March Bandsters: MASTER THREAD

[potatie 5]

Hi Everyone, I am soooo excited. My insurance just approved my ps. I am now on hold with the doctor's group to set up the schedule. I can not believe that this happening. Thank you to my fellow shamrocks for being a source of support, comfort and knowledge. I do not know what I would have done without all of you.

[lynnt1215 1]

Hi Everyone, I am soooo excited. My insurance just approved my ps. I am now on hold with the doctor's group to set up the schedule. I can not believe that this happening. Thank you to my fellow shamrocks for being a source of support, comfort and knowledge. I do not know what I would have done without all of you.

what procedure(s) are you having done? my insurance would have covered the pannectomy, but wanted me to lose another 25# and I am comfortable where I am , so went ahead and self paid.

Hope you can get it scheduled quickly. Waiting cn make you so much more anxious..

[SpecialK 22]

Congrats Potatie! So glad you got the insurance approval. I need them to pay at least for the panniculectomy part of the PS so I will have to hang in there until I meet their requirements.

[potatie 5]

Hi Lynn and Special, The procedures that I am having done are the panniculectomy, mons lift and upper abdominalplasty. The insurance will cover the panni and mons lift and I am paying for the upper. That will cost me $4750. My dad has offered to pay $2000 so I am taking him up on his offer. I was surprised that the insurance did not cause any road blocks. My pictures must have been dramatic enough. They must have felt sorry for me. So I am scheduled for surgery on November 6, 2009. My pre-op will be on October 20, 2009. I scheduled so late because of work reasons. I am the only person in my store that does my job. So I should be done with holiday hiring by then. This will be the first day after Thanksgiving sale that I will be off in 7 years. :biggrin: I usually have to serve donuts and coffee to all of the early morning shoppers.

[hopeinapril 1]

Howdy Shamrocks!

Wow, 18 months! I'm sure I thought I would have been to my goal by now! LOL Oh, well! I'm glad the scale is slowly going down....

Andrew - I'm scared of another surgery as well. But, not much I can do about the serious excess skin. So, in a year or more, I expect I will need surgery. Of course, I am loosing so slow, there is always the possibility my skin will shrink! LOL

I'm selfishly glad there are a few other shamrocks who are still in the loosing weight mode. I started to feel a little lonely because the only people on here were the ones talking about PS. Yep, not close to that just yet.

I have noticed something interesting though... A LOT of my friends are gaining weight. I am very close to them in size or smaller than them! I went to a funeral last week and was stunned at how chunky folks were getting! It was good for my ego, lots of nice comments. It was a little scary though! What is going on in the U.S.A.?!?!

[lynnt1215 1]

went for my ps follow up today. Dr is pleased with my recovery. I will schedule the revision for my upper thighs in the next few months. Still a bit of swelling to go down before the revision. Also, still a bit of mild discomfort but nothing outrageous. Won't be 100% for awhile yet..

[BrandNewLisa 0]

I'm selfishly glad there are a few other shamrocks who are still in the loosing weight mode. I started to feel a little lonely because the only people on here were the ones talking about PS. Yep, not close to that just yet.

I am SOOO right there with you April! Although I don't post much, I try to read regularly, and the fab stories about all of the skin removal going on made me feel like a loser, lol. I still have a good 50 lbs or so to go (not sure what my goal weight should be, as I have always been overweight and I have no concept of what normal for my body is!). I attended the PS seminar given by my practice, and I know that at bare minimum my arms need done. But sheesh, I swear I would lose 20 lbs. tomorrow with skin removal alone!

I got a fill this morning, trying to jump-start the loss. I have been stuck at about 220 for a month or two, losing and gaining the same 3 lbs. And can I tell ya, what a difference .3 cc's make! I am on liquids for the day, but I can tell the difference already. Here's hoping that this breaks the plateau!

I just wanted to take a moment and say Congrats to those of you who have achieved this lofty goal. You guys are my inspiration, every. single. day. I am proud of all of you and your hard work!

[SpecialK 22]

BrandNewLisa -- good to hear from you! Yep, I am thinking I need a small tweak on my fill level because I'm also going up and down on the same 2 lbs or so but I am under extreme work stress until Sept 30 so I'm not going to change things for myself until after that. Just hanging in there. I haven't had a fill adjustment since March and if I do it in October, I think that is a good long stretch between my fill levels now.

[potatie 5]

Hi Everyone, I hope everyone is well. I am thrilled that I am now 1lb away from what my driver's license states. :sneaky: When I had it renewed they should have added another 100lbs. So I am excited to say that it is almost true. :sad:

[Firework 4]

Finally feel good enough to post. Even though I can already say it was worth it, it has NOT been easy. My PS has been wonderful. I did a lot at once- a circumfrencial fleur de lis abdominoplasty, which means I have an incision going all around my lower stomach, as well a a vertical incision from below my breasts down. Also, at the same time, I got a breast lift with implants. My abdominoplasty involved liposuctin as well. Needless to say, I was out of it for several days, on percocet and valium. I had to lay off te percocet because of Constipation, and now my scars are starting to itch. Did any of you experence itching scars?

