Alexandra

Thank you! As for another fill, the earliest I am looking at is August, for insurance reasons. But that prospect doesn't scare me at all since I'm feeling so wonderful these days. It's such a joy to be able to eat decently without pain or worry, and I truly honestly get full after just a very small amount so I don't find myself eating too much. It's the best of all possible worlds!! Now I just need this job thing to come through and I'll ... :faint:

Oh, and for what it's worth, I didn't start exercising at all until after I'd lost 50 lbs. It's unrealistic for your doctor or yourSELF to expect a complete overhaul of lifestyle and diet on a dime. It just is. Be kind to yourself, stop beating yourself up. You're taking an important step toward better health--you're getting a tool that will help you eat less on a permanent basis. That tool is what will help you do everything else involved in this journey, and it takes a little time to learn how to use it.

Hi Jennifer! Another New Jerseyan here. We have a lot in common, you and I: two small daughters (mine are 7 and 5), over 300 lbs to start, and a lifetime of obesity behind us. I can completely relate to your fears. Banding was the best thing I've ever done for myself. Bypass was out of the question from the start, because with two small kids I just wasn't able to accept the risk. Being out of commission for even a few days wasn't something I wanted to do, and most of the bypassers I've met -- even the highly successful ones -- seem to have been hospitalized more than once. I heard too many stories about complications to consider it even for a moment. Banding is WAY safer, and effective enough to make me healthier, which was all that I was after. Even at 340 lbs I wasn't sick, just fat, and I didn't need to lose weight overnight. I wanted to lose it safely, sanely, and get permanent control over it so it wouldn't come back. The band is delivering in spades. One of the greatest things about banding vs. bypass, to my mind, is that banding doesn't require us to make complete lifestyle and diet changes literally overnight the way bypass does. We have time to ride the learning curve of increasing restriction, time to get used to the idea that 1/3 of our usual intake really is enough to sustain and even satisfy us. It's a concept that takes some getting used to, and the band gives us time to do that. Who is your doctor? Please feel free to contact me by e-mail or PM if you want to talk about anything specific. Welcome to LBT!!!

Megan, big hugs!! I'm living proof that unfills are NOT the end of the world. Since my unfill in March I've lost another three pounds!! My BMI has dipped below 30 for the first time...EVER!!! Please don't worry. Embrace this time to eat healthfully, enjoying the fact that you can eat in comfort. You won't take in many more calories, I'm sure, because you actually can get in a little bulk. I find that three bites of fresh fruit keep me full for a long time, when before I couldn't even think about fruit so I'd reach for the ice cream. :doh: YOU'LL BE FINE!!! :hug:

Vines, my heart goes out to you and your family. You have way too much to handle right now!! I hope everything turns out absolutely 100% the way you want it all to. I'm on pins and needles right now--job-related ones--so I have a tiny idea how you feel. I've been wound up for days as well. Without my melatonin I wouldn't be sleeping at all!

If you're talking about Cigna, it's a very well-known national carrier. It's not the easiest to work with, as I understand, but as a rule it does cover bariatric surgery for medically qualified candidates. Your husband's employer may have a specific contract, though, so there's no way to know what it says.

I LOVE this stuff! I can find it in almost every supermarket, but I generally buy it at Trader Joe's where it's cheaper. I get the 0% fat and sweeten it with a teaspoon of preserves. That way I can have whatever flavor I want, and limit the sweetness to the point I like. It's thick and dense, and really filling. I can't say enough good things about it!

I find cereal very difficult to eat, actually, which is too bad because I often want the extra fiber. When I get a yen for it I pour a small bowl or something like raisin bran, and I usually can't finish it.

Fingers crossed for a quick approval, Kim! And welcome into the light from behind the curtain. :grouphug: Please let us know what the response from Aetna is. I want to hear MORE AETNA APPROVALS!!

Kiana, I don't know about "extremely scared" but yes, your higher BMI does make you a higher risk for surgical complications. The fact that your doctor hasn't done a million bands is less important than whether he is very experienced in laparascopic surgery in general. If in his opinion you are good to go for surgery, then you are. Please make sure that your surgeon has a strong background in this type of surgery, and be sure to discuss your fears with them. They don't want an adverse outcome any more than you do, believe me, so it's unlikely they'd be willing to proceed if they didn't think it was safe. Good luck!!

Thanks from me, too, Murphles! What a great post.

Bluenightmare, if you are in New York I know for a fact that the "investigational" denial has been overturned time and time again by the third-party review process in that state. Go ahead and start the process with your doctor, get all your testing and pre-op care done as though you were going for bypass. Then when your surgeon puts in his request for precertification of the band, it may or may not be denied. (Carriers change their tune all the time, and what you're being told on the phone just may not be true anymore by the time your request is submitted.) If it is denied based solely on the grounds that the band is "investigational" you have excellent grounds for appeal. I am confident that you will easily get that overturned with enough patience and persistence. You can't get individual insurance if you have group, so if you're on your employer's plan that's your only option for coverage (unless they offer difference policies). Are you qualified medically for bariatric surgery? Then go for it!!

I really don't want to lock this thread because something very valuable is being addressed. So please, people, lighten up! The initial question shows something very important: some doctors aren't taking the time to EXPLAIN the reasons for the post-op protocol. They are the only people I fault at all in this process. It only takes a minute to explain that it's not an arbitrary direction, and that it's about healing and not weight loss. I remember that even my doctors didn't explain it all clearly at the time and that a light went on for me when it was explained later by a nurse. Suddenly it became easy to stick to the regimen because I knew why I was doing it. It's not too much to ask this question, and there's a real problem if a doctor's instructions seem nonsensical. But the problem is with the doctor, not the patient. So the important lesson here is that we should ASK QUESTIONS at the doctor's office. Of course we should all follow our doctor's instructions to the letter, and we should also strive to understand them.

