Looking for May Bandsters

[ms.rhonda 4]

Hi! I am wondering if there is anyone that has a May date set. I know my surgery should be in May but no set date.

[kagead 0]

Hi Ms. Rhonda,

I am hoping to be banded in May, too. I started this process in November and will be ready to go way before then, but due to work obligations I have to wait.

Nice to see someone who is on the same schedule!

kagead

[ms.rhonda 4]

How have you done on your pre-diet? Me not to good! I really am glad to meet someone with the same timeline.

[kagead 0]

What type of diet are you doing? Are you required to attend nutrition classes? Have you had to do any other tests like an Upper GI, EKG, psych evaluation or the like?

I guess I am not really doing a diet as of yet, so it hasn't been too bad. :sad: At my initial meeting with the Nurse Practitioner, she told me I could maintain or lose up to my surgery date, but I couldn't gain. The Nutritionist told me the same thing.

Like everything else, I am sure each surgeon has their own requirements (which can make things very confusing when reading these boards.)

At the 1st nutrition class, they gave us some general meal planning parameters (x amount of veggies, x grams of Fiber, etc.) and told us to keep a food log.

At the 2nd class, we reviewed what happened in the month since the 1st class and we moved our focus on to Protein. I have to say I was thrilled that I maintained considering I had been on the road for work for 15 out of the previous 32 days.

The 3rd class, which I have in about a month, will focus on the specific pre and post-op diet- ie: liquids, mushies and the like.

I was under the impression that I'd be getting a call to set up an appointment with the surgeon after the 2nd class, but I'm still waiting, so maybe I misunderstood. I'll have to make a follow up call on Monday. I'm impatient for this important step!

kagead

[ms.rhonda 4]

My prerequisites for surgery are a whole lot easier than a lot of people on this site. I have to do a psych eval and a nutrition eval, do a 6 month "diet" program with my regular doctor and the 6 month program with the surgeon. My regular doctor has put me on Adipex, but it does absolutely nothing for me. The nutritionist really didn't say anything except for 1 week before surgery I might consider a liquid diet to help reduce the fatty cells in my liver. She went more over post surgery nutrition care and told me at stage 5, I should follow a 1200 calorie diet. I know I should be watching more closely now, but I have failed so many times I am afraid of failing again.:sad:

[bramante45 0]

My surgery is scheduled for the 10th. I am having mine in Mexico. Because i have a low BMI I don't have to do a pre-op diet but they said the more weight I lose the easier it will be for them to do the surgery with only one incision. So I will try as I get closer. :thumbup: Seems like forever away..... I will also be flying back to mexico for my fills. WHich will be a pain but he does them with flouroscopy (sp?) so I think I will need less that way???? I don't know I am very nervous but also extremely excited!:thumbup:

[new_journey4me 1]

Im hoping to have my surgery in May as well. I will be done with my 6 month nutrition program in the beginning of April and all my requirments have been done...long ago. It's been a LONG process, I just can't wait for the approval and date!!

[ms.rhonda 4]

Are you nervous about having the surgery in Mexico? Will it be hard for you to find a doctor to do the fills?

[ms.rhonda 4]

Kristy~it does seem like you have been through a very long process. I am happy for you and excited that you have all the requirements met. I hope you get your date soon! That is what I am waiting on and the surgeons office said it could be as soon as next week when we here the "official" approval and can set a date!

[new_journey4me 1]

Hi Rhonda, it has been a VERY long process. I should have already been banded, but the nutritionist they recommended me to kept canceling on me. So I lost almost 3 months. Wasn't to happy about that at all!! But it is what it is...so hopefully by next month I will have my approval and date! I have to wait till the end of my beucase, I thought I would have been banded already, my fiance and booked a trip to Dinsey in May, so now I have to wait till after that. Unfortunately. :cursing:(

[ms.rhonda 4]

Kristy~ Hey Disney that sounds like fun, just remember take lots of pictures while your there and then when you and your fiance go back again, you can look at the new pictures and say to yourself "wow, that was the old me and look at me now!". I know it has to be a little discouraging for you to have to put it off, but it will all work out. I had the same problem you had with your nutrientist, but mine was with the psycologist. Finally, they found me another place to go and luckily it kept me from being behind. I wish you all the luck in the world, and I hope everything works in your timeline.

[new_journey4me 1]

Hi Rhonda, thanks for the best wishes...to you as well. It's going to change our lives in such a postive way! Really starting to get antsy! LOL I just want my last nurtitionist appt here and get the show on the road. But it will be here before I know it. Good luck to you! Keep in touch and let me know when you are going in and I will keep in touch as well. Best of luck!! )

[palmtreegirl70 1]

Hi ladies! I am looking at a surgery date in May as well. This journey has been very long for me. I looked into gastric bypass 6 years ago, but my insurance wouldn't cover it. I got ticked and lost 80 pounds on my own. I thought I had done it until I got pregnant and have since gained back all 80 pounds and a few more. :Banane20:

Last year I started thinking about other ways to get the surgery and started looking closely at my hubby's insurance. It turns out that his insurance will cover the surgery. They had open enrollment in November, and I was covered effective January 1. I am currently finishing up the 6 month doctor supervised diet/exercise program with my PC physician. It has not gone well. I keep losing and gaining the same 5 lbs. I need to buckle down in the next 6 weeks so that I can show a loss of at least a little weight.

My last appointment with my doctor is April 29, and then the surgeon's office should have an approval within a week.

I am going through a battery of emotions right now, but I am most hopeful at this point.

We can do this!!! I'm so glad to have found this thread of people in the same boat as me.

Edited March 26, 2010 by palmtreegirl70

[jalivia2 0]

I hope to be banded in April, but I may end up being banded in May. It all depends on when I receive insurance approval and when my boss returns to work from short term disability. The one thing I can say is the wait between nut visits, etc is nothing...the wait between the final visit and insurance approval is brutal!!

[ms.rhonda 4]

It really does help to have people that understand what your going through. My final doc apt was March 8th, but because of the insurance I have they are projecting a May date for me. I got all excited when I went to my appointment with the surgeon and he said well your through now we submit it to insurance, then got all bummed when I find out that my insurance can take up to 6 weeks for an approval and they like to haggle back and forth trying to make you get more information.

I hope all you and your banding go smoothly. What are some of your fears if you have any? I don't necessarily mean with the surgery but after the surgery, if you even have any. My main fear is not losing the amount of wait I want to, even though I have set myself a long term goal of 2 years to get to that point.