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Well, tomorrow morning is the big day. I can't believe that it is finally here. I haven't been very nervous today. My Grandma being here probably helped with that. She is very supportive. I have packed my bag for the hospital. I have to get up at 5:15 in the morning. We have to leave here by 6a.m. just in case of traffic or any other delays to be to the hospital by 7:30. I don't know much of what to say... I'm kinda speechless. I think I am in denial about what is really happening. It must be some sort of defense mechanism so I don't freak out. Either that or I've just accepted what is happening and that's that. Either way the next time I post I will have joined the band wagon! Take care everyone!:car: Here are my measurements: 9-18-2007 10-18-2007 weight: 295 BMI: 46 w: 270 BMI: 43 bust: 53 1/2 in bust: 51 1/2in waist: 55 in waist: 50 in hips: 57 in hips: 56 in thigh: 35 in thigh: 33 in calves: 21 in calves: 20 in arms: 17 in arms: 16 1/2in I'll have to figure out next time how to post this so it shows up in columns. Oh well:phanvan

I didn't get to ride my bike today....yet. I might try to get it in after hubby goes to bed. I still don't like exercising in front of him. It was a pretty good day. I'm pretty used to not eating much now. In some ways I can see how being on this pre-op diet can be beneficial. Not just because of the weight loss but that when I am banded I'm already used to not eating hardly anything. Here's what I had today: (typical of everyday) whey protein shake 2scoops in 8oz slim milk 2 slimfast shakes (I'm allowed 3 a day but lately have only been drinking 2) 1 1/2 cups broccoli 1 cup butternut squash soup (90 cals) 1 1/2 cups stir fry veggies 1 diet Dr. Pepper That's around 1200 cals. And I'm really not hungry. The first few days of this pre-op diet I ate like three times as many veggies but not anymore. I'm actually not supposed to have soup but I've been eating progresso's hearty tomato and tried this organic squash soup. The squash soup is pretty nasty. I like squash. I've eaten a lot of it the past two weeks but the soup just wasn't right. It smelled like pumpkin pie and tasted like onion, garlic squash. It messed with my senses. I am so ready for my surgery date. Not much longer. I am on the downhill side now at least. Well, Goodnight. Hope everyone is doing good on their journeys!

So I'm only 10 weeks post op however I've lost a total of 77 pounds so far, I feel amazing. How is everyone else doing? HW: 363 SW: 358 CW: 281 Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

What am I not suppose to have to eat? 10 weeks post op. They tell us what we can have at 8 weeks. But what is it we can't have? What do you eat at 10 weeks? Sent from my SM-G920P using the BariatricPal App

So I'm just about one month in to my six month weight loss program. HA! HA HA HA! I'm still not sure where this is all going to go. My employer is changing my insurance options so drastically that this might get taken off the table. My husband's employer is releasing next years options sometime this week or next and so we will see what that offers. If we switch to his insurance - it might actually make this "quicker" meaning only that I'd only have to do a three month program instead of a six month program. His employer, though, may very well be switching to something drastic like my own employer is. And the common sentiment is that this is all "designed" to force us into a public option. Yay. Thanks. Politics aside, yes, something DOES need to happen with our insurance companies. Politics aside, I WAS happy with my insurance policy - and yes, I was lucky to have coverage! Anywho... The next week or so will tell a lot. But there is also a chance that my husband and I will go with one of the two crappy options I'm being given and this will STILL work out, too. There's a chance. But with only chances to be embracing - it's hard to stay "motivated". And by "motivated" I mean - to keep going to all the goll-derned appointments I have all over the place. Last week I had two. This week, I have one. Next week I have three. The following week I have one...that I know of so far. I think my supervisor is getting tired of this! I certainly am! And as I sit here, at my desk, begging (internally) for work - but why SHOULD they give it to me? - I wonder WHY I'm going to all these appointments if there's only a sliver of a chance? Because even if the insurance works out - doesn't mean they will ACCEPT me. On the other hand, if the insurance WILL work out - better to get these appointments taken care of while I still have the coverage I do. Less out of pocket and all that. So, like I said, hard to stay "motivated". Now, I'm parenthesizing that because I AM motivated to lose weight. I don't know that I am "motivated" to pursue this procedure anymore, though. I am STILL not drinking soda. I did have one on Saturday after a long day volunteering at a children's Halloween nature festival thingy. Had a blast doing it but man oh man my feet were killing me after all was said and done. So drank a soda. It DID taste good - but I DID NOT want another one. YAY! That's huge progress. Prior to Saturday - hadn't had one since Monday and I couldn't even drink that one because it DID NOT taste good. YAY! That's progress. One soda in a week? I'd call that good! When I got on the scale on Sunday I was DOWN four pounds. YAY! When I got on the scale today I was UP four pounds. BOO! Such is life. Such is the journey I have been on for years. Haven't changed a thing and yet.... Interestingly, with not drinking sodas anymore - as that's the single-handed biggest change I've made so far - my FACE looks better. It's not puffy. And I hadn't even realized THAT was what the problem was. It's interesting to see my jaw coming back out. My cheeks. Still more work to be done, but it's progress. I LIKE PROGRESS. Maybe tomorrow I will wake up and have magically lost those four pounds again. Maybe. But the general gist of my almost entire month of "supervised" weight loss is that...I STILL weigh the same as I did the day I checked in for the first time. I guess I can say "at least I'm not gaining...." And so the journey continues....

