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Ok, so i am ready for the wrath that I'm sure i will get about posting this.... but i really want to know how others feel. How do you feel about Medicare and or Medicaid paying for Lapband? This infuriates me...... I get up every freaking day and head to work for 7am and work till 4.... then I clean office building on the weekends to supplement our family income to be able to get the "extras" in life. I work because i have to and because my family need food, house, car, electricity... and insurance. So not only do we pay for the insurance, but the co-pays, the meds, the deductibles and the 20% after that. In the meantime, people are getting all their pre-certs, surgery and fill...... for free. Why should i have to pay for your surgery when you don't have a job or insurance to pay for it your self.... Then come on here and complain about and or wonder if your fills will be covered......Really!!!! I wish the government and other peoples taxes would have paid for mine....Oh and my recent Tummy tuck... i sure could use the help paying that $8800.... any takers Ok, Bring it.....

Hi again, been about a week since I updated. Too bad work takes so much time away from lap-blogging and other really fun things! What a week this has been! I graduated to moist-soft-mushy this week, and made a chicken in the crock pot to have all week. Everything was going perfectly until I MINDLESSLY popped a little piece of cooked chicken breast in the hatch while talking on the phone Monday night and OH BROTHER! I thought I chewed it well, but hey - I was talking on the phone and not really paying attention! That nasty habit of mindless munching came back pretty easily, and my band reminded me how it's not a healthy idea. That bit of chicken got stuck and I was in excruciating pain for the next hour and a half!!! OMG! I called the surgeon who was out of town and another doc on call called me back. She confirmed that I was indeed stuck since her coaching me to drink water to see if it would go down proved as much. It came back up, and it hurt so bad! I had waves of stomach contractions that came every 30 seconds or so for so long, and she advised me to go to the ER if they didn't stop. About a half hour later, I was in the garage, keys in hand (kicking myself for being so stupid so soon after surgery) and ready to drive myself to the ER when I felt it drop through! AAAAAaaaaahhhhhhh!!! What relief! I was exhausted, felt like I had been in labor and I was so happy I didn't have to go to the hospital and the waves of pain were gone! Needless to say, I thanked my lucky stars over and over, went to bed and learned a valuable lesson. CHEW CHEW CHEW CHEW and don't eat when distracted!! The next day I went back on full liquids just to be safe and to rest my insides. Since then, I've felt perfect! Hope my crazy experience helps someone out there - I knew better, but have been feeling so good I guess I forgot the rules and what can happen. Lesson learned. I'm down 7 pounds from surgery two weeks ago today, and really only lost one pound this week. I'm trying to keep in mind that I'm still in the healing phase, and don't need to get too worried about losing the weight right at this point. I am pretty happy though with my overall loss of 16 pounds since the day I started my three day pre-op liquid diet. Hope you all have a great day, good luck everyone getting banded today, it's like another birthday! Hugs and love to you all -

It has been a while since i was on here last.. I would like to just give an update on my progress. Have my surgery 10-31-11 and as of today i have lost 79lbs. Putting my down to 176lbs. My goals is 145lbs to 140lbs. So i really hope to be there by my one year mark. This was the best thing i could have done for my self i would never take it back..

October 18th, 2011 was a monumental day in my life. The three months leading up to that date were anxiety filled, and I spent every waking moment on VST and YouTube gathering all the information I could about being sleeved. No matter how much research you do, you're still never fully able to comprehend how much your life will change - in my case for the better. While in the hospital after being sleeved, things weren't so bad, in fact I was expecting to be in a lot more pain than I actually was. I anticipated that it would be excruciatingly bad, but in comparison to my 3 sections and one natural birth, the pain was minimal. I was able to walk by the second day (very slowly of course) and didn't experience any of the gas issues that people talk about during their experience. Even my nurses and surgeon mentioned how I was doing so well. Physically, I was the ideal post op patient. Mentally however, I was a frickin MESS! My first couple of days home were a little rocky as I was having issues with my acid reflux meds. The omeperazole they prescribed for me didn't agree with my system, so I had to go on Nexium. No big deal, I had a rough day and a half till we worked that out. But the real issue I had with getting sleeved was the restriction. I knew that I signed up for this surgery because restriction would be the ONLY way that someone like me could ever lose weight and keep it off. I don't have enough will power to stop myself from eating for no reason. Even as a sleeved woman, if there is a piece of food near me I have the urge to eat it - not because I'm hungry, but because its there. With the sleeve though, I have to make a conscious decision before I eat anything or suffer the consequences. Am I willing to eat that food and suffer from "dumping" or feeling overly full for several hours, or even vomiting because it doesn't agree with my new tummy? These are the things that go through my head now before I stuff my face for no reason. My sleeve has made me a conscious eater. Although the restriction is just what I needed, as you'll see in my previous blogs, I resented this sleeve for not allowing me to be greedy and eat any and everything I wanted. I resented this sleeve because I couldn't just take it back to the store and get my old tummy back. I resented this sleeve because I wasn't in control. I had to do what my sleeve liked. I had to submit to my sleeve and finally after a little over 2 months I can say my sleeve and I are a team. We're in sync. I'm not holding up my end of the bargain as I should with my protein counts, but Im working on it. As long as I keep my sleeve hydrated and give her some stuff to eat every few hours, she's good. No belching, no vomiting, no gurgling, no problems. I said all this to say that loving my sleeve wasn't necessarily an easy road to get to. Sometimes when you read the posts of those people who have been successful with their sleeve after many months, the "bad" stuff tends to get left out and you're left with these expectations of happy sleevedom and when you do get sleeved you wish you'd never done it. It happened to me. No one told me about the resentment stage and no one told me that I might have buyers remorse in my first few weeks of being sleeved. No one told me that I would feel trapped, and angry, and want to stay in my bed for weeks until it all got better. I hope this note helps that person out there who is nearing their surgery date - know that the road to recovery may not be easy at first, but when you do get accustomed to your sleeve and new lifestyle it will all be worth it in the end, and you'll be able to pass the info on to the next new sleevester..

