AZ Gary

I almost had my first stuck moment after eating ground turkey made into a patty last week. Problem I think was that it was too dry. Guess the extra lean version was the cause.

Not sure where you live at and if the Affordable Care Act is going to impact you in October. I think you will have a difficult task finding a company like that. The insurance company is basically like Vegas, they are betting that they can make more than they have to payout.

I agree with Guy, I have kept the soda genie in the bottle for the last 8 weeks and was planning on letting it go once for my birthday, but now it is a source of personal pride on making it each day without one.

Low dose aspirin was removed before surgery for me and they want to wait awhile before adding it back. Some medications may be difficult to swallow. I was on Niaspan but the size of the 2 pills would make a small calf gag. Because these are a compressed time release, I could not crush or cut them. My PCP switched me to Slo-Nician which was over the counter and cheaper and could be cut but still not crushed. I would do over your whole list both prescription and OTC with your healthcare provider and pharmacist.

How much caffeine were you drinking pre-op? (Coffee diet soda etc?) I was drinking a fair amount and was always tired during the pre-op diet stage, but my body got over the need for it.

I guess the guys have it a little easier. I was lucky to have some hair much longer that most in my family on my dads side, so I started shaving my head a few years back. I wonder if I could just the old joke of, since I was banded I can't play the piano...

Congrats on passing the first month with the band.

I had my staples out after 10 days and they put steri strips on afterwards but some of them only lasted a day or so. I am down to just three strips. Everything else has healed up and the itching is starting to subside.

I bought a case a chocolate MM Lite from Costco. Alone it is almost sickly sweet tasting and the taste lingers in your mouth. But it is one of the best I have found. Also if you top it with 4 ounces of coffee, it tastes like a mocha from Starbucks for 350 less calories.

I would add that the pre-op diet is your friend. Take that time to learn to eat the small portions when you can eat. Experiment with different shakes and liquid foods to see which ones you like while it is not so painful to have a gag reflex. I had to go through 3 weeks of pre-op due to some additional tests being required at the last minute, but feel it was worth it. I entering my 3rd week post-op and haven't had any strong cravings or hunger pains despite the very vocal objections of my stomach. (I tell it that is all you are getting so deal with it)

I’ve had a few woo hoo moments already. Passing 300 and fitting in some smaller clothes but yesterday was one of those that I was really glad to see. I have had the same PCP for almost 20 years and usually it was always the same story after each visit, you need to lose some weight, get your BP down and cut back on the salt and caffeine. He always seems to say, “I have a pill for that.” I went the self pay route and didn’t need to go through a medically supervised diet drawn out over 6 months before surgery with him. Yesterday was my first checkup since starting this journey and I came prepared with all my progress charts. He was so thrilled with the progress that he felt he needed to cut my BP medication in half with another review in 3 months to take it even lower or start removing some all together. In 6 months after my physical we will review if the diabetes meds can also go away. Interesting thing about the visit was I was reading Alex’s book while waiting in the lobby and was on the chapter of what to expect in your first year. There was a passage saying that after about 10-15 % loss you may see the need for some medications to be lowered. Alex’s was spot on with this claim.

After watching part of a race on TV the other day, it suddenly hit me. A Lap-Band is restrictor plate dining.

I was in there this morning to have my staples removed and the PA had a new person with her that she appeared to be training. So there may be some relief coming. But to double down, I went ahead and scheduled my second appointment at the end of August to pay it safe.

I also took the easy path for many years and found you usually end up higher than when you started. The latest fad in my office is some kind of wrap you put on your legs for an hour and when soaked it pulls the toxins out of your body. My response is wouldn't it have been easier to stop putting them in?

Seems to be a very mixed camp among the healthcare providers with bands and the consumption of soft drinks. I went cold turkey on Diet Coke and other similar drinks when I started my pre-op. I am a software engineer by trade and one of the unwritten rules is we down lots of these drinks, with sugar or otherwise. I will admit to drinking 5 or 6 over the course of a day and that is not counting the occasional supersized drink from the convenience store once in a while. The first week I was sort of tired and didn't understand why. Now 5 weeks later it was suggested that I setup an appointment with my PCP to see about lowering some of my BP medications. I know I have been told in the past to cut back on the caffeine and sodium, but never had any guess it would add up to 30-40 points on my BP. Also seeing a sizable drop in blood sugar levels. Anyone else see drops like this? Getting off the medications is motivation enough to make me stay off of them. Not to mention the extra $$$ that I was literally xxxxxxx down the toilet.

Congrats also. I also just passed 300 this week. Finding some clothes in the closet that I haven't been able to wear in over a year.

I paid the full amount at the pre-op consult. That was two weeks before surgery.

I think you pay a lot more and I am thinking you would go through many months os supervised diets before they would approve it. But I may be wrong.

Thanks I didn't even realize it was that much already, I was really happy at passing the lower end of 300 for the last time.

Not sure if anyone else has posted this in the past. WLS was one of those items that my insurance would not pay regardless of your health condition. But they will pay several hundreds a month in medications to treat the side effects of being overweight. I have a 401K at work that I had been paying into and inquired if it was possible to withdraw funds from it for WLS. Their answer was yes, but any distribution would have a major penalty. But they suggested that I do a loan against my 401K. The advantage is that the interest rate is very low, 4.0%, and that any interest you pay on the loan goes back into your own account. There is the risk of losing your job and the loan gets treated as a withdrawal. But I was able to apply and actually have the funds in my hands within a week. I would have even considered it with insurance since it could cut out the 6-12 month approval timeline for medically supervised diets, studies etc. It may not be an option for everyone, but for some it may be worth looking into. I don't know if an IRA works the same way.

I bought Alex's book for the Kindle. I went through most of it in the pre-op stage. Now my wife is reading it to better understand all the changes I am going through and to better support me. I would also recommend it.

Lee You should change your profile name to Seymour. I am guessing your comment was a reference to 'Little Shop of Horrors.'

Right before surgery the loss slowed down and right afterwards it went up 4 pounds. I was starting to think they threw in a few pounds of lead ballast for laughs but a few days ago it started dropping off again. I know it has been mentioned before on here, but are you using anything to track your calories or measure your servings? I got both a food scale and restarted using My Fitness Pal app for my various devices to track what I was doing. I treat it as almost a game in the tracking which keeps it fun for me. I am guessing you are in Arizona from your profile name. Who did you use for your banding?

Welcome.... How you doing since you are two plus weeks post banding?

Muscle Milk Lite chocolate seems to be the best one for me. Tastes OK even at room temperature. The Costco stores in the Phoenix area carry it in 24 bottle cases.