Fat-2-Phat

The head harness is either a "Gentle Leader" or a "Halti" brand. I use one on my 120lb labrador who loves to take ME for a walk. I found the Gentle Leader or Halti harness works best to reign him back and have him walk along side me in a 'heel' position.

Peg

Yes, I went through 6 months of dr supervised nutrition classes, sleep study, psych eval, x-rays, blood work, etc. I'm glad that it took six months because during this time I became more knowledgeable of what I'm doing, why I'm doing this, what to expect, and to just feel much more comfortable with the entire process. I didn't want a quick approval process. I feel I'm more prepared and ready to undergo surgery, deal with the post-surgery issues and begin my new lifestyle. Good luck to everyone!

Peg

Yay! Tricare North approved my surgery! Only took 7 days from when I submitted all paperwork to the dr office.

Dec 21 is the big day!!!!

Hello, I've been lurking out in these forums for a bit and going to support groups. As a result I put together my personal "Have on Hand" list of items. By no means is it all inclusive, but it covers quite a bit of stuff. Trust this helps. Good luck on your surgery and prayers for a quick recovery.

Peg

Aids:

Gas-X strips(reduces gas)

Maalox (for gas & laxative effect)

Immodium AD (anti-diarreah)

Vitafusion gummies (aids in regularity—Target)

Listerene breath strips

B-12 sublingual tabs (for energy)

Pill crusher

Throat spray (chloraseptic)

Ground flax seed (aids in regularity)

Biotene (breath freshener—found in toothpaste aisle)

Mederma (minimize scarring at incisions)

ü Vitamin E oil (minimize scarring at incisions)

ü Coco Butter lotion (minimize scarring at incisions)

Chewable Vitamins (Viactiv chocolate)

Anti-nausea meds (Emetrol—cherry flavor)

Abdomen wrap w/Velcro

sleep relaxer –“Calms Forte” at Whole Foods

Chewable Papaya enzyme (for being stuck & helps with digestion)

Lemon drops (aid in foul taste in mouth during liquid stage diet)

Biotin (promotes hair growth)

Nioxin (promotes hair growth)

Devrom (neutralizes gas or stool foul odor)

Benefiber (aids in regularity)

calcium citrate (calcium supplement)

Hair shampoo/conditioner (prevent hair loss)

food stuffs

unjury whey chicken Soup Protein

Unjury sample pack

Whey Protein isolate (not concentrate)

Chobani yogurt (kid size)

Activia cottage cheese

Low-fat Swanson broths

Flavoring extracts for Protein drinks (vanilla, orange, )

sugar-free popsicles

Sugar-free Jello

Sugar-free pudding

Yay! I have a confirmed surgery date of Wed, 21 Dec 2011!!!! It's for real now and it feels a wee bit surreal. I'm loving this journey and I'm glad we're all on it together.

Wholeheartedly agree with Roseann! Thank you ALL for your words of encouragement and support.

I started a new topic regarding weather on surgery day...I posted it in the other forum for December 2011 bandsters, http://www.lapbandtalk.com/forum/2488-december-2011-bandsters/

Would love to hear your thoughts about severe winter weather on surgery day.

Peg

Just curious to see if any other Dec bandsters live in a severe weather area and have thought about severe weather occuring on surgery day. As you may know, the Mid-Atlantic thru the Northeast got pummeled by an early winter snowstorm and knocked out power and closed off several streeets. Because we have surgeries scheduled during a winter month, have you given any thought about what would happen if you or your surgeon couldn't make it to the hospital on surgery day because of foul weather? I lived through Snowmaggedeon a few winters ago and recall that many folks (myself included) became housebound for a few days because the roads weren't cleared. I don't have a "Plan B", but am praying that God bless me with clear blue skies and unobstructed road conditions on my surgery day. Would love to hear your thoughts on the issue.

Peg

Ok, so everything worked in my favor because I was approved today!!

I am 5'0, 214 lbs NO comorbidity, BMI was a little over 40 and that's that! Approval was simple!!

Good luck!!

Yay! I'm excited for you and it seems like your approval came back reasonably quick. I will submit my paperwork next Tues, Nov 1 and I'll be praying and keeping my fingers crossed. Your post gave me hope and I remain optimistic for similiar results. Best of luck...when's your surgery date? I'm hoping I can schedule Dec 21st.

Peg

Where in NoVA are you located and who's your surgeon? I live in Loudoun county and will have my band installed by the surgeons at Blue Point Surgical Group out of NoVA Fairfax (Dr. Halmi). I hope to get banded the week prior to Christmas 2011, but that depends upon insurance and whether they approve me or not. Stats:

• 45 y/o female, not married (divorced), no kids
• work as defense contractor (boring, huh?)
• enjoy outdoor activities such as hiking w/my dog, mtn biking, skiing w/friends
• also enjoy entertaining but that will likely change in my post-op life
• am a foodie, but must change some of those habits to be successful post-op
• plan to workout at 5am in my post-op life at Golds Gym in Sterling/Cascades
• am not too big a music buff nor a movie buff, but I appreciate those who have the talent
• I'm a dedicated Christ-follower (if that's not your thing, I understand)
• have a great dog named 'Clyde', he's a rescued labrador retriever and we're now trained as a therapy dog team

That's about sums it up. Lemme know if you'd like buddy-up.

Peg

Here are my stats...

