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Has anyone else gone into surgery not having lost any of the weight they were trying to pre-op? With my luck I am the only one. My goal was to try and lose 20 pounds but I was also told it would not prevent my surgery if I didn't. Kind of wish they would not have given me the out....but on the other hand that should not have made a difference, I know.

I follow behind both of you as mine is on the 16th. We will all do great!! I look forward to our posts in the future when we are at goal and others are encouraged by our stories, and it helps them to pursue this path to better health.

I can honestly say that even as a self-pay and not independently wealthy (in fact single and living in a 1 income household).....the financial aspect was not part of my decision making process. In my opinion this is way too important for money to be a factor AT ALL. I am not sure what price tag anyone would put on their own individual health but the potential dollar figure differences between say a band with multiple self pay fills and a sleeve is incredibly minimal in the big picture of what I want and deserve. This is not about money.

I have found that if I pay attention it does not take me long to figure out those that I would not give the time of day to, and the ignore feature comes in very handy. It is not that I am unable to deal with them as an adult or cannot just look past their posts, I opt not to. I come here to spend my time the way I choose to and if putting them on ignore makes my experience better for me....that is what I do. You might want to give it a try. I have found by only putting a very small amount of posters on ignore it makes this place 100% better. Funny thing is even if they post in a thread I am reading and it does not show...there is nothing lost in the quality of the conversation.

Checking in to say hi to all the members of the MARCHing Band! I am still scheduled for 3/16...yikes! Hope everyone is doing well and thank you to all those sharing your stories of recent banding. It really helps those of us that have yet to go through the procedure.

Has anyone had the lap-band surgery and due to the finding and repairing of a hernia was able to get a portion of the procedure submitted to, and paid by, insurance after the fact?

Yowzer.....340 to 189 with NO FILLS?? Talk about getting a perfect fitting and working band from the get go. Congrats to you. The weight loss is great the fact of no fills.....amazing!

My surgery will be $15,000. I have $2000 and the balance I am borrowing from my boss at a 3.5% interest rate which is very generous! I am doing a 2 year payoff which is very aggressive but I do not want this to linger any longer than necessary.

Many self pays are due to it being a very specific exclusion in their medical insurance, regardless of their BMI. I am more then "fat" enough but am also fortunate enough to be relatively healthy despite that.

My doctor only does fluro fills. I am self pay. I have a time frame of no charge fills and then they will be $100 each after that.

Great stats...CONGRATS and happy bandiversary to you!!! I hope to be making a very simiar post to this on 3/16/2012. Thank you for the encouragment and hope.

I would be quite disappointed to! I am sorry you are having to deal with this. Hang in there.....you can do this!

If protein drinks are not required for the pre-op portion is there any way to avoid them all together through this process? I am not worried about getting my protein through foods down the road, I am just wondering about the time immediately after surgery?

All I can manage to do is figure out when I will buy the gifts. lol I just don't know yet what they will be. I will lose close to 50 pounds to go in to twoterville, another 50 of course will put me at 100 pounds lost, another 50 will put me in onderland and then there is goal. So I have identified 4 great goal points to work with. Answering this thread is making me come up with a more solid plan so this is what I have. I know that one of the first two will be jewelry and the other will be a very very nice ($$$) handbag. These are things that I can have and enjoy all the way to goal weight and beyond. My drop in to onderland will be a major makeover and shopping trip. I will not buy too terribly much because I will still have at least 30 pounds to lose and probably more then that. After goal is met and plastic surgery is done I will be planning a major trip and will most likely pick an international destination. Thank you for starting this thread....it helped me solidify my plan and I know that will help me!!

When I think smoothy I think milk, yogurt, ice, etc. I never think ice cream as that is a milk shake and this is the exact opposite of what this is all about. LOL

From one March Bandster named Elizabeth to another......WooHoo look at you!! Congrats on the great news. I will follow you 1 day later on the 16th for mine.

I am so sorry to hear about all the sadness you have been dealing with. Focus on you, you deserve it!

Yay!!! I am so glad to read this update. Thank you for giving us the good news.....it made me smile.

Checking in to see how everyone is doing! I was originally scheduled for the 15th but the hospital had a conflict so I changed to the 16th. Being an Irish girl I like that my first full day of living the band lifestyle will be on March 17th!! Hope everyone is doing well and yes....we are the MARCHing Band!!!

I am scheduled for surgery March 16th as a self pay. Wow.....looking at how many people are in this thread I think we should officially be known as the MARCHing Band!! lol I wish us all much health and happiness in our futures!!!

This is from the Ticker website and I am sorry to say it does not look good unless you have the PIN. "What is the PIN? TickerFactory.com does not use any registration system or ask for any personal identification (such as email address). Tickers using data that needs updating (weight loss, exercise...) only require you to know the ticker web address and the PIN protecting the modifications to its data. The PIN prevents unwanted modification of the ticker while allowing you to keep the same web address for your ticker. The weight loss ticker also provides an additional setting which allows you to protect the historical data by your PIN for extra privacy. Please note that if you lose your PIN we will be unable to provide access to your ticker data as we do not ask for identifying information as part of our privacy setup."

This sounds like the plan I will be using. Thank you for the pearls of wisdom!

Thank you for your input on this subject, I really appreciate it! Is there such a thing as a protein drink or powder that is truly unflavored and blendable where I could make my own smoothies with a stick blender?

I do not do well with bad tasting things at all and having tried a few sips of some protein drinks I also have this mental block to knowing it is a protein drink that I just cannot get past. I know it sounds odd but for me it is a just a thing.

Just as the original poster had the right to give their opinion on the band, be it negative, anyone else has a right to post their opinion and story in response be it also negative or positive. If those sharing a positive view should post to the success board then perhaps there should be a failure board for those that want to bash or who it does not work for? If not...then any story shared in this thread is just as valid as any other!