Krystyneh

My BMI is 43 and before losing 10 pounds it was 45. I've been overweight since age 12. I went from 110 pounds to 289 in a year due to learning that I have policystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). When my BMI was lower it WAS hard to lose weight. I have to work twice as hard as an average woman because of my PCOS. It's a lot EASIER for men to lose weight then women and my doctor even told me that and I actually did a little study myself I have a friend that is the same weight and we eat the same and do the same exercises and everything. BAM he lost weight me I've only lost 10 pounds. He knows that I'm going for lap band surgery and he even told me that for years he had a hard time losing weight but he only exercised more before. With a BMI of 37 I don't know what the standards are for where you live but I live in Vermont but I'm going to New Hampshire for my surgery because they are the closet hospital that has the bariatric program and they said that if your BMI is 35 or more they will do it. For the whole co-morbity (whatever it's called) that's if your BMI is between 30 and 35. Each place I guess is different. The best thing to do is ask your doctor about it. My doctor has recommended it for me since the age of 18 but I wasn't ready then to change and get it done. I'm now 24 and I'm ready. good luck

I'm also starting out on my journey. I started October 2011 and hope to get banded between May and July of this year. My insurance company requires me to see a nutritionist for 6 months. I have PCOS so at age 12 I went from 110 pounds to 289 pounds in a year. I NEVER changed how I was eating. I gained it due to my PCOS. I've tried many diets and I'd always lose 20 pounds then BAM I'd gain 30-40 pounds back. I've already cut out all soda and sugar drinks and I've drastically have changed how I eat. I am on a 1,500 calorie a day diet. I exercise 3-5 times a week for 30-90 minutes depending on what I'm doing and if I have a busy day. I ALWAYS do a minimum of 30 minutes tho even if I'm late for something. My Lap Band is just going to help me feel full. I personally don't look at it as a get skinny quick and I don't think that it's the latest fad. Where I live maybe 1 out of 1,000 people have it if that. I live in Vermont and the only ones that I know that have it are on my husband's side of the family and they live in New Hampshire and a lot of his family has it. He doesn't because he's average size and doesn't have their genes since he's adopted. I'm going for it also to help lose the weight to help me with my fertility. My doctor recommended it for me because of my BMI and they actually recommended it at age 18 but I wasn't ready and truthfully I still wanted to eat. I used to live to eat but now I eat to live. I've realized that I don't need as much food and mentally I'm finally ready. I can say no to my favorite foods and deserts. I hope you do great on your journey and I wish you the best of luck

I just started my weight loss journey in October and hope to be banded anytime between May and July of this year. I'm nervous about the surgery but I'm also extremely excited. Did your doctor have you start any type of pre-surgery diet? Due to my insurance I have to do 6 months with a nutritionist and so far I've lost 10 pounds. I've done the blood work and I've schedule my physical appointment. Where I'm going for my lap band surgery, I have to do quite a few steps before I can even see the surgeon. I know they say that if your blood work doesn't look right that you have to hold of surgery until your blood work clears. It may be different where you live. good luck

welcome I decided in October 2011 to go for lap band. I'm currently on month 3 of seeing my nutritionist. What type of information are you looking for? I don't know too much information since I have just started my weight loss journey. I hope that I can be of any help. Do you just want overall information about the lap band or questions about support?

You had your surgery on my birthday I haven't been banded yet so I don't know if any of my advice would help. The only thing I can say is try to get back on track. I have friends that have the band and they also had fallen off track but was able to get back on track by putting their minds to it. They got into drinking and they ended up drinking their calories and gaining some weight back. They have finally gotten back onto their usual routine. Do you know why you fell off track? that may help you if you know why you fell off track. I know stress isn't good and that can cause people to give up. I hope that you are able to get back on track and that you are able to hit your goal. good luck

