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I just spoke to my insurance company and all I need to do as quoted by Chanell Benson, is have the specialist or the surgeon in my case fax over a letter of medical necessity to their office and I should have an answer if I have been accepted within 48 hours! Wow! This is starting to really get exciting! I just faxed over my application that Dr. Jones office needs and off I go! After all that stressing over the 5 years of medical history it turns out I didn't even need it in the first place. I can practically feel myself putting on a size 10 right now! Thank you, thank you, thank you lapbandtalk friends for being here and helping me each step of the way....I can't talk to any of my friends or family about this yet so it is nice to know I have you all in my corner:woot: .

You go girl that size 10 looks good. See if there is a lapband support group in your area. It is great to have others going through the same thing to talk to but LBT is always here anyhow.

I just spoke to my insurance company and all I need to do as quoted by Chanell Benson, is have the specialist or the surgeon in my case fax over a letter of medical necessity to their office and I should have an answer if I have been accepted within 48 hours! Wow! This is starting to really get exciting! I just faxed over my application that Dr. Jones office needs and off I go! After all that stressing over the 5 years of medical history it turns out I didn't even need it in the first place. I can practically feel myself putting on a size 10 right now! Thank you, thank you, thank you lapbandtalk friends for being here and helping me each step of the way....I can't talk to any of my friends or family about this yet so it is nice to know I have you all in my corner:woot: .

I quit 5.5 years ago. Smoked for almost 10 years. I threw en away one day after emt class learning about mouth to stoma CPR. 1.5 packs a day and have touched em since. I stayed to myself for 2 weeks. Then I started hanging out with the smokers again. It was weird but the social time made it not so hard even though I was around smokers. They all knew I quit and all knew not to offer or give if I asked. Hang in there, you CAN do it

I had qualified for my insurance to cover my surgery in all but the 12 months of medically supervised weight loss program, with a bi monthly meeting with a nutritionist. I fought the nutritionist part, because I live in a rural area, where one was not available---I won that, they let my Dr. counsel me! Then 10 1/2 months into the 12--I was in a car accident-not my fault- and required surgery to repair my knee that was crunched. Once I was up and around I went back to the Dr. to get going again, only to be told I had to start over, it had to be 12 consecutive months!!! I appealed and lost---and rather than appeal again, I used my settlement from the accident, and paid for it myself---well worth every cent!!! Absolutely the only regret is that the insurance company should have had to pay it---it still irritates me!!! But it is almost 9 months out, and I am down 80 pounds, and not still waiting to get started!!! So llewis---why not license yourself---and expand---it sounds like you have the talent, and the clientelle already in place!! Kat

I was banded on 8/15/08 and have had two fills. One at about 8 weeks out and then the last one was about 10 weeks after that. I have lost 48 pounds so far but I am not sure I know what to note as restriction. I try to measure my food and I think my weakness is snacking. I try to watch it but when I am not working and at home I know I eat more between meals. I do feel full after I eat and I suffer if I eat too fast and don't chew well enough but I really don't have a clue as to what it would feel like to reach a sweet spot. I have a 9 cc band and only about 5 cc's in there right now. I think I will need another fill soon. Maybe that is one reason I am snacking.

I am looking for a buddy/mentor. I'm a 37 year old female living in VT with my husband and two children. I need to lose approximately 100 pounds. My surgery date is January 5, 2009 and I am on my 10-day liquid diet right now.

Relax, you're doing beautifully. Keep all your appointments for fill assessment, keep increasing the exercise, keep patting yourself on the back for choosing yourself and your healthy future. Post band and pre-correct fill can be hard to navigate. Be tenacious! You will get this! And don't forget to pay attention to how your pants are fitting. That was a big one for me. Scale wasn't bidging sometimes and that's right when I'd need a new size. Down from 18 to 10 in exact same brand. And 65+ pounds. It's like its not happening and then BOOM!

