Manda87

The hunger goes away about day 4. :frown:

The purpose of the liver shrinking to to make sure it's not too big because it will get in the way of placing the band.

I just bought one day at Bed Bath and Beyond. They sell them for $49.99 and I had a 20% coupon and it came to $43.09 with tax. I got the coupon in my email when I signed up for it: Bed Bath & Beyond | Email and Direct Mail Sign up& (I don't know if the link will show up, but there is supposed to be an "&" sign after th link). It came in my inbox about 15 minutes after I signed up for it. It's the cheapest I have seen. Walmart and Target sell them for over $50, and I couldn't find a deal on ebay. It's in the dishwasher now. I think I'll use it tonight to make an Optifast smoothie! lol

I am also on the Optifast 800 calorie diet for 2 weeks. I'm on day 6 and have lost 13 pounds already. I have cheated a little bit. I've eaten two pickles, lol. Make sure you drink a ton of water. That is helping me with my hunger. I'm not really hungry anymore. I just have cravings, and it's only in my head.

Are you serious that they didn't know what a potato or a tomato is? I'm only 22 years old and I knew what a tomato was when I was like 4 years old. I used to eat them like apples.

Awwww. You have to stand up for yourself if they say something. Try "Who died and made you food police?" I can't stand people like that. Apparently they feel bad about themselves and need to be mean to someone to feel better.

Are you sure that one of the reasons why you were denied was because you are bi-polar? I have major depression and I was approved. (At one time my therapist thought I was Bi-polar.)

I've heard that you can never tell if you will have excess skin. I've been told to do some strength training with the weights. Also, I've been told that you should at least put off plastic surgery 2 years after because sometimes the skin can mold itself around the new body. I'm scared of excess skin also. :tt1:

I'm not self-pay, but on my surgeon's website it says that self-payers pay $12,000.

At least you get FOOD! I'm on the Optifast diet. I hate it so much. It's giving me heartburn. I drink 5 shakes a day. It's expensive and the taste is horrid! I envy you so much.

Welcome! I haven't been banded yet, but I will start my pre-op diet tomorrow. I hope you find this message board informative and welcoming!

Some people think they are above surgery, and that one day they will lose the weight on their own. I currently weigh 315. I don't know why I hadn't considered it sooner. Today, a co-worker and I were talking about weight loss. She was telling me how she is using a colon cleanser to lose weight. I asked her if she would ever consider surgery. She said she wouldn't because it wasn't "her." I think it hit me in December or 2009. I thought to myself "I NEED to lose weight." So, I don't know. I hope the lap band works for me.

I have Empire Blue, but I guess Anthem is mostly involved. It took about a week and a half to hear from them. The insurance called me to say that I was approved before my doctor's office was notified. The woman from the insurance was very nice.

I will trade you my 2 weeks pre-op for your one! :frown:

I guess you can put it that way. They will be looking into your insides. I didn't like having it. The barium tasted nasty, and I had my bra off with a hospital gown on. There was a cute guy that was helping with the test. I hate not wearing a bra. So, that was kind of embarrassing, lol.

If you are extremely overweight, there are various medical procedures that can help you lose the excess weight. Some of them include a gastric bypass, lap-band, and a gastric sleeve operation. The sleeve procedure removes a large portion of your stomach and converts it into a tube. There are numerous disadvantages of this procedure. This article will discuss the disadvantages of a gastric sleeve operation. Irreversible One of the first disadvantages of a gastric sleeve is that the procedure is irreversible. Unlike gastric bypass surgery, over 60 percent of your stomach is permanently removed and can't be reversed. However, a gastric sleeve procedure can be converted to other weight loss procedures. Leaking A gastric sleeve operation requires staples to be inserted into the stomach. There is always a chance that a leak may occur. These leaking fluids frequently become infected after they leak out of the stomach and can cause serious health problems. Weight Another disadvantage is that this procedure does not always produce the weight loss that you may expect. It is also possible to regain lost weight with a gastric sleeve. Snacks and foods with a lot of calories can make the procedure virtually ineffective. Also, patients who have a higher body mass index will usually have to have a second procedure to help lose more weight. Stretching Stretching of the gastric sleeve is yet another disadvantage. Your stomach tube may stretch out after awhile and cause you to regain any weight you may have already lost. A gastric sleeve doesn't have any devices to prevent it from stretching over time or to reduce its size after it has already stretched out. Insurance One of the last disadvantage of a gastric sleeve operation has to do with insurance. This procedure is rarely a covered benefit of most insurance companies because they consider it to be experimental. This means that the company likely won't pay for the procedure so you would have to pay for it yourself. At an average price of $8,000, this is out of range for most people. Honestly, I wouldn't do the gastric sleeve or the gastir bypass. If I were like 800 pounds, I would do it, but since I'm not, I will stick with the lap band. If you feel as though your surgeon is pushing you into something that you don't want, I would find a second opinion. The above was from: Five Disadvantages of a Gastric Sleeve Operation, Page 2 of 2 - Associated Content - associatedcontent.com

Good luck! If you don't mind me asking, why did you get denied the first time?

I think waiting for approval was the most stressful part of the start of this journey. I have Empire Blue, which is out of New York. It took me about a week and a half to get the word. My insurance actually called me before my doctor.

Lol. Yeah, don't be suprised when your poo turns white. You'll have to drink a lot of Water after the test so you won't get constipated.

They aren't testing your intestines. They are going to look at your stomach. Also, they will test your esophagus and how you swallow.

I think with any extreme weight loss, there will be hair loss, but you won't go bald...

Everyone, look on the bright side! Has anyone been able to lose 20-30 pounds without the lap band? I haven't been able. Your weight loss will get better when you get better restriction!

My 7 month old niece had to change formulas because all the other ones where upsetting her stomach. It kind of makes her breath smell like potatoes for the first couple of weeks she had it. Now, I don't notice it anymore. Also, people act differntly to different things. Just because nothing happened to one person doesn't mean the same results will repeat itself with a different person.

I used to be on it when I was a teenager, which was not too long ago. I used it for my migraines. The only side effect that I remember was when I took it in the morning, about a half hour to an hour later, my hands would tingle... kinda like they were falling asleep. That went away though. I can't remember why I got off of it though.

Congrats! I know you're super excited!