honk

Yes it is totally normal to be nervous. I was concerned about the anesthesia, and after having a blood clot (mini stroke) last year I was worried about another blood clot. I came through the surgery really well. Surgery was afternoon Thursday 8/12 stayed over night in the hospital went home 2:00 PM Friday. My mother is staying with me. Sat afternoon we went out to a couple stores so I did about 15 minutes of walking per store. I am on liquid Tylenol and only have pain when I get up after laying flat. So far I have not had the gas pains in the shoulder that others mention. From the surgery itself/protein diet I am very gassy. I am having a reaction from the tape they used to hold my bust out of the way. I put some cream on it which seems to be helping.

My doctor submits the weigh in from the first consult. My surgery had to be postponed and in the following 4 months I lost an additional 25 pounds. I still qualified for the surgery due to BMI but my insurance did not question the weight loss. From my first consult to surgery I lost 53 pounds. Many/most doctors require a presurgery weight loss of 5-10% of body weight.

I add suger free (contains Splendra) davinci coffee flavoring. Flavors I have tried Chocolate, Raspberry, Carmel.

I had worn in a strechy cotton Capris and a very large cotton t shirt with a front clasp bra. Due to where my incisions are I decided not to wear the bra. I had no problem putting on socks sat on the hosiptal bed and pulled my leg up. I wore sneckers that I could slide on. My shirt was pretty big. Advise I read here included to bring a pillow (I used one from my couch) to put between you and the seat belt. I do think that helped.

I know I was told 2 weeks before swimming. I always shower so I did'nt ask about bathing.

My surgeon wanted me to do a 500 Calorie:rolleyes: liquid diet (HMR); which I did for 5 days and did'nt loose anything! I went to his office and said it was giving me an allergic reaction, I was'nt loosing weight, and it was giving me the worst food obsession I have ever had. Considering I had been loosing 2 pounds a week on my own diet (1-2 protein shakes a day and 1-2 meals) and exercising 7 days a week the nurse told me to stop the HMR. In my opinion being on an obscenly low calorie diet is counterproductive.

My approval came through about 2 weeks after my first consult. The doctor did not schedule the surgery until I had gone through all the hoops (4 preop Mindful Eating Therapy sessions, appointments with both Nurse Practioner, and Nut.). He also required me (and all the other patients I know) to loose 10% of their body weight. So it was about 2 months after the approval that I got a date.

Hi. I have a knee problem that makes walking difficult. About 16 months ago I finally went to a Orthopedic surgeon about the pain. Horrific. In a very harsh way he said I was to young for a replacement and that I was fat. Yeah like I did'nt know that. Well I started swimming everyday (7 days a week) and some food choice changes and lost 30 pounds. Despite these changes at 39 I got a blood clot in the brain and had a mini stroke). At one of my many doctors appointments afterward one said to me "Have you ever considered weight loss surgery?" I was devistated. Because I felt like I had been working on my weight and I still had a stroke! Three weeks later I went to my First Consult. I totally understand that it's hard for you to do weightbearing exercise and strongly recommend swimming. I use a waterproof MP3 player which makes exercising so much better. I'm really lucky in that my family has been very supportive of the surgery. My brother is a recovering alcoholic so my family knows we (as a family) have addictive personalities. I am not telling anyone outside my immediate family (plus one friend who has weight issues whose sister is considering Lap Band). It boils down to the fact that this is your body and you're the one who has to live with it's problems. No one else.

I have treid the V8 sweet red pepper soup to which I added garlic powder but it was pretty good.

You could also talk with the pharmacist. I do it all the time when I am buying over the counter stuff to make sure it won't interact with the Meds I am taking.

I have read on line several instances where people have had lapband after bypass. In regards to insurance call you carrier and ask them. Each employer has their own policy and that determines what is covered.

I'm borrowing a recliner for the recovery period since a lot of people mentioned they are more comfortable for sleeping than the bed. My nephews were going to bring it over the day I got home from the hospital and ended up coming over last night. You should have seen me trying to clean before they got here! My biggest issue is mail. I have a shreader but I just put it aside and say "later" Well yesterday was later:eek:! I also had to dust. My other major downfall is the laundry room. I have a row of cabinets in there with counter top perfect for folding. Soooo anything that gets dried I fold and it stays there (hey at least everything is clean). I live alone so it's not a problem. If I'm getting guests though the laundry is attached to the down stairs bathroom and I have to put every thing away. Ugggg. Also I had to clean off the dining room table and counters and put away post op soups/protein/etc. I think I will have my mother stay in my room (first floor master); if I am going to sleep in the living room. Which means I have to wash the sheets, Duvet covers etc. While admittedly I have a nice/new kitchen I don't use it as much as it deserves. My mother says "If I had this kitchen I would just sit at the table and look at it!" Sooo needless to say it has to be clean before she comes to visit. Also one of my friends from my old job might want to come see me while I recuperate and he has never seen my house. Which means he will want to see all of it and I will have to clean before the surgery (everyone from work knew I bought a mess of a foreclosure and rehabed 90% of the house). Urrrrggggg.

Hi. As mentioned your insurance rules will determine what kind of hoops you have to go through as well as your doctors protocol. Between my insurnance and doctor I had: a seminar (that explained the surgery but I had already researched that), First appointment 3 hours (Nurse Practitioner, Psychologist, Nutritionist), 2nd meeting Nurse Practitioner, 2 nd meeting Nut, 4 Group sessions with Psychologist regarding eating habbits and coping strategies, 1 st meeting with surgeon, 3rd meeting with Nut, 2 nd meeting with surgeon, Pre Op blood work, EKG, Class to discuss surgery (sign release forms) and Class on how to eat for the first month after surgery, and letters of release from my Hemotologist (I had a blood clot last year).

