Rebecca Cain Salpacka

wow, im so glad to read that some of you who started at higher weights, have lost so much in one year. I know each of us are different, and if i dont lose at the same rate, not to be discouraged. I started at 356 the day i met the surgeon, 1/26/12 I have been dieting and working out ever since, but no budge on the scale..i have lost a few inches tho. I have set a goal of 75 lbs for my first year and a total of 156 over all. obviously at only 5'1, 200 lbs will still be heavy for me..but its a realistic goal for me to start with, and once i reach that, then ill set another one. Hearing about the stories on here..makes me realize that my year goal is verrry doable.

OC...ty so much for the website. Now if they would just make vitamins more affordable, it would be even better lol.

My Surgery date is April 26th. I found out on Tuesday (the day after my birthday), that the insurance approved it. Its crazy how excited I am about it..slight nerves (more so about how ill do getting through the pre-op liquid diet)...but I am soooo ready to do this.

i had looked on cvs and walgreens before and missed that they had the liquid vitamins..but i see the ones sharon mentioned..they actually have the 8oz bottle on sale for $4 instead of the normal 7.99 right now. so thanks Sharon for mentioning them. I will look into the others mentioned as well. Hubby and I are both out of work right now..so the cheaper I can get them..the better.

So I have read everywhere and doc has also told me.. I will need to take liquid or chewable Multivitamins...but didnt say when to start taking them.. I know u can get childrens chewables (she said take 2 of them) but i have never seen liquid ones? I am going to ask doc more about it at my april 5th appt....but was just curious if others are taking the liquid? where they found it? and did u start before surgery or after surgery? thanks

The blood clot concern makes total sense, and someone mentioned her doc decided to have her stay over because of the apnea...i too have apnea.

Thanks all, i wondered if maybe it was an insurancee thing or just a doc preference. maybe ill be lucky and things will be smooth after one night..we will see

I'm curious to how long everyones hospital stay was? I ask because prior to meeting my surgeon, everything I read was saying that surgery is usually outpatient and you go home the same day. However, my surgeon said I would stay overnight and because I was "one of her larger patients" I would most likely stay 2 nights. Thats not a big deal for me, but I was quite surprised by it. Has anyone else had to stay overnight or longer?

PA, I too am through the pre stuff, as of Friday the 24th. I spoke with surgeons secretary on the 29th and she said that surgeon should be done reviewing everything within few days and then can submit to insurance and she would call me when that happened..but im still waiting on the call. Hopefully sometime this week...but then, its another 6-8 wks for an answer...thats gonna be the time that will draggggg. Hoping to have surgery by end of May, we shall see. Hope yours comes through soon as well, i know the anxiety is driving me mad lol.

WTG...you are doing amazing, and are very inspiring to Pre-op patients like myself. Thanks for sharing your journey.

My First Appt was last friday...the doc never actually said "2 months or 5 months, etc" but she said after the preop tests and appts, then its 6-8 wks for insurance...then usually another 6wks or so out from the approval date, that they schedule the surgery...so even though i have all my preop appts set up to be done by end of next week, we are still looking at 3 and half to 4 months maybe a bit longer...im hoping end May mid June. Good luck!

I have all my "pre surgery" appts made for my tests and evaluations...should have them all done by end of next week...thought for sure would take me a month to get them all scheduled, but everyone had openings that worked perfect with my schedule. So this will bring my expected surgery date up a little closer..so im totally excited.

Had my first doc appt yesterday. I was surprised to hear some conflicting information from what I have read on here as well as various websites about Lap Band. Mainly, the info about what to eat after the surgery (once you start on solids). I have been reading that you want to go with soft foods pretty much all the time...surgeon says the firmer the better, softer foods will go right past the band and you wont fill as full as fast...you just have to eat slow enough so that food doesnt get stuck because you are shoveling it into your body so fast, it doesnt have a chance to digest correctly...makes sense. Other than that, most of what she said coincides with much of what I have read online...either way, shes the doc, and ill go with what she says lol I was hoping, based on what I have seen on here, that I would be able to have surgery by my birthday (end of March) however, after the tests and appts i have to do, it will take 6-8 wks for insurance approval, its state insurance, and so they are wayyy backlogged, then she said she usually sets surgery date about 6 wks after the approval is received. So that puts me somewhere around May, end of June the latest. I do have my psych appt made for Feb 6, and I will call monday and get the chest xray and cardiology stuff done...so at least the ball is rolling and hopefully the next few months fly by, im super excited and soooo ready to do this.

And you should! 3 lbs is a huge accomplishment..keep up the great work

WTG for not giving up. Its not going to be easy, but you will get there and once you have the surgery...you will do amazing.

My first appt is this friday, i was wondering what the timeline might be before surgery, so good to know it can be in the 8 wk range. Was really hoping to have it done on my birthday Mar 26, so maybe it will be possible if not, it will be close . Good luck on your journey and im sure I will see you around on here, as im on here often now.

Good luck with your continued journey. I am meeting with surgeon for first time this friday, so glad to read about the weather and pressure issue, as it is something i will discuss with her. Again, good luck! and wtg on the 44 lbs.

I am a 38 yr old married mom of a 8 yr old son. For years i swore i would never do WL surgery of any kind. Recently I started having back problems, and found out I have 4 bulging discs and 1 herniated. Obvoiusly, any exercise i was doing, came to an almost dead stop when the pain started (this was not from accident or fall, we dont know what exactly caused all the discs to be messed up) I do know tho, that my 200 lbs of excess weight, isnt helping. I currently got my first cortisone injection and its been a miracle...I now can move and exsercise and have been to the gym twice in the week since my injection. I am confident that as long as im not hurting i can workout and lose the weight..but it wont come off as quick, and i can only get so many cortisone injections within a set time. So i need to do the serugery and start getting the weight off, before i hit the limit on the injections and then am hurting again and not moving. I have two friends that did the LB years ago, and both had to do the pre-op diet, but one said was jus a few wks, the other doesnt remember how long, and im reading online everything from a month to 3 months....I hope its the lesser, just because im anxious to get this surgery. I am 5'1 and 356 lbs...fortuantely i dont have HBP or diabetes, cholestoral or any problems like that..but I do have Sleep Apnea..so, im hoping that all of my "owies" and the apnea will be history by at least mid 2013..but i know it can be a slow process even with surgery. I know I will be on here alot before and after surgery, as I am no doubt someone that needs the occasional pat on the back when i do well, but also the kick in the behind when i mess up lol. Thanks and im looking forward to gooing on this journey with you all! Becky

I have a over 150 lbs to lose, and I have read that with Lap Band you dont lose as high of a percentage of your excess weight as you would with bypass, but I am dead set against something so evasive...so I have chosen lap-band. My doc wants the weight off quick because its causing lots of probs with my back and knees..but I am confident that once i get the first 40-50 lbs off, I can keep myself working out and eating the right portions and food choices to get the rest off. Maybe not as quickly but still quicker than If i didnt get the kickstart with the surgery. Reading what most ppl have lost in the first month or two, is very exciting and makes me that much more certain that the LB will work for me! Thanks Becky