mandilou

I wouldn't fret about discussing this with her. It's YOUR therapy session, so she shouldn't take anything you discuss with her personally. And you'll need the support from her down the road... telling her might help you learn how to tell others and might help you deal with the feelings you have now regarding telling people and how they'll react. *shrug*

:smile: :blushing: WOO HOOO!!!! Congrats, you'll do great!

LV- thanks for the comments. I agree! I really have been happy with them so far. I asked a lot of questions at the info session (people were kinda staring at me because I knew so much - THANK YOU LBT!), and they were very patient. And I spent some time on the phone with them re: my insurance requirements, and it's amazing how hard they're willing to work to get you approved! Apparently BCBS-IL can be a stickler, and they are even willing to change their program up for me to make sure I fulfill my insurance requirements! So awesome. Do any of you workout at Lifetime? I'm joining at the Lakeville location today with my D(future)H, and it'd be cool if any of you in the area worked out there too!

ENELL are the BEST!! :smile: I am the same size as you (well, 46F) and I swear by them. They may not be flattering, but I don't really care what I look like in it, as long as I can work out in it! And let me tell you, I can RUN with no problems! Virtually impossible with any other bra. They are expensive, but SO worth the investment!!

haha Sounds like my fiance. I was having some symptoms, and withing a few minutes he "diagnosed" me with Celiac disease and tried to make me take lots of Fiber. Hopefully your doctor will calm your fears. :smile: There's a reason they go to school for years. :blushing:

Just make a couple of doctors appointments in the mean time and make sure to put rocks in your pockets, and wear wet jeans. :biggrin: All kidding aside, stick with it and be strong! If it's meant to be, it will be!

I will not have to do a pre-op diet.. however, my surgeon does require that everyone lose weight before the surgery. The amount expected to be lost is dependant upon the individual case, but they have canceled surgeries because patients haven't lost enough weight. They consider the 6-month medically supervised diet to be enough. But no liquid diet or fasting or anything.

I actually just got off the phone with BCBS-IL, and the lady was so nice. When I asked about the five year history, she said feel free to dump in any medical documentation re: weight/BMI/weight-loss/co-morbidities from as far back as you've been obese. She said the more info, the better. So I can't imagine they'd punish you for sending them information from more than five years out, as long as it shows you've been obese.

I had my information session last night, and I learned some interesting things about my particular hospital's lapband procedures. I will have to complete a 6 month diet plan with the nutritionist on staff, which will be nice because she knows exactly how to document everything for insurance. I'll also have to lose a prescribed amount of weight before the surgery. They said everyone is different but everyone is expected to have a set amount to lose or they will seriously consider canceling surgery. Also, I'll have to stay overnight, which sort of bummed me out. I was hoping this would be an out-patient thing, and I know it is sometimes. Also interesting is that there is no "pre-op" diet, which I thought was pretty standard. Regardless, I have my initial appointment April 14th, and I can't wait to get started! DFH and I are starting our gym memberships this weekend, and hopefully that will help! Unfortunately, the six month diet won't start "counting" until May, meaning that I probably won't have surgery until November/December. Kind of a bummer, considering I'm getting married November 24. But hey... the 6 month diet will hopefully mean looking better in my dress! :huh2: Anyway, wanted to share my "whoo hoo!" with everyone!

thanks for the reply! that's good to know, because I was worried about the whole post-surgery hunger thing.

Jo, your "bandiversary" is my actual birthday! Hopefully it will be a great day for you! Thanks for the welcome, and the info. I'm going to Fairview Southdale tonight, for the information session and to set up my first appointment. We'll see how it goes!

:wink_smile: this just totally cracked me up. I've played the weight-loss/gain-it-back game so many times, and it's always embarassing when your co-workers and family watches from the sidelines. It's like, just because they can see it happen, doesn't mean it's okay for them to jump in like they're a part of the whole process! Questions are fine, a short comment is okay, but why feel a need to editorialize MY fat!?

this has been really helpful info... thank you so much! gives me a good idea of what to prepare for. Hopefully I'll be able to do as much as I can simultaneously.

