kygal

I have humana, and have to get 6 months of supervised dieting. I am pleased to say that my last visit is wednesday, then I just have the dietiican's visit and the psychologist. I think then it's just a waiting game for insurance approval. Lana said that she thinks I can expect a surgery date of Sept/Oct. it seems like it has taken soooo long. As an aside, I had a surgery with Dr. Shuster today. He removed a small cyst for me, and I really liked him. I am so looking forward to my banding.

Socialator: It's good to hear how quickly you recovered, and how good you feel. I am going into my sixth month of supervised dieting, and so I don't even know exactly when I will have it done. It seems like th eapproval process has taken forever...I'm hoping for September, but this may be unrealistic. How long did you consider the lap banding before you did it? DO you see Olsafka at Caritas, or at Audubon?

Has anyone used Dr. Geller or Dr. Allen?: I understand that they are in teh Humana network. I am in the fifth month of the dieting, and I am really getting anxious to get the show on the road, so to speak.

For me the next step was beginning the supervised 6 month diet...I've not been banded yet. I am coming up onb my 5th month visit. I know this, if you ahve to do this for your instrance to pay for it, make sure your doctor charts each time he sees you that he is discussing your diet wiht you. Otherwise hte insurance my deny you. After this six month diet, I think it will go failry quickly....maybe banded within a few weeks. Feel free to send me a private message....I don;t always check the Kentucky posts, as this area seems dead. :cry

Puddin, You really really need to be seeing a theraptist. The short term, rather random sexual liasons that you are describing can certainly be dangerous. You may find yourself needing more than a condom one to get away safely, and there are also heavy emotional consequences. If you can't see your pastor about this, see a therapist.

Neal, I ahve noticed that you seem to have lost a lot more weight than others who have been banded for the same period of time. To what do you attribute your good losses? And, if I may ask, have you lost any hair? I plan to be banded in May or early june, and I am worried as much about hair loss as anything else, evern though I know this is not rational. I'm just curious about your thoughts/

I have been reading what ya'll have planned this morning. Our lives are soooo glamorous, aren't they? I am having a great day because my husband and son are off to a soccer tournament for the weekend, and I am home with sister, for the home games. Can you say GIRLS WEEKEND!!! My twins are 11 years old... agreat age. We laid in bed watching tv until we fell asleep last night, and we will do girls stuff today, after we clean house a bit. Alexandra, when your kids get a few years older, stick a chore list on teh fridge!!!! Works wonders! My daughter does virtually all of the laundry, and my son cleans bathrooms!!! I am doing one exciting thing today. A friend of mine runs a program for felons serving out of prison who would not have any place to go. She just bought a huge new house, and I am going to help her work on it today.... and to help supervise inmate volunteers who will be doing the heavy work. More fun than sampling in cold creekwater, huh? I actually wanted to say thanks to ya'll...I am going to be banded early summer...i'm on my 4th month of the supervised diet....and I get so much encouragement from reading about you all and your stories...It is such a comfort to know that by this time next year, I should be healthier. Thanks for all you do without even knowing.

I agree with everyone...and enjoyed reading everyone's persepective. I am a supervisor (similar to a vice president position) at my work, and I don't think that everyone should know...or has the right to. If they think i had my tubes tied or something , that's fine with me. I too lost fifty pounds a few years ago, and have gained it back and more. So it's nothing new for folks to see....we all go up and down. (all of thelow carb dieters at work are "fluffy again now) Anyway, I don't feel compelled to tell anyone what I am going to do. None of us should be privy to each others' medical information unless we cose to make it public, and I think when someone pries, it's ok to sweetly say "If you don't mind, I'd rather not talk about it." This should stop all but the nosiest people, who may require more firm redirection.

Even with theproblems you hvae had, would you say that you are still glad you were banded? I am asking becasue I will be banded this summer, and I want the persepctive of come people who have been more than a year out.... KYGAL

I need some tips on getting my head straight.... I have begun my six months of supervised dieting, and I feel like i am on a journey of last meals....one mexican. one italian, one chinese...one indian...you get the picture.. Things are complicated by the fact that it has been raining for days and also very cold BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAH I need a lift...or I'll GAIN:embarassed: weight before my surgery.

Maybe I can be a back up girl...droopy doggy. It seems like if we go through this and loose all the weight, nice firm, tight skin should be thrown in free.:huytsao I guess this is on my mind because I am just now starting to have a few tiny crows feet and other telltale signs of aging. :think

I am not a smoker, and I can't decide if my genes will offer elasticity or not...maybe I should have done this at 35 instead of forty...hmmmmm. There should be a magic pill to make your skin shrink when the fat is all gone. I just don't want to look like a bloodhound, or a balloon somebody let the air out of. Maybe I will buy a girdle, to hold everything up.

