camille01

hi there ,Just thinking about your blog..just think about it like this if you were going into rehab for something that you need to stop doing how many people would support you with your problem,(it could be clepto-is stealing-or alcholisim-or another problem that people go through for help...who do you think you can tell that really wont try to judge you for the problem that you have you are trying to get ride of .......(there is just a few people you can tell that you are going to weight lost clinic to get cancelling)---its your choice who you want to tell that you dont think you will be judged for what you are trying to do for yourself......just tell them that you are going to a weight lose clinic to get some help about your weight.....you will be gone for 1 week and you will have to go back everyother month for cancelling....you wont be lieing..just you wont be telling all the truth......camille01

I am just wondering if anyone has ever went through GHI and BCBS because I am almost through my appointments,I was wondering if anyone has been approved through GHI-ppo,and the time limit that they have waited on the approval,I am not in a hurry but I dont want to have to wait,I am ready to start my journey with my new friends so that we can share our stories....

Hi Barbara,your story is very inspirational because I am just starting my journey,I have done research for about 2 yrs,first it was the lapband and once I thought that was the surgery for me I never thought I could change my mind to have a surgery that was so drastical as having my stomach cut but once I did some more research on it and had the chance to talk to my surgeon she kinda put the Icing on the cake,I questioned her and she told me not to let her opinion persway me in anyway but It deffinately did,she says that the sleeve would be a better fit of a surgery for my,I question about the erosion of the band and the slippage ,she told me that it depends on the person,and there journey that there going to take but it does has its own flaws because if you have to vomite or loose weight to fast the band just may slip or ever erode...that kinda scared me..not to go with the band...so I am happy to read such a positive Blog...thank you ...I hope everything go well beyond your surgerversary...Thanks

hello,I havnt been banded or had any other of the surgery yet,I am looking more towards the sleeve,I know it is new but I asked my doctor about the surgery and what she feels about the band and the sleeve,,she told me that she favors the sleeve over any other of the surgery,with the sleeve there is a hormone that causes you to be hungery and with the sleeve is it cut out ,,,please go to lapband.com or realizeband.comand view the part about the vertical sleeve...or go to verticalsleeve.come and please read some of the blogs about people that has the band removed and converted to the sleeve and they love it....I am just personally scared of the bypass ,,,,,but with that surgery you will never worry about stretching the stomach out....the sleeve can be streched but the doctor said that they never had the sleeve streched to the point of where the personhas gained over a few pounds.....check it out and let me know...camille01 and on verticalsleeve site I am sleevless4now.....look me up....please check it out

hello nevrhome: just a few words to help you think,do you know that a person go into rehab to get away from a problem that they are facing ,well the lapband is like that program(rehab) that one goes into to get away from a problem,of course it takes a while and a few classes and several months get you thinking about your problem,( just like obesity),we go through so much being overweight but first we have to admit to our selves that we have a problem with eating and once we get the help we need to get away from our problem we try to avoid it at all possibility but it is still there no matter what you do then something its there to make us pay attention because there is no other way to get away from it.,,, the other lady's are right,....the lapband is a tool to help us realize that we do have a problem just like there's other programs,but they are here to help us get away from obesity but you have to want to do it for yourself,,,and your loved ones ,so you can be around to see your lil ones maybe graduate,or one that is in college finish school....but any way you have to want to do this for "you"

low fluid causes dehydration,and don't get frustrated just think about it when you were overweight you didn't want it to move ,at least I didn't ,not the way it normally moves,but dont be hard on your self 9 days is nothing,you must start with baby steps before you can walk.....thak your time because you dont want to fail...

ask your doctor about Iron supplements,maybe your blood level is low, I used to shake all the time and my blood was low, I just hav my blood test takem from the surgeon and they called and told me that I needed more Iron in my blood, my level was low. my toes stayed cold,,my nose too..so call the dr office and see what they recommend that you do.

hello: along with the other doctors visits (yes they are covered) but thats not all,once you get the psyc visit,blood test,x-rays,neutrit,visit and the completionof the 6 months weight managements,you will still have to get a medical clearance from your pcp,before the surgeon will do the surgery, but everything that the dr. sends you to do they will be covered be the insurance and all you will have to pay is the co-pay......

hello,I had the opportunity to speek with my surgeon about leakage and she said that if you dont have a leak with in the first 10 days of your surgery you wont leak,that was incurraging to me but you will need to write done all your questions ,start now ,,in order not to forget anything write it down and ask,,ask,,ask,,,because if you don't ask you will not know...that was my 1st question that i had asked,the second one was about the lapband and her preferance as to which one she thought gave the best results and she said the sleeve,,,now I was sure that I made the right choice,,

congradulations, and hopefully im not too far behind you I have a few more test to complete, I'm also waiting on insurance approval,but I am happy for you so dont worry about those old habits ask God to help you contend with them as you face them and he will substain you....think slim ...I am very happy for you....sleevless4now........

