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Please don't be afraid to seek counseling help. Where I went the per-surgery preparation included may workshops on the physical as well as mental/emotional changes that many people experience after WLS. I concentrated on the physical thinking that this was the major change I was making. To my surprise it was the emotional/mental changes that knocked me on my butt. As a happily married husband and father that was hard to admit or accept that this was my biggest challenge. Believe me that so many of us are with you in this. Several months later now after many months of talk therapy as well as pharmaceutical help I can look back and wonder how I made it through that time. By outward appearance all may seem wonderful and at the same time nobody else may know that mentally that same person could be barely holding it together. You have taken a big step toward physical well being. Be sure to continue this holistic well being too as needed. The entire WLS team including coordinating doctors and NP's, psychologists and nutritionists have a lot of time invested in your success and when asked should quickly be able to give you referrals for help if you ask them. I know my NP who did my followup and fills was the best and true cares for her patients well being.

Doing your first 5K is such an accomplishment. I ran mine a year ago on April 15, 2011. It made me feel so good that I continued to do a few more and now I am running 4-6 miles a day 4 days a week with the occasional longer run added in. I am training for a 1/2 marathon (13.1 miles) on Memorial Day weekend. There should be no need for extra carbs for 3 miles. You should be fine energy wise. In fact most races are in the morning and I don't do so well eating that early so I will just be sure to hydrate well (not too well so that you have to pee mid-race). Maybe 8-16 oz of water. Good Luck. I'm sure you will do great. !!

It's funny, Its both always on my mind and almost never on my mind if that makes sense. I know its there and it helps everyday to keep my lifestyle in check. It's never there in that I don't obsess about food anymore. In fact I used to love to eat and cook new recipes. Now I eat to live and not live to eat. It is on my mind in those few times I get stuck which is maybe once every few weeks. I don't think about dime sized bites anymore or any of the things I was taught when starting with the band. Avoiding trouble food and trouble times of day (morning) are all almost natural now. I think about it when I am exercising and trying to maximize the intensity or running distance. I think about it when I am sitting in the same chair comfortably with my 2 daughters reading a book and not having my fat rolls pinched as we all squirm trying to get more comfortable. I think about it when I walk by a mirror and can see the shape of my ribs and I can look down and see toes instead of the top of my belly. There are so many things more I could say but those are a few of my thoughts for today.

I know exactly what you mean. It takes a while to get over some things. It was almost 14 months post surgery (just a couple weeks ago) that I pulled 3 big trash bags full of my big clothes out of the crawl space where I was saving them "just in case" and dropped them off at goodwill. My wife took up calling me a Diva because I would come home with a something new every couple weeks. The fact is I had to replace an entire wardrobe so coming home with a new pair of pants or a couple new shirts or a belt once every couple of weeks is not unreasonable. I've spent more time in dressing rooms trying on different sizes that I had the the previous 40 years combined.

Wow.. Some of the people that answer are kind of "pissy". sheesh. I would say talk to you doctor. I had 2 weeks of liquid prescribed. After one week I was in the office getting my final bloodwork done and without even asking they told me I was fine to have a small meal every day for the final week along with the protein shakes. That was great as it was Christmas week and it would have sucked to sitdown to a beef tenderloin dinner with the whole extended family while I sipped on a protein shake and chicken broth. The 3 ozs of rare tenderloin rocked. They may very well tell you not to have anything. If so well at least you asked. And I sure don't think baked chicken and lettuce leaves is setting up for failure.. By the way, congratulations and what a nice Valentines present you are giving yourself. If I was there I would give you a heart shaped red jello servering for your first Valentine's Day meal. -- If the doc said it was OK Good Luck.

They should have clearly outlined in the denial what the reason was for denial. With that said I have Aetna and was denied as well. I was denied thoughout the entire appeals process. The final step after exhausting all appeals though the insurance company is to request an idependeant external review process. I contacted Kelley Brown Lindstrom at obesitylaw.com on a recommendation from someone on this site. She and her husband Walter are AWESOME !! They handled every appeal and finally the external review process. My claim was overturned in the external review and Aetna was required to cover the procedure. Believe me I know the frustration and disappointment that comes with every denial letter. I lived this for OVER a year. I got my approval 1 day before my family vacation to Disney World in October 2010. My surgery was 12/28/2010. At this point I am almost 14 months post surgery and couldnt be happier with the weight loss. I am at 182 which is only 7 pounds above my goal weight. A little over a year ago I couldnt do a lap around the track without feeling like I was going to die. Since then I have run several 5K races with time under 25 minutes. I play hockey a couple times a week and I am training for a half marathon in May. Please dont let those denials discourage you. I know how bad they made me feel. I think I got a total of 5 of them over a 10 month period. Check out obesitylaw.com web site too. It cost me exactly $0 for all of their help. Did I say that Kelley is the BEST. After every denial she was so encouraging. She assured me that it was OK. That is what they wanted in my case. They had to get away from the reviewers in Aetna and get to the external review. I'm sure every case is differnt but again please hang in there. It is so worth the fight.