I am on my six month supervised diet, after which Iwill be banded.I am hoping to loose about 110 pounds. I am concerned about my skin. Is there anything to do to increase skin elasticity? I am hoping not to need a "lift" by a plastic curgeon when I am done. Any ideas? :girl_hug:

Good heavens you childess heathens. I feel like I must confess. My husband and I were married six years, finishing college, and buying a house...while unbeknownst to us, the "baby making gene" was slowly growing in the back of our brains. Alas, it reared it's ugle head... My husband talking me into getting off the pill.... And you know.....actually trying..... And boy did we learn a lesson. We had twins. I apologize to each and every one of you on this thread, and to prove the sincerity of my remorse, I will send them back immedately. We've been feeding and watering them for eleven years, but ya'll are right, we shouldn't have. We're so sorry. Do we return them to the hospital, or to the obstitrician? We are afraid if we drop them off at a local childrens home they may find their way back to us. Please help. :uwelcome:

I played three varsity sports in highschool, and I look forward to being able to play again....We have women's indoor soccer around here, and I would love to be in on it....but alas, I'm just now meeting with my surgeon next week. I expect to have to wait six months....with "supervised (?) dieting." Like my doctor wants to watch me eat! That phrase cracks me up. Why don't they call "six months of dieting with a weekly fat police enforced weigh in?" Anyway, I think its amazing how you can get away from the athlete you may have been, and I swear the athletes - both male and female - from high school and college are the ones who appear heaviest 20 years later. I wonder if it is because we were used to eating anything we wanted, and working it off? Maybe the girls who did not do sports learned early on to keep portions small. I remember being the heaviest girl at basketball camp at University of Kentucky. They weighed us in on a stage, in front of EVERYONE, in order to better traumatize us, I think. I weighed 156, and I remember thinking that it could not be holding me back too much, because I won the record for the highest jump on a rebounding machine. Your tale of playing volleyball gives me something to look forward to. Farther ahead for me, but still, a goal. Thanks.

How has your experience been? I ahve read a lot about erosion, and have looked at a lot of polls. Maybe there hsould be a thread for "mature" banders, who ahve been banded for over two years or soemthing? KYGal

Kare, what do you mean? Are there things that go wrong for folks who ahve had the band for a while, or are you just tired of the whole experience? I am waiting for insurance approval, and so I am nervous about it....and wanting to be fully informed.What would you change if you could do it over? KyGAl

I am going to see dr. Olsafka in two weeks. I aminterested to see how quickly this will happen. It seems like it took me forever to make up my mind, but now I feel ready.

My children are older, and now I think they may model their eating after mine. :rolleyes I don't want them to think mommy had to resort to surgery becasue hse could not control her wieght with her own willpower, but I also want to see them grow up...and to enjoy life with them. I am currently waiting for insurance approval, and maybe thinking that I may get denied , adn sent back for six months of supervised dieting. It's ahrd to admit you are fat, and that you may stay this way, adn it is hard to admit that youcan't control yourself. I have been overweight for about fifteen years, and in a way can't believe I've waited this long. I think I have always thought the next diet, which was right around the corner, was going to work. But I'm forty, and it's time for me. I have thought about it for some time now, and I am really mentally ready. I think you have to do what's best for you.

I am waiting for insurance approval, hoping to be banded soon. I have observed two co-workers...one who did banding, and one who ahd bypass surgery. I can tell you that the byapss caused a much more rapid weight loss, but my friend was perpetually ill...throwing up etc,,, and lost lots of her hair. I also think that her copmplexion was poor, and her skin tone was poor, and her skin appeared very loose and saggy. My theory is that she lost too much too fast. My friend who was banded lost his weight...over 100 lbs over about a year and a half, and he looks great, and says he feels great. He just seems healthier. My family doctor encourages lap-banding as the "best option" out there. KYGAL

I am thinking of using Caritas. Dr. Lusco. I have been to the Seminar....but was frustrated when I heard that the insurance company would require 6months of doctor supervised dieting...I've done years of it....and now to wait 6 more months seems like a pain. It seems that I have made up my mind, and so they should approve it. Pretty arrogant huh? You would think that the insurance companies would see the cost of the diseases of the obese, and would be clamoring at the chance tp pay for lap banding. I gues I need to apply, and begin my 6 mos of dieting. I would love to hear from Carmeldiva...she sounds like she has had a great success story.:rolleyes KYGAL