Alexandra

I exercise WAY more than I ever did preband, because of course it's a lot easier with 100 lbs less of me to move around. It's actually FUN now, which I never thought I'd say. It's a part of my life in a way I never expected it to be. That said, I never forced myself to do it. Only after I'd lost the first 50 lbs did I venture into a gym, and at that point I was so pleasantly surprised at how much easier it was that it wasn't hard to keep going. A few months working with a personal trainer taught me a lot, and now it's really important to me that I get to the gym at LEAST three times a week. For me it's been a wonderful result of being banded, not so much a part of any sort of regimen. Lots of exercise actually seemed to slow my weight loss down, but did wonders for my shape, so I just had to let go of the scale and find the other benefits. And they are legion.

Shortly before I was banded I got some terrible advice from an endocrinologist: He suggested I get the VBG surgery (vertical banded gastroplasty), which is really not even the "done" thing anymore--if it ever was--due to its high failure rate. I told him I'd decided on lapbanding, but he was insistent that VBG was the way to go. I thanked him and went on my merry way. Moral of the story: don't take surgical advice from endocrinologists. As far as preop weight loss goes, you do what your surgeon tells you. Losing weight is always a good thing, but you should definitely wait until you're under a doctor's care before attempting anything like Optifast. I did it years ago for 12 weeks and Alexra's right, it's miserable.

Leatha, you are just fine and dandy. An unfill is not a tragedy and you will LOVE feeling better. Be very good to yourself and let everything heal up, and in a few weeks you may be able to get some fill put back. And then you'll find you don't need nearly as much as you did before to get the same restriction back. Good on you for getting things taken care of!! That IS being a model bandster, lady, and you're a terrific inspiration to everyone.

The place to start with this is with your primary doctor, who will give you a complete physical. Then find a surgeon and make an appointment. The surgeon will have lots of questions and paperwork for you to complete, and he will be the one to ultimately deal with your insurance carrier. You may have a bit of trouble finding a bariatric surgeon who accepts Medicare, I don't know.

I had to do a swallow test under fluoroscopy, but it wasn't barium. It was something HORRIFYING called, I think, omnipaque or something like that. It was the single most disgusting thing I have ever tasted in my life, and very nearly did me in. Since then I've had to drink barium for every fill, and it tastes like a milkshake compared to what they had me drink after surgery. But nasty as it was, it let me go home the same day and that's what really mattered to me.

Medicare does cover obesity surgery for those who qualify medically, and has covered banding. But they don't pre-certify, so you need to work closely with your doctor to be sure all the medical points are in order. It must be medically necessary for Medicare to cover.

Hey Mysty, I totally feel your pain, been there, done that. Don't give up--there are things you can do to salvage the situation, and if in fact you have to wait until November of 2006 you will be amazed at how fast that comes around. I was in a similar situation, fighting Aetna while waiting for a chance to change carriers, and I beat Aetna before open enrollment came around. Now THAT is satisfying!! So don't just sit and mope, see what you can do in the meantime. First, what is AIGB, and who told you you were approved in the first place? Second, the information on Aetna's website is general medical policies, not a hard-and-fast determination of any given person's medical situation. They are saying, essentially, that obesity surgery is covered for people who qualify medically (which you do, so that's good), but that their preferred procedure is RNY (which you don't want, so that's bad). They list SOME specific reasons why banding would be preferable over RNY, but that is not an exhaustive list. You and your doctor must have come to the conclusion that banding is medically preferable for you, so you should try to make a persuasive argument as to why that is. Check out the thread called "Just Starting to Explore My Options..." in the Insurance section and you'll find my appeal letter, which had to make the exact same argument. When I appealed banding was completely excluded for ANY reason, so I had to cover some additional bases, but the basic point was that RNY was not medically preferable for me. If your doctor is not on board you may want to try someone else. But it's always worth submitting that request for precert and getting the denial so you can see specifically what you have to fight against. You haven't even gone that far at this point, right? So you don't even know IF you're going to be denied? Don't assume anything. You've come a very long way and had all the testing done, so go ahead and pull your material together and have your doctor submit the request. You might be surprised. You are seeking necessary medical treatment, not shopping for a new dress, so show them you're taking it seriously. I had to pester my surgeon's office to get the request submitted because they knew I'd be denied--which I was--but that is a crucial first step before you can mount an appeal. So don't give up!! At the very worst you will have to wait until next November when you can choose another carrier. I waited just about a year too, and don't regret it at all (though it was hard at the time, definitely). Good luck!! And please let us know how it's going--I really want to see Aetna fold on their absurd preference for RNY, a vastly more expensive, risky, and drastic treatment.

Where are you in New Jersey? It might be a good idea for you to find a real live support group so you can meet bandsters face to face. I know that was the single most helpful thing I did before having surgery. What specifically scares you about being banded? Or is it just the whole idea of surgery? It is a scary thing, and everyone has to look at their own reasons for proceeding. At some point, if the potential improvement in health outweights the risks and costs, we proceed. Ask away, don't be shy, and definitely try to find some 3D bandsters you can meet up with. The support group I attend is open to all, and you can attend the surgeons' pre-op seminar at no cost as well. Online chatting is all well and good, but meeting and talking with people in real life makes a huge difference if you can do it. If you're interested in attending a meeting where I go, the next one is on January 4. Let me know!