Tomorrow is my consultation at the University of Iowa. I have to be at the hospital at 7:45 am. I better not spend to much longer on the computer because I need a good nights sleep. I did not sleep well last night. It is a strange coincidence that my appointment is exactly one year to the day that my daughter is getting married. I think that it is some what of an omen that this my be the path I should be on. I totally panic when I think about buying a dress for the wedding at the size I am now because it would look like a mumu and that is so not the look I am wanting! I named my blog "Looking Forward" because I am so tired of beating myself up for my past mistakes and failures. I just want to look forward and feel postive about the future. Tomorrow I will find out if the lapband will work for me.

After my past few posts, I had to post these. Hope you get a laugh from them like I did.

So I have been having my food funeral for a few days. to be honest, at first I was excited, I was gonna eat whatever and not feel guilty. Im not really feeling guilty, but I have been eating healthy for so long that I feel like crap. Im tried, unmotivated and just want to take a nap. Which, in my life does not work! I have 5 kids ranging from 6 to 17. I am taxiing tham daily and I need my energy! So it was fun for a few days but im over it ..lol I know that im not going to go back to salads and all the perfectly wonderful healthy things for the next 3 weeks but im definatly going to chill out a bit.. its amazing how what you put in your body effects how you feel on the outside..

Okay, day 5 and back to work. Wasn't too bad, just wore me out! I've been on the couch ever since I hit the door and fed the dogs So - this morning before work I went in for an adjustment - an unfill of about 1.5cc's. It seemed to make a difference in getting my protein shake down and my soup at lunch. Still feel a little like I need to burp sometimes, but better. Getting my unfill was a little uncomfortable, I'm still sore from surgery and she had to push around a bit to locate the port (ouchey) and then the SCARY needle (which actually didn't really hurt) was inserted. Once she was where she needed to be, she took fluid out, removed the needle and had me drink some water. It was better So now I know exactly what it feels like to be in the "red" zone (too full). Next time I'm sure it won't hurt at all once I'm healed. So, the weirdest thing is going through an entire day and not feeling hungry, even when just on liquids! This is the most amazing thing ever, and I'm so happy I made this decision! Good luck everyone. D

Thanks for the advice and input everyone. Yesterday and today I felt like I really couldn't swallow much, even sips of water caused some weird smasms in my esophagus - while not painful, still not too comfy, and I had trouble getting my liquids down. I called my surgeon today and he told me that the feeling is probably the swelling coupled with the little bit of fluid in my band. I had NO idea there was any fluid in there, but it feels like it's too full! Ah ha!!! Mystery solved! He said they put in 3cc's before inserting it and let what needs to come out come out for a "custom fit." He thinks it's a good fit but with swelling feels too full. Tomorrow, if not better, I'll go in and get a little taken out. Soreness is definitely subsiding, my muscles are less achy. Gas has been much better today and just in time! Back to work for me tomorrow. With my desk job I'm going to have to remember to get up and move around more than usual. I know I'll feel better if I can get loosened up a little bit Great luck everyone with your journeys, I hope if you had recent surgery you're feeling as great as I am. I hopped on the scale this morning and I am THIRTEEN pounds down from the day I started my pre-op liquid diet (three days prior to surgery!) That makes me feel great! Here we go!!! Happy days!!!

I havent been on here for a while and thought I would post some things. I'm almost 2 months post op and down 28lbs as of this morning. I'm not seeing a huge scale change but I was also not putting in 100% effort either. The holidays were...well the holidays. lol. So yes I did induldge a bit. I was excited to know that there was a limit to what I could eat and ran into a couple times where I ate too fast or too much and it was extremley uncomfortable. I started off Monday back in the right direction. I'm eating a lot of protein and eating very little of anything else. I've been doing a lot of diced up meats and cheese, chicken, string cheese, squash, and other meats. My diet is not very exciting but when I stick to it, it seems to work. I got down to 31lbs lost before the holidays. I would like to be down atleast another 10 if not 20lbs by the new year. I am learning a lot about myself. I really love my lapband. I have had 2 fills already and I have another scheduled for next week. I have 4.1cc's in my 10cc band. Anyone that is reading this that does not have lapband yet just know that this is not the "easy" way out. ANY WLS takes effort. And yes, some may be a little easier at first than others but in the long run its up to us to keep the weight off. I cought myself a couple of times eating things that I use to eat and then I would ask myself, Why did you have surgery? Just because you have lapband doesnt mean your obesity is cured. I wish. But that's not how this works. If you put in the time and effort the weight will come off. If not, than there is really no point in having surgery. I feel very motivated right now and have been doing well sticking to my diet. I do have days though where I am not as motivated. The nice thing though lately is that the more fills I seem to get the more I cant just eat without thinking about chew chew chew. Or else I have extreme pain. So I love that my band holds me accountable. My doctor also would like to see me have less than 30grams of carbs a day....Has anyone else been asked to do this? If you are new to the whole counting calories thing that is like two string cheeses! So if anyone has any good ideas for high protein/low carb foods please LET ME KNOW :-) Have a great day!!!