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Hi Lisa. Congrats on your upcoming surgery! Only 4 days away!! I'm sure you are nervous and excited all at the same time. I was definitely one of the people who, like you, was completely unconvinced that I would be successful with gastric band (I have Realize C band, not lapband). I had never been successful with any other type of weight loss (I wasn't even really a yo yo dieter. A few times - maybe twice - I lost and then gained more than I lost, but primarily I just kept steadily gaining over the years until I found myself at 286 pounds, my highest weight ever). Although I'm really far from my goal, I feel that I have been successful so far! If I can do it, I really think anyone can do it. Before I got banded, I felt sort of the same as you as far as giving up my best friend, food. And before my pre-op diet I went out for "one last foray with my bff". Looking back now, it seems so silly because, in actuality, I haven't given up anything that I really like to eat! I do give myself a treat now and again (I'm one of the bandsters with a sweet tooth) - usually ice cream. The other day, at my work, someone had brought in a halloween cake. I got there after it was cut, but when I got there someone had cut it into relatively small pieces on a plate. I chose the smallest piece (it was probably 1x2 inches....not too big, I ate it in 2 bites) and I was satisfied!! Before I would have probably eaten 3 big pieces with ice cream on top. You can eat what you like (although you can't eat ice cream all day everyday because it will just pass right through your band), but you will be able to eat small portions! Counting calories (I use fitday.com) is really helpful and you can start now, before youre banded to see what you are actually eating. Im sorry that your surgeon was negative - thats the last thing you need before you are about to have a surgery. Perhaps, it was just his way of being realistic or trying to motivate you to do great with the band! I think if you have the mindset that you won't fail and you WILL succeed (and there is no other option) then you will do great! Good luck and keep us posted on how your surgery goes!

I wanted to add one more thing, make SURE to ask them if you have to do a pre-op diet and how much that will cost you if you have to order something they require. I didn't know that was a requirement for my doc, they NEVER mentioned it in my seminar, and I took some GREAT questions with me. That wasn't one of them I paid $249 for my four week food kit. You'll find a list of fantastic questions as well as things to do and buy before surgery in the FAQ and References forum here.

Post Secret is where people send in post cards with annonymous secrets of theirs. This came out this week...

The site only posts that week, and the week before. They update every Sunday. I bought all the books, they're really artsy fartsy looking books,so they look nice on the coffee table... but I love reading them. PostSecret

I get my first fill next week and I have to do 2 days liquid then 2 days soft then normal again. For liquid I have home made vegetable blended soup, just mainly different Soups for 2 days and cups of low cal hot chocolate and sugar free ice lollies lol then for soft diet I have things like fish and potato or shepards pie or mince stew or eggs hope that helped a bit. Sent from my iPhone using LapBandTalk

I was banded August 13th 2013 I got pregnant three weeks later I just had my baby three months ago while I was pregnant I had the fluid out.I now have the fluid in and I'm lost I'm not as excited with the band as I was the first three weeks I don't know how to eat I keep being stuck I'm not losing weight I'm under a lot of stress with three small kids. I don't know what to do and how to start losing weight. I feel lost.

I understand what you are going thru. I have smoke for 34 years and it is hard to just quit. But I called on the help of my doctor which she gave me Wellbutrin and it has help alot. I have not smoked in 10 weeks. With that said I looked up everything I could on the computer and the trace of nicotine is gone within 48 hours. I'm not sure how they test or what they are testing for but for myself I did not what to take a chance. I was told also I could not smoke within 2 months of surgery. I go 4/21 for my pre op. But I think you you will be okay. Good Luck

Hey, brittany. Did you have to send it in yourself? I thought the doc's office usually does that? It can take a day to weeks to get a response.

Thank you Kelly and wishes. I'm still in hospital, I feel the anaesthetic is wearing off now. Just started my regime liquids for the next 4 weeks then I will be able to have mushies then hopefully onto normal food

I thought that the soda part would be the hardest, but if your a self-pay the thought of paying for another surgery will help you kick the habit. I admit i have like 3 sodas since I was banded in December but I try to let them go flat and I've had a few sips here and there. Beer was a pretty big thing to but I've had exactly two beers. I don't think the occassional carbonated beverage would do significant damage but try and stay away from them.