Hey good luck, I had a sleeve done dec 2012, lost a heap of weight and then tummy stretched and everything went downhill from then on, suger, alcohol, chocolate, I'm sure you get the picture. I decided to have an omega loo Bypass done 29th May and haven't looked back since, no nausea, no hot flushes, no diarrhoea have lost 26kgs in 10 weeks, I'm absolutely over the moon

My date is 10/21. I can't wait to get my phone call tomorrow telling me what time to be at the hospital Tuesday! Best wishes to everyone!

My date is 10/22. I am finally ready to do this for me, not anyone else. Good luck to you!

I dreaded telling my husband because he would think the same way I did when I first contemplated this ...it just seemed so extreme, it doesn't now the more I educate myself about it and here all these success stories. He actually found out on his own when he got on our shared computer and kept seeing this web site narrowed down at the bottom. He laughes and doesn't think I'll actually go through with it and of course gave me the lecture about starting today ...eat right exercise etc. and I'll see in a few weeks I'll lose the weight....I kept my 10 year intense weight loss battle mostly to myself I guess. I felt like this last weight gain after a stellar 4 month effort of marathon training and healthy eating just did me in....it was the straw!!!!!

Hi everyone, I'm hoping I can get some good advice here. I was banded on 8/14; went for my first fill on 9/24 (3 cc's in 10 cc band). Today I am still very hungry and feeling very little restriction. I called my doc's office to schedule another fill. I was told that I could not get another fill until after November 19th (90 days post op). The first appt. available was 12/4! :biggrin: Does this sound right at all? In reading the boards, it seems most docs will give another fill if the patient requires it. I'm getting a little discouraged, although I am down 30 pounds since surgery date. Any advice would be appreciated. ML sw 295 cw 270 (?? - haven't weighed in 3 weeks; don't want to get discouraged)

My surgeon explained it to me with the failure rate they are willing to accept. In a manufacturing facility, they strive for a certain degree of perfection - quality assurance, max failure rate etc. This is reached through quality control and certain ways of manufacturing the widgets. The higher quality you want to reach, the more careful you have to be, the more expensive your tools are and the better your people have to be trained. Makes sense, right? That's why some car manufacturer have a much better record than a Yugo or so :-) He said the same is true for surgeons. A surgeon's practice has a certain percentage of failure they are OK to accept, in this case failure is issues with the staple line, leaks etc. I believe it is pretty obvious that the longer you are on Clear Liquids (and then full liquids), the more time you give your staple line to heal. Some practices are willing to take more risks in order to make patients happy. Others are really strict to avoid issues as much as possible and are probably overly cautious. Believe me, I was 2 weeks on clear liquids, and then 4 weeks on full liquids - I was NOT a happy camper. It is just an area that you cannot look at. Only if it fails (and it is too late) do you know you did it wrong. How do you know you are doing fine? Just because you are not in pain (or not in pain yet) doesn't mean you are fine. The earlier you eat solid food, the earlier you stress your freshly operated stomach. Some people heal faster, others heal slower -- but no one knows that for your particular case. Say 90% of all patients are good to go after 2 weeks. 6% need 4 weeks to heal on clear/full liquids. The remaining 4% of all patients need the full 6 weeks to heal on clear/full liquids. You can either take a chance on those 4% and make your 96% happier, or you can say I don't want to risk it for the 4% so everyone has to be on clear/full liquids for 6 weeks. Or you take a chance on 10% and say everyone can go on soft foods after 2 weeks. It's a question of statistics, probably involves insurance rates and other issues too, how a surgeon decides. The numbers are totally made up though, he told me some but I forgot. Does that make sense?

