faithmd

I had my pre-admission testing yesterday and was soooo fortunate I took my EKG's and my chest x-ray result (which though it was from August, they said ok) with me as I was able to avoid the EKG and another dose of radiation. I had about seven vials of blood drawn (they test for a ton at Hurley!) and waited a looooong time for the doctor. I was the last patient of the day at 2:30pm and I left there at 6:15pm. I slept on the exam table in a johnny (hospital gown) for about 40 minutes waiting, then I did some sudoku and watched the news...I hadn't been to sleep yet (I work nights) from the day before and as I was getting ready to peek out and ask them to hurry it up a bit, in came the Dr. The internist they use for pre-admission testing is quite a dynamic man (Dr. Aram Minasian) I had looked up reviews of him and found they were mixed, some folks loved him, some thought he was too quick and abrupt and kind of mean to them. I found him to be VERY educated and very nice. I though he was thorough in his discussion with me about weight loss and his theories about it (pretty solid stuff, doesn't berate you for eating, says it's a natural thing to want to do and we can't shut it off so why try, just chose different things to put in your mouth). I was told I'd get a very thorough exam (the nurse told me to take off everything but my panties and put on the gown, that he checks under your breasts to see if you already have rashes in your skin folds, etc.) but he didn't. He did however find my mitral valve regurg IMMEDIATELY. He was using a REALLY nice amplified cardiac stethoscope and within a couple of seconds he asked me if I had ever been told I had regurg. And then he went on to tell me about some other things he was hearing. Pretty cool stuff. Today I went back up to Flint for my nutrition class. Whew! I didn't learn anything new in the nursing class about what to expect (other than that I'll supposedly be getting heparin shots-no I won't), but the nutitionist was fantastic. Motivational and interesting and had some great ideas. She also knew the science behind what she was preaching to us and could explain it well. All in all a pretty good day. And I got a free bag out of the deal.

Hiya hunny bunny, glad to see you here. Hope you are doing okay, I had a chocolate bar (a dark one, so not quite as bad) in support of your dietary changes recently. :hungry: (It was sssssooooooo yummy!) Please keep us posted (and let me know when you have a surgery date, k?).

Actually they do, it's called Crystal Light Energy and it has 60 mg of caffeine in it, about the same as a can of soda. My nutritionist says NO CAFFEINE for at least the first couple of months, you are getting used to your band and trying to get enough liquid and food in and caffeine is a diuretic. You will not be well-hydrated if you are taking in caffeine. I gave it up in December because of a heart issue, so I'm one step ahead of the game, I guess.

July 4th Challenge Week 4 Name...................Starting…...…..Current….…......Goal….......To Go losingjusme..............317...................309 ..................295...............14 tann.........................257.................. .247...................232...............15 juliegeraci.................232................... 232...................220...............12 Josette.....................340................... 333...................315...............18 Inner_me..................306....................3 00...................280................20 Elisabethsew............281....................277 ..................260................17 Waterlily1072............278....................27 1 ..................252................19 Libra.........................230................. ..225...................205................20 Lapbandit…………..…208………....…...206……..…..... .185……. ...….21 RidinMyHDDream..... .281...................278 ..................256................22 FaithMD................... 341.5...................328...................310... .............18 Okay, I updated my numbers. Thanks for adding me!

I like the R&R section, and I use New Posts probably 97% of the time I spend navigating this site. But I would think that a compromise such as an ignore feature would be best for all. That way if you want to see R7R in your New Posts search, you can, if you don't want to see it, you don't have to. I also think they shouldn't be included in the top 5, after all, it *is* a LAP BAND site, not a debate site.

Huh, Heparin or lovenox post-op? No one in my surgeon's practice mentioned this. Perhaps are these folks already on thinners? I will be asking today at the nutrition appointment if I'll be doing this. Thanks for posting about it!

I'm in agreement as well. Remember, this is a tool to help us lose an average of 2 lbs a week. We are not supposed to be losing 5 to 7 lbs a week continuously. Sure some do. But it has been proven time and time again that the faster you lose the weight two things happen, 1) your chances of gaining it back are astronomically higher (Chickie gives a great argument for this, she's spot on). 2) Your "skin" (your skin itself never really snaps back, but I am using "skin" as a general term to mean muscles, skin and subcutaneous tissue) doesn't have a chance to adjust. How many RNYers have we all seen that look gaunt and have skin and flab just hanging all over? We probably will too if we lose a LOT, but if I can improve the appearance but just 25 or 30% by losing slower and toning, I'd much rather do that. I know it doesn't help to say this, but we didn't put it on overnight. True we've had (I will in 21 days) surgery to help us lose this weight, but we also consciously chose the LapBand which we knew was a tool that would not be malabsorptive, we knew it would be slower loss. The weight is not going to come off overnight (well, it shouldn't). I like Chickie's thought about eating as many calories as you can and still lose weight. It makes sense. We also know the risks of the band (meaning erosion, slippage, esophageal dilation, etc.), every fill *can* (doesn't always, but in reality it can contribute) increase those risks. Yes, it was designed to be filled, but if I can lose 1-2lbs a week with it unfilled, I'm going to leave it unfilled for as long as I can. My surgeon, the nutritionist and the nurse all told me at the pre-op consultation that if I am losing weight at a rate of about 1-2 lbs a week and am not feeling like I am starving (real hunger, not head hunger that is soooo hard for us to battle), they will not fill me. I'd like to try this with few fills/no fills if I can. The other part of it is the more fills I get, the faster I get to filling my band. I have a looooong road and MANY pounds ahead of me, what will I do if I get fill after fill and end up with a full band with 75 lbs still to lose? Then I'm back on my own again. Give me slow and steady. Would I love to lose 20-30lbs a month, sure! But I know for me that isn't the best thing to do.

