bsellis

I am Aug 9th and getting excited!!

I have my surgery to get the lap-band next month. I had several surgeons I could go with but I picked the one I did because of the follow-up program he has. Plus every single person that works in the clinic with the exeption of the surgeon has the lap-band. If your surgeon doesn't do many lap-bands and that is what you want I would really reconsider surgeons. I think that the follow-up care and sticking with the program post-op will be key to success.

I had to do the 6 month doctor supervised weight loss also for my insurance. I too was put on a 1500 calorie diet. I would try and do it and give up after a couple of days. I was losing 1-2 pounds a month until I quit smoking after 22 years of being a smoker and gained 10 pounds. I lost some of that but overall I didn't lose any weight. However, I was able to start walking and exercising which is something I hadn't been able to do before because I would get so out of breathe. My insurance recently approved my surgery though!! (Aug 9th Yay!!) I've increased my walking to 5-6 days a week and knowing my pre-op diet is two weeks away I'm starting to really limit my calories. I wouldn't stress about the 1500 calorie diet. We wouldn't be wanting the lap-band if we could do it on our own!! I would take small steps and focus on other behaviors also. For me that was quitting smoking, start exercising, increase water intake, cut back on caffiene and limit alcohol. Good luck!! These 4-5 months will go by before you know it!

I actually get banded on August 9th. I'm trying to get prepared and learn all that I can before surgery. I have read so much information that it was starting to get overwhelming. This just breaks down everything step by step and covers everything I want to know about food and fills in one place. I will definitly be referring to this many times post surgery!!

Very helpful! Thank you!

My surgeon said he recommends having some bread because it fills you up and stays in the pouch longer.

Well I have 5 weeks from today until my surgery on Aug 9th. Can't hardly wait!! Right now I'm focusing on exercise. I have an RN case manager and she said to increase physical activity to be as strong as possible for surgery. I'm doing alot of walking and went hiking the past two nights. It's interesting that I can do more now than 5 years ago and 100 pounds lighter. 5 years ago when I couldn't walk that far on the local walking trail or hiking made me feel like I was going to die I just blamed it on being fat. Maybe I was in denial of how bad my smoking was affecting my health. Now I weigh 100 pounds more and I'm am able to do so much more than I thought possible since quitting smoking over 3 months ago. Of course the bigger you are the more calories you burn and I'm a pretty big girl so I do find myself hungry and stomach growling not long after exercise. I'm worried that during my pre-op diet when I will only be getting 800-900 calories a day that it is going to be very difficult to exercise and that I just won't have the energy. I guess I will do as much as possible now in case this does become a problem. But what about after the surgery? I'll be consuming less calories than that and I'll need to find the energy to exercise. This is something I've been worried about. I will probably just have to suck it up and do it no matter how I feel!! Believe

I'm August 9th and I'm also trying to find good shakes. I would love to try the premier shakes since they have so much protein but can't find them around here. We don't have a Costco anywhere in the state and I looked at Amazon and couldn't believe the cost!! Maybe Sam's club? Idk but I'll look into these others. I have heard great things about Unjury though.

Thanks guys! Now I sort of know what to expect. I'm not a fan of surprises!!

Well I got the call yesterday that my insurance approved my surgery. August 9th!! YAY! Anyone else have the same week? I was told I had to go to the hospital for pre-op testing a week before my surgery. Not sure what this is about because I've never had to do that with a surgery before. Anyone familiar with this? I have to start my high protien, low cal diet on July 25. 800-900 calories a day, two shakes and lean cuisine for dinner.. oh my I feel like I'm starving already. I keep telling myself that I can do this!!

It's sad that grown adults can act like that. I figured they must miserable people to want to act that way. It doesn't change the fact that it hurts. It's amazing how a comment from a total stranger can hurt so bad. I too am a big believer in Karma though!! Keep your head held high and he will get his.

@BrandyE77Ok I'm just waiting for a call to find out my surgery date. Exciting!! I started this journey back in October 2012 when I accidently found out that my insurance covered wls. I started researching surgeons in my area and attended a seminar in November. December 2012 I met with my PCP to start my six month physician supervised weight loss program which I just completed on June 24th. YAY!! Did I lose weight? No. Do I feel bad about that? No. I will explain.. I actually started losing weight slowly by cutting back on portion size and counting calories. In March I decided to quit smoking after 22 years of being a smoker. I gained about 10 pounds. I beat myself up about it at the time. Also, I really got into excercising since I could actually BREATH. I have excercised more in the past 6 months than I have in the past 6 years. I should mention that I did have two steriod shots in the past 6 months for sciatica. I have since lost the weight I gained from when I quit smoking, but that puts me back to where I started. I decided not to get upset about it because although I didn't lose any weight I made two major lifestyle changes and I feel wonderful about that!! So I've jumped through all the hoops.. seminar, 6 months supervised by PCP, 6 month nurse coach, psych eval, labs, support group meeting, viewed EMMI. Now just waiting on insurance approval which my nurse coach said usually takes 2 weeks. I can't wait!! I am so ready for this!! Believe

Thank you guys! Feeling more positive now. The support group meeting was great. I guess before I didn't really have a support system. I feel like that has changed. My family is supportive as well as my coworkers. I think going to the meetings will be very important for me.

Thank you! I think I'm just nervous bc it will totally change my life but I'm ready for a change. ???Š

I've been excited about getting this surgery for the last six months but now that it's almost here (hopefully next month) I am getting nervous and wondering if this will work for me. I have had success losing weight in the past just to gain it back, but i have slowly gained over the past five years without losing. I've tried too many times to count but by the third day I am starving and just give up and go back to eating whatever I want. I know I have some willpower because I did quit smoking 3 months ago after being a smoker for 22 years. I've also started excercising about the same time I quit smoking and I'm now walking 5 days a week compared to the ZERO excercise I've done in the past 10 years. I have my first support group meeting tonight and you know what's crazy? I'm nervous about going because I'm afraid I'll be the biggest one there! Hello it IS a support group for WLS. Anyone else nervous and have doubts?