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After being denied the first time, TRS Active Care/BCBS approved me after my surgeon's office sent an appeal coupled with a letter from my family doctor stating that the band was medically necessary because of my diabetes and after many tried and failed attempts at weight loss programs. She also used the words morbidly obese more times than I ever wanted to see! At any rate, I just found out yesterday that the appeal was approved, so I haven't scheduled a date yet. In fact, I don't even think my surgeon's office knows it has been approved as I called BCBS late yesterday afternoon. They submitted the appeal on the 17th and I was approved yesterday! That's pretty quick, in my opinion. I am hoping to schedule my surgery for spring break as I am a teacher. Having that week off to get back on my feet should be enough. I'm just ecstatic to begin my journey. I am only 26 years old, and I have been diabetic for over year. After the diagnosis, I lost 33 lbs. on Weight Watchers but didn't maintain it because I was always hungry. I got sick of the deprivation. As a result of the weight gain, I now have hypertension to add to the list. I weigh 250 lbs. My surgeon thinks that I am the perfect candidate for the surgery. I know this isn't a magic bullet as I have done research and have two friends who have been banned; however, I think it is my best shot at a healthy lifestyle. :tongue_smilie:

So, it has been a while since I have posted anything, but I am in need of some feedback and support. The day before Thanksgiving I became completely blocked and required an emergency unfill. I was freaked out at the thought of no restriction, but was in so much pain that I did not even care at that moment. Now the bad news..... Since my unfill, I have gained 12 pounds!!! :tongue_smilie: And my doctor cannot get me back in for a fill until the 31st and when they do, they will only give me a small fill to start. I have joined Weight Watchers to try to slow down this crazy weight gain, but even sticking 100% to plan, my body is gaining weight. Has anyone bee through this and do you have any suggestions?? Thanks for listening. :tongue:

Hi Bandpal! Hope you had a safe trip back to Israel. I'm working on my Masters in mental health counseling. I enjoy working with children and am now interning at a special school for emotionally disturbed children. The children have disorders such as ADHD, Oppositional Defiance Disorder, BiPolar, Aspergers, etc. I plan on obtaining my license and would like to someday open up a counseling center for children and their parents. For now, I'd like to work in a school until I can receive my license. I have to work for 3000 hours after graduation and take the NY licensing exam before I'm licensed. I'm graduating this May, four days after my son's Bar Mitzvah. Can't wait! I know that many sleepless nights studying and writing papers contributed to my weight gain.

No weight loss and no weight gain. I am stalled and I know a couple of reasons why....I need a fill (appt is in January), I have not exercised as much as I should and I have been so busy at work. I am looking forward to the holidays and making good choices. Have a good week everyone!

Well I did my first day of mooshies! Everything went just fine. I am nervous to see the scale at the end of the week though. I am being very careful but it only stands to reason that eating food instead of liquids should produce some kind of weight gain. We shall see. I have been told that this is the limbo stage for banders and it is easy to gain during this phase if you are not careful. God willing I won't. I am excited for my first fill.

Hmm.. for MY weight gain it was this: I was too tight. I couldn't eat more than 2-3 bites of anything without pain. No matter how small the bite or how much I chewed. I could eat about 3 bites, wait 10-15 minutes, eat a few more, etc. That was frustrating emotionally and mentally. Not to mention, I am just not into pain with my food. So I was LIVING on things that went down easily - ice cream, candy, cookie dough, Pringles, cheese puffs. It's weird, cause I couldn't eat yogurt (maybe 1/2 container when pain would set in) but I could eat pudding fine. Anyway... So living on sugar for 6 months doesn't help weight loss.... BUT. Now I'm down from 8cc to a more manageable 7cc and feeling MUCH better. I can eat REAL food for the first time in 6 months and it is amazing. I can probably eat too much... I think I was at a good spot several months ago when I had 7.5cc, but I screwed that all up... I go back in 4 weeks to see where I"m at and how I"m doing. I might get a slight fill, we'll see how I feel in 4 weeks. But hopefully eating protein instead of sugar will help my body feel better. It sure as heck is more mentally and emotionally satisfying!!

