faithmd

Take a smallish pillow and some Gas-X strips. The pillow is to pad the seat belt on the plane and in the car.

I stayed home and avoided all celebrations just because I knew it would kill me to be near it. I've just been banded two weeks and I LOVE ribs, hot dogs, etc. I knew I could never handle it. It's bad because the yearly tasting celebration is going on in Detroit (fairly close) and I love going. Alas, I won't be attending this year. I'm also avoiding watching the news because of it. I did happen to catch a couple of stories last night and was amazed at the amount of food people had on their plates. Two weeks ago I'd have thought absolutely nothing of eating a whole rack, and possibly a rack and a half of ribs by myself. Now I just dream of only a taste and I'd be happy.

Joining in! July - Labor Day 2007 Challenge Name.............................Starting….Current…...Goal….....To Go losingjusme........................293...........293............266...........27 juliegeraci...........................226...........226............206...........20 areellady.............................251.5........247.5.........230...........17.5 punkeyb88..........................306...........238............225...........13 Chris_NJ.............................326...........326............290...........36 PaulaD................................222...........222............200...........22 MM.....................................248...........248............230...........18 sdakotaRN...........................255...........255............230...........25 Babygrl1234.........................224...........224............199...........25 faithmd................................312...........312.............285...........27

Carmalita, it may be right for you, it may not. Find a doc near you and go to a free information session about it. Have you figured your BMI out yet? Unfortunately I can't tell you if your BCBS will pay for the band, not every employer will take the riders for weight loss surgery, so someone else who has anthem may or may not have the same coverage as you. You must call your insurance company, grab your card and give them a call. Tell them you want to have adjustable gastric banding done and ask if they have a special procedures case manager who takes care of the bariatric cases that you can speak with. If not, then speak to whoever can help you figure out what the requirements are. Have a pen and a pad of paper handy, write down the name of every person you speak to and note the date and time. Make notes of what they say. Most big companies have case managers that deal exclusively with special procedures like this. If not, then with the codes below, you should be able to get somewhere with the rep you talk to. The codes to ask if they are covered are: laparoscopic surgical adjustable band:Procedure code 43770; diagnosis code 278.01 Once you have found out from them what the requirements are, ask them to snail mail (and email if they can) you a copy of those requirements.

Sounds like you do need a fill. And yes, certainly what you eat will have a huge impact on your loss or lack of. I would def. call your surgeon and get in to see her/him.

My other suggestion would be for you to join (if you haven't already) the yahoo group called bandstersinsurance You may find more info on there about who you can see. Also, call your company, they are supposed to provide you with a list of who they will cover for you to see (maybe I missed it and you have that list), and you can cross reference that list with the patient reviews on here or on obesityhelp.com The search function is pretty good here and on there as well.

Oh that's a bummer. What is his cost for self-pay for fills? Is it something you could pay up front and then claim on your taxes? the other thing is that if you can show you cannot find a competent surgeon in your area, most companies do have processes to pay for you to go out of network, I know my HMO does.

I can't imagine your hubby not even looking at you, I cannot begin to imagine the pain you must be feeling right now, especially with everything that is going on. Have you asked him if he's disconnected because he's scared? Or has it eroded to the point that you just can't even talk to him? Would pouring a few beers into him help him to talk? I'm just thinking off the cuff. I don't get why he wouldn't look at you, if he was the impetus behind your losing the weight, and you've lost it (and are damned hot, BTW!), then one would think that he should be all over you. But men seem to do exactly the opposite of what we think they should. And they say that we women are hard to read...

I cannot imagine my hubby's response if I were to suggest counseling. I think there are very few men out there who see things the way we see them and would readily agree to counseling. I could be totally wrong, though. Brandy, I found myself just yesterday daydreaming about a past "love" after I happened to drive by the place he told me he loved me for the first time (only time) as I was on my way home from the grocery store. I knew he didn't mean it at the time, he said it after knowing me a couple of days. I laughed it off (I was 18), but the passion with which he said it took my breath away. No, he hadn't wanted to get into my pants (he was a very strong believer in no sex before marriage), but he was probably the most passionate and romantic man I've ever been with. We dated on and off during college and even discussed getting married a couple of times (he was from Syria and wasn't sure how well he did on the GRE and wasn't sure he'd get into grad school, we were going to get married so he could stay until he could try again, but he did well and finished his Master's here). He went home and before he left we were supposed to get together one more time for him to tell me something he had wanted to tell me over the six years we had known one another. We never saw one another before he left. You see, after that night he had said those three little words and I sort of laughed it off, he never said anything like that again. I still wonder what he wanted to tell me, could it have been that he really did love me? Would he have asked to marry him and go with him? I'll never know. He never said it again, but he showed it all the time. The way he would look at me, caress me, touch me, talk to me. He was always showing his feelings for me when we were together. So I guess that I am sort of somehow clinging to that romantic notion of what it "should" be like. Maybe life isn't that way, perhaps it isn't all about the touch and the affection. Perhaps just existing is what life is all about. Ah yes, I did look him up and have sort of followed him over the years, I even emailed him a few years back. I guess I was hoping to be able to ask him what it was that we never got to say to one another, but I couldn't ask... He did finally get married and had a daughter. He is a very successful businessman now. I am very happy for him that he found a woman to love and that he has a child, I'm sure he's a wonderful father. He lost his father when he was 9 so he was really looking forward to being a dad himself. It's great to see him doing so well. But I find myself thinking back on those times...

For other suggestions, scroll down to the bottom of this page and you'll find other scar thread links. I'm an avowed pure cocoa butter fan.

