Sooverit!

Dear Ron: Any news on a upcoming February support meeting>? thank you! MJ

Did your doc tell you that you may be dehydrated adn that could also be why you are constipated? It's hard to get in enough water ....I keep a very large bottle by my bed with cups and have a water cooler in the kithchen. Work is tough so I keep water on my desk to remind me also in my car. Hope this helps keep us posted

Also another thing I am going to change is to do away with the evil scale. Those numbers or lack of declining numbers have caused me to go off the best health and fitness plans in frustration. I am going to use my clothes as my measure. If anyone sees me in Bed Bath and Beyond please pull me out!! thanks all marg

I agree with Bonnie...(I think said it) I wouldn't want to lose too fast at this age anyway! Not a real healthy look! I'll be 50 in 2 years but already starting with the menopausal waist gain and boobs! I can't believe they can grow like this!! I am scheduled for LB sugery next month with a 38 BMI hoping to get this hunger under control. Since the past year or so I feel like I am ravenously PMSing all the time with hunger and newly aquired sweet tooth. I am hoping with HR therapy and the lap band I get back to normal or somewhat normal. thanks all marg

Hello dear Candle: I am so glad to hear how well you are doing. I've followed your progress from the beginning and you've given me inspiration from day one. Heck I know why you don't go to support meetings you'd be way too busy supporting to even get sleep! You are an ideal patient. I am finally getting banded in either February or March...just waiting on insurance approval or disapproval or course but have finally finished all the hurdles and feel so certain now that I want this. I figure I have one more "last supper" anymore and I won't make it to surgery date!@! Best to all, Marg a.k.a. Joan MJ

Big M count me in too...I'll be roady, groupy whatever. Dancin days are here again....do the lyrics then go in the summer evening ...somthing something

I am starting to think there is a method to the Insurance Company's madness. After a year of thinking about doing this and then the 6 month doc. supervised diet (which I gained 10 lbs. doing) I am extremely ready now to have the lap band surgery done and over with! Are Ins. co.s the only ones who don't know diets don't work? I have new forms from my surgeons office I will fill out fax today and ask push for the available February date wheather my insurance company covers me or not. The $22,000 I will have to pay out of pocket is gradually looking like a bargain. For a longer life with a healthier body that looks and feels better and gives me back control of my eating.....you bet! :eek: Best to everyone here! Marg a.k.a. Joan (middle name)

Paying more than 7-8 k for this you are just wasting your money. Hi Grace I liked your response except for this part. Can you explain what you mean. For someone living in NYC I don't think we have a choice as we have to pay 3x this amount out of pocket if the insurance company we have gets greedy. I thought about going to another state but the cost of airfare, hotel and the hassle of finding a doc who will do fills here just isn't worth it I think.

Forgot to ask this question of my doctor so thought I would throw it out here. Does anyone know when the new AP band expires? Has anyone had one long enough to know when it should be removed? Is the price less if you need to replace it due to just everyday wear? I am guessing weight gain would be a symptom of it starting to errode or just not work any longer? I know nothing lasts forever just wondering if I will be up for it to be removed when I'm 75?

Hi Charley Girl: I remember being your age...slightly..and can remember having so much energy left over after the day's end. If this almost 50 year old could turn back the clock when I had more energy I would 1) Learn a new skill to apply to a new 2nd career/ job 2) volunteer 3) Take up a hobby where you meet 1+x a week and meet others like you 4) Take another p/t job 5) Go back to school 6) Go to the gym/walk the mall or anywhere in the evening 7) Visit parents/friends/ etc. more

Hi MIKECEE: hOW did it go? Hope you are recovering easily and taking it easy. Keep us posted and you are in our thoughts. Hi Staylucid: Met with Dr. Huberman about 5 months ago and felt he had an easygoing very "sane" personality. He put my mind at ease and I never once felt like he was "evaluating" me. I just felt like he was there to give me support and piece of mind. Dr. Fielding told me the port does not stick out but if your stomach is firm you may be able to feel it more right under the surface of the skin.

I think for control over a sweet addiction (oximoron) I have to use 100 % abstenance. If I try even a sugar free sweet it's all over (my hips, thighs, etc.). :-) marg .