Jen- Where are you having your surgery done? I plan to go through Fairview Southdale in Edina, MN (I've heard great things about their docs and general care). Thanks for the heads up, and best wishes on your surgery!

hello fellow Minnesota banders (or to-be banders).. When I was living in MN the first time around, I was close to approval, but ended up moving out of state before I could get the surgery. This time, I'm here to stay and I'm just starting from scratch with an info session at Fairview Southdale on April 2nd (tomorrow night!). I'm so excited to get started on this process... I too have BCBS and I'm not looking forward to a 6 month battle with ANOTHER diet before finally getting banded. For those locals with BCBS who might look at this... what has been your experience with the 6-month diet? Were you able to get banded SHORTLY after the diet ended? Meaning, did the rest of the process continue along, making you immediately ready for surgery as soon as the diet was "done"? Or did you have to do the diet, then wait another 6 months before surgery? I'm getting married at the end of November, and I'm hoping to be banded well before then so I can be on the road to recovery.

This was a REALLY good article... I posted it myself yesterday thinking that people would dig it, but no one read it! :puke: Maybe with all your info IN the post itself, more people will read it. :biggrin2:

I am so happy to see someone post about this. My fiance and I have gotten into many a discussion about this. He's the first guy I've dated that has been a bigger guy... typically, I'm not attracted to larger men. However, he's always liked heavier girls, which I had a HARD TIME with at the beginning. I've always loathed the idea of being a "BBW" and all the stereotypes it implies. I also have always hated that a guy would date you BECAUSE you're fat, not in spite of or regardless. I guess we all have our types, but it just creeps me out when guys specifically troll for "fat chicks"... it makes me feel like a fetish.

I thought this article was kind of interesting. Hopefully, the med company's greedy push for profit will lead insurance companies to approve more and more cases! Here's to hoping, right? :crying: Industry Giants Push Obesity Surgery - WSJ.com

