sassyfrass

I've read on a few posts that "Bandwagon" is a good book to read. Is it sold in stores? or just on Amazon? I would really like to get it. Thank you.

Thanks all. I ordered it. Will be looking forward to reading it.

The plication just sounds better all the time. Is the recovery time much longer/ if any?

Wow! LVgirl, that was quick. So..can you give me some tips on things I can do right while I wait? I work at a primary care dr office so I know I can do some of it there. Or is it too far away from Sept? Thank you.

Ashleigh, I'm glad all went well with you. Do you think you'll put your story on the "My Day of surgery" thread? If so, I would love to read all the details. It's even better to read about the actual Dr./place where I may be having it eventually. Did you go with the Plication also? I wish you much success with this. Thanks!

Congrats! I am not banded yet, but sure is nice to read a good, positive post. Thank you.

Thank you for that info, Rachel and for her blog link. I will definitely check it out. But will probably go with Amazon if no shipping. :0) but will be good to read her blog.

Okay. Thank you all. :0)

Oh and I do have insurance' but waiting until Sept since my new ins plan year will start so I will have different plans to pick from. When I wrote "with no ins. covg, I meant no covg for the actual plication, but now we know about the " no cpt code" for it. Thank you for your reply. I wish you much success on your surgery. I look forward to reading success stories.

Bazooka, My memory was jogged when reading your replies. I do remember in the brief mention of the plication, the surgeon did say something about it being so new there was not even a code to use for billing it. So maybe that is a positive in this case. :0)

Hi. I am in NC. I actually have not got a scheduled date for my consult yet. I was trying to wait until Sept to see what BCBS plan I will have through my work. It will change so I need all the out of pocket to applied in the same plan year. Starts Sept. I hope to pick a better plan because the one I have now would put me paying $6000 total in out of pocket, with deduct and co-ins. I hope all works for yours. Yes, please do let me know. I am really curious. Thank you.

Here comes another christian (a southern one at that ) sliding in to say hi! I am happy I found the link to this one on another post. I am always happy to find anything christian. I am not yet banded, but could still use all the prayers I can get to help me stay on track to lose weight. It's such a horrible cross to bear, but If Jesus can carry the heaviest one ever, I have no right to complain, right? I just need his help so so very much. Also, since I have not been banded yet, I'm still nervous about this for many reasons, but also because I have to wait until my work inurance changes in Sept to see what my options will be for the band. Please pray for me that I will have a good option to pick so I won't have a lot of out of pocket costs, otherwise I won't be able to afford the band. Prayers to all of you!

Well, I'm not banded yet, but once I do and get this weight moving far away from me......I look forward to so many things....but to list a few: come off my blood pressure meds and "pre diabetes" meds get cuter clothing!!! NEVER shop in the plus size departments again feeling a bit more confident when I walk in a room full of people being healthier not being "the fat friend" any longer being able to raid my friend's closet and for once be able to borrow an outfit from her (or maybe...that they would be TOO big! ) and to stop feeling like a failure (from all the ups and downs in my weight, since childhood )

.....so it IS like the saying of eat slower, to eat less. Makes a lot of sense. We are always eating on the go, in a rush and have eaten way more than needed, so that when our stomach has finally caught up with all the food, we are WAY overfilled. Makes a lot of sense. I like how the band will force me to slow down, thus eat less. I will eventually get tired of waitng in between bites to eat because I have other things to do, so I'll just quit sooner than I normally would.

I'm just curious about this. If you are only going to be able to consume 600 - 1100 calories (I read that somewhere), it seems to me that it is not enough calories to stay nourished and for your body to keep losing and not hold on to the FAT because it senses it's starving. I have been thinking about that this week, and especially since I read a post where someone only ate a few bites and they were full. I am amazed. Really makes me excited to get banded, but....just curious on the amount of calories, I guess.

I think i will do okay with that part. Maybe I'll have slip ups, but for the most part, I think I am already used to trying to pick the healthier options while doing Weight Watchers. It's the keeping on eating binge kicks I get on sometimes that are my worst things. So hopefully this will aid me in my own efforts to push through it and NOT be able to eat too much. Thank you again.

The plication sounds like the way to go if the risks of band slippage, etc.... are lower. And less need for fills. That makes it all the more appealing to me. The surgeons briefly mentioned this in the seminar I attended and said they would talk more to us about it at our consult. Isn't the cost a LOT more also? With no insurance coverage?