Same.. BCBS has a Baby Yourself program, so some nurse calls and checks up on me and talks to me every month. The first time she called, she asked if I used artificial sweeteners.. I told her I use Sweet-n-Low (Only one I like, and I like it a LOT!) and of course, she says that's the ONLY ONE that hasn't been tested (why??) and cleared, so told me to swap to Splenda, Equal, or Sugar. I tried Splenda & Equal and do not like either.. so I went to sugar for a little bit, but with the weight gain, I decided I didn't need more sugar than normal.. so I'm back to Sweet-n-Low. I don't have it every day, I have it when I get tea at restaurants, probably 4x a week. Oh well..

HeatherO wrote: I have also been on a fruity yogurt kick lately. I like the Yoplait Whips or the Yoplait Light "Thick" yogurts. I like the different textures, there is plenty of calcium and not too many calories. Hey peeps! Heather, are you eating yogurt sweetened with aspartame, as most light/fat free yogurts are? I've been looking everywhere for non-fat yogurts sweetened without aspartame and can't find any....since preggos can't have aspartame, I've been eating regular lowfat yogurt, but at nearly 220 calories per cup, thats just hard on me. I am up about 5-7 lbs depending on the day I weigh. Not great for only 7 weeks, but I am TRULY getting hungry all the time now, so trying to make good choices. My cravings are similar to all of yours, mostly sweet stuff (powdered donuts, grapes, blueberries, yogurt and cereal) I think part of the weight gain is due to constipation and water retention...at least I hope so!

WOW I had no idea the military was so hard on their people. I knew there were weight guidelines but my goodness that is borderline abuse!!! I think that is grat that you have taken the time to gain insight into your issues that cause your weight gain! That is wonderful b/c for a lot fo people that can't see that far into the process! Looking forward to your blog!

I am due June 9th as the official due-date although by LMP it should be the end of May. I was 150 or so around the time when I got pregnant, dropped to 141 over the first two months. I have pretty much held steady but I had seen 143 on the scale for 2 days in a row now . . . and I fear the higher weight might stick. I feel like so far I have been lucky with my weight . . . my lack of weight gain has had nothing to do with me maintaining a strict dietary plan. I have been eating when I am hungry, drinking tons of milk and water and trying to avoid too much sugar and fat (but sometimes I indulge). If I am hungry, I eat and have now gone up to 4 meals a day instead of 3. My extra meal generally is a small bowl of cereal because I have been craving it a lot. I don't want to gain more than 20 pounds . . . but I guess it will be what it will be when I get to the end. I know I have my band waiting to be kicked back into action when the time is right.

HP, JJ, ZZ ~ Thanks so much for the welcome back! I love you girls so much! I'm glad to be here again! ZZ ~ What kind of help are you needing from your LBT buddies? Someone to feel your pain, or someone to get real with you. I can do either, just let me know where you are in your head, girlfriend. CharlieTuna ~ I don't know how long you've been here. I almost called you CT. Did Juli do here knicknaming duties with you yet? <wink> Losing the inches is fantastic! Just fantastic! Those bad old scales don't tell a good story at all...pounds are not the way to measure....it's just the way everyone is used to. Inches and body fat % is the way to measure. Clothing is the way to measure. Particularly if you work out. So tell me what you do for excercise and resistance training and tell me about your diet? Maybe I can help? I would be willing to bet that you and ZZ have the very same problem right now with weight gain: you are not eating enough or often enough. That scares your body into storing (depositing fat) every bit of energy (food) you put into it if it thinks there is a shortage of food available. HP ~ Inquiring minds want to know? What is the spinning program that you joined and downloaded? I need something to make the trainer more interesting. Is it expensive?