COOL!!! I'll check it out about 7:00 p.m. Eastern time. Hope to see y'all there!!

I'm going to join you guys, since I too am really feeling the holiday hangover effects. Normally I avoid joining challenges because I just let myself down, but if all you're doing is logging for accountability, well, I can do that. So here I go (I'll edit this as the day progresses): 12/28/05 Breakfast: Atkins bar, three cups of coffee over two hours Lunch: one entire can of Progresso split pea with ham Soup, a large handful of wheat crackers Snack: none, unless you count a few sugar-free Jolly Rancher candies Dinner: 4 ozs smoked turkey, a slice of swiss cheese, two tbls of cranberry sauce and one tbls mayo dessert: LARGE bowl of ice cream and one small Peanut Butter cup Water: 60 ozs so far, plus about 28 oz of decaf tea Exercise: went to the gym after a week! Did 6 minutes on some new contraption called an Arc exerciser, followed by 30 minutes on the recumbent bike. (Thanks to KARE I had some great workout music!!)

Congratulations, Grandma!! Now the real fun begins (or so I'm told)...

Dovie, requesting more information is not the same thing as denying coverage. All that's happened is that the carrier is seeking more information to make their decision. That's actually a very good sign, because it means they're looking at the merits of your request rather than denying you outright for some blanket reason (such as an exclusion). Don't worry! This is by no means the end of the road. Good luck!!

YES!! That's the difference between physical hunger, i.e., true HUNGER, and "head hunger." Head hunger is just a craving for something specific and has nothing whatsoever to do with being physically hungry. It can always be safely ignored. Being banded makes it harder to pop something into our mouths in response to cravings, and so gives us time to see the difference. That's a super-liberating thing, to separate the two and realize that head hunger is what makes us fat. Eating when we're really hungry is about nutrition. Eating when we're having a craving is where all the extra calories have come from over the years, and how we got into this mess in the first place.

Being banded doesn't render you non-human. Of course you're going to be hungry from time to time. But with decent restriction it is absolutely possible to get FULL on a small amount of food. Since being banded I have never had to stop eating a meal before I was satisfied physically. Mentally is another story--it definitely takes a LOT of getting used to when you see so much food left on your plate and you're simply unable to take another bite. But that's what this is all about, right? Eating less?

You'll just have to wait and see if beer is drinkable for you after banding. If it is, there's no reason not to have one from time to time. The carbonation in beer is different than that of soda, and I know for me it's easier to drink. But your doctor may have an opinion on this, so ask him before you indulge.

My surgeon's office, last I heard, has had two cases of erosion out of several hundred bands placed. I will ask about this again next week but the incidence really does seem to be quite low.

The one thing that helped me the most learn the proper pace was to GET UP between bites and literally walk away from the table. You have to let each bite get as far down as it will before taking another one. For people like me who are used to bolting food this is a nearly impossible thing to learn, but CRUCIAL. You have to really comprehend how small your pouch is, and how slowly food moves through it. Take tiny bites, put your fork down, take ten slow, deep breaths before taking the next small bite. You'll discover that you get full really fast that way, and then your meal is over. And when it's over, it's OVER. One more bite will make you vomit, and that is NOT good for your stomach, band, esophagus or state of mind. It's a learning curve, no doubt, but do whatever is necessary to pace yourself correctly and it will come together. Good luck!!

She is absolutely adorable. Welcome to the terrible, terrific twos!!

How long ago were you banded? Are any of these sensations related to healing? You might feel "weird" for 8-12 weeks after surgery, with the port area remaining sensitive. Did your symptoms predate your reading here about all the recent erosions? I've become MUCH more aware of all the sensations my band and port have added to my physical being in the last few weeks. It's all in my mind, I'm totally convinced. Stress can do very weird things to us.

This sounds like a very sensible precaution to take. But I'm wondering how one gets antibiotics for just this purpose? I don't have them lying around the house, of course, and when we get a scrip for it we're told to finish it all off. Would I have to get a prescription for four tablets, every six months? Or would I just buy a supply and take them twice a year as long as they last? Don't drugs expire after a while? Hope I'm not being dumb--there isn't any such thing as an OTC antibiotic, right?

Ah. Thanks, Penni. That question has always nagged at me.

What I've never understood is what happens to the stomach when a band is removed after eroding through. It looks to me like there's a big ol' hole that will be left when the band comes out, so how does that NOT create a significant risk of infection and peritonitis? In your thorough explorations of the medical realities, did you ever have this explained to you? Can you share? Thanks!

I really like this!! There was a dividing line that showed you which threads have NOT been updated since your last visit, but still contained unread posts. That is incredibly valuable to me, since while I always click "new posts" I never have time to look at all of them on one visit. Then the next time I click "new posts" the ones I didn't read last time are gone unless someone has posted since then. Can we have that back, please, Alex??? It just takes a little getting used to, but I promise it's better than having posts fall completely off the new posts search.

Of all the things that can go wrong with banding, injecting saline into the wrong place is one that won't hurt you if it happens. It has happened, of course, but the only effect is that the fill doesn't wory. Saline is NOT harmful to your body.

Pate! Go to the deli section and look at all the luscious pates and spreads that you'd never buy because they're too pricey. Great ethnic spreads like hummus, tzatziki, and liverwursts are what I lived on. Also soft cheeses, like goat cheese and this horrendously rich French things. DROOL!!! The mushy phase is a license to try new things. Go for it!