Hi all, this is a good post. I, too, am a God following chic! But a white southern gal that has been raised in a christian home ! I will definitely have to check into that christian post that was listed on the the reply above. I have struggled with this as well, mainly because I have been praying so much about this. In December, I was listening to KLOVE (christian radio station) and they had a guest on the show by the name of Lysa Terkeurst (author) and she has written several books etc....but what caught my attention is the fact that she had just written her book "Made To Crave" that speaks about peoples' addictions to things, but in HER case --weight issues. To hear her talk about her struggles I felt as if she had just crawled into by brain and took my very thoughts and yearly trials and put it to paper. I KNEW God had led me to listen to that station that day. So... I got her book and followed her 6 week webcast that was (like the book) so full of God's word. Very good scriptures to read regarding issues that we battle. So full of truths!! It seems as though, since I have been into this book, I have had an even harder time getting back on my weight loss track, eating healthy, etc.... and I know it's just the devil throwing darts my way. Then I feel guilty for not allowing this to help me. I felt like it's the way I needed to go, but was having such a hard time. I had always been against having WLS and also was too scared. I have followed Weight Watchers for many years now where I have had good losses, only to start bingeing (why, why, why??? I just don't know why) and gain back. I have managed to keep 15 off. (really 45 off total since I once lost some weight on a low carb diet....but gains and losses followed year after year). Anyway, my mom is the one who suggested that I should look into this. She sees me in tears over this weight issue so many times and knows that I have battled it since my childhood. We know at least 7 people who have been banded and lost a lot of weight and would not trade it for anything. Only one person I know of now, can't eat much of anything, but after reading these posts, I really think her band is too tight. The rest are doing well. Most of those that I know go to the same church as me and I have not heard any negative words from anyone there about it. I would not consider it.....I was following Weight Watchers and keeping on going to the gym.....BUT finally my curiosity peaked and I started asking questions about it and found that some of my fears were not as bad as I thought they would be. I have been totally encouraged on these forums and I now know I want and NEED to be banded. I have to wait a few months with new insurance coming through my work, but at least that gives me even more time to read the success stories and get even more mentally ready for this. Like others on this forum, the bypass surgery scares me WAY too bad to ever do it, plus I don't want to give up all sweets FOREVER. I would be knocked into severe depression if that happened. Anyway, many blessings to all of you and may you have much success in your journey.

Thank you all for your replies. I wondered about it because of how some people talked like they couldn't eat very much. I can see how this really does make a person NEED to make wise changes even more so to fill in their calorie intake per day, but I sure hope when I finally get banded that I do have somewhat of a restriction so that I CAN'T just keep eating and eating.

First of all, CONGRATS on your band surgery going well. I have to agree about the forums, but I agree with the posters, that this is a good way to get both sides of the 'story'. The good and the bad. Some of the bad experiences do scare me a bit (I have not been banded yet. Have to wait a few months out for new insurance coming.) BUT...just when I think I may not do it, I get excited all over by some great posts with good experiences. I have been reading and reasarching ALOT lately about this, and I am feeling good about doing it. Congrats to all of you that have made the decision to take that step to getting healthy. I am so anxious to get going with this. Is it September yet? :0)

Thank you for your replies. I just need to focus mainly on the more positive posts because I get quite fearful when reading too many of the not such good experiences and get discouraged. I know they are just putting the info out there so I sure don't fault them for that. I worry that I would be the very ONE those things would happen to, but as another poster said on one of these topics, there are risks in every day life as well . I feel like this band is just what I need to stay on track. I know I can do the food part okay as far as eating right most of the time. Right now I am feeling ready for it.

This is an encouraging post! Congrats on your success thus far. These kind of posts make it easier for me to say yes to being banded. Thank you for sharing.

At the seminiar I attended a couple of weeks ago, the surgeons mentioned plication, briefly. They said it's the first time they had actually started talking about it in the seminar, since they had just started doing them. They said they would talk more about it at the consultation if we were interested. After reading the few stories of those who have it, I would like that too, rather than having to worry with fills too often. HOWEVER.....if my insurance won't cover it, I won't be able to get it anyway. :0(

Hi Jen. I hope you have much success with the band. I am looking into getting it, but have to wait until after Sept to see what my works' insurance choices will be, then I can get the ball rolling. I am in the Morehead City are of NC. Good to see other Carolina gals/guys out there. :0)