Hey girls, are we really sure we wanna do the pie hole report???? Mine sucks in a big way!!! LOL Maybe I'll come back to that later!!! The big news is my Secret Santa present went out, and should be delivered by weeks end she said. Now if YOU get my package, be advised it is NOT wrapped inside--when you open the box it will all be exposed. So the choice is yours, open---or stuff behind the tree so the silly box will not show!!! I hope it makes it South without trouble.....wait, maybe it is north of me....West without question. Oh No! It must be East, I think I turned around in the PO parking lot! Never was good at directions, but it is without a doubt one of those---or even a couple! LOL Got my drive and walks shoveled. Rick did them before he left, and I did them again. Now the temp is warm enough even though it is still snowing, that it melts off pretty well when it hits the shovelled areas. My Kinsey is having a bit of struggle with things. She was VERY concerned this morning about her Mommy not coming back. And has ask me several times when she is coming back. Manda has called and texted Jason and ask him to please respond, she just wants to know he is ok, and that Kinsey needs him to talk to her too, to let this be as easy as possible on her, but he has not responded. Rick said he has not been at work. He didn't go yesterday because he was sore from snowboarding all weekend, and then she had the talk with him last night, and he didn't go today. Manda drove as far as the state line (NM & CO), and got stopped at the border, she was required 4WD or chains to go over a small mountain between the border and work. She has neither, she has good tires, and front wheel drive---but that wasn't good enough. So she parked at the checkpoint, and one of the field hands in a company truck with 4WD picked her up and took her on up to work. She is in charge of buying for the needy family her group adopted---and they are shopping today. The family has a special needs child, he has a disease, I cannot pronounce, but he is 9 years old, and weighs 30 pounds, wears a 24 month old clothes. The older daughter ask for new glasses. They went and met with the family to arrange for her to see an eye Dr. amd in conversation found out their washer was out, so they bought the family a washer, and clothes and gifts for the kids. Jeans for the Dad--who works, but just cannot keep up with the expenses medically, and have enough left to buy gifts. Manda said it was so much fun to buy gifts without the cost concern. I mean they still tried to get as much for their money as possible, but when we do the Angel gifts, we always have to concern ourselves with the cost factor--she said this was just amazing, and the feeling she said she could not even describe to me......although I bet it is similar to the Mom feeling I have knowing she is enjoying the giving the way I always hoped she would. Does that make sense??? Before we left for the PO and grocery store, I let the dogs out. Kinsey was right out in the snow with them. That Pug began running circles around her out there, he had us both laughing so hard Kinsey ended up falling on her fanny in the snow! He LOVES the snow! This is his first experience with it--and he rolls in it, and scoops it up on his smushed in nose---and runs like a crazy thing in it. He literally smiles ear to ear---such a funny thing. The chihuahua on the other hand, is not a happy camper. Of course the snow is way too deep for him, he is under 3 pounds, he is sooooo tiny. So he goes to the edge of the porch, does his duty (or doody---as the case may be) and runs as fast as his little twig legs will carry him back again!!! LOL OK.....not that this is seeming to make me behave, it will explain my weight gain! B--peanut butter toast S-oatmeal cookie, then another, then choc. pretzel....then it was time for L-vegetable soup---with crackers and Diet DP S-celery & Peanut Butter, handful of fresh roasted peanuts---and these sweets are not calling my name, they are screaming and threatening me!! Tacos are on the menu for dinner.......lets hope I can semi behave til then. I need Water....I need help! Hives are some better this morning, I had one on my lip.....hate them! others behind my knees. The cold made them worse, but the cleared quickly---from shovelling I mean. Well, off to make more things I do not need to eat!!! Wish me luck. Stay warm everyone! Kat

Heather, I did not cheat at all. I've gained 5 lbs in 1 week after I took the med (Lyrica). Lyrica usually treat people with depression but they use on people who has nerve pain too (shingles included). I was shocked at the weight gain; however, my pcp told me that one of the side effect is gaining weight. I am going to tell him to please mention about the med he put me on. Alisa