Welcome I'm in the process of doing all my pre-op testing and seeing my nutritionist so I haven't gotten my lap band yet so I hope you can still use my advice. I used to be a "grazer" BIG TIME lol whenever I was bored and stressed and even watching the cooking shows WOW did I constantly eat while watching those lol. Since seeing my nutritionist I've actually stopped being a "grazer". What I do is if I feel like I need to eat I'll sit there for 15 minutes and think about it. Am I hungry? Do I really need to eat right now? Am I bored? If after 15 minutes I'm still feeling hungry then I'll eat a little snack. I noticed that most of the time it was just because I wanted to chew on something because I used to constantly eat. Now I constantly chew gum which I have major TMJ in my jaw so my jaw constantly pops but I've noticed that chewing gum for 5 minutes gets rid of me feeling like I need to eat. I debated for awhile if I should go and get lap band surgery and I finally came to the conclusion that yes I need it and I'll make sure that it works for me. The seminars definitely help. One question that you can ask them is about your IBS. They are some of the best people to ask questions about that especially if you are afraid that the surgery will affect it even more. Good luck

No problem I'm here to get support from others and to support them. I'm waiting for my test results for my sleep apnea test and I too have to have two psych evaluations and blood work and physical and all that other good stuff. My husband had to work when I went to my seminar but my good friend went with me to watch my daughter and her daughter. So far the 2 months have gone by fast but I'm still impatiently waiting lol

Welcome...New Banders!!! I am a few days old myself to the site. You will find it very informative. As of Dec 5th I finished my 6 months. I have my Psych and Nutritionist appt on Thursday and then I am officially ready to be submitted for my final approval. Tentative surgery date is Valentine's Day...I look forward to seeing everyones progress. If any of you have questions about the journey...i will try to help as much as I can...

Congrats on making the decision to have a complete Lifestyle change!!! Kudos to all of us!

Was it easy getting through the 6 months for u? did you have to lose a certain amount of weight for your insurance? is there any food tips that you can give me? I have a thing for craving sweets around my monthly and so far I haven't even into the cravings but do you know of something that is good to eat that can stop the cravings? good luck on your surgery

Hi, Krystyne! I'm new, too - Jeongbu met over the weekend, so it looks like we're all going to go through this together from the beginning. I'm having my initial consultation tomorrow morning; my insurance won't cover the surgery, so I'm self-pay - I hope that means I'll get to schedule my surgery sooner, since I won't have to jump through any insurance hoops.

I'm so sorry about your miscarriages, but I admire your attitude - I think we're all going to do GREAT! Look at the support we have already!

I really believe in support systems even if we can find it in people that we don't know lol and even if it is throught the internet. I do have a support system with my family but it's always nice to get to know people that are going through the same thing that you are I think we all will do great with lap band

Welcome Aboard !

How's your weather out that way, for the Christmas Season...

Ya no,,, that is a co morbidity, and might help you with your Ins..

Now if you change ins., sorry, can't help you.

But not being able to get pregnant is a problem from being Heavy.

Make sure you let your surgeon know.

See you around, shirley.

the weather up here is cold and rainy lol we haven't gotten much snow this winter which is really weird and it's bad since we are known to have some really good ski resorts. well I went today for my job interview and the position that I applied for is only per diem and they don't have insurance coverage for per diem people so I'll be able to keep my state insurance but I may just have to pay a premium which I'm 100% fine with. I'm just glad to find out that I'm not going to have to post pone it. I was heavy when I got pregnant with my daughter who is now 4 years old but I was 265 pounds and right now I'm 277 pounds. I'm just hoping lap band really helps with my husband and I to expand our family

Thanks I need some type of insurance to cover my surgery. I don't want to have to pay out of pocket and the only way I want to post pone my surgery is if I get pregnant before my surgery date. The state of Vermont is very picky about covering people with health insurance lol all I know is I'm hoping for the best right now and I really want the job

Welcome to the group and good luck

Im having the same problem u are. I wonder why thats happening.

Thats awesome!!! I have state heakth insurance so they pay for the surgery 100% but tomorrow i have a job interview at a hospital near me so i may lose my state health insurance so ill have to see if i can get insurance through the hospital if i get hired and if and how much of the surgery they will cover. I really want the job but i also really need the surgery

yeah the $250 covers all fills and adjustments for the rest of my life or as long as I have the band plus I can personally email my surgeon and the surgical team plus I can meet with their nutritionists whenever I need to without having to pay and without them charging my insurance company

I have already started my journey to get it. I still have to send in my $250 then that takes care of my enrollment but I can't send that in until next month or february at the latest. I may just have to wait until I get my taxes back in february. So I'm doing everything else while I wait to get the money to send in. I can't wait until these next 4 months are over with. During the whole time that I'm doing all of this I'm also in college lol. I only take one class a semester but that keeps my mind off of how much longer I have.

