faithmd

Jane, this a a frequently asked question, you are *not* alone. Here's some links to other threads about this subject, I hope they help. The software here recently was upgraded, so the links within these threads no longer work properly, just to let you know. My basic reasoning is that the newest research shows that three to five years out (depends on whose study you read) the weight loss is the same for Band and Bypass patients. That tells me two things: One, since bandsters are "supposed" to lose slower, they are still slowly losing, and bypass patients who are supposed to lose the majority of their excess weight in 18 months are then gaining. Two, if my weight will be the same in three to five years (as long as I follow the program), then why on earth would I want to have almost two feet of my intestine cut out and force my body into malabsorption and malnutrition? I didn't gain this weight overnight, it would probably be really bad for my body to try to lose it overnight. The Band is not like bypass in that you have to *work* to make the band work for you. It is ONLY a tool, it does not malnourish you and cause you to lose weight like RNY, it *helps* you by helping to control how much food you eat at a time. You have to make good choices about what you put in your mouth. You can still eat through it. If you eat chips and ice cream, you'll not lose weight. But you can eat through the bypass, too. And eventually your smart body figures out it's been altered and it will adapt itself to those conditions and you can and likely will regain at least some of the weight with RNY. And then what do you do, you've already had part of your intestine cut out. What lots of RNY'ers do: have the band placed! Good luck, it is a very personal decision. We're here if you need anything or want to ask questions: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=32584 http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=32616 http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=32079 http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=30997 http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=28690 http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=23760

First you glue it with a hot glue gun and wrap it with duct tape to assure it stays in place, then once it is set in position, you nail it with some ten penny nails. And voila! A Large Penis Post!

Here's a link to a thread all about UHC Choice Plus. Just a reminder, everyone's plans are not the same. One may have coverage for surgery, another may not, but I hope this helps: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=28025

Magic Bullet is 225 watts and anywhere from $50-$65, this Vita one is only 200 watts and was it $65? Yep, MB is more watts and does have a few accessories. But, this one from Walmart.com http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=3609512 is $17.72 or on brylanehome.com http://www.brylanehome.com/product.aspx?PfId=71699&producttypeid=1&DeptId=7498&PurchaseType=G it's $19.99 and it is 350 watts so if anyone hasn't purchased a blender yet, it's worth a consideration.

Here you go: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=14814

It does not usually count. You must have a co-morbidity. You *can* be healthy and still be fat. Not saying I would ever want to, though. Does not matter one little iota what the MD office tells you, not a whit. You MUST call your insurance company and talk with someone in the complex case management department, or whatever department handles bariatric surgery claims. You need to ask what their qualifications and requirements are for Adjustable Gastric Banding. Then have them mail it to you so you have it in a hard copy. Asking questions here is a great idea, but I could also have OHC-choice plus and my employer might have an exclusion for my policy against WLS, and you might be okay. That's why it really is so important to call your insurance company and ask. My surgeon will word things so that having a strong family history of things like diabetes or heart disease, etc. will be a comorbidity. Good Luck!

No problem, Dotty. I have heard the same thing several times over the years. I think perhaps they used to years ago and they have since stopped, but the story persists.

Housecatgirl, I've marveled and been inspired by your post-op pix. May I ask what you are having plastic surgery on? You look beautiful!

