Juli Salzman

Can you feel anything in the area of your band when you're straining?

How was your day? Is your stomach still growling? Those two weeks will go fast. You're doing so great having lost 20 lbs.! I have a question... Do they put the port on a specific side? Is it always on the left or right? Just curious... and clueless.

Thank you. I will.

Aw, thank you Slim&Sexy. You made me smile. Juli

My nutritionist recommended Viactiv soft chews. I'm taking the regular multivitamin in the morning and the calcium with D three times a day. They have a few different flavors, but I love the milk chocolate... they taste like soft tootsie rolls. Yummy!

August 29th for me! Woo Hoo!

That's a great question! I'm married, so dating doesn't really pertain to me, but before my husband, I usually preferred men who were my size or larger so I psychologically felt smaller, I think. My husband, however, came out of the blue and he is pretty fit. I don't think about it much, but sometimes, I feel self-conscious standing with him because he is thinner. I think my perception of "us" will change after my weight loss for the better.

Hi Lucie, Are you able to go back to work yet? I'm really anxious about the timing of my surgery... two days after school starts. Did you have shoulder pain? I had my gallbladder out last year and my shoulder hurt really bad afterwards. I've heard there might be similar pain with the banding.

Hello all. I'm Juli. I am 5'9, my current weight is 245 and my BMI is 36.2. As an elementary music teacher, I am looking forward to having more energy and less injury with my students. It's been three years since I first attended a weight-loss seminar and the "beginning" is finally in sight. Originally, I went through all the lab-work, psych consult, supervised diet for 3 months, and was ready to submit everything to insurance for approval. Then, one roadblock after another found its way in front of me... 3 surgeries followed by my mother's diagnoses and death from cancer. Now, finally after redoing psych visit, lab work, nutritional consult, and sleep study, I was approved by BCBS of Texas on the first try! (TRS Active Care). My Surgeon is Dr. Todd Wilson of MIST Houston. The pre-op is August 24th and my surgery will be on August 29th, 2012. The surgery will be at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston.