Jim1967

If you're getting banded you better get used to needles fast...

Body fortress whey powder that walmart sells is low on carbs. 1 scoop is 4g of carb but it yields 26g of protein. Depending on how low your daily carb count is you can do Simply Smart milk and 1 scoop of powder and blend with a little ice ends up 17g carb but a nice number of 36g of protein. I know 17g can be a lot especially if your doing Atkins induction.

Thank you all for the kind words and advice. I have to say looking back at my post from yesterday I am a little embarrassed I got down on myself like that and cried poor me. I am lucky in a lot of ways and I am determined to make this work. I really hope anyone new to this process doesn't get discouraged by my post. I am less than 2 month post op and only have had one fill. My journey is just starting. Please do not get discouraged by my words above. I would delete it but then all the good, kind words and advice that followed would be lost and that would be tragic. It's funny how one day can make a difference and I didn't even step on the scale today....

Some how practically everyone who knows me know I have had this surgery. It is my own fault as I told so many myself and word of mouth especially around the office travels. Most of my relatives now know thanks to my Mother who loves to gossip. None of this would bother me if it wasn't for the fact I constantly get asked "how much you down", "how much you plan to lose". I even had a former manager ask me "what are you going to do with all the loose skin when you drop all the weight". I felt like tell him I was going to smother him with it....LOL I had a buddy come into the office and because of travel he hadn't seen me in a couple of weeks and he jokingly said "what you haven't dropped all the weight yet". I have a fairly thick skin (hehe no pun intended) but this is getting quite tiresome. Not only do I have to deal with my own thoughts of "why is the scale not moving", "Am I getting enough protein", "Am I consuming too many calories", "I thought the weight would drop faster". Now I have to have the constant reminder of it all because I did not keep my damn mouth shut!! I wish I never told anyone aside from my wife....now in the back of my mind I am afraid of failure. To be known as the fat guy who couldn't lose weight after having weight loss surgery. Today has been a rough day work-wise and scale-wise. I am a bit down on myself to the point where I gave up on work today to post this and try to adjust my attitude. My attitude just plain sucks today...today is one of those "should have I gotten the bypass instead." I have my eating in check today just fine but the scale is toying with me again. I was 413 last Friday and today 415. I know it's only 2 pounds but seriously it's going in the wrong direction. Sorry for the pity poor me story but I would rather post here and get it out rather then take it home to my wife. She deserves better....

Thank you all and you're all right....I just need to shake out of this and get with it. It is what it is and I made the choices and they're done. Now I just have to do the needful and get it done. mylynn, that was also my exact reason for not having bypass and yes my wife is my number #1 fan.

Both but if you look closely I have the same Yoda quote...

I went through a good couple of weeks of not losing and I just figured maybe i was still healing up but when I started tracking what I was doing I found I was not getting nearly enough Protein. Since I started upping the protein the scale started moving.... mylynn, nice signature..

I just wanted to post this here but I did use the contact us link on the bottom of the page to report the following: Quick post reply not working. Have to go into full editor mode to post. Add comment button not working when trying to comment on a blog post. Tested with both IE and Firefox. Thank you Alex for this wonderful site. A lot of us owe a great deal of gratitude to you for creating such a wonderful support site.

Oh and I had a max out of pocket for the year of $1500 which I had already met prior to surgery so everything was covered with no cost to me. $5K for the surgeon, $1500.00 for Anesthesia and $14K for the hospital stay. I stayed overnight. Thank god for insurance!!

Hi there,, I have Cigna and they covered my surgery as well as my fill adjustments. What Cigna covers may depend on what tier coverage your company purchased. I recommend you call Cigna and ask for the written policy on weight loss surgery. Someone on this board posted a week or so ago that Cigna changed the requirement on a supervised diet. It used to be 6 month monitored which is what I did but someone on here said they only had to do 3 month. Here is a link to Cigna's policy on wls surgery that I was given. Again it sounds like it changed and this doc was only credible up until 5/15/12. Remember this is your insurance and you are a customer. Call them and ask them for information in writing and they will provide it. Good Luck, Jim sorry forgot the link: http://www.cigna.com/customer_care/healthcare_professional/coverage_positions/medical/mm_0051_coveragepositioncriteria_bariatric_surgery.pdf

This morning I had a sausage, egg and cheese wrap from dunkin donuts and must have ate it too fast because the hiccups started along with the stuck sensation and then the sliming....eating slow and chewing food very fine is something I am working on. I just got my first fill of 5cc this past Tuesday.

Hi Gar thanks for sharing your story. I have only been banded a short time so I don't have long term experiences to share. From what I read in your post it sounds like your putting a lot of pressure on yourself. What drove you away from working with the band? What is the point of having it if you don't utilize it? Needing help with your demons is nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about. We have one trip down the road of life and it's all about health, happiness and longevity. I suggest getting in with your doc and get your band assessed and adjusted if needed. Several years ago 2003 to be exact I went on a low carb diet at 393 pounds and dropped 174 pounds in 19 months. I was walking around at 220 and felt great. Fast forward to 2011 I was back to 486 pounds. At 44 years old I decided wls was the way to go because its about quality of life and I need help with my food addiction both physically and mentally. I wish you good luck and hope you can find your way. Best, Jim

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Thank you!

Hi All, So Tuesday I go in for my fill. I am going to have it done at the office but my concern is they won't find the port. I got a lot of fat...LOL. I only assume it is located near the largest incision which is slowly fading. Now I know I am not a medical professional but when I push all around the area I cannot feel the port. I really want this fill it being my first one. I do have the Realize band and the ports are low profile compared to the Lapband. Without an x-ray how are they going to do this fill?

Yea that's what I said too. I am glad my out of pocket was only 20..

Thanks Bob I will go with that. I am seeing scale movement so in the end I must be doing something right.

Thank you all for the replies. Yes, this is what I am doing as well but based on my weight when I went through the 'guided' goal settings it put me at 3800 calories day!! That's crazy. I changed it back to 1000 and it automatically pushed around all the other numbers.

I am having a hard time figuring out what my goals should be. Last time I spoke with the Nutrionist she told me to make sure I was getting anywhere from 70-110g of Protein a day. I changed the calories to 1000 and it shifted the total fat to something I find unrealistic. I am really not sure what I should be shooting for. Any suggestions would be great.

I am trying to use myfitnesspal but I question the accuracy of the nutritional information. When you guys add something new from the database to your list to you verify the information?

My insurance was billed $578 bucks for that 30 minute appointment. Out of pocket I paid $20 bucks.

wow, I got my first fill yesterday for 5cc and I thought that was a lot. Do they have you on any diet restrictions at all while the band adjusts? I am on liquids for another couple of hours. They like you to do 24 hour liquids after any adjustment.

I got my first fill of 5cc yesterday. I on liquids until 1pm today then I can began trying solids and see if I get any restriction.

Got my first fill today. 5cc in an 11cc band. On a liquid diet until tomorrow afternoon. Fill did not hurt one bit and that was without any numbing. Doctor was pretty happy with me as I was down 15 more pounds since they last saw me. He was impressed on how well I have done pre-band and even after with an empty band. I got me 5cc's in there now so we'll see how that goes...