mcwms

Go Tracy! Go Tracy! Go Tracy! Congrats- I am hoping you get scheduled in February! I had my appt. yesterday and my surgery is scheduled for Feb. 23rd!! Woo-Hoo!!! Can you believe we are on our way! Sha-zam! Mary

Howdy, Y'all! I've been lurking and reading this thread but I didn't want to give myself bad luck by posting here until I knew for sure that I was scheduled for Feb. but it's final now.. . .Feb. 23rd is my date!! Woo-Hoo! I was originally scheduled in Dec. and posted a few times on that thread but my surgery had to be post-poned due to developing a pretty severe case of pneumonia and my surgeon was unavailable for most of Jan. so February it is! My BMI is 36.9 and I am hoping to lose around 75 pounds. My insurance has a written exclusion for any type of bariatric surgery so I am taking a $14,500 hardship withdrawal from my 401K to pay for the surgery. I am a little nervous about that but consider it a good investment in my future. My surgeon requires a 2 week pre-op diet consisting of 3 slim-fast optima shakes a day and any clear liquids. I am not looking forward to that! I am so excited for each of Y'all! Congrats to our "first born" who are starting us off tomorrow! I hope for a fast and easy recovery and great success for each of you! Here we go!!!!!!!! :clap2: Mary

Congrats on your progress, Tracy! Keep us updated! I have my appt. on Jan. 30th and am hoping to finalize the surgery date of Feb. 9th!

I am self-pay and my MD still required a psych eval, along with labwork, a chest x-ray and an EKG. Since I am a RN and one of my co-workers is a medical social worker my surgeon did allow her to write a letter on my behalf stating that I was "in my right mind and mentally capable of making medical decisions, etc." The surgery coordinator even faxed me a sample letter for us to follow. I actually typed up the letter based on the sample one and the social worker signed it for me. The best part was that it was free for me! I do plan to send my co-worker a little happy for helping me out, though! Something like this may be an option for you if you have any friends who are social workers! Good luck!

Way to show 'em, Tracy!

Good luck with the psych eval, Tracy! Since I work with a medical social worker my surgeon's coordinator faxed me a sample psych eval letter and let my co-worker copy it for me so I didn't have to go through an actual psych eval and it was free! It will be the only thing free for me since I'm going to be self-pay, LOL! Hoping for a cancellation and February date for you!

Jenslapband- great to hear from you! It sounds like you are doing great with your eating plan and also your walking program! Sorry about the headache! You're doing the right thing by remembering that the first weeks are for healing and not to focus on weight loss- I've heard several veterans say that numerous times on this forum- any weight loss is a bonus! Congrats! Can't wait to join you on the bandster side!

Welcome, Keshia! I am from North MS and know of several people who have used Dr. Moudon and Dr. Woodman in Memphis and are happy with their results- I'm not sure if that is the same Dr. Woodman you are asking about. I personnally am using Dr. Micheal King in Oxford, MS. He is very experienced also, closer to me, and charges about $10,000 less- which is important to me since I am self-pay! Good luck as you begin your journey!

Good luck today, Girls! I wish I was joining Y'all today! Keep us updated!

Welcome to everyone that has joined the group! I am so excited for all of us! Kristi- you sound great and I'm so glad you've posted and kept us updated! Sunshine- thanks for the list of reminders! I am going to try really hard to be sure to follow all of the suggestions and guidelines that everyone has shared.

Audree- I just copied my previous post introducing myself below in case you missed it! It's great to meet everyone! I'm am getting more excited by the day! I am supposed to be following a full-liquid diet for 2 weeks pre-op and am really bored already! I don't have an actual date yet but since I'm self-pay and already have everthing out of the way (I only had to have a psych eval which was done by my social worker at work, a chest x-ray and cbc bloodwork) I expect to get a surgery date when I see my MD within the next couple of weeks. I thought I would go ahead and begin the liquid diet so I wouldn't have to wait for that time to pass either! I've decided to jump aboard this January Bandster Train! I am so excited and ready to begin this journey! I had planned to have the surgery done in December but it had to be delayed due to my coming down with a horrible case of the flu that turned in to pneumonia. I'll share a little about myself: I'm 34 years old, married to a good ole Southern boy, and have a 13 step-daughter and a 4 year old daughter. I have a Master's Degree in Nursing and currently work as a Manager of a home health branch office. As I've gotten older as less active in athletics I've struggled more and more with my weight. I'm usually successful in losing the weight, but I have not had much luck with keeping the weight off and am hoping that the lapband will be the perfect tool to help me win this battle once and for all! I'm unable to participate in too strenuous an exercise program after having my second back surgery (this one a fusion with metal rods and screws inserted!), but do plan on beginning a serious walking routine soon! Since my insurance has a written exclusion I will be using funds from my 401K to pay for my surgery and am hoping that this investment in myself will be worth it! I hope to have a new surgery day soon and am excited to join Y'all as we begin this new year in our new lives! <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

Congrats Kristi and Jenslapband! Tomorrow is the first day of your new lives! Think positive and I'm hoping everything goes super for both of Y'all! Please check in when you can and let us know how you're doing! I'm struggling with the liquid pre-op. It seems so hard to do!

Howdy! I also am from Mississippi and am having my banding done by Dr. Michael King in Oxford, MS. Who is your surgeon? Unfortunately my insurance doesn't cover any type of bariatric treatment so I am self pay. Good luck with the insurance company!

Welcome to the site, Ashely. I am also hoping to be banded during January so I can't share any personal experiences with you but wanted to welcome you aboard! Good luck!