Okay so you know how people ask about having a presurgery favorite foods meal? Well I thought about that and I did'nt really come up with a food that I really wanted. I am on a self impossed semi liquid diet; so I do get one real chewing meal a day. Well I was grocery shopping the other day and saw Bing Cherries and decided that would be my presurgery treat. They were $3.50 pound and I did'nt care. I figured fruit was better than a quarter pounder with cheese. Does this show a life style change or am I just rationalizing?

First off White or Red? Anyway. I went on a cruise preband and I actually lost weight. My mother and I would either go on an excursion and do a lot of walking or if we were on ship get up early and go swimming before breakfast. Also we were on an enormous ship and got a lot of walking in just getting to the restaurants. At the buffets you choose how much food you want. At breakfast you can even order egg whites instead of regular eggs. At the ship's restaurants they have several courses but the serving sizes are not that large. You can pick and choose how many courses you want. FYI when we ordered ice cream for dessert (very decident home made stuff) each "scoop" was ping pong ball size. So you can get a taste without over doing it.

First JennaJ I work in HR and your boss is creating a classic example of Hostile Work Environment. I would document quotes of what she says to you and others and bring them to HR. Her behavior is not acceptable. If she hassles your other coworker about having surgery have her go to HR as well. Bullies will continue to do what they want until someone stops them. Period. Okay, off my soap box. Last year I was layed off and now work from home so I don't really have co workers/boss that I see every day. I told my boss two weeks ago that I would need to take a week off for a medical procedure and will remind him today. I'm a consultant so no work/no pay so nothing really for him to gripe about. I've told my mother (who will come to stay with me after surgery), two sisters (one's boyfriend, and the other's husband), two adult nephews, niece (who luckily got her paternal grandmother's genes tall and skinny). My brother is out of town on business and has been for 3 months. I will tell him eventurally. My friends from my previous employer I just wanted to wait until ther surgery was done (I had to postpone in March). In general I think they will be very supportive. Last time we had lunch they all commeted on how I had lost weight (about 20 pounds) since I had last seen them. Two people who I will not be telling: a former coworker who at Size 2 constantly complains about her weight; and my former boss who would walk around the room and insult and embarass you about what you had or lunch. One time she went off on me because I put too much ice tea mix in my drink "You're going to be a diabetic" It was suger free mix; which another coworker pointed out to her.

My instructions said not to drive for a week, longer if on pain medications. I think the environments you are driving in should be considered. My hospital is in a urban area. If you have to do a lot of twisting in your seat to merge into traffic that could be a problem.

I believe the reasoning behind loosing weight is 1) the laproscopic procedure requires running the tools through the belly area and the less fat the better; 2) Getting you into the habit of eating heathier and smaller portions, 3)surgeries have risk and the less you weigh the better. I am a bit sqemish so I held off watching the videos on youtube. Real surgeries not animated ones. I finally watched them and actually feel better about the surgery. The thing that really shocked me was they showed this yellow stuff that they were moving the tools through. I thought to myself that cant be fat. Well it was. So you really got the idea how important loosing weight will be pre surgery. Also they show how they lift the liver out of the way so that the stomach can be worked on. They have to lift half of it which I never really though about how one organ can completly cover another. Livers store fat and one doctor said that the 2 week liquid presurgery can shrink the liver by 25%! That's a lot.

After your post I tried one yesterday. Really suprised but not for me! I normally swim but on occation will do an hour of elliptical. Hands free so no hanging on swinging my arms like running. The arc for me was not a good motion. Felt super awkward and my knee was not happy. It's funny how a machine wil work for one person and not another. :party:

Here's the one I bought:Taylor Glass Body Fat/Body Water scale, Model 5599 http://www.amazon.com/Taylor-5599-Pound-Tempered-Fat-Body/dp/B001FWXFN6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1281234444&sr=8-3 It is one pound more than the scale at my PCP and one less than the surgeon's. Shrug. It does a lot of stuff that I did'nt bother to learn about (like keep track of the weight of multiple people)

I don't know why they gave you a surgery date without insurance approval. Very frustrating. My doctor did not schedule a date until after my last physical/consult with him.

My first consult was 12/28 I was scheduled for sugery 3/10 but had to postpone due to another health issue. When you do see the surgeon they are likely to require you to loose some weight before surgery. I have heard 5-10% of body weight. My surgeon required 10%, with the delay I have actually lost 15%. Depending on how strick your surgeon is the amount of weight you need to loose could affect how long it takes before you could have surgery.

You may not get the original 6K back; but I would think that the amount that equals your deductable that you have to pay now should be returned. You should'nt be billed twice for basically one operation.

Not to be a gossip but all the doctors know why he's gone they just can't/should'nt discuss it. I think doctor's and lawyers both have special classification under Non Compete contracts. Meaning they can take their clients with them when they leave. The fact that you were'nt given notice of his leaving leads me to believe that that it was not a happy/clean break.

I am preband. While my weight loss has been pretty good; I did have a about a month (my journey has been longer than some) where the scale was'nt really moving. I did however notice that button up shirts that were tight before now fit/were to big. You might want to take some basic measurements check them every week. You could be gaining muscle and loosing fat.