HI Theresa,i am glad to see that you are doing well and to let you know how encouraging your blog is, I still have atleast 3 months to go,my insurance require that i have 6 months of weight management to complete,i've started getting my appointments setup i am done with 2 and have 4 left which I know that it will go fast,seing that friends on here are doing so well it lifts my spirits,congradulations on your progress and keep bloging because it helps me to see what I have to face soon,....thanks sleevless4now

hello,just a little input on the vitamins,when you go for you 1st dr appointment, they have you to for blood tests,they check the blood for Iron and other proteins,but the vitamins my doctor required for me to take was a 1 multi-vitamin adult formula,1 iron,or you can take a multi-vitamn with Iron included,calcium with vit.d included and B12,if you are prementapausal you need to take a b6 to help balance the hormons..but please check with your doctor.....when they have you to go for blood test the vitamins you take are based on your system,as to what your body is missing....sleevless4now.

Thanks for the reply. Besides being dehydrated and not really knowing it, I was doing good. I'm down 13 pounds in 8 days. Good Luck to you and keep it up !! the only thing I could think of is when you drink all day long you drink exerything but water, we have a tendency to drink our required amount of protein,juices,skim milks,but no water and that has a lot to do with being lite headed,if it keeps up please call your doctor and let her know,or you can just wait and find out what your doctor will tell you because tooo much protein is like eating a pot of beans and not washing it down with nothing,you are getting your protein but just not enough water.....

Hi Michelle Lee,I find that isopure is one of the best Protein drinks around it is high in protein and the reviews on this product are wonderful....thanks for posting this,and also GNC has a membership card when you have one you can also get a 20% discount off as well as the bogo......enjoy and goodluck on your weight lost.....sleevless4now

My youngest daughter of 11 yrs old comes to me and says mommy when you go on your diet with your surgery can I go on the diet with you,and of course I didnt tell her no because she is a litthe overweight to,so when I went to Bj's club to check out the protein drinks she came to me with a bottle of flinstone vitmans chewable-gummies and said mommy i'll need these and we will need more protein drinks because I like the way it taste,,,,I was overwelmed with the responce that I got from her when I told her that I was gonna have surgery to shrink my stomach to loose weight,she looked at me and said mom when you go on your diet I am going on a diet with you so you need make sure that you get extra stuff when you go buy some.....that really made me feel like im not in this alone anymore....and it brought tears to my eyes .....

Hello:I don't want to tell you not to be nervious because being nervious showes 2 things( 1)that you really love you and want to do something to be around for a lil while longer and (2)that you are really depending on God,so when you go to the hosiptal say a prayer to the God Almighty and thank him for the freedom that he gave us to be able to make choices expecially the ones that allows us to want to love longer,this showes that you are relaying on him to get you through....Praying is a good thing...and being spiritual is even better....May God carry you through.....sleevless4now...but not for long...please blog and let us know how you are doing

Hi frenchie,I was reading your blog and not forsure how much time has past sence you have posted it but you can go from the band to gastric bypass right away but there is a wait from the band to the sleeve.they have to let the area heal first I hope everything goes better for you,and I havnt had my surgery yet and my surgeon told me first and up front that she thinks that the sleeve would fit me better.....I was so glad to hear that before finding out too last because I am a big chicken anyway...it is 1 time and 1 time only for me unless.....what ever mey happen.....and that covers a lot of ground....thanks sleevless4now

I had to find a puzzle when I was quiting my old habits...within 2 month I completed 1,1000pc and started on a 2000 pc puzzle and finished them both so have fun with it..or you can buy some suger free drops and put 1 in your mouth to keep away that grumpy feeling because head hunger will P-you off if you dont get something to occupy your mind either that or it will make you upset quik........camille01