Found this response on another board from just a few days ago, it's pretty good: Question: I recently lost a great deal of weight and I have a lots of excess skin. Can I donate my excess skin to a skin bank to help burn patients? Will a tissue bank pay for my skin reduction surgery if I agree to donate my tissue? Answer: These questions are asked quite often by individuals who have lost large amounts of weight and have excess skin folds. We appreciate your desire to donate. However, this kind of donation is unworkable. Allow me to explain why, and to give you an alternative. Our tissue bank does not obtain skin from these patients for several reasons. First, this method of obtaining skin is cost prohibitive. The amount of transplantable tissue obtained from tissue reduction surgery is minimal when compared to the amount of tissue obtained from a cadaveric (deceased) tissue donor. The procurement costs would be much greater as it would require the services of doctors, nurses, anesthetists, and other health care professionals as well as the use of an operating room and other hospital services. Cadaveric donation requires only trained tissue recovery technicians, and they can procure tissue after the body has been sent to the morgue (rather than in an operating room), thus keeping expenses to a minimum. Additionally, cadaveric donated tissue can be used for transplant soon after recovery (as soon as quality assurance testing is complete), but the FDA requires that tissues recovered from living donors must be placed into quarantine for six months. At the end of six months, all serologic testing (HIV and Hepatitis) must be repeated before that tissue can be used. It is virtually impossible to obtain a skin graft from tissue than has been removed during tissue reduction surgery. The usual procedure for tissue reduction surgery involves the removal of skin and underlying attached tissues, but skin grafts used for transplant are only 15/1000 (0.015) of an inch thick and do not include these underlying tissues. Skin grafts for transplant are procured by the use of a surgical device called a dermatome, which peels off a very thin (0.015 inch), uniform layer of skin, and it only works on skin that is stretched taut over and firmly attached to muscles, such as in the back, arms, and legs. Very few people have an abdomen taut enough to permit skin tissue recovery. Skin folds (such as those removed when someone has lost a large amount of weight) lack the firm attachment to underlying tissues, and so the dermatome can't work properly. I do not know of any tissue bank that would pay for a donor's tissue reduction surgical expenses for the purpose of obtaining skin for transplantation. I would like to encourage you to be sure that your family knows you would like to donate your tissues upon death. Your gift can save lives and greatly reduce suffering. ( click here to learn more about skin and also learn about the tissue shortage).

As a person who has worked in burn surgery for years, it IS an urban legend. While lots of skin is donated by patients undergoing surgery to remove excess skin, I cannot find any place yet on the net that will pay for your plastic surgery in return for donating.

I agree, six months is nothing. My insurance requires a twelve month MD supervised diet. It is just something that you have to do unless you have the resources to go to a surgeon and self-pay. I suggest if you do that, that you do some serious research about the doctor first. Some are wonderful, some are questionable, some are quacks. Also, you need to set up aftercare in your area BEFORE you go elsewhere and have a band placed. Just some things to take into account. I am also here to tell you that six months means EVERY month. Do NOT miss ONE single monthly visit. If you do not have the resources to self-pay or decide that the six month diet is doable, then start right away! Also you have to find out if your policy has a weight loss requirement during this six month program. If so, you need to make sure you loose that weight or you will be denied. I was, and that was despite letters from two doc's saying it wasn't my fault and that I was sick and on meds that precipitated my weight gain. Good Luck!

I love it. It is very cute and will be so easy to jump out of the pool, shake her head and just go.

call your insurance comapny and ask them for a copy of the requirements for Adjustable Gastric Banding coverage. Ask them specifically how much weight it is required you lose. My ins co has a complex case management department that I was transferred to and a nice woman worked it out with me on the phone and then snail mailed me a copy so that I have it in hard copy in hand. My insurance requires a 12 month MD supervised diet with MONTHLY visits (and don't miss one, not ONE or that clock starts again) and a 5% loss of excess weight. What they do is take your starting weight (the first month you start seeing the MD) and then look at your ideal body weight according to the MetLife tables. They then take the difference between those and multiply it by .05 to get 5%. Mine was 9 lbs. So I had to lose 9 lbs in a year, not bad, huh? Well I got sick in that year and ended up gaining weight (starting weight was 344, went to 371). Despite having two MD letters explaining that I gained weight from meds, etc. My insurance company said I still had to lose the original 9 lbs and denied me the first time around. I applied at 348 (so I was already losing, but that didn't matter) and I had to be 335. No budging on that. Hope that helps, please call your ins co ASAP for what they require.

I'm so glad to hear it went well, but oh no, the gas again! I take it they were able to get it out laparascopically (no big incision)? I hope you continue to improve everyday. Please keep us posted on your progress.

I just wanted to say congratulations and Good Luck on Monday!!!!

??? And what happened? I take it that your ins co DOES have a diet requirement? You didn't say what the problem was in your post. I would never take the word of someone who worked in the MD's office. I listen to their experience to guide me as to how long it may take to hear and how often they get approal the first time around, etc... But I always advise folks to call you ins co yourself and ask them what thier requirements are for Adjustable Gastric Banding. And then have them send those to you in writing. I have a 12 month MD supervised program requirement, I've been working on it for 14 months now. It is a long road, but you can make it through anything!!

Keep us posted, please. And please tell me that you included the emails, highlighted and underlined where she already told you she had those results?