Try gearing your consumption down now and you'll have the start of a habit by the time surgery rolls around. I think most of us went through a kindof "last dinner" thing. It's just not needed. You do need to understand that though you will be starting to take control of your eating habits after surgery, there are NO foods that are taboo. As my doctor said, This is NOT a diet. There are lots of people who eat the same things we gorge ourselves on (that got us where we are in the first place!), and they are slim and healthy. The difference is PORTION CONTROL, along with sensible habits (like...a piece of pizza is okay occasionally, but not the WHOLE pizza, and not three times a week!). We are starting to learn to eat like NORMAL people. You can have what you want occasionally...if you deprive yourself completely, you will become disenchanted and tend to "cheat". So don't feel like because you are having this procedure done you have to "make up for all lost time in the future" by ingesting every Big Mac that comes down the pike from now to surgery, and you will thank yourself for it after the fact. And yes, the more you can lose before surgery, the easier a time your surgeon has of getting that liver out of the way in order to move around and conduct his business!

Hi, I don't have a surgery date yet, and my surgeon told me no travel for 3 months after surgery (mainly because he wants me to be close to home until I'm thoroughly stable). Have any of you traveled, especially internationally, after surgery? What were your biggest challenges?

My hubby and I tried to get our own insurance just for the purpose of getting me the surgery....when doing it on your own you have to fill out health questions ...we got turned down because he smokes and my bmi was to high..go figure..3 years later our employer switched in new insurance and thankfully it was covered! Good luck

I am having the same issue. I haven't had a cold in almost a year & now that I am a week away from surgery I am coming down with a cold. I hope you get better & have the all clear for surgery. My surgeon told me to call him the day before if my cold isn't gone.

I got sick pre op too. Doc had me wait 3 weeks. Trust me, you don't want to have a cough post op, ouch!

Hi my name is Joanne and I had the LAP-BAND® done on Feb 15 2010, I will go for my first filling next week. My surgeon is Jorge Rabasa. I have lost 10 pounds so far.:blushing:

Thanks Keith. I finally finished it off (and reposted the final version) today. It's now on it's way to the local BCBS. I actually expect that they will offer to remove the lap band but deny the revsion because I'm not >35BMI. Seriously, I think a lot of the insurance issues are related to weight discrimination. Pretty much any other diagnosis and and if the first treatment failed you'd have no problem getting a different treatment. Heck, if I had the symptoms I had without a lap band they would have been all over getting me in and covering whatever it takes to fix it. For the Fed BCBS stuff I posted on a few boards asking for others who were covered and got several public and private responses. I also did lots of googling on the variants of VSG and Fed Blue to find people who had been covered and the name of their doc. Then googled or looked up on Obesity Help a lot of the docs that were mentioned. Then called around to see what the various doctor and BCBS offices said. There were three states where the local BCBS administering for Fed Blue plan seems to have issues including Washington and California. In my state there are two BCBS offices that share administration of the plan and they disagree. The phone people are in the BCBS company that says it's covered but the pre-auth people are in the other company and say that it isn't. What's really frustrating is that there seems to be no Federal oversight of the plans that I could write or call to get this sorted out. I didn't include the doctor's names in the post because I didn't want to cause them any trouble in case they were using one of the old CPT codes for VSG (before it had an official code). And generally didn't want issues to come up in the states where VSG has no problem. If money wasn't a concern I'd probably already have gone to Dr. Aceves. But my hangup is what happens if I have a leak and need very costly emergency care. Who would pay for that. So if I can get some sort of coverage then I'll go with Dr. Cirangle in CA. There are a few local doctors here who do VSG but they just don't have the experience with revisions that Aceves, Cirangle and Hargroder have. I didn't really know as much about VSG and revisions when the pre-auth was submitted by the local doctor. It would be great if he could do it but they've only done about 100 VSGs and they want to do it in two surgeries six weeks apart. I just don't want that if it can all be done at once. And, heck, it's less than a used car if it comes down to self-pay for me. Well worth it. I loved my lap band while it worked. I think you should continue to fight on appeal. How good were your surgeon's notes? Will their office write a letter saying they had no choice? Much of the VSG info I used I got from Teresa who has a blog where she put her letter. I just added to it and wrote my own version. Also macmadame had posted a great list of studies and details that I referred to. Congratulations on your weight loss and improved health! It's amazing to feel like you're in control isn't it? I wish things could have stayed that way for me. I want to kick myself for not trying to get control before I regained so much weight. Britt