So I never really heard about the obstacle races before your post Maggie. In fact it never really registered that you were doing anything different than a regular road race. I have since seen more info about them in my area and found a friend and his wife are into the Warrior Dash and Spartan Races. It looks like a blast. I am definitely signing up for them next year. Good for you for finishing that. I thought going up hills in a regular 5K was a challenge. I never thought about having to crawl through mud and over walls and carry 5 gallons buckets full of rocks in a race. Talk about a real challenge. Congratulations to you too Steph !!

Congratulations to everyone that was approved. I have Aetna and was denied. the denial was uphelp in the first and second level appeal by Aetna. It was so stressful. The final appeal is an independent external review process. This is where the decision goes out to an independent doctor not associated with the insurance company who will decide based upon the information provided if the patient meets the standards published by NIH and other medical groups. Mine did and the decision by Aetna was overturned. The entire process took almost 10 months and was SO stressful. All of my appeals were done with the help of http://www.obesitylaw.com It cost me nothing and Kelley is the BEST !! She called me 2 days before I was going to Disney to tell me the good news. She even offered to give me passes to Disneyland that they use to take out the employees in the office each year. Unfortunately I was going to Disney World in FL so I couldn't use the passes. She was so nice I decided I would tell everyone who was having issues with approval about them. They provide an awesome service to people who could really use help. I believe her husband Walter had both Gastric bypass and a Lapband revision later on. Good Luck to anyone having to deal with Aetna.

I told my wife when I made the decision to attend a seminar. I told my parents and my mother in law when I was 2 weeks out and starting the liquid diet. I would be at Christmas dinners at their houses and was hoping to avoid comments about why I was not eating. They were very good at keeping it low key. I told my 2 sisters about 8-10 weeks after surgery when they were asking how I had lost so much weight. That was all I told or plan to at this time. My mother told me just last week that she had told my aunt and cousins all about it. She decided that because they were all overweight that she could tell them. I don't get that logic but whatever. Whats done is done. They are all gossip mouths so I'm sure my secret will be known by everyone soon. My aunt works at my PCP's office and I was actually thinking of changing doctors so she wouldn't have access to my medical records and have a chance to find out and start gossiping about it. Oh well. No need to now. I am learning that there is nothing to be ashamed of. If fact I should be proud instead of working hard and being in better shape. This is the first year in almost 25 years that I am beginning to feel comfortable enough to swim in my pool without a shirt on. I have noticed a few glances at my line of scars but have not had any comments yet except from my 9 year old daughter. I think people notice more than my scars that I don't have a spare tire of fat hanging over my pants instead which is nice.

That is a riot. Congratulations on your bones. :lol:

You have learned a good lesson. Don't drink if you are stuck. It makes a bad situation much worse. The best thing to do is to walk, stretch, and give it time. At least that is what helps me. After that I smarten up and eat slower and take smaller bites. Good Luck!!

Have the surgeon submit it and see were it goes. If you do get denied contact Walter and Kelley Lindstrom at obesitylaw.com. They can help with the appeals process and it should not cost you anything.

Every plan is a little different. I had a BMI of about 38.5 as well as High BP, high cholesterol, GERD, and sleep apnea and several years of documented history of BMI over 35. I was denied by Aetna and lost both appeals. The final step is appealing to independent external review. This is where I was approved and Aetna was forced to pay. It took an entire year of fighting and was extremely stressful but it was so worth it in the end. I had my surgery on Dec 28th and I am down 70 #s and only 20 #s left to go the get to my goal. My BP and cholesterol level are now normal and GERD and sleep apnea are gone. If you do run into issues with your approval I highly recommend Walter and Kelley Lindstrom with obesitylaw.com. They were so helpful with the appeal process and it cost me nothing to get their help. I just can't say enough about Kelley and how good she was throughout the process. Good Luck and don't take no for an answer. Keep fighting it until you get approved.,

I never had any problems with the equipment so I can't help you there. Its nice to be able to look down and see it again instead of a bulging belly though. I always had a high drive but now I don't always feel like I need to cover up and hide what I look like. Its much better in that respect.