Ok love this Soup high Protein and easy love it this is an Atkins recipe Ingredients 2/3 Tablespoon olive oil 2/3 medium onion, chopped 1 1/4 garlic cloves, minced 1 1/4 jalapeno chiles, finely chopped 1/3 Teaspoon salt 1/4 Teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 1/4 Tablespoons chili powder 1 Teaspoons ground cumin 1/8 Teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 1/4 Pounds lean ground beef 9 1/16 Ounce-weight canned diced tomatoes 1 Cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded Directions Heat broiler. In a 9 or 10-inch oven-proof skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add onion; cook until golden, about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and jalapeños; cook 30 seconds, stirring until fragrant. Add salt, red pepper, chili powder, cumin, cinnamon and ground beef to skillet. Cook until browned, about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain excess liquid from pan. Add tomatoes, and bring to a boil. Sprinkle cheese over top. Place 5 inches from heating element, and broil just until melted, about 5 minutes.

Currently going through this now. I had surgery 10/10 and I honestly don't feel the weight is falling off like I hoped. I'm a part of the Bariatric surgery community on Instagram so I get a lot of progress updates from people who have similar surgery dates. I feel like I'm behind the rest of the class. People keep telling me not give up and keep my working hard. Honestly at times I have "buyer's remorse" and feel having surgery was a waste. It is extremely difficult to see the light at end of the tunnel.

Hello everyone! I'm new here and this is my first post so be gentle.. I am 10 days post op and I'm feeling great! I'm a tad nervous about Christmas, my Doc has allowed me to start mushy foods tomorrow. I'm excited to be eating again (this liquids business is for the birds, seriously). I've been starting to get a little more hungry in the last few days so anything I can chew on sounds good to me right now hehe.. Any tips for my first time eating after surgery, especially since it will be in front of a shmorgishborg of goodies? ~ Happy Holidays! ~

I had my sleeve mid-October and have lost about a pound a day since surgery. I'm happy with those results, however I know others that have lost 15-20 lbs 7-10 days out. I'm just curious to see what the norm is. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I agree... It's embarrassing to think we'll be lying there naked for them to see us like that. I had ankle ligament replacement about 10 yrs ago... And when i woke up, I sat up quickly and the nurse said, "Oh honey, those doctors never put the gowns back on correctly"... I couldn't speak because I had been tubed during the surgery and had just woken up... But I was mortified. Why had my gown been removed for ankle surgery??? I don't know!!! And I had a hot Doogie Houser doctor who worked on mostly athletes... But he was completely professional... Never looked at me differently or treated me differently. I know he had to think i was yuck! But he never made me feel bad. What kind of person would do that anyway? You certainly wouldn't want that for your doctor, right?!?! This surgery is different. They are there to help overweight people! Not to judge! I wouldn't stress about it. It'll be over before you know it and you'll never have to face that weight or body again... You'll be healthier, happier, and even more beautiful than you already are.

I really couldn't answer that because I was on 10 days of clear liquid and 10 days of full liquid then 10 days of mushy food. So, basically, at your stage, I was still on liquids. Dr. aceves feels strongly that the staple line needs to be protected, and putting food against it is dangerous. That may be why he has never had a leak.

12/26/08 Well I went back to the gym and worked hard. I have been gaining and losing the last 2 lbs over and over for about 10 days. I was so smug before thinking that I was lucky and doing so well….I guess it happens to everyone. Christmas is a hard time to diet. No doubt about that! I guess I should be happy if I don’t gain any weight this week. At one point I was 0.2 lbs away from my New Years goal. Now I am about 1.5lbs away. I don’t know if I will make it, but if I don’t make it by New Years it will be okay because I will make it soon. Ever since I really started focusing on that goal I haven’t done very well. I need to go back to the philosophy that said even if I mess up or don’t lose as fast as I want to I will lose it. It is ok not to be perfect. It is ok to mess up as long as I get back up and keep going. I am going to mess up. I have to expect it. That way it won’t hit me so hard when it happens. It will be ok and I will keep going and keep losing! I have to accept a new chapter in this Lap band book. I have to give up pizza. :embaressed_smile: I have been eating pizza occasionally. Too often lately. It has been around a lot. Today we helped some friends move. (I am actually exhausted and I don’t think I am going to make it to the gym tonight. I will tomorrow.) Anyway they ordered pizza for the group. I got stuck and started sliming at lunch and at supper. I thought I just wasn’t watching my bites well enough and I probably wasn’t, but I think it is time for me to accept that I have gotten tighter and that means no more bread. Not even pizza crust. I thought I would be upset and just want it more…but to tell you the truth I am kind of relieved. I think I needed an excuse not to eat it. My will power had failed me recently. It is time for me to get back to basics. I found out today that my grandpa passed away. I wasn’t close to him and the only reason I am going to the funeral is to support my mom. She needs some closure. Now my sister her 4 boys and my mom are coming home. That means I don’t get to surprise them this spring/summer with my weight loss. Oh…I guess I still will when I hit onderland, but it just won’t be as big of a surprise. I am still not planning to tell them about the lap band until I in onderland and much closer to goal so now I have to watch what I eat and not let them figure out what is going on. We’ll see what happens. I know that they will think that I went off the deep end if I tell them before there are more results. I need them to say “WOW! I wish I had done that!” Anyway….good bye Christmas. Parting is such sweet sorrow. I love you and hate your snacks and I can’t wait until next Christmas when I plan to be at goal! I pray it will be true!