Name: Snarky Brewster

Age: 28

Banded on Sept. 20, 2011

Height: 5'8"

Starting Weight: 259.7

Current Weight: 226.4

Other fun facts: I skate roller derby and am generally very active. Happily married to an awesome musician. I have two beagle rescues, love vintage clothes, fashion and music. I live in Northern VA and would love another workout buddy, band veteran with a rockin' attitude who could share advice, another newbie to gossip with about the strange post-op world or any combo of the three!

I have several mini-rewards set up. I got this idea from someone on this forum. For each 10 pounds of weight loss, I will reward myself with a charm to add to a new charm Bracelet that I'll get at the beginning of my surgery month (Dec 2011). If I meet my goal, I'll have 13 charms on my bracelet, each one representing something I want to do...such as the Eiffel tower to represent a trip to Paris, or a pair of skis to represent the next time I ski again with friends, palm tree to reflect my desire to go to Figi or Tahiti, a bicycle to represent a long desire to take a bicycle tour through Tuscany. Of course my big reward will manifest itself as actually doing one of these activities. I look forward to the entire journey, not just the end. I wish each of us good luck on our new journey and exciting new lives.

Peg

Bromo--Your post-op process sounds similar to what I'll do. Thank you for sharing.

Thanks for the info. It helps. I'll plan to have someone with me the first 24 hrs post-op, then have the others on stand-by in the event I may need something from the store or if I run into complications. I had already planned to stock up on all the meds, Vitamins, shakes, foods, and other misc. aid items that I've read about on these forums. Appreciate your support and encouragement.

Peg

I'm curious as to how much post-op help you needed at home during your recovery. I'm single (my family all live on the opposite coast) and I have friends that are willing to help out in my recovery, but I don't know what to tell them to expect. Would I need 24x7 assistance? If so, for how long? What will they do to help? Any info is greatly appreciated.

Peg

OMG, We talked about this very topic last night at our support group session! In fact it was the very first question asked. I was surprised to hear that lap-banders experienced hair loss (or rather hair thinning). Some suggestions include using Biotin, Hair growth shampoo/conditioner, and ensure you're following a proper post-surgery diet. While I pray this doesn't happen to my beautiful thick abundant hair, if it does I will take comfort in knowing that it is temporary and it will grow back.

Peg

I too had an abnormal EKG. They said it was just a minor blockage of an electrial circuit (not an artery or vein). I also had an Echo done, but not a stress test. Based on the results of my EKG and Echo, the cardiologist cleared me for surgery. I wouldn't stress out until you have all your cardio tests done and the doc renders his opinion. Good luck!

Hope to join in with the Dec 2011 bandsters! I plan to turn in all my paperwork on my last nutrition consult (Nov 1) and hopefully Tricare will approve me within a week. I'm targeting Dec 21 as surgery date to take advantage of the holiday downtime. Right now I feel pretty confident and I owe a lot to this board. So many good insights and first-hand accounts has taken much of the fear out of me. But I will likely become anxious as the surgery date nears. Good luck to all us and I look foward to becoming "bandster buddies" with you all.

Blessings,

Peg

I have Tricare Prime (in the North Region) and they require 6 months of supervised dietary/nutrition courses. While I wish it were only 3, I'm kinda glad it was 6, for it gave me time to process through everything and also the time to 'reset' my brain to begin implementing strategies for post-op success.

Just checking in on ya. How'd your surgery go and how are you feeling now?

I live in Northern Virginia too! Getting banded July 5 at Fair Oaks Hospital by Dr. Moazzez (Bluepoint Surgical Group).

Glad to hear you're back at it and working hard. I'm just starting on my journey and fear some of the same issues and struggles. I'm trying to arm myself with as much information, tools and strategies to become a success story. I just picked up a few reference books to help me in this endeavor and I thought I'd share a really good one that I picked up from Amazon--

"The Emotional First + Aid Kit: A Practical Guide to Life After Bariatric Surgery, Second Edition"

Cynthia L. Alexander; Paperback; $24.95

This has a bunch of good info and is an easy read. What I've learned so far in the first few chapters is to start developing healthy habits now, not wait until the surgery to make the necessary lifestyle changes.

I wish you all the best on your journey and look forward to reading about your successes.

Peg

Hi VA ladies. I am here with you. I am in Northern VA, really King George. I had my surgery done by Dr. Brengman and it went really well. However, I have not been behaving the last year, so I am about to pick up the phone to make the needed appointment. Good luck on your journeys.

Wow, this is great! A small online community of Virginian bandsters. We're here to support and encourage one another. Niterun--I hope you're successful getting back on the wagon.

Hi, I"m a newbie from Virginia, too. My insurance required me to go through a year with a life coach. That year will be up on Aug. 16th, and I have an appt. with my surgeon on the 17th. I'm hoping I can have the LAP-BAND surgery in September. It's been a long year; and I've been very patient, but now I'm ready to get the ball rolling. Let's go through this thing together. I love this site--so much helpful advice and understanding. Take care. Keep me posted on your journey!

Are you in Northern VA? Fortunately, my insurance only requires a 6 month wait. I'm just beginning the process and hope to have my surgery around Christmas time. I'm anxious to hear how your surgery goes and the recovery as well as the months following. Yes, let's stay connected and support each other through on this journey.

Peg

Excited to be on this journey! I love all the posts and good info shared here. I hope to contribute as much as I glean.