I would suggest you go to Dr. Curry. He's in Ohio and will take on other's patients. He runs the LapBand board over on obesityhelp.com and he answers questions here, too. His website is thebanddoctor.com

It is certainly not asking too much for a great and compassionate surgeon, that should be what we all demand. One note on the MGB, it is falling out of favor, fewer and fewer docs are performing it. If you are thinking of another procedure, I'd urge you to consider the gastric sleeve, you can find loads more info about MGB and the sleeve on obesityhelp.com I wish you luck and please keep us updated on how things go for you.

I'm an old fashioned Knox girl (I get it from my mom, she's 81), so I'm not sure if Jello makes an unflavored, but I would expect they do. Ahhhh turkeys. The secret there, get one of those Reynolds oven bags and follow the directions to the letter. Excellent turkey. Better yet, deep fry one, it's AMAZING! Better still, possibly the BEST idea for turkey: Go out for a turkey dinner. I've given up cooking for holidays a little while back. Now we go to a buffet (well, maybe we won't anymore) at either a local hotel, Zehnder's, or a Casino not far from the house up north. Much simpler, more choices, everyone's happy and best of all, NO CLEANUP!

Yep, the unflavored gelatin is the Knox stuff. The key is to make sure the water is BOILING when you start to mix it, and you MUST stir it for at least TWO FULL MINUTES. I set a kitchen timer whenever I make any kind of gelatin so I am sure I am stirring two full minutes.

Shelli, you are not alone: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f17/does-anyone-know-what-happened-jack-37143/

I'm sorry, Christine. But at least it was all low carb! I had some avocado tonight...yum!!!! :hungry:

:hungry:When I get to eat food, I might take you up on that, lol :hungry: I'll help you clean in return. :cool::thumb:

shrinkin sistah, I hope you've been back since the post where you thought no one was showin love twenty minutes after you posted your thread. I know it can get frustrating especially when you want some responses NOW. There's been lots of good info on here. It's a good thread, too. I think you're losing very well! Keep up the good work. Remember we all lose at different rates. As long as you're hitting that 1-2lbs a week, you're doing fantastic! And even if it slows, as long as you are losing or not gaining, you're doing very well.

:welcomeB:

This is going to be one of the hardest things for me to adjust to. I started trying to do it in January so I was prepared.

Liquids wash food out of the pouch. The whole point of the band is to create a little pouch that empties slower so you feel full longer on less food. If you drink with your food, you just wash it right on through. Some folks say they take tiny sips if necessary. One poster said her surgeon said if she had to have someting to drink, to put a galss with ice cubes in it by her plate and what melted over the course of her meal was what she could sip.

Unfortunately you won't know for sure until you speak with your insurance company. My guess is that it will not be covered. Perhaps you can get it as a reimbursement, but I doubt it. My surgery was covered, but my food (MD prescribed diet) was not. I had to pay $249 for four weeks of a complete diet. I really didn't think $249 was to bad, but I was still annoyed that I wasn't told of that cost up front.

Josiebies, I used to do that, too. I would throw something away after a meal and then go after it when no one was looking. Or I'd toss something trying to get it off my counter or out of my face and then I'd relent and go get it. I finally started keeping a bottle of windex or bleach cleaner out by the trash can and as soon as I tossed food, I'd spray it down so I wouldn't be tempted. It finally stopped me. Happy 4th to you all!:usa::usa::usa::usa::usa::usa::usa:

Thank you, Christine! You are among those here that I find so inspiring! Now that I'm banded, I wonder how my loss is going to be. I will just have to see how this journey goes and where the road takes me. I find myself getting about 1000-1250 calories a day (I'm trying to get that much, I seem to lose better when I eat above 1000), I'm sure the first week post-op's dramatic loss was the 550-800 I was getting by drinking only the purchased post-op diet my surgeon had me on. Now I'm able to add more liquids to it and I find myself creating interesting soups. I am certainly battling head hunger, but it's not nearly as bad as what I've seen others write about. I wouldn't say I'm in Bandster Hell at all. Maybe I will be at some point. Perhaps I'm not because I did so much work pre-op to change my eating habits, or perhaps it's because I have the AP band and there is some degree of either restriction or satiety there already, I don't know. I'm just grateful I'm not stuffing my face with things I shouldn't be (yet). I have found sipping some pickle juice helps the salty/sour cravings and I am getting some relief with sipping V8 or tomato juice, as well. I've changed my cravings over time and now I'm not someone who loves sweets, so liquids are hard for me since so many of them are sweet tasting. I am able to do runny grits, and though they are high in simple carbs and calories, I did find myself happy as a lark to eat some that were cheese flavored. I'm looking forward to mushies next week. I can't wait for egg salad! I despise tuna (I have been known to hurl at the sight or smell of it), so I'm going to have to figure something else out. Maybe a crab or salmon salad? Ham salad? And I love, love, love avocado, so I'm very much looking forward to some guacamole, or some slices of avocado with some chopped crab or shrimp and a little cream cheese...mmmmm! Ooooo, gazpacho! Can't wait for gazpacho!

You did bring up something that I think complicated it a bit, you mentioned he is the only one you've been with. I am a firm believer that you really have to test drive several cars before you make a purchase. Once upon a time when life wasn't so fast and there wasn't as much exposure to the other things and people in the world it was fine to marry your first love. I may be wrong and marrying your first love may still be successful, but I just don't wee it working out like it used to. Too many factors exist now that didn't even as recent as twenty or thirty years ago. Part of this *may* be your lack of exposure to others. But then again, who is to say that your DH isn't your "true match." It would be very tough to strike out after being with the same person and then find out he really was the best choice. Of course you may find out he was a great starter husband. But I would have to weigh the options. Would it be better for me and my family to strike out and try something else, or just tough it out? I admit it, I'm a wimp in some areas of my life. This is one of them. And comfort also plays a huge role, we get comfortable where we are. I'm rambling, I'm sorry.