Sooverit, The surgeons sent me a letter prior to the orientation with all those that were interested in bypass or band. They request you look at the list if your BMI is under 40. My insurance agency states that you must have medical problems associated with obesity( which to me is most!) to be eligible if your BMI is under 40. The health issues I have are; shortness of breath, sleep apnea, asthma, thyroid,urinary incontinence, depression and heart disease. The heart disease was a bit of a stretch, for my blood pressure is fine. I had a heart rythem issue in November, actually in the mid of the night after Thanksgiving ( maybe that was the food!), I had to go tot he hospital. I was sleeping, and woke up feeling I was having a heart attack. All the tests showed nothing, which is good, but I am scared it will happen again! My surgeons also request a letter from you, stressing your life challenges related to weight ( mine sinc age 10). I beleive that letter went to the insurance agency as well. I hope this helps. I was really concerned if I would be eligible. The Nurse I saw for my evaluation and the coordinator for the process gave me all good support, so I was feeling supported by them, however as you know insurance agencies are funny! Glamourgirl, I have asked myself all those questions, and I am still a bit nervous of the finality of the choice to go forward, however I feel if I don't where will I be, heavier? I have the ability to lose the wieght if I have the right tool and motiviation, which I feel the band will give me, the problem I always have is keeping it off! I am hoping the limitations of the band will give that to me. Good Luck Hope to keep hearing from you both! Janine

I was sleeved on the 16th as well. 2nd day was rough because I had a bad gas bubble and vomiting. I almost did not get to go home. I am getting alot of fluids down and broth. Protein shakes are so nasty to me and I really liked them on my pre op. I am trying really hard to get them down. I went and got protein shots that are only 3 oz and gag those down just to get the protein in. I know this will get better. I don't really have any other problems except for the gas which is slowly going away. I can say very happily I am down 28 lbs since Aug 9 when I went on my pre op diet. (19 from pre op and 9 since surgery) Good Luck!!!!

I understand what you're saying- and nothing anyone can say here is going to change the decision I've made to follow through with this. I KNOW I can't go back to where I was. I know this. It's just disheartening to hear from your surgeon that although you're removing half your stomach, you "might not lose a lot of weight". How is that even an option to NOT lose weight?! My fear is that since I'm a revision, I won't be successful as if I was a WLS virgin. I've gained weight. None of my clothes fit me. I'm back on BP meds. I KNOW what needs to be done, and I'm doing it on 2/19. I guess I'm just looking for those success stories from other successful banders who have gone on to be successful sleevers.

26 pounds in 2 months- I'm kind of confussed, because that is amazing weightloss- even above average. Your Dr. may not even give you another fill if you are showing that great of progress. I wouldn't worry until you stop loosing weight- I am 10 months post-op, only had 2 fills & can eat bread any day & still got to goal. Your doing fantastic- keep up the great work!