I have been waiting for a list like this for ages... and I made one a while back. Here we go... brace yourself: 1) It would be nice to cross my legs under a table and feel like I’m sitting like a lady, even if my grace is a joke. It’d be nice to be able to fake it without doing the “fat lady ankle cross”. 2) I would like to sit in an airplane seat without feeling like I was oozing onto the person next to me. I would like to feel comfortable sitting anywhere, for that matter. It’s hard not to feel the sides of a chair digging into your hips, or feeling the metal of a lawn chair stress as you settle into it. Yes, I’ve broken a chair, and while no one noticed, it was probably one of the most humiliating moments of my life. 3) I would like for someone to want to date me for me. Not BECAUSE I’m bigger or BECAUSE I’m thinner, but just because. I’m no fool – I realize that some people have ‘types’, and they find them more attractive than others. But so many people that are attracted to me are drawn to me BECAUSE I’m bigger, not because I’m Mandi. It’d be nice to be “average” for once. Not that I was ever born to be average. But size-wise, it’d be nice to blend in. 4) I would like to receive a compliment without the whole “sucha” syndrome. You bigger folks have heard it… “he’s SUCHA nice guy” “she has SUCHA pretty face” “she is SUCHA smart girl”… people tiptoe around compliments because they want to find a way to tell you ‘IF YOU JUST WEREN’T FAT, YOU’D BE PERFECT!” 5) I would like to resume the activities I loved so much when I was younger… being athletic, going hiking, biking or skiing. And I would like to do those things without feeling self-conscious about my body while doing it. When I am focused on working out, when I get the best athletic ‘high’, it’s when I’m not feeling my thighs rub together, and I’m not worried about how my clothes are showing rolls or not, when I’m not thinking about how my butt looks if anyone is behind me. 6) I would like to enjoy a date, or a get together with friends, or another social activity, without food being at the center of my evening. Not only do I base most of my activities around eating, but I’m thinking about it a lot. I would like to live my life and learn how to “eat to live”. It’s a concept I have never understood, and I don’t know if it’s because of how I was raised, or if it is because I just am a passionate person and eating passionately is part of that. And I’m the one who eats the most, and the fastest, and I can’t help myself. I am a person of excess, in many arenas. And I am a person who needs to learn by doing and usually that means learning the hard way. And if having surgery and making a life-changing choice leads me to finally learn how to live without making food the focus of my life, then so be it. 7) I would like to wear sleeveless tops and halters without people saying “wow, you’re brave I could never wear a shirt like that” referring to my large breasts and my large size. 8) I would like people to not be seemingly surprised that I have good fashion sense, and do not come to work in a mumu or stretch pants. 9) I would like a guy to check me out, and not just look at my face and scroll down and then look away. But rather, I want them to check all of me out, and come back to my face, and perhaps even smile. 10) I would like to wear a two piece, proudly. 11) I would like to spend an entire day not thinking about my weight, not overthinking the way I look, or making sure my makeup and hair look good to “balance” out the rest of me below my neck. 12) I would like to buy a piece of clothing without trying it on. 13) Speaking clothes, I would like more than just three stores to shop from. And this does not include a few nice options on the web, but again, I can’t order clothes without trying them on, and returning them would be a giant hassle. 14) I would like to go to a bar or club and not be self-conscious when I dance, or when I walk, or when I basically do anything. 15) I would like to go to bar or club mentioned above, and not have to wonder WHY people are looking at me… are guys checking me out, or just grossed out? Are women threatened by me, or wondering what the hell I’m wearing and feeling sorry for me? 16) I would like to fit comfortably in a bathtub and actually feel submersed in the Water rather than just feel like my butt and lower back were getting wet. I would like to “soak” and light candles and read and drink wine and feel comfortable and not get cold too fast because I am too fat to really sink into the warmth. I would also like to FIT in the tub, width wise a little better. Being squeezed between both sides doesn’t really make me feel relaxed, it makes me feel claustrophobic. 17) I would like to address the REASONS I EAT. I eat when I’m sad, when I’m lonely, when I’m angry, when I’m happy. I eat to Celebrate, I eat to mourn, I eat to feel comforted, I eat to feel whole and full, I eat to feel, period. I don’t want to eat to realize feelings, and I don’t want to use food to temper those feelings. I want to find other outlets for my emotions, and my punishing myself with food has got to stop. 18) As a single person, I would like to expand my dating options and not just look for guys who like big girls. I’ve mentioned this above, so I’ll move on from this for now. 19) As a committed person, I’d like to feel confident and sexy in bed, especially if things don’t work out with ****. Being open with being, well, opened…. Is something that’s always been a little difficult for me, and I have to really feel a connection to someone before I’d let them see me at all angles, good and bad. **** and I, both being bigger, and both immediately connected to one another, were really open with each other from the start, and even so, there are still times when I’m more self-conscious than not. I don’t expect to always feel great naked, but most of the time would be nice. 20) I would like to wear shorts during the summer, without using stupid excuses for not wearing them. The bottom line is that they run-up the inside of my thigh and I end up doing the “leg roll” walk… where you walk normal for maybe five steps, then roll your leg sideways to let the fabric unbunch from between your legs. I would love to be comfortable wearing shorts to the gym, or even when I’m hanging out. I never wear shorts anymore. No matter what. 21) I would like to tie my shoes without any difficulty, and do the straps on strappy heels. Furthermore, I’d like to be able to WEAR heels, period. I can hardly wear anything with a heel on it without it a) breaking, and yes, it’s happened or :scalesno: feeling like my feet are going to revolt and beat me up after only a few minutes. 22) I would like to get in and out of my car in a tight parking spot without worrying about dinging the door, ruining my coat, or breaking off a side mirror. I don’t want to find parking spots to fit my fatness. 23) I would like to order whatever I want from a restaurant, or eat whatever amount of food I want, or not eat, or whatever, and not have every thing I put into my mouth noticed and scrutinized by others. 24) I don’t want to be lazy. I have found myself trending towards laziness, and I no longer have as much of an inherent need to MOVE. I love exercise, and being physically fit, and finding myself becoming a couch potato because I’m self-conscious to do much else is really becoming disconcerting. 25) I am adopted. I have thyroid issues. I have dealt with depression. I worry about my cholesterol, I worry about diabetes (it’s in my family history). I don’t want to be plagued with health issues when I get older, and I don’t want to be 28 and worry on a semi-regular basis that I might have a heart attack at 40. I want this surgery now, while I’m younger, so I can enjoy my late 20’s and early 30’s and make the most of my life. 26) I don’t want to be self-conscious of myself at work. I don’t want to be the stereotypical person that is underpaid and under promoted because there are stereotypes associated with being heavy. 27) I don’t want to weigh more than everyone in the room. And I usually do. Unless there’s someone REALLY big, and by that I mean the type of person people usually stare at. 28) I want my personality and energy and passion on the inside to match what’s on the outside. I want to feel like my body is mine, not that I’m walking around in a fat suit. This is not the REAL ME. I am envious of women who enjoy being bigger, because they are on the outside who they feel they are on the inside. I don’t feel congruous.