First and foremost, congrats on building such a great exercise program and on completing three half marathons! I have read that your restriction can change over time even if you don't get fills/unfills. It can be caused by tons of things - losing weight, gaining weight, stress, exercise, dehydration, etc. That's part of why I chose the band over the bypass. I wanted the ability to adjust down the road if I started having problems. As for your diet...your needs may be a little different than most band patients based on the amount of exercise you do. You might want to talk to a nutritionist, preferably one who works with athletes AND band patients. Your situation is somewhat unique...I don't know a lot of band patients who are running half marathons on a regular basis. I'm curious to hear about how the appointment goes...so keep us in the loop! :blushing:

I was banded on 11/18 and my surgeon jsut got back froma seminar and told them too book me for 4 weeks and the office assitant was like "Oh he made a mistake" I siad " No that is what he said". She talked to Him and he just got back from a seminar and they suggested 4 weeks if patient is healing well because so many patient's have a hard time holding out for 6 weeks when they are healed by three. I have no problem eating all types of meat..... although I have not tried steak yet!! lol...so If things are welll and you have no restriction and your concerened about weight gain....CALL CALL CALL what's the worst they can say ...NO..then you just wait a little longer and pray to the food gods to give you strength!! Best of luck to the "Inbetween Fill Crowd":thumbup:

I've walked by it a few times... just don't want to do it! UGH! I'm trying to figure out what body part I can have surgically removed to equal my weight gain so I can break even!!!!!! LOL!

I was banded april 08 and have bipolar and experience severe mood swing when cut back on calories. I take mood stalbizers(lithium) and this helps very little. Does anyone else experience this and wondering if going up on lith would help make cutting back more smooth or be risk for weight gain? Anyone at goal weight, or close, taking heavy meds? Im having wloss, just slow:) maddy

I'm not a big juice drinker, I'm a believer in eating the fruit. I dont buy juice because its no better for the kids than soda, full of sugar, high calories, and they tend to guzzle it. so I'm raising them the same way i was raised - skim milk or Water to drink. I've also got ingrained in me the habit of not drinking calories. I would no more ingest a couple of glasses of juice a day than eat a family block of chocolate daily. Fast track to weight gain. I drink water. Its one of those healthy habits lots of fat people have. Calorie wise, you might as well be drinking Coke. Although if you truly dont eat any other fruit, then a glass of juice in the morning is probably a good idea. In case I sound too virtuous and perfect, I wake up and head straight for the coffee, before i can do ANYTHING else.

you will do great! I didnt have to stop taking any meds so i don't know from personal experience about the weight gain. as for the new years challenge I'm offically down 20lbs so im going to set a smaller seccond goal of another 10lbs.

Okay the latest. I called my doctor and a medical tech called me back. I can't eat hardly anything. She said that it was okay to eat soft foods. From what I know this can cause weight gain cause you start eating your unhealthy foods again because they go down easy. She said that eating chocolate Malto Meal was fine to eat in the morning. Yesterday I ate Chipotle and barely had anything. I did notice though you could only eat a couple Beans at a time or a tiny piece of chicken. Is this normal. That is so small! Last night I had just shrimp and it came up. So then I wanted the rest of a chocolate sundae that I have had a couple of times. Stopped eating that and forced myself to eat some turkey from a frozen meal. That went down fine. People who have gastric lose weight so fast. How is that when I see that we talk a lot about not eating enough then not losing any weight or hitting a plateu? So is my band too tight or I am just not eating the right foods and size. I had some pancakes and an egg on Friday. First time trying that with this fill (#8) and it all came up.