I have low B1. I take a B1 supplement daily. I will be tested again later this month to see if the 6 months of supplements have taken care of it.

I am proud to say that I made the first post on that site. I haven't really been back since then. There is so much more activity here and as others have said, there is not any real difference in the type of band. They all do the same thing for us. I am VERY happy with my realize band.

Hi Katie, What I find works for me is setting a goal during the week that I know I can hit consistently like maybe 1.5 miles and try to do that for say 4 days straight. I then take a few days off of running and maybe just walk those days to keep loose and burn a few calories. I will go back to running on Monday with a new goal being 2 miles. I put it in my mind that 2.0 is the new baseline. 1.5 does not even come into my head as it would be a road block for me as I approached that mark. That 3 day break serves to break the physical memory in my body of coming to the old baseline and it becomes just a mind thing. In my mind I start thinking about 2.5 and whether I could do that. When you concentrate on 2.5 it sure makes 2.0 a lot easier to achieve. If I keep myself mentally 2 steps ahead of where I want to be it makes that one step seem almost easy to reach each week. I hope that makes sense. If you are running outside you can try changing your route. That can really help as there is not a space on the road that servers at a mental barrier since you are going a new way. If you are inside maybe take a day where you work on speed intervals. Try boosting the speed up to 6.0 or 6.2 for 30 seconds bursts. After 30 seconds slow it down to a walk for 30 seconds then boost back up. By doing the interval training you body won't recognize the physical barrier it is used to and you mind will function the same way. I did my first 5K last month. The energy you will feel by being part of a group competing like that is a rush too that can help you that day. I liked it so much that it that I did another on Saturday. I challenged myself this time not to just finish but to actually pace myself to a finish that made me feel like I was racing. I went from 10:02 min/mi pace to 8:08. The rush of shaving 6 minutes off my time was amazing. I am taking Friday off as I want to complete in a 5 mile race. This is further than I have ever run but I believe there is no reason that I cannot make it if I pace myself properly for the distance. As I train this week for the 5 miler my mind will be focused on 10K and 10 Miles. It should make the 5 mile race seem easy. Good Luck in your race and be sure to come back and let us know how you did.

That is exactly where I was shopping.

I had mine surgery this past December just after Christmas. It is the best thing I ever did for myself. My confidence is way up. Most of all I love being able to run around and play ball with my daughters. I feel better than I did in my early 20's (I'm 41 now). I am also a part time firefighter. We had the first decent size fire a week back that I had been able to go to since being banded. Wow!!! what a difference. Over the past year especially I was truly afraid I was going to become a Line of Duty Death from a heart attack on scene. This past week I worked harder and felt better than I ever felt even in my early 20's. I even got up the following morning and ran my first 5K. What I am trying to say is this is life changing and I think more guys should be made aware of it. Good for all of us for making that decision. Good Luck to all of you just starting out.

I don't have recommendations on where to shop as I am not a woman but all I can suggest is don't spend too much on clothes that will only fit for a couple of months. I went shopping for clothes last Friday and it took forever as I had to try EVERYTHING on to see what my new size was. I don't unbutton any pants anymore since even done up they all just fall to the floor if not worn with a belt. Found out I went from 40 inch waist to 34 and from a 2XL shirt to a L. I even had to buy a new belt as mine ran out out of holes. If feels great but I just don't have enough money to buy so many new clothes. It a nice problem to have though. Congratulations on your new look.

The NP that did my 2 fills didn't do anything to numb me. She did offer to have another attending nurse hold my hand to ease my nerves. Anyway, it didn't hurt a bit. I don't mind needles so I'm sure that helps. Maybe next time I'll hold the nurses hand just because.

Forget about that stupid comment. That is a great NSV Something like that can put a smile on your face for days and it should. Keep up they great work!!

Congratulations.. That's awesome. I did my first 5K last Saturday. I was so excited about doing it that when I was done I felt like I had enough energy to do it over again. I'm actually thinking about a fathers day 10K. I couldnt even run 600meters at Christmas time. It great that you did this with you kids. I saw a lot of kids running and thought how fun it would be to run with my daughters.

Please be brave and go this time Tara. It is a little scary but it is so worth it in the end. Be sure to come back and tell us how it went.

I can feel the port but it doesn't bother me in the least. Tha actual band you cannot feel at all. It should not have any effect on you truck driving job. The only thing about driving that I found is that I don't seem to have a bag of chips or a loaf of italian bread in the passenger seat next to me anymore.