Thursday night last week I went to the seminar. I don't know that it would have ever been required of me but I'm so glad I went. My husband went with me. And we both learned a lot. A lot almost seems like an understatement. And what's weird, was I already knew a lot - but it makes a difference hearing it from the surgeon. It makes a difference being able to ask questions of someone QUALIFIED to answer the questions. My husband learned a lot, too. And my husband and I both learned that he is on the border of being eligible for this himself. He thinks he can lose the weight on his own - by following the "diet" I am doing and continuing with his exercise program that he likes. I think there is potential for his yo-yo'ing to continue, though. I also think if we were doing this together, at the same time, on the same page - that would make it "easier". If we both had to do the liquid diet at the same time, for example, t'would be "easier" than if I do it and then six months later, he does it. If we both do the six month supervised weight loss together, t'would be easier, than if I do it and then he starts his program. He is like me - I KNOW he can lose the weight. But he's gained it back before, like me, multiple times. There is no easy answer for this, that's for sure. I surely can't push or cajol or try to convince him. He needs to decide on this for himself and no matter what he decides, I am and will always be by his side - just like he is for me. And no matter what, I know he is just as in this as I am. We had a long conversation this morning and some last night about cleaning out our pantry, about changing our approach to grocery shopping, about setting a menu on a Sunday, for example, doing our grocery shopping accordingly, and what we will no longer buy. Before I met my husband I was not an impulse buyer. I was also not in the shape I am currently, either. :wub: After I met my husband, I was able (as we wifes do) to retrain some habits - mostly not buying the little debbie crap and things like that. But he retrained me, too (as husbands do) and I now keep chips on hand, whereas the single me would not have. I now keep a second freezer full of meat and a second refrigerator full of sodas. We now both completey agree with each other that we quite simply CANNOT DO THAT! I grew up eating well, cooking well, exercising frequently (some might say too much), and generally active even when not exercising. From the age of four through high school I was on a swim team and I was good. I still am. I had to be on two sports teams all the time and the second thing bounced around from soccer to basketball to volleyball. Around junior high I switched to drill team and chearleading as my second thing. Around high school I was just doing swimming and drill and in my spare time I was in the choir and drum line. My mom ALWAYS steamed our vegetables - they were not soaked in broth and bacon fat or cheese or anything else. My mom always baked our fish and chicken - it was never fried and very rarely was it poached. We ate very small servings of carbs, if at all. We did not keep sodas in the house - we drank sugar free cool aid. I didn't eat my first dorito until I was 8 years old - and while it was good, I didn't care about them. And then I went in the Navy. Who in the world goes in the military to see their activity level DECREASE? Their food quality go bad? Their portions go up? The Navy is aware, though, that they have a problem. They were aware then and they were trying to fix it. But suffice it to say, in the Navy - I gained weight. In the Navy, in BOOT CAMP of all places, I lost a LOT of muscle tone which was my first step in the wrong direction. Anywho. I know how to do this. That's the story there. I have spent more of my life living healthy than not. However, add in some hormone complications of my late 20's and here I am...unable to lose it AND keep it off. And sadly, it, in the last year or so, has gotten to the point where I think, apparently, that if I'm going to look like this, I might as well eat what I want. And that's the part that's changing NOW! So Friday, I went to my first "weight loss appointment". I met the Nurse Practitioner in the new place - the practitioner that will be following me for my six months of supervised weight loss and exercise. I like her. Friendly. Non-judgemental. And straight forward. And she said - you already know what to do. So do it. And I'll see you in a month. She didn't sit there and preach to me about the importance of portion control. About the importance of balanced meals. About the importance of not drinking sodas. About the importance of exercise. She said "YOU ALREADY KNOW". And she's right. We ALL do. I read on here somewhere last week "If you want to know how to lose weight - ask a fat person" and that is so true. We KNOW how to lose it. We can't keep it OFF! I told a "friend" that Saturday night - a skinny girl who eats FIVE, yes FIVE pieces of PIE in one night and doesn't gain an inch and yet is always trying to lose weight - and she scoffed at me like :confused:. So I asked her - knowing she is ALWAYS wanting to lose weight - do YOUR "diets" work? No. See. Mine DO. I just can't KEEP it off. And hopefully this is the tool to help me be able to. Her answer. "Whatever". She seems to think that human beings cannot live on restricted calories. Since she can't (and doesn't need to) therefore no one should/could. Anyway... Friday was good. I was happy to be getting everything OFFICIALLY started. I go back on Nov 5 for the next check in. Now time seems to have slowed down. In the meantime - I should be able to pick up the letter of medical necessity from my PCP this week. Since my OB/GYN is someone with ongoing care, I should get a letter from him, too. I see him later this month. I need to also see a cardiologist since I have had issues with heart palpitations in the past. I see him later this month, as well. Finally, I've started trying to get into do my psych consult as well - although that's not been easy. I got a list of In-Network Providers from my insurance company and when I attempted to call SIX different practices on Friday, they were ALL closed for the day! Seriously. Not ONE mental health practitioner in my area works on Friday? Really? Whatever. My goal is to be able to turn in as much as possible when I go back on Nov 5th. This weekend was strangely emotional to me, though. Friday I was excited, happy, and certain. Saturday morning as I was waking up I was vaguely depressed. I just kept thinking in the back of my pea brain - no more bread EVER? But by the time I was fully awake I was back to my normal opinion - whatever. I am not a bread-aholic... Saturday night, had friends over for dinner - and skinny minny stood there in my family room judging me. I've had issues with her judgements already and am now of the opinion that she is just not ever going to understand. Sunday I had the vaguely depressed notions coming up again as I realized - no 'this', no 'that'. How to juggle this and that. Can I really not just do this on my own? That skinny minny got to me. Finally got to talk to my hubbie last night and he thinks that I CAN do this on my own - but thinks that this might also be a fail safe that would be worth it in the long run. He thinks that I should nevermind that skinny minny and chalk this up to experience. He thinks that no matter what, I should do this six month thing and then make a better informed decision then. So I woke up this morning thinking - we need to change how we grocery shop. We need to change our pantry. We need to change our refrigerators. And I need to go back to what my mom taught me, what I was raised with, what I know. And my hubbie is along for the ride. He's such a great man!

