nallygirl

Hi everyone!! I hope all the post-op bandsters are doing great and the pre-ops are moving along in their process! I was banded on March 16th and so far I am very happy I did it! Surgery was very uneventful and my recovery has been the same. I was lucky enough to not have to stay the night in the hospital and was home and asleep my 5pm on the day of surgery. It was a little difficult getting used to sleeping on my back but I am able to sleep on my left side now so I'm sleeping better. I also really haven't had any gas pains. Just a few little ones here or there but nothing horrible. For me I think the worst pain is just my incision in my belly button. Even that is more of a soreness than pain. I was up and walking around the day after surgery and went to out outdoor mall 3 days later to walk around. At night I am still taking the narcotic pain medicine but mostly that's to help me sleep. Other than that I'm not taking anything during the day for pain. I'm very happy with the actual surgery. Now the hard part starts...learning how to use the band!! I have my post-op appt this week and I'll find out then how much I've lost during my 2 week pre-op diet and since surgery. Fingers crossed that it's a good number! Good luck to everyone!! Hope you're all doing great!!

Good luck!! Will keep my fingers crossed for a speedy approval!!

Hi Justin, I'm so proud of your accomplishment!! It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to stay clean for 2 years. You are on the right track and making good decisions. Take your time withdrawling from the methadone...No one else will know what's right for you other than you! As for the 3 month diet, in my personal opinion its just a hoop the insurance company makes you jump through. They are hoping you won't go through with it or you will look at self pay options. Like Shirley said though, I would find out what their minimum BMI is for approval and stay above that. For example, my insurance (Cigna) requires a minimum BMI of 40. Since my BMI when I started my 6 month diet was very close to that I only lost about 8 pounds in those 6 months so I could stay above the minimum. Losing weight did not affect my approval. Good luck with everything! Natalie

I know how you feel. I had to do a 6 month medically supervised diet and exercise program per my insurance also. At the time I was so upset about it. I had done all my research, decided this was the right choice for me then finding out I had to wait was so upsetting! Now that I've gone through the process, taken all the classes, researched and researched some more, I feel like I am somewhat grateful for the time I've had to fully prepare myself for this change. Don't get me wrong, I would have been all too happy to have my surgery the month I had my consult. Time flew by though and I'm ready for surgery! Stay strong, you'll make it through! Good luck!

I am on week 2 of my liquid pre-op diet. My surgeon makes us use the Optifast products. So I have Optifast shakes 4 times a day, one Optifast bar and one Optifast soup (powder soup mix - chicken and tomato). The shakes are tiny, only 8 oz and the soup isn't much either. The one thing that has kept me somewhat full though is constantly drinking water and if I'm super hungry I'll have some coffee with splenda.

Hi Jennielee! My surgery date is March 16th and I'm on week two of my pre-op liquid diet. My bmi is only 40 but my surgeon said everyone has to do it to shrink your liver prior to surgery. I was required to use Optifast shakes 4 times a day, one Optifast bar and one Optifast soup. The first few days of the diet were a struggle but after that I guess your body gets used to it and I didn't feel as hungry. I was more a mental battle of wanting to eat than it was being hungry. I've noticed that drinking a lot of water has helped a lot also. Good luck! You can do it! Hang in there!!

Hi Justin, For me personally I had to do a 6 month medically supervised diet and exercise program per my insurance (Cigna). I did mine through my surgeon's office but others have done their's through a Primary Care Physician. For mine I went to a group meeting once a month at my surgeon's office. They would record my weight then we would have a class on a nutrition topic (reading food lables, importance of exercise, healthy options for eating out). Some in the class also had a weight loss goal set for them by their surgeon that they had to meet before the end of the 6 months, my surgeon did not have this requirement. At the end of the 6 months I had to get all my pre-op testing done so my PCP would write me a medical clearance for surgery. Not everyone's PCP made them do this. Some didn't do their testing until they received insurance approval. The testing included blood work, chest xrays, Upper GI and gallbladder ultrasound. Once that was done, my clearance letter written, the surgeon's office submitted all my paperwork to the insurance company for approval. I received an approval in a few days and my surgery was scheduled for the next month. From start to finish this process took me 8 months and I have my surgery on March 16th. Since you only have to do a 3 month supervised diet yours may take a much shorter amount of time. But I would plan on it being at least 5 months before your actual surgery date. As for the psych eval, mine was very quick. It was a 30 minute session with a psychologist. She asked me questions about myself, what I do for a living, how long I have considered weight loss surgery, what else I have tried, why did I decided to do it now, have a researched the surgery. She also asked me questions about my history with weight, was I over weight as a child, what are/were my exercise habits. Then she asked if I had told anyone about wanting surgery and if they were supportive. Basically to me it seemed like they were trying to make sure I was aware this is a life changing decision, that I wasn't making an impulse decision to have it done and that I have a good support system in place after surgery. It's really not that bad at all. Like you I was really upset when I found out I had to wait so long for the surgery. Once I decided this was right for me I wanted to have it done tomorrow! Looking back though and seeing how much I have learned over the past 8 months I am grateful to have had the time to prepare myself for this new lifestyle. I hope that helped to answer some of your questions. Good luck!

Hi gregt...While I haven't had my surgery yet that is actually something I asked my nutritionist about. She suggested I just add an additional scoop of Protein powder to my shakes. So if my brand says a serving size is 1 scoop, I will just add 2 scoops for the extra calories. I'm not sure if you are using RTD or are making your Protein Shakes yourself, but if you are making them yourself you might want to try this out and see if it works for you. I'm sure some people in the post-op section would have some great ideas as well. Good luck to you!

Congratulations on your surgery date!!! You're being banded the day before I am

Hi Justin, If you are planning on using insurance to pay for surgery you may want to start there just to see if they cover the gastric banding. If they do, then you can ask about your specific situation as well. Have you gone to a seminar yet or met with a surgeon? This would be a great question to bring up with the surgeon during your one on one consultation. It would also be a good idea to discuss alternatives to narcotic pain relievers after surgery. My sister was on methadone when she had a major surgery and they were able to give her non-narcotic meds that still helped with her pain. Congratulations on seeking recovery! Stay strong and good luck with your journey!

LoL I am right there with you!!! I'm on day one of my pre-op diet and what does my department decide to order for lunch...PIZZA!!! I just made up an excuse as to why I couldn't join them in the conference room for lunch and sat at my desk drinking my tiny little Optifast shake. Good for you though for resisting all that delicious temptation!