Hi Week2ers, Hope you are all feeling good. Goose I hope you gas pains have subsided. I have a severe case of the "growlies". I don't feel hungry, though I felt more full yesterday, today I still have the full feeling most of the time. Mostly I have been eating broth with unflavored Protein. Yummy! Anyone else experiencing the "growlies"? Yesterday, I felt lots of gas pain in my sides. Today it isn't as obvious. I have pain around my port area and soreness through my midsection. Other than that I am doing really well. My biggest concern is that I have gained weight. I started the 3 day pre-op liquids at 286, on the morning I left for hospital was 281. The morning after I came home from the hospital I weighed 293!!!!!!! I know I some of it can be attributed to surgery but that seems excessive. Anyone else experiencing a weight gain?

Look, it does and it doesnt eliminate the willpower factor. If you really cant choose a healthy diet and cut out a lot of the crap, you're not going to be very successful with a lapband. Mind you, you may still lose a fair bit of weight, but you're unlikely to lose all of your excess. But when you're not starving hungry all the time and when a little bit of something satisifies you, that cuts you some leeway. For example: fish and chips is a common take out food here in Australia -battered and deep fried fish, hot chips (thick french fries), potato cakes (battered and fried potato fritters) and fried dim sims, not to mention the great Aussie classic, the chiko roll! I wont even try to explain what that is. I used to easily eat a piece of battered flake (shark) - which was huge, 2 potato cakes, a dim sim and a heaping of chips - easily 1500 calories, if not more and easily about 70 or 80 grams of fat. These days I try to avoid fish and chips. But if I eat them, i can get through about 1/3 of a piece of flake and about five or six chips, maybe 300 calories worth. It simply doesnt do the damage it did. I took my son down to get some Mcdonalds for lunch the other day (special treat) and much as I felt like something, its not worth it. I cant eat it, it wont go down, it makes me feel sick. No willpower required and I walk out of Maccas empty handed. I used to love my wine, but it can burn my stomach and cause reflux. A small glass is about as much as I can tolerate. 100 calories instead of 300 for three glasses. I dont cut out any foods, dont do the high Protein thing, eat entirely normally, mostly good foods, sometimes treats but i cant eat a lot and do a lot of damage. If I fall off the wagon and eat poorly for weeks, I dont gain weight. I feel crap and down on myself, but no weight gain. If I chose, i could fill the between meal hours with Cookies, ice cream and chocolate, all of which are easy to eat and dont fill you. I choose not to. I also choose to run for an hour a day or do circuit training. The band doesnt help with that. You do have to have some internal conviction and motivation. But you wouldnt be considering WLS if you werent ready to dig deep and find that.

Since my surgery on 22 OCtober, I have lost about 25 pounds. BUT since my first adjustment, which was on 17 November, I have only lost MAYBE 3 pounds. It's almost four weeks now. I don't feel "full" after eating, and matter of fact, I can eat the same amount that I did prior to the surgery. I am scheduled for another adjustment in 10 days. My doctor did say that until the band was properly inflated properly and that since sometimes trial and error was best before the optimum fill level had been reached, that I would see less weight gain. Has ANYONE else had this issue or should I just be patient?

I am a low bmi bandster and had to self pay. My BMI was only 35 at the time of surgery and I did not have any co-morbidities either so I didn't even try to get my insurance to pay. But I KNEW I had to get this done because I was a mere 30lbs away from a BMI of 40 and everything that goes with it. I called the doc's office first and tt them about it--they still had me go to the seminar and then I went thru all the rest. Bottomline-- it will be your surgeon's decision if he thinks you're a good candidate. It's not just about BMI. Also-- my doc made it clear that I would not lose as fast as someone with a higher BMI and more to lose and I would have to really learn to eat right and exercise. He also said that there is a lot of research out there that the band is a great tool for low BMI patients as to prevent further weight gain and problems while losing weight too..... Good luck!

My scars are healing very well. I don't keloid. But I still won't be wearing any bikinis once I get to my goal weight because I have terrible dark stretch marks all over my belly. I think the stretch marks have been more embarassing for me than the actual weight gain. Especially since I have no children! Would the vitamin E work on them too, or is it too late?