I've decided to jump aboard this January Bandster Train! I am so excited and ready to begin this journey! I had planned to have the surgery done in December but it had to be delayed due to my coming down with a horrible case of the flu that turned in to pneumonia. I'll share a little about myself: I'm 34 years old, married to a good ole Southern boy, and have a 13 step-daughter and a 4 year old daughter. I have a Master's Degree in Nursing and currently work as a Manager of a home health branch office. As I've gotten older as less active in athletics I've struggled more and more with my weight. I'm usually successful in losing the weight, but I have not had much luck with keeping the weight off and am hoping that the lapband will be the perfect tool to help me win this battle once and for all! I'm unable to participate in too strenuous an exercise program after having my second back surgery (this one a fusion with metal rods and screws inserted!), but do plan on beginning a serious walking routine soon! Since my insurance has a written exclusion I will be using funds from my 401K to pay for my surgery and am hoping that this investment in myself will be worth it! I hope to have a new surgery day soon and am excited to join Y'all as we begin this new year in our new lives!

Congrats on deciding on your MD and getting the consult scheduled! I've decided I've fooled around long enough and wasted enough time- 2007 is going to be my year! (and all of ours!) Mary

Congrats, Tracy! I've been a lurker for years at the low carb site you post at and feel like I know you! I had planned on getting banded in December but due to having the flu it has been postponed- hopefully will happen in January! I am self-pay so congrats on the possibility of getting your insurance to cover it! Don't you just love this site! Keep us updated!

Congrats, Beversman- you are really doing great! If you don't mind I would like for you to share what you have been eating (drinking)? It is so easy to get really bored with the liquids! Sweetspot- hope you feel better really soon! I'm sure anxiety and tension are making it worse! It'll pass before too long! Mary

Good luck, Kay- you're going to do fine! Take a deep breath and it will be all over before you know it! Mary

I have had multiple ovarian cysts (it's actually very, very common) and have had surgery twice to remove them- the first one when I was only 16 years old. Unfortunately, my experience has been that they don't have anything to do with hindering weight loss. Good luck- I know they can hurt like the dickens!

NAt- hang in there, Girl! You will be feeling so much better in no time at all! Mystique- sounds like you are doing wonderful! Jill- congrats on yourr banding also! Just think it won't be long before your sister-in-law will be talking about how great you look! Thanks for keeping us updated! Ddee- welcome to the group- even though I don't post that often I have gained so much knowledge from this group! I am in MS also and am having my surgery with Dr. King in Oxford- was that your surgeon? I would love to hear your opinions/details of the experience there. How long were you in the hospital? I am self-pay also- really hate it! I look forward to learning the details from you since I will have the surgery at the same location (and probably the same MD). I hope everyone is having a great day! For those of you that are struggling with the liquid diets- me included- just try to remember that we can do anything for a short period of time and that this won't last forever! Have a great weekend, Y'all!

Laphappy, thanks for the detailed surgery report! I appreciate you sharing your experience with all of us! Congrats on your beginning on this wonderful adventure! I can't wait to join you!

Howdy, Y'all! Just checking back in with everyone! I hope everyone had a great day! Steph- I am 5'6" with a relatively large frame. I attended a Christmas luncheon today with the management team at my employer and I was so miserable the entire time. I am so ashamed that I have allowed myself to get this large. I am really motivated to get rid of this weight once and for all! I don't want to be super skinny- just to be more comfortable and more confident and be able to be more active with my daughter. Just think, next Christmas we will all be much healthy and looking much better as well! I'm excited for all of us! By the way- my name is Mary (much easier to remember that mcwms)! Have a great night, Y'all!

Howdy Y'all! I have been lurking and keeping up with each of Y'all. Congrats to everyone who has already had your surgery and hang in there to those who are still waiting! Due to coming down with a severe case of the flu my surgery had to be postponed, but I am seeing my surgeon on Tuesday and hope to get a date for the last week of the month at that time. I am supposed to do 2 weeks of liquids pre-op and have tried to start this week but it ain't easy! I'm not sure if it's because I'm still a little sick/taking flu meds or if I just can't get my act together, but I start off everyday doing good with my protein shake but by the end of the day I'm eating something really unhealthy! I did get a shock yesterday- I weighed for the first time in a couple of months and discovered that I had gained almost 15 pounds due to "last supper syndrome!" I am so ashamed of myself! I never imaged that I would be this large and am really hoping that this sugery gives me the tool I need to hopefully lose this weight once and for all! I am going to be self-pay for the surgery and am starting the process to withdraw the money from my 401K this week- so I guess I'm really doing this, huh? I feel bad about using my 401K money, but on the other hand I feel like this is something I really want to do for myself and it's my own money and I should be able to use it to help better myself. But dang, it's a lot of money! My total cost is $14,500 all inclusive with fills being $120 each. Lots of dough! I plan to have the surgery on a Friday and return to work on Monday. A little information about myself- I'm 34 years old, married with a 4 year old daughter. I am a RN and work as a Branch Manager for a home I have always struggled with my weight but have usually been able to keep it in the "slightly chunky" range, but after having 2 back surgeries in the last 2 years (with the last being major surgery of a 2-level fusion with rods and screws inserted) my activity level has decreased dramatically and my weight has steadily climbed. I now weigh 226 pounds and ideally would like to weigh around 155. Good luck to everyone going under the knife today! I'm sorry to write a book- I tend to ramble once I get going! Have a great day everyone and I'll try to be a more active poster!

Howdy! I've lurked around this site for a couple of weeks and have learned a lot! Thanks to you all! I am planning to "be banded" within the next 3 weeks and am very excited to begin this journey! I am self-pay for this surgery and am expecting to receive my surgery date this week. I have about 65 pounds to loose and feel like the band will be the tool that will help to allow me to finally lose this weight! I am 34 years old and am looking forward to being more active with my 4 y/o daughter. Congrats to everyone for your successes and I look forward to joining in the fun soon! Mary