Infernored

For everyone who had their surgery without losing much or any weight, was your surgery covered by insurance? My surgeon says I need to lose 5% for the insurance company to approve it. So of course, like the rest of my life up until now, I'm having trouble with losing it. I've got 3 weeks to make some progress!

I work in a hospital too. I am afraid of people knowing. I have a coworker who had the band in last spring and hasn't lost anything because she's noncompliant. I'm saving up my time off and I plan to arrange my work schedule around it. I would rather work through it than have people speculating about me behind my back. I love my coworkers, and they mean the best, but I think it's important to keep it close to home for a while. My family knows. More of them than I want, but I can deal with them.

Well Tiffykins, I sure and hoping for all the best for you. I know I'm thinking positive, but I'll try not to give up either. I had all kinds of blood work for the screening for the surgery, and everything came out ok with my thyroid and everything. I had been to my gyn recently and we did the clomid/provera thing 3xs with no results. They also did a hysterosalpingogram, which is a really horrible test to check out my fallopian tubes and that came out ok. Sperm count on my hubby is ok. Worst comes to worst is when I do lose the weight, we may have to look into in-vitro or something. Eitherway, losing the weight will definitely help since my mom had complications with my brothers and I, and had problems with blood pressure, as mine is higher now than it ever has been. Thanks for your input! You guys are so good about keeping me motivated!

Hey everybody, thanks for replying. Yeah my husband printed up a comparison between the two and we talked about it. We've decided to take it to a counselor as an independent party. We are going on monday afternoon, and I'm really looking forward to it. I really have settled on the sleeve. I went back yesterday and tried to get excited about the band and found that, while it might get some of my weight off, it will be slow and I will not get everything off without having the troubles I have now. Not saying the sleeve is going to fix me overnight, but I believe it's the right choice for me. So until my appointment with my surgeon on feb 17th, I've been trying to follow the south beach diet he wants me on, and increase my exercise. It's at that appointment where if I have lost the 15 pounds the insurance people recommend that I tell him which surgery I want and we would schedule it.

Thanks for the reassurance. I know my husband is concerned about me, but I think he should be concerned about me not losing the weight either. I'm relatively healthy besides the weight. So I'm not really worried. I would really be upset if I chose the band and didn't lose properly and needed another surgery. I've been lurking on these boards for a couple weeks and I am happy with what I have seen so far.

Hey, I have been having trouble trying to conceive since 2008. I tried provera and clomid, since my cycles are so out of whack. No luck. I am just in a holding pattern now, waiting to get the surgery so I can lose the weight enough to get pregnant. I end up having my periods lasting anywhere from 1-4+ months of consistent bleeding. I have been considering asking my doctor for the birth control pill to see if it will regulate it better, but I would also like to see my body regulate it self as I lose. I really try not to think of pregnancy anymore since all I do is get sad or stressed. But I am positive that after the surgery, I will feel hope again. I'm sure I'm not the only one feeling like this.

Hi, I have always weighed alot, and have always had a problem with will power when it comes to eating and exercise. Initially when I went to meet with my surgeon I was resolved to get the Lap-Band, and when I met with him he said that my insurance now covers the VSG and he thinks I should do my research on it since it would work well for me. I am currently 327.2 pounds, and my highest at new years was 344. I am working very hard at eating right (per South Beach) and increasing exercise, but my weight still fluctuates up and down 5 pounds. I need to be at least 322 by february 17 to get scheduled for surgery. I told my husband 2 nights ago that I was researching it a bit and he flipped out. He thinks it's a very risky surgery and it sounds like the easy way out. We have been back and for the past 2 days, and I told him, I'm not an idiot, and it's my body. I told him that I will make a decision and I'd like him to support me. Well, even after going back on the Lap-band boards today, I'm still not satisfied. I really need to lose at least 150 pounds to be "healthy". My aunt had the lap band and she was in the same place as me starting, and she still hovers at 225-230 after 2 years. I wouldn't complain much about that, but I wouldn't be fully satisfied. Right now I am trying to get a hold of the counselor I had to go to as part of the application process and see if she does marital counseling. He needs to realize that it is my decision and I need to take care of myself, once and for all. Heather

Hi, I am a nurse and I've taken care of patients with TPN. If you have had it for any extended amount of time, the doctor should order routine bloodwork to check electrolyte and Protein levels. If they have been doing lab work, then I would feel confident that you were at an acceptable level to be taken off of it.