Yes, you are correct in that your max-out-of-pocket (MOOP) is your deductible plus $1000. That's in a calendar year, so it resets at the end of the year. All money you spend related to your medical care as a patient go toward your MOOP. The family MOOP is just another cap. If three people in the family meet their individual MOOPS in a calendar year, the whole family will be considered to have met it and there will be no more out-of-pocket expenses for anyone in the family, even if the family has more than 3 people.

Leener, the cost of a fill would be several hundred bucks, all told. The surgeon's fee might be covered, I guess, but the hospital bill is something like $400 on top of that. But you know, you're halfway to 90 days already! Don't worry, don't sweat it, the day will come when you can't even remember that this seemed like a problem. You have the rest of your life to live with the band and deal with restriction, so 6 weeks now will make no difference in the long run.

A job I held for 15 years is coming available again, seven years after I left. I am seriously considering trying to be re-hired, but the reason I resigned in the first place was the daily commuting. It's in NYC, about a 75 minute commute from my home. Once I had children, that was just a no-go. But the job is one I loved, and I miss it every day of my life. There is nothing remotely like it near me, not on any level. So I'm trying to figure out a practical way to take the job back, but limit my commuting to 3 days a week. If there are any telecommuters here, I'd really appreciate hearing exactly how it's managed in your company. What do I need to propose to make it happen? E-mail is no problem, obviously. But how do the phones work? What about a setup where each person has an extension, and my extension would just ring in both places, home and the office. Is that possible? What does your job involve? How does your office reach you? What kind of accommodations did they or do they make for your physical absence in the office, if that was an issue? Thanks for any insights, and I hope I'll think of more questions when you share your stories with me. If this works out, I will be the HAPPIEST bandster in the WORLD!!!

Jules, it makes sense for you to have someone around, I agree. But you shouldn't need anyone else if your husband is within easy reach. You'll know how you feel pretty quickly, and if you don't want him to leave he can hang around. It's only one day, and there's lots to do in a hotel with a kid!

Wheetsin, thanks for the detailed response! Sounds like a great gig you have there. Working from home is usually production-oriented (you get paid only for the number of XXs you can YY in ZZ hours), so there's lots of incentive to be productive. Do you find you work better or worse at home? Do you take advantage of the home days to do things like go to the dentist or get your car inspected? My goal would be to make it undetectable to the caller that I'm not in the NYC office. I already have broadband at home, so I think all I'll need to add is a separate phone line and get a laptop so I can work while commuting if I have to. Right now I'm waiting to hear from the organization if they have any interest whatsoever in exploring this with me, or if the door is closed completely. If they say let's talk, I will be over the moon!!

Thanks, guys. I know that in this day and age the technical arrangements should be a piece of cake. The challenge is that this office has a two-person staff, so on days that I would be home there'd be a big hole in the office. But as long as I can carry the telecommunications burden equally no matter where I am, I really don't think that should be an issue. And the other staffer might appreciate some more freedom, as well. But communication between the two staffers is paramount, so we'd both have to be very comfortable with whatever arrangement is found. My biggest problem is likely to be delegating; I'm so much more efficient than most people I've ever worked with that it's usually just easier to do it myself. (My long tenure there is one of the reasons they can manage with only two employees, in fact, and when I left they kept me on freelance to do the books. They had to replace me with 1.5 people, in other words. :eekB: I'm thinking that would be one of the attractions of taking me back--they could fire their bookkeeper!)

Chinese restaurants! I don't know where you are but there must be a Chinese restaurant somewhere close by.

Hey, Malawi-lady! Nice to hear you're settling in and doing so well!! We can't wait to see pics. Congratulations on your wonderful progress!!

There's no way to predict how YOU will feel in two weeks, Mia. MY experience was that fills didn't make themselves felt for at least two weeks, sometimes more. Everyone is different and in my opinion it's only prudent to wait like a month (especially for women) to see how the adjusment works out.

You should be in very good shape with that insurance, plusizeteen. The important question is whether you are medically qualified for surgery--are you diagnosed with morbid obesity? Then you have to see what your contract says about bariatric surgery and weight loss treatment; does it cover treatment for people who have that diagnosis?

Rice cakes dissolve into nothing when they get wet, so sure you can eat a lot of them. Eat something solid and you will likely not have the same reaction. Also, many people have reported that it can take a week or two for a fill to "kick in" and they are surprised by restriction when they don't expect it. Take it slow, think about what you're eating and how you're chewing. Breathe between bites. Think about whether you want that next bite or if you are actually getting full. You may not feel what you think of as restriction, but you may in fact be able to get satisfied on less food IF YOU LET YOURSELF FEEL IT. That's the hardest part of this journey and it's never too soon to start working on it.

You know what? Even Inamed changes its guidelines from time to time. So if your doctor or someone else's doctor isn't up on whatever the very latest recommendation is, that could account for the variations. I know my doctors have changed their post-op protocol pretty dramatically since I was banded 2.5 years ago. The bottom line, is TAKE IT SLOWLY. Everyone reacts to surgery and adjusments differently, and the post-fill protocol is designed to allow any swelling to resolve before you introduce food again. Any given patient may not HAVE any swelling, so for that person it may be a moot point, but the recommendation is there because many people DO swell and solid food getting stuck will just make it worse. That can lead to an unpleasant situation and possibly an emergency unfill. Maybe your friend's doctor has had too many patients with that situation arise, so now he's being more cautious with his advice.