I became a vegan as my 2007 resolution, and while I'm not perfect with it, I do feel WAY better. I also think that there are PLENTY of ways to get very healthy protein (and high quantities of it) without eating dairy/animal products. I haven't been banded yet, but I plan to continue my mostly vegan diet after the surgery.

Hey there! I'm also from MN... I had scheduled an appointment for the information session/consultation in January at UM, but I chickened out and decided to try one last attempt at changing my diet. I will probably ending up going through with it... two of my coworkers are gastric bypass patients (one having her surgery next month), and it's nice to have some very local support!

I TOTALLY understand what you're saying about negative people. It's amazing how much negativity I encounter when discussing this with people. I've found that a lot of it has to do with fear... people don't understand the surgery, they're afraid you'll change when you lose weight, they're jealous of your potential success, etc. Quite a few years back, I went from 224 to 165, and even though I was wearing a size 10, I was getting people worried that I was anorexic, or giving me crap because I was getting "too" skinny, or just plain wouldn't hang out with me anymore. I was so self-conscious being "skinny" that it was almost more of a struggle than being fat! Of course that diet failed... it wasn't a good diet to begin with, but I had some glorious moments of leg crossing while it lasted! haha Best wishes on YOUR journey, and your true friends and loved ones may be negative at first, but will quickly adjust to asking lots of questions, being a great listener, and understanding that it's about YOU revealing the you on the outside that's been buried on the inside!

hey! I'm from Minnesota too! I'm currently living near Minneapolis, but this is the clinic whose informational meeting/consultation I'm going to: http://www.university.fairview.org/Clinical_Services/Weight/index.asp I have a consultation near the end of January with Dr. Ikramuddin. I saw his name mentioned here another time, and I've read up on him a bit. Sounds like there's a great group of surgeons out of that hospital. I chose it because my insurance covers surgery there. Hopefully for me! Good luck!

I'm the newest newbie, I s'pose. I have been lurking on your site for a day or two, just checking things out. I've done a lot of searches for Lap Band surgery, and frankly I'm surprised this is the first time I've come across all of you. I'm interested in getting banded, and have been ever since I first heard about the procedure. Now that I finally have a job with insurance that covers it, I'm excited that I might actually be able to do it! You all are, without doubt, great examples of sucess, and truth. I appreciate all of your honesty, and I think this will be a great place to find REAL answers (even if they do vary sometimes). Cheers! -Mandilou

I just meant that experiences vary and doctors' advice varies - and it's nice to see a ton of potential answers/solutions being discussed. I'm a big advocate of information - so knowing EVERYTHING I can to make the best choice for me is a big deal. Thanks for the warm welcome, all!