I started mine on 10/1. My surgery date is 10/21 so I was 3 weeks too. I thought 3 weeks was going to be awful - the first day was the hardest but the first day was also the most eye opening. I realized just how much I ate for no reason. When fixing the kids' breakfast and their lunch I would just put food in my mouth. Then I would eat my own. I would snack during the day then cook dinner and pick while I was cooking, then eat, then pick at the kids' lefts overs then pick while I was cleaning up. It was so eye opening for me. I am 15 days in now and I have struggled and I have had urges to just break down and eat but I have not. You can get through the 3 weeks and it goes by faster than you know. Good luck on everything for you.

July people we have at a minimum 4 days left to go !!!checking in to see how everyone is doing ? I'm on an emotional roller coaster but excited to get the band n lose weight n keep it off . If I was able to make it through these pre op diet days while all the last week of school celebrating going on with the food galore n drinking my shakes n only getting 3-5 a day I think I'm ready for this life journey ill be embarking on on Monday ... Scared as hell but willing to jump in both feet first .....

am getting my band tomorrow at 0900. I have had to liquids for 3 days. Good Luck!

Got my Pre op appt with psychologist, dietitian and physical therapy 2 weeks from today!!! Them the sugeron will either be the next day or a week from that. Super excited to be making progress!!!

I have BCBS of IL and my plan pays 100%. Had a verbal approval within a few hours and maybe 2 weeks for the written approval. Only requirement was that I needed to have surgery at a blue distinction center. Which there isn't one in my state. So surgery will be 2 hours away. No biggie. Gonna get a hotel night before. Have a $1000 deductible and I met that already. I had my consultation on May 4th and have my surgery set for Sept 11th.

My surgeon and nutritionist was at the Fresno Kaiser N. Cal. I did my classes thru the Modesto Kaiser N. Cal. We were allowed to weigh in at any Kaiser health center. I was not weighed on day of my psych or nutritionist appointment. The surgeons scale was the one that trumped any other scales. I noted the weight difference between his scale and my home scale. So I always had a pretty good idea what my weight was. Fresno Kaiser let us take off our shoes. It was summer so I was always in flip flops. I weighed myself in different clothes to find the lightest outfit I had and I wore that specific outfit thru my whole process. Even on surgery day. I wanted to stay at least 3 lbs under my surgery required weight. I was so afraid that I'd be above surgery weight. So i gave myself a 3 lbs cushion. My required weight was 227 and on day of surgery I weighed 220. I am almost 8 months out. Starting weight 243 Surgery weight 220. Current weight 159.6 Good luck to you all. Sent from my SM-G892A using BariatricPal mobile app

I decided pre-op that I was going to be loud and proud about the fact I had gastric. Everybody in the world knows. lmao. Two of my bosses at the Xmas Potluck last week didn't know and I had 2 cheese cubes, 2 green beans and 3 shrimp on my plate and I casually joked that it was the first time I had veggies in 6 weeks and they asked why and I was like "because I had gastric bypass". BOOM. Now they know. lol. Most of the time people think it's awesome OR they just shut up. EDIT: CRAP I DIDN'T REALIZE THIS WAS THE WLS VETERANS FORUM I AM SORRY FOR THE INTRUSION! LOL! PLEASE DON'T HATE ME. *disappears*

OMG! I felt the same way. I got my band on Thursday and I am hungry too. Nurse told me its head hunger. thats BS. I only have one shake per day, plus water, clear broth, tea, etc. This is real hunger. I'll be ok though. Cant wait for the next phase of soft food. My back was hurting also, its better now. It also hurt a little when I breathed in deep. I cant wait for these first few weeks to pass, so I can feel a little more normal. Good luck.