I have one friend that is extremely against bariatric surgery also. Since I have PCOS my hormones also fluxuate and so does my weight and I hate it. I have a bad habit of weighing myself every single day. My husband actually has to hide the scale on me then he knows that every saturday morning after I use the potty first thing in the morning to get my scale out so I can weigh myself. He refuses to let me know where he hides it lol.

My nutritionist says that I'm doing extremely good even tho I've only lost 7 pounds so far. He was extremely surprised when I told him that I cut out all soda from my diet. That's one thing that I didn't think I could do to be honest. So what are your next steps that you have to do?

Hi I'm also new in here I'm 24 so we are close in age lol at first I had a hard time telling people, especially my friends because they don't understand. I only have one close friend that understands. I gained all my weight due to PCOS. My in laws support me since my mother in law and most of my husband's side of the family has had either lap band or gastric bypass done so they understand what I am going through. I think it's very important to tell people especially the ones that are close to u because u need the support. It isn't an easy road going for lap band and at times it may be very difficult. I'm only on month two of seeing my nutritionist and I just started it in November

Oh lol one of my first moves towards lap band was to go to an information seminar. There were people in the seminar that are going for gastric. I also have to watch 4 seminars online and fill out a questionaire for each one. I can't do that until I pay $250 dollars tho because that's the fee. They look at it as people will pay the money if they are serious about going for surgery lol the fee takes care of seeing the nutritionist and all your fills for the rest of ur life or for as long as u still have the band in u. I don't know how the place where u are going does it tho buy that's how mine does it

Thanks I've come to terms with my losses. I'll definitely support u I believe that everyone needs supporters. Only one of my closest friends understands why Im having surgery and the others are trying to talk me out of it when I've already made up my mind to have it done and I've already started the process. How far along into your journey are u?

This is also the reason why I'm having it. I'm 5'6" and 277 pounds currently. I do have a 4 year old daughter and my husband and I have been trying to conceive for a little over 2 years now and I have a miscarriage in June and another in August and all my doctors advised me to lose weight and my mother in law had lap band done almost two years ago and she told me to go for it and my doctors also recommended it. Good luck and I heard that lap band is the best way to go

Hi Im also new and I have a 6 month requirement before surgery. Ive almost completed month 2 with my nutritionist. My surgeon says that my surgery should be in the spring/summer time. I've already lost 7 pounds. I've cut out all soda from my diet. Im allowed 1,500 calories a day. Is there a reason y they are waiting 8-9 months instead of 6 months before they do ur surgery? I'm just curious. I live in Vermont and having my surgery done in New Hampshire so I'm always curious about how other places over the US do theirs

I also have a 6 months requirement and at first I was sad but I'm sooo happy that I have to do it. I've cut out all soda from my diet and I've lost 7 pounds in a month which my nutritionist thinks is awesome especially since I haven't been able to exercise much lately. I'm almost done with month 2 and I have 4 more months to go. Hang in there and you'll be happy that it is required. I have a friend that decided to have lap band then two months later had it done and it never worked because she ate and drank whatever and they actually had to remove it because she stretched out her pouch over the band and her surgeon said she wasn't ready and refuses to do surgery on her again. She wished her insurance required it. You'll feel sooo much better that you had to do it good luck

Hi my name is Krystyne. I live in Vermont I've recently chosen to have lap band surgery. My insurance demands that I see a nutritionist for 6 months prior to surgery and I'm currently almost done with month 2 I have PCOS which is what caused me to gain my weight I went from 110 pounds to 289 pounds at age 12. I'm currently 24 years old and I'm having problems conceiving another baby. I recently had 2 miscarriages one in June and one in August. My doctors recommended lap band for me. My husband stands behind me 100% since most of his family has had lap band and gastric bypass done. Our 4 year old daughter just knows that mommy is going to be getting skinny as she puts it lol. I'm looking for make friends and to get more support and I promise to support others too