HI everyone: Haven't been on in months. I finally met with the amazing Dr. Fielding yesterday and one word that comes to mind is confidence....he completely made me feel 100% confident in his abilities and my reasons for having this proceedure. It was like any anxieties or doubts were completely quelled after listening to him talk. I felt like I was talking to an old friend. With that charming slight Austrialian accent I would do anything he says. He desribed the lap band like it was the most normal thing in the world and just about every one in the country will if not does need one now before we all die of obesity related complications. We almost have a date just finishing up paperwork for our "friends" at CIGNA. The only slight small red flag was when I asked him how much I would lose with a BMI of 38 and he said you can expect to lose 60 -70 lbs. That's a BIG promise and I didn't think that was the "norm". Hoping for Februay date, Marg

Oh boy is this strange for me and I hope I'm not being morose in sharing this with anyone who reads this. I haven't been on this site for at least 3 months and I see the changes and I like them, but wow the picture of the girl next to the logo. This woman looks exactely like my sister would if she had had this proceedure and lost the weight that she needed to lose. She passed away two years in April from heart attack at age 47. I can't stop looking at it! Other than that it looks great except for no handy spell check still. Marg

Hi Sophie: I'm just curious if you are taking your measurements? I remember last year when I dropped 3 sizes when I was literally living at the gym and I didn't weight myself for at least 4 months. I had a doc appt. and they weighed me ...I only lost 6 lbs. in 4 months!! but I looked like I lost 40. Muscle replaced my fat and weighed ALOT more than my fat. You probably know this already but I remember feeling so discouraged that I stopped going to the gym....big mistake@ I hate scales! Marg MJ

Hi lastresort: This will help your sons sleep apnea! I am not a doctor but was told by my lap band surgeon that sleep apnea can be caused by the excess fat around the throat area and it compressing the breathing airways! Has your son attended any of the support groups? They are quite helpful. All the best and don't worry!

Does anyone know how to start of Poll?

Hi all, I have a 36 BMI age 48 and 5'8". Since I started researching the lap band a year ago I've gained about 20 lbs.! I was not obese untill my last pregnancy at 39. Prior to that I gained 70 lbs. with my first preganancy at 29 but took it all off and then some until my next pregnancy....seems like hormones for me plays a big part. I lost alot of the weight but then menopause weight starting creeping on....that weight is as hard to fight as pregnancy gains. Lesson...it gets harder, as my doc warned to take weight off later on in life. If you have a weight prob now ...it may get worse. Met with the nurse at the sugeons office today, finally, she told me I probably won't get covered by CIGNA after all the hoops I jumped thorough, but I am thinking I will take out a home equity loan for it...not that I"m in any position to go into debt but I know my health depends on this. I can definitely not tell my husband about the loan...think it will be okay because house title is in my name and I can get automatic deductions from my checking with paperless bill paying...I hope!!. If there's a will there's a way I believe. I want to start a poll about someones quesiton here re the rate of complications or problems. Seems from what I've read here it's more success and people pleased with the band than not? Marg (MJ)

...So far. I am due to have surgery hopefully sometime in February and I have a hard time keeping my enthusiam to myself but I have only told my husband, 2 cousins, a sister and a friend. So far family members have been surprising much more supportive that I thought! When I told a friend who has lost 65 pounds on her own and kept it off for 5 years and has a sister who is having major complications from a skin removal surgery due to a 80 lbs weight loss she was a little mad at me. Don't know how her sister and her did it without the lap band!Please say a prayer tho for her sister who has come down with a serious infection that is not responding to antibiotics.:help:

Hi NYers I have an appointment on Wednesday to see the Nutritionist at NYU and I finished my 6 month supervised diet...finally. I cancelled my appt. 3 times, I think that this step may be the final step and I was probably getting cold feet but lately my eating has put an end to the hesitation. I can not control portions any longer. It may be due to hormones related to menopause or meds but whatever it is I am so glad there is the lap band. I have a few questions tho for those of you who are banded and would really appreciate any feedback; It seems that the amount of food you can consume (to me) now is so much smaller that before. 1. Do you ever get frustrated that you can't eat "normally" like you did before? 2. Do you forget after a while that it's there? 3. Have you ever regretted getting it? 4. Do you feel healthier since getting the lap band? Thank you so much....I have a million more and hopefully can ask the nutrionist when I see her/him? Sooverit

This is great news Cagstorm and so fast! Have you caught your breath yet? Congratulations on taking the step to a heathier new you! Keep us posted! So overit

Wow Candle I just saw 50 lbs. since August...Is that right?!! You must feel like a million buck@! way to go!

Thanks Candle ...you're my inspiration. It really did go fast and I hate to admit it but I sort of see the logic in it as well. In the 6 months I went from thinking I was nuts to even be thinking about this proceedure to feeling like I want it tomorrow to now ...I think I am truly ready to make a change and I know I will use it well. I am starting today to eat like I am already banded and I think I will not have "buyers remorse" after all this thinking! Glad to hear you are doing so well:whoo:

walking everyday 2 miles and resistance training every other day. Wow Rumar this is a great routine....don't beat up on yourself...what you do now is my goal. Muscle weights alot don't forget too! It's a beautiful day I'm going for a walk! Thanks for the inspiration!

Finally one more month to go on the 6 month supervised diet. It does go fast sort of. Appointment next week with Nutritionist then praying Cigna comes through for me!