I KNOW it will be awhile before I feel anywhere near 100%. I am just taking one day at a time and not pushing myself.

PS was my only option. I am 33 and have been working out hardcore with a trainer 4 days a week for over 2 years. My sagging skin was there to stay. I am justgrateful I had this option!

Goodluck to the upcoming surgeries!

Erika

[lynnt1215 1]

Finally feel good enough to post. Even though I can already say it was worth it, it has NOT been easy. My PS has been wonderful. I did a lot at once- a circumfrencial fleur de lis abdominoplasty, which means I have an incision going all around my lower stomach, as well a a vertical incision from below my breasts down. Also, at the same time, I got a breast lift with implants. My abdominoplasty involved liposuctin as well. Needless to say, I was out of it for several days, on percocet and valium. I had to lay off te percocet because of Constipation, and now my scars are starting to itch. Did any of you experence itching scars?

I KNOW it will be awhile before I feel anywhere near 100%. I am just taking one day at a time and not pushing myself.

PS was my only option. I am 33 and have been working out hardcore with a trainer 4 days a week for over 2 years. My sagging skin was there to stay. I am justgrateful I had this option!

Goodluck to the upcoming surgeries!

Erika

Itching skin, OMG.. it was terrible. even at just about 5 weeks post op I still itch. I have started to use one of the scar gels they say helps lessen the scarring and I do see a difference.

ou had more done than me, I had the circumfrencial done, with Lipo, but no vertical incision as well as my thighs, no breast lift or implants..lipo in my back felt like I had been kicked relentlessly for about 2 weeks. Back at work full time. and will have revision on my thighs done later this Fall.

A word of advice: Give yourself time to heal. Do not do too much too soon..

[scrappy_friend 0]

I really didnt want to have a Tummy Tuck I told my lapband doc that I wanted to wait and see what happens in a year or so. He told me nothing will help with the skin. He said I can exercise all I want and I have a lot of muscle under all the skin. He told me it was time I got the tummy tuck.

I stilll need a revision on that and not sure when I will do that. I might wait till the beginning of next summer. I have too much going on to do it any sooner.

The ones that are still not at goal don't give up I was told the lapband takes 3 years to get to goal. Just cuz some have reached that early doesn't mean you are a failure. You won't fail unless you give up.

[lynnt1215 1]

elasticity of the skin as we age lessens. I to was told no amount of exercise would get rid of the loose skin. The tightening of the abdominal muscles is still uncomfortable.. I feel like I have on the binder even if it is off. Good I guess.. Also, I was told as I heal things will begin to loosen just a bit..again from the loss of skin elasticity

[SpecialK 22]

Thanks Scrappy for the encouragement for those of us still plugging away. I have my ups and downs but when I look back this year I can remember hitting my 90 lb mark at Valentines Day and now at -120 well before Labor Day so that's going in the right direction, just not the wild downward ride it was last year with 10 lbs a month or so!

I am noticing some acid indigestion at night time that I hadn't had up until now. A few Tums and its fine. I am trying to figure out if its related to how late I ate before bed or what food I ate, etc. I see my surgeon next in October so I think I can manage until then but if not, I can call and get in sooner.

My mother made her famous potato salad at my house today for a big family dinner we have tomorrow and I got into the bowl of potato salad and scooped out maybe 3/4 cup and it took me awhile to eat that and I was full. Not the healthiest choice but I'll get some Protein in soon - maybe a shake while I relax. I got a nice walk in and that took me over 10,100 steps for today on my pedometer.

[Desdemona 48]

Amanda -- I hope you are out there. The weight loss for me is slow too. It has been for a really long time -- although people claim my shape is different than it was 6 mos ago. Go figure. But let's not give up.

Well -- I'm in BOTH the losing and PS mode! Even though so many people say "wait until you get to goal," -- I still had the BR done -- and I'm glad I did. Back, neck, shoulders feel much better. People say I LOOK much smaller because of the reduction. That really makes me want to low carb and get to the gym because I'm feeling HOPE of getting to goal.

So far I seem to be blessed with Grandma's solid flesh because so far -- the skin is still tight on belly, legs, forearms. The thing I don't understand is how do you know what is loose skin on your upper arms as opposed to fat/flab that may yet come off? The fat under my upper arms is much better but I still have a wade hanging there and I can't figure out if it will go away. I figure I have about 25 or 30 lbs to go and it mostly seems to be located in my mid-section. Any ideas?

Edited September 9, 2009 by Desdemona