Hi I am being banded the day after tomorrow. My name is Ginny, and I am a relatively 'low" BMI, so the doctor did NOT put me on a pre-surg diet. Therefore, I have been eating my way through town this weekend. Truthfully, I am SICK of food and wish tomorrow was the big day instead of WEds! Thanks for letting me introduce myself. Looking forward to joining everyone in Band Land.

I've been reading on here for a while and just got my surgery date today! Friday I go to my nutrition class. My mom is worried because she doesn't know why they haven't sent me to see a pyschologist. Has everyone had to do that?

The following bariatric surgical procedures are considered medically necessary for Members who meet the associated criteria: Gastric bypass (Roux-en-Y; gastrojejunal anastomosis) Vertical banded gastroplasty (gastric banding; gastric stapling) Biliopancreatic bypass (Scopinaro procedure) Biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch Gastric sleeve procedure (also known as laparoscopic vertical gastrectomy or laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy) when done alone and not a part of the full operation to complete a biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch (BPDDS or DS) Medical Necessity Criteria The Member must meet the criteria of either A or B: Class II obesity (BMI 35-39.9 kg/m2) in a person who has attained an adult level of physical development and maturation, in the presence of one or more of the following comorbidities: Type 2 diabetes Cardiovascular disease (e.g., stroke, myocardial infarction, stable or unstable angina pectoris or coronary artery bypass) Life-threatening cardiopulmonary problems (e.g., severe sleep apnea, Pickwickian syndrome, obesity-related cardiomyopathy) [*]Class III obesity (BMI equal to or greater than 40 kg/m2) in a person who has attained an adult level of physical development and maturation. New CPT CODE: 43775 - Laparoscopy, surgical, gastric restrictive procedure; longitudinal gastrectomy (ie, sleeve gastrectomy)

I am 19 wks pregnant and I was banded in 2007. As of today I have lost 20lbs since the begining of my pregnancy! I have not had an unfill and kinda reluctant to get one. At my last doctors appt. my dr. told me I am not getting enough calories in and I'm starting to get scared! I dont want anything to effect the health of myself or the baby. So far they say the baby is growing fine which is great! But, does anybody have any suggestions on what I should eat or If I should get an unfill or not?