I'm so glad I hit refresh before I posted what I cut and pasted from Wiki. Kumbaya is Come By Here.

Thanks and... :wow2: :welldone: :waytogo: WOOHOO!!!!!!!! HOORAY!!!!!! I can't wait to hear myself!

I'll ship them to you! Pick out what you want and we'll work something out. i would hate to have anyone go "without." DH was in Alabama about two years ago at the new Hyundai plant for about 6 months. I came to visit twice and we found two "lingerie" stores that sold "gag gifts." They were some of the most fully stocked adult stores I've ever been in.

If fish and sometimes chicken are on some surgeon's mushy list, then perhaps they need to be blended with broth or mayo or something to actually make then mushy. When I think mushy, I think of something that I could squish either on the roof of my mouth, or with my fork on a plate down to nothing, Something that if I didn't have teeth, I would be okay to gum and not chew. Since the OP tried it and it didn't work, then I think that means it's crossed off her mushy list for now. Not every bandster can eat every food (from what I 've read here). I take threads like these and file them away into my brain for when it's my turn. It very helpful! Mental note to self, avoid fish for a while after banding, even in soft food stage (not much of a problem-I don't really like it).

Exactly! I have never called what I am doing now a "Die..." I can't finish the word because I don't even want to start my head thinking about it at all. I have made positive lifestyle changes. There is a group of folks at work who are doing Weight Watchers and are asking me what "Die_" I am on. I immediately tell them I am not doing anything like that, I am merely making better choices in what I eat, cutting out the things I know will make me hungrier and I am logging every single morsel of food I ingest. They are all amazed at how I can do it without "die_ing." I will fail if I think of it that way. You never are successful in the long term on a "die_" it really honestly is about making a choice to eat better and less and move more. Whether that means formal exercise, or parking farther out from stores, and taking the stairs. It took me 37 years for that light bulb to go on and stay on. I know it's only been about 3 1/2 months, but I'm really hoping that this bulb will continue to burn bright for me. Once I'm banded, I will have another tool to help me control my eating.

You are so very right Jack, I'm not banded yet and I've given these things up and it really has been no big deal at all! :clap2: It was relatively easy. And I know you and others have said that our tastes change a bit after banding and I may not even like some of the things I do now. I just know that I have also read a lot of posts about how emotional many people are in the immediate to recent post-operative phase. I figured with my luck, that's going to be me, I guessed the emotions after banding plus the potential deprived feeling might spell disaster for me. That's why I gave it up now rather than waiting to see if it would be easy or hard after the band was placed. Jack you have given such fantastic advice and are so down-to-earth. I look for your posts all the time.

Naming the penis...that reminds me of a funny story, when D(s)S was about 11 he was jumping over the back of the couch (it was in the middle of the room, so the back was easily accessible) and flopping down onto the cushions. His father and I both told him to stop doing that, that he would break the couch, or himself. He wouldn't listen...about ten minutes and two or three more flops later I hear "OOOOOOO MY GOD, OSCAR!!!! MY OSCAR!!!!!!" DH starts snickering and I am in the kitchen cooking dinner wondering what's going on. Here he comes, basically crawling into the kitchen, one hand on his "Oscar." He pulls himself up the fridge and grabs a bag of frozen food from the freezer and slinks away, crying quietly. He didn't jump over the back of the couch anymore.:heh:

That's what a lot of folks feel (the Last Supper phenomenon, I mean). But I have to say, your last sentence makes me very concerned you may not have done your research fully. The band is not intended to make you vomit if you eat too much. You DO NOT want to vomit! You risk slippage of the band if you do that too much. You also risk erosion in your pouch. The point of the band is that it is a tool that will help you feel fuller faster so you don't eat the quantoties you eat now. There are no foods that you really have to "give up" as a bandster (from what I understand). I know the Inamed book says certain foods will be difficult to eat but if you sepnd a little time looking around here you will find that among the bandsters here, they can eat just about everything. Everyone is different and you will not know what you can tolerate until after you try it post-band when you are at te stage you can eat whatever "it" is. Some peopl cannot do eggs, others live on them. Some cannot do chicken, for others it is all they can eat (of the meats). The band is not meant to make you sick so you lose weight, it is meant to help you control how much you eat, what you choose to eat of that is up to you.