Hi there Kabinkitty,I'm not a big eater either,Problet if you take what I eat all day and put it on a plate it may make some one 1 good meal,I think thats where my weight comes from,I chose this surgery 1st because where I am such a small eater it will help me to want to maybe eat a lil more,I want to use this as a tool to help me control not to cut down what I eat but to help me to eat right,I eat 2 pc of rasin toast for breakfast,I take my vitmans,calcium,and my regular meds after I eat breakfast,and the water that I drink fills me up so I really dont get hungry till dinner and try not to eat after 5 oclock because my system slowes down and I am afraid that I will keep gaining weight,....trust me it is scarry that you dont eat to keep from gaining weight and your matabilisim comes to a complete stop and you cant loost what your body has stored up.....best of luck and keep us posted as to what you deside.....sleevless4now

Hi there,I just hope that I dont confuse you any more but I went to the siminar and thats where I picket up a packet of information,you are confusing yourself,if I was you I would call the hospital and ask the cordinator for the surgerys and ask her or him personally, Do you already have your surgeon picked out if so you need to go to the siminar and they give you some info to fill out and then you take it from there,(where did you get your papers at or your questionaire at? until you actually talked to the cordinator and got your packet from her I really wouldnt worry about it until you go to the siminar,,,they are there to answer questions for you so if you are sutck about that Just wait.....I contacted my insurance and had them to email me and tell me if my insurance covered the surgery,and of course they did and I took it to the canceltation with me and the girl told me that they did there own legg work and get there own approvel but I tell you she kept my coppy of the approvel letter that I took in...I thought that was crazy and she kept it anyway....best of luck sweetie and I hope everything goes well...camille01

I really want to thank each and everyone of you for your encouragement,I was really excited after I left the doctors office because after I wrote down all my questions and the doctor answered them her self I felt that she took that special intrest in me,and I had a chance to make up my mind as to the procedure that I really want,I can tell you after I left and went to a group meeting I was so incited I really had my eyes wide opened to the testamonies....my heart went out to the people that had already had the surgery and came to share there experiance,,I think I want to set the fine example and be able to share my story to incurrage people too.....It really makes you feel really good...I just want to thank you all for your help...now I have my work cur out for me...I have 3 months left 4 more appointments left and I am finito-finished.....camille01

Hi Jodi,the ones that I have found the best is On GNC.com you said it right so when you go there look for (its a lil expensive if you dont have the gold card)Is the Isopure,when you go there on the website look it up and read some of the reviews thats how I found out about it,and there is the unjury.com as well I havnt tried it you but if you can find a good one stick with it because it will be the one that will do you good,I have been trying different ones before the surgery because once you get banded you dont want to experiment because when it hit your gag reflex it might make you sick if you know what I mean..gool luch with your Journey....camille01

Hi Dadkins8, I really want to thank you for the encourragement, after I went to the calceltation with the surgeon I feel so much better she really helped me out and she didn't make up my mind for me ,she did tell me from the results that she has seen she thought that I would do very well with the sleeve, I was happy to get her opinoin and thank you for that pick-me-up. Camille01

When I went to the doctor I had wrote a lot of questions down and my doc .answered all that I had asked,and 1 questionI asked was,I am scared of the erosion of the band and she said that there has been an Increase in band erosion,that kinda scared me and she said that there was some failure in the produce,I was just wondering if this is where she didn't want to do the lapband or there was really an increase in the erosion,so I thought I would check it out and read up on this...I went to the next best place to look and that was sleevetalk.com.when I did I was suprised when I saw several band had eroded through and they had to either have the band put back in or change the surgery.and of course they chose another surgery so they wont have to worry about it,so they chose the sleeve.....I am now leaning more towards the sleeve now....but I am sceptable about it and I am also loosing the support of my husband....I feel like im loosing all the way around...so please if anyone has delt with erosion in the band fill me in as to what happened and how do I get over these weird feelings........camille01

Hope this info is important to some one who needs it,Once I made my 1st canceltation with the Doctor that will do the surgery on me you will have 6 appointments to make and to attend after your first one,you have a psychological assessment appt. neutritionist for your 6 month weight management unless your insurance doesnt require it,Labs for blood test,support group,Ultrasound,and you will need to get a medical clerance from your pcp....the appointment are fairly easy to get but dont miss any......I wish you all the luck in the world....sleevless4now...