I have started my self in soft diet today,, 1/2 cup oatmeal,, with diced,dates and 1/2 scoop soy protein ,, eating slowly,, going down nicely,, haven't had any nausea to date

Ok..title says it all I am supposed to be on a semi all liquid diet for 10 days. Under 40 gm carbs daily. I have been doing Protein shakes w Almond milk (next to nothing carb wise), broth, Jello an a few sugar free fugsicles (19gm for 2) I am type 2 and am really strugglung. MY surgery is in one week. They told me 2 weeks for pre op diet due to my weight assuming my liver would be huge Would I screw things up if I ate a piece or 2 of chicken? I cannot imagine that 10 days of 800-1000 cals w < 30-40 GM carbs and the rest protein that a few pieces of chicen would stall my liver shrinkage or cause it to balloon after shrinking some. or would it? I am really not looking for a license to cheat or whatever, like people asking can't I have a piece of wedding cake. I am serious about this and in for the long haul, but I am nearly seeing double and cannot stay awake. I have one more week of this and struggling any thoughts? I would hate to travel cross country (going to Mexico actually) and get there and they tell me they can't operate...I am not going to blow it over a piece of chicken! But what is the reality of what can be tolerated? Thanks for ideas ad experiences

Well I finally got banded on 10/30/07. Was not a easy surgery the doc said. He said that the lining of my stomach was very thick which is the case in most men he said. Then also I had alot of fat around the stomach. Well after surgery for the next almost 2 days I could not keep down my spit. I would have the acid reflux and it would come back up. Finally after 2 days he did a upper GI with barium and saw the liquid going thru the stomach. He said I have the biggest band they make and it is wide open. He said he could go back in and see what he can do or I can go home and limp along for 3 days to 2 weeks till the swelling goes down. Well good news is the 1st week I lost 16 pounds when I went back to see him. I am fine and can eat now, but at night when I go to bed I still have the acid reflux. I do not lay in bed, I sit with my back to the wall in a sitting position and it still happens. I take 2 Nexium a day plus he just told me to start taking some Mallox. He said there is still swelling and to give it another week and come back and see him. He said it should clear up by then. I am just wondering has anyone else here had anything like this and how long did it take you to get over it? Thanks, Rob

Hi All, I will be one week post op tomorrow and my shoulders are Killing me!!! I have been drinking water, using hot packs but nothing os working.... any tips??? TIA! ????

And that's 10 lbs since surgery! Its awesome that I've hit my first 10lb milestone but is this too fast? Should I be losing this quickly?

Alright, how long does this "gas" stuff last. I still have very painful pain in my shoulder that comes and goes. Also have a lower left pain way down in the lower part of my stomach. It comes and goes too. They are both very painful when they are present. I have been walking and up and about when I can stand it. Also I can't eat much, which I know is a good thing, but I've only had about 400 calories today and fill totally full. I'm worried I won't get enough food. I start mushie foods next week, hope I can eat some more by then. I just want to feel healthy and I tire easily now. It has just been 10 days since my band. Other than that no problems with the actual incisions or pain in or around them. Just wondering if any of this is normal. Just need some reasurring. Thanks:smile2:

I am being sleeved next Monday. I had an ultrasound of my thyroid 2 weeks ago. I was diagnosed with thyroid disease (Hashimotos) last year. My nodules have shrunk (taking Synthroid) however my lymph nodes around my thyroid and neck are enlarged. I am scheduled for an MRI of my neck tomorrow then off to see a neck surgeon Wednesday. My Endo says it makes most sense to have the lymph node biopsy during sleeve surgery. I will see my stomach surgeon tomorrow to discuss further. I was thinking he can do the neck biopsy rather than bring in the neck surgeon. Anyway I'm nervous this week to begin with and now I have to worry about a neck biopsy/result pre and post surgery. I was wondering if anyone else experienced something similar? Thank you so much!