You can create tickers on tickerfactory.com, phenforum.com or any number of other sites. Just look at people's tickers and either above or below (or both) them is the site they were created from.

I have found the True Lemon, Lime and Orange products at most any grocery store. Most carry at least the Lemon and the Lime. I found the Plus variety in Orange at Target. It is in the juice aisle in most of the stores. One place I found it with the koolaid.

Wheetsin is a diver as well, and I know there is at least one other thread around here about it. you might want to try a search for a thread titile that has scube in it, or at the bottom of this thread, it might show up as a similar thread.

328 for me today.

Laurend is right on with describing my insurance company. I had to be on an MD supervised program and weigh in every month, and we had to discuss my weight at each visit. I couldn't miss a single month, not one, or the year would start over. But every single insurance company is different. the key is that you MUST call your insurance company and ask what their SPECIFIC requirement is. Then ask them to send it to you so you have it in writing. I know some insurances do allow things like documentation from Jenny Craig, etc.

See now someone had to go and mention tuna. Now I'm going to have to step away to the restroom (can't stand the stuff, I really, really, really can't stand it, instant hurl). I used to LOVE it, but then after an exceptionally poor month in college had my roommate and I eating NOTHING but TF sandwiches and ramen noodles for about 5 weeks, I just can't even tolerate the smell. . I know its a GREAT source of protein and is nice and soft, dunno what I'm going to substitute for good protein that's easy to eat (my hubby will leave me if I use eggs-if you know what I mean). Any ideas?

Here's a few of the threads I found, I tried to choose only threads with more than ten responses or so. Some are multiple pages: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=32336 http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=25195 http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=24095 http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=27233 http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=20993 http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=4409 http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=24578 http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=21968 http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=19944 http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=15703 http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=15096 http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=8473 http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=4747

Me too, I work night so I am off to bed. Wonder what I'll be dreaming about? LOL!

Wheetsin is right, there are a ton of threads here about this very subject. Use the Search function on the blue toolbar near the top of the page, and I'd suggest you click on Go Advanced, then look for thread titles with words like Wheetsin suggested in them. Pregnancy or pregnant or band baby or band babies or having baby. My doc makes you sign something saying you won't get pregnant within 18 months of being banded. I am pretty sure it's just to cover his patootie if you do get preggers before that and the very rare thing happens and something goes wrong. Though I have heard of many many successful band pregnancies.

Mmmmm, I just went to the oreo site. They not only have the chocolate mint ones, they have DOUBLE STUFF chocolate mint Oreos, AND Chocolate fudge covered chocolate mint Oreos! And I LOVE me some Golden Oreos!

Ooooo, grasshopper Oreos have a light green colored, slightly minty flavored filling. Like Grasshopper pie (a chocolate mint sensation!). Strawberry milkshake Oreos? Dayum!

I've tried as well, three times to be exact, and I get the same thing. Denied for no response from the list owner. I figured whoever ran it got tired of it and the group died out. Now that I hear it's a great group, I'm pretty pissed that no one is responding to these requests to join!

I had to see an MD for one year of suervised weight loss attempt. Monthly visits, and I couldn't miss any or the year started over. I had to lose 5% of my excess weight, and on paper that isn't too bad, considering.

OMG, what's an Oreo? LOL! It's been sooo damned long since I had one, I forget what they taste like! I think the last one I had was at a potluck at work in January sometime... I gotta go to the store and get some Oreos! I used to love the white chocolate covered ones, and the grasshopper ones. Mmmmmm, grasshopper Oreos....

Wheetsin, is this a multiple choice poll? I use Mozilla Firefox, IE *and* Opera, depends whose computer I'm logging in on.

I've read that some folks split them in half and put them in drinks in the moring and the afternoon. That way they only use one per day, and get just enough protein in each for good absorption.

Just because the insurance company covers LapBand surgery, doens't mean YOUR plan includes it. your employer very likely chose an exclusion for WLS because it is more expensive to them to cover it. Did they look up your specific policy (get your name and birthdate or your policy # from you?) when they spoke to you? If so and they said it was an exclusion for your policy, then there isn't really a lot you can do. A next place to check out is www.obesitylaw.com it's a link to a lwyer who works for people to get insurance to cover WLS. But if your policy excludes ALL WLS procedures (WLS=weight loss surgery), then there isn't anything you can do. But if they do cover bypass, but not the Band, then you may be able to get somewhere. You may be needing to self-pay. I wish you loads of luck!

That's a great idea to make the Jello with the Isopure. Apparently we can't really process more than about 25 grams of Protein at a time, the rest goes to fat, so the idea of making jello from the Protein Drink is a GREAT idea!