! I can't imagine any dietitian or doctor recommended that! I was 280 lbs when I met with my surgeon. I also have PCOS and IR. She instructed me to be on a 2 week diet. Low carb, low fat, high Protein. 1000 calories a day. shakes and veggies. I added in a little bit of egg whites with no fat or a little bit of boiled chicken breast. I've lost 13.5 lbs in 14 days. Surgery tomorrow! My pre-op diet was detailed on my blog, Girl Meets Band, if you would like to check it out. Try to seek out a surgeon with a practice dedicated to weight loss surgery, even if you have to travel for it!

I wanted to go through your list of symptoms to share what I have experienced, and see if anyone has anything else to add. infrequent menstrual periods, no menstrual periods, and/or irregular bleeding - check. I've gone ten months without a cycle. my dr has said that isn't good, and wants me to either take a ten day dose of hormones in order to cycle and shed the uterine lining, or to get on birth control pills, so I am shedding uterine lining. funny, I went to see her a few months before my surgery - she was very supportive, told me she thought it would greatly improve my fertility and chances of getting pregnant when I try - aiming for two years down the line. She did want me to cycle before the surgery, and prescribed ten days of progesterin. (sp?) Day I pick up the prescription? I start my period. Now I am having my period again, a month later. This hasn't happened to me without BCP for...ever? I have opted out of taking BCP because I want to observe how my body reacts to the surgery and weight loss. Will have to be super careful to use bc, though, as I want to get the full benefit of the surgery and initial weight loss, so want to give myself two years to loose and stabilize a bit. infertility or inability to get pregnant because of not ovulating - well right now, I'm not trying, but I am pretty sure I am not ovulating. Hopeful, though! increased growth of hair on the face, chest, stomach, back, thumbs, or toes - OH YEAH - I've done laser on my lip, chin, and neck. Still need more, but it is much much much better. Have hairs between my breasts and around my nipples that I tweeze - I know other friends that have the same and don't have PCOS, so that could just be a getting a little older thing. acne, oily skin, or dandruff - I have terrible dandruff, and if I dont' use dandruff shampoo regularly, am in deep trouble. I also have dry skin/eczema around my nose, my eyebrows, and behind my ears. Also on my scalp-line. I didn't know this was a PCOS symptom, so there is something else to look forward to resolving., pelvic pain - nope. weight gain or obesity, usually carrying extra weight around the waist. yeah. 280 right now. apple shaped, although my bones are hour glass. type 2 diabetes - not yet, but I am sure I would get there. high cholesterol - overall number is not high, but bad/good cholesterol ration is not good. high blood pressure - nope male-pattern baldness or thinning hair - the front of my hair is not as thick as as it used to be...not BAD, but it is really sad as it used to be gorgeous! patches of thickened and dark brown or black skin on the neck, arms, breasts, or thighs - yeah - I thought this was Tinea Versicolor Any insight? skin tags, or tiny excess flaps of skin in the armpits or neck area - yep. had some cut off by the derm. have more tags, but don't want to pay...:w00t: sleep apnea―excessive snoring and breathing stops at times while asleep yeah. worries my bf. I am curious how other people experience these symptoms.

Hi y'all. Brooklyn girl here...surgery date is December 22, at NYU. My blog is girlmeetsband.blogspot.com

I think if you try to follow a generally established plan. It could be weight watchers, south beach, the zone, etc. submit a summary to your dr and ask if he thinks this is a good idea. I have been advised to do WW by several drs over the years. You probably don't have to pay to go to weekly meetings as long as you follow there program. Or just say, I am going to try to keep my calories to 1500, exercise three times a week... Or, you could always call Cigna and ask them! That is probably the easiest. Make sure you get a name and id number of whomever you talk to, along with the date, in case you need to verify later. Good luck! I am starting my pre-op diet in less than three weeks!

Hi Amy, Thanks for your response! I'm very excited to get my band, and it's great to hear that it has worked well for you!

I’m gonna be anonymous, at least to start. I am going by Lola. A little bit about me: I’m almost exactly 32.5 years old. I live in Brooklyn, New York in a little walk-up apartment, with my boyfriend, E. I’m a trained professional (see how I am trying to be all anonymous?) and I’ve recently decided to hang out a shingle and start my own business. My parents are lovely but difficult, they way all parents are, and I have a younger brother. I like long walks on the beach (really!), reading, cooking, traveling, friends, movies, museums, and manatees. OK, I don’t really care about manatees all that much, but I am a sucker for a good alliteration! Oh, and at 5′4″, I weight approximately 280 lbs, give or take the time of day and what I ate for dinner last night. That’s about 150 lb more than where I should be. I think I first purchased a can of Slim-Fast from the local drug store on Main Street when I was…12? Followed by (what wasn’t it followed by, but here are some highlights): the Scarsdale Diet the eat-nothing-but-chicken-breasts- and green-vegetables diet the low-carb and take supplements I had to buy from the diet counselor diet the Dr who told me to take 2-1-2 pills throughout the day. This was college already, I think…I slept 1-2 hours per night with horrible nightmares. the homeopath (male, in his seventies) who asked what was my favorite sexual position and recommended daily orgasms Atkins Atkins plus Meridia, Xenical,Strattera, Ionomine (also known as Phentermine, one of the phens in phen-phen), Wellbutrin, and a few others I don’t remember (couples with various sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medications, cause the pills made me so jumpy) Weight Watchers seventy million sessions with trainers and at least a dozen gym memberships I never used… …and I kept getting fatter. Some of these things worked, especially low carb diets combined with strong drugs. As soon as I weakened the regime, as soon as i stopped popping pills, as soon as I tried to have a normal life…it all came back. I’m not going to claim that I am blameless. I like to eat. I like to eat a lot. As in I enjoy it intensely and I do it in immense quantities. I am, to toot my own horn, an amazing cook, a good baker, and take a great interest in food, reading about it, following food blogs, watching tv shows, researching restaurants and ingredients. I also like to secretly stuff myself on cheap, crappy food. I binge, but don’t purge, although I have often wished I could. I usually have to do it by myself, or at various points, I have had partners in crime. Home is preferable, as fat people don’t like to be seen eating any more than a small-to-medium sized portion in public and act surprised how they got so fat. Then I sit around and rub my belly...not good at all! My boyfriend had lap band surgery at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital almost one year ago, and has lost almost 80 lbs, despite having an infection and almost no fill for the first six months. When he told me about the surgery I was shocked and awed. I was convinced I would never want to have surgery. Fast forward to today, and I have been to two seminars, gotten health insurance, and have an appointment scheduled with Dr. Marina Kurian at NYU. I hope to have surgery by the end of 2009, and I am very excited! Reading your comments and blogs has been a big part of my decision, so I look forward to interacting with you all. I am also blogging at Loosing It: Weight Loss Surgery and Life. xx, Lola