kristallynn13

Yesterday was my first visit with my surgeon. All went reasonable well. He thinks I may have gall bladder issues. I kinda knew that already. He said it would have to come out either before or during lap band surgery. Having upper GI, KUB, gallbladder ultrasound scheduled to determine if in fact I do need my gallbladder out. I really like my surgeon so far. He has a reputation for being very knowledgeable with poor bedside manner. I have only met him once, so I don't have enough interaction to form a valid opinion, but he seems very straight forward and to the point. Some may see that as poor bedside manner. I see it as a doctor who you can trust not to sugar coat everything.
The real emotional let down happened for me when sitting with the Bariatric coordinator scheduling all of my appointments. I am not even sure how many different appointments I have. Somewhere around 10 I think. During all of this scheduling, a flood of emotions swept over me, and I thought for a minute, I would break down sobbing. I don't know why. I didn't feel sad...maybe overwhelmed, maybe validated, many elated.....or all the above. I managed to suck it up, and not shed a tear, and not letting the coordinator see my emotions. When I left the office, I felt even more determined to make this happen. So, I am off in pursuit of checking off my long list appointments!! Maybe with some luck, I will have my lap band before Thanksgiving??

Just like everyone else.....Grew up being told "Eat everything on your plate. There are children starving in the world!" (I remember offering to mail it to India.....They weren't amused! LOL!) I got it under control in my late teens/early 20's but then was in a horrible marriage, then a nasty divorce and finally 2 kids to raise with no help from their father. The weight just came and came. But those aren't excuses. There are no excuses! The bottom line is we all got fat because we consumed more calories than we burned. Thank G_d (and Dr. Bhesania) that it's under control again and it's gonna stay there!!!!!!

I thought I'd make myself a list of all the things I won't miss after I get this band and get myself looking good.
1. Having to stretch my shirts out once I put them on to make them more comfortable.
2. Not getting on a plane for fear that I will need an extender or worse yet have an airline employee tell me I need to buy 2 seats.
3. Buying something off the rack and assume it fits, then getting home and finding out its too tight!
4. Feeling self conscious of people looking at my grocery cart when shopping.
5. Having men look the other way, or not looking at me in the eye for fear that they will somehow unknowingly attract the fat girl. Sorry dudes, I'm married, you can look me in the eye now!

My mum had irregular heartbeat. Since she got banded it hasn't returned.

They have liquid meds you can take. Or you can crush up pills in powder with Water ask your Dr.

Dear TanksMama,
I really hope you can make this work even if it means switching to the sleeve. I am 53 and scheduled for surgery in 10 days. Yea!!! I have spent every single day of the last 45 worrying and fretting about every bite of food I put in my mouth. I swam on a swim team when I wa young - still overweight, I ran track in high school - still overweight, I did swim workouts with my college swim team - still o er weight, I ran 4 miles a day in my young married years - still overweight, Gym membership that I used religously in my 30's - overweight, lots of wLmi g the dogs, race walking class, Water aerobics etc. in my 40's - overweight, and FINALLY gave up in my fifties!!!!! I have gone through so much emotional trauma over being fat I can't begin to tell you. I will never be able to change the quality of my life up until this time. Very, very sad. I am willing to do ANYTHING to make this work. After doing a great deal of reading on this forum I M shocked at all the work it will take but am totally ready for the challenge. I even practiced a. 2 week liquid diet to make sure 8 could do it!! I could!!!!!!! In closing.... to all of you banders out there.....make this work while you are young!! Don't waste the great quality of life you deserve because you want a double cheeseburger!!!!!! Love and Good luck to all of you.

I had a whole week's worth of last suppers! I had Vietnamese food one night, Indian another. It was crazy. Now I am on day 5 of an 8 day clear liquid diet and I am looking forward to my morning Flintstone vitamin! Ha!

From what my doctor said, losing weight helps or even cures most cases of sleep apnea. It all really depends on why you have sleep apnea. Is it strictly weight related or is there a defect with your airway?
To give an example, I was diagnosed with sleep apnea, machine set at 17 (high). I had a rough preop period for unrelated reasons (they found a mass in my stomach during first preop tests on 2010, nothing to worry about thankfully!) so through the time I waited for surgery, I worked and worked and actually lost 76 pounds.
I will tell you that I sleep wonderful now. I haven't had a second sleep study and I no longer sleep with cpap which are huge no-no's. Sleep apnea doctor told me with every 20 pound weight loss, you need a new study. I'm being rebellious I guess but I do not recommend it! Call your sleep apnea doctor, let them know about your journey and see what point you should come in for another sleep study.
Congratulations and best of luck to you!

Hi Kristalynn: I have BCBSNC also. Did everything they asked for and was denied last summer bcause they said my HBP was not considered a comorbidity since it was under controll. I appealed with the help of NC dept of Justice.....they are great. They helped me thru the appeal and I was approved in March. I am planning to have the surgery in July when I get some time off. They did not specifically ask for a 6 month nutrition class. I did have to see a nutritionist and, psycologist, pulmonologist, cardiologist.....also needed to show diets from the past 2 years showing how I tried to lose the weight (WW, Jenny Craig, etc). My primary dr sent them a log of my weight progress for the past 2 years also. Once they get everything sent to them from your weight loss dr they either approve or deny very quickly. Good Luck & don't hesitate to appeal if necessary.