The Icy One

Congrats to the recent bsndsters! I'm so glad that everything went well for you all. I am doing my pre op diet and making lists and preparing. I have a lot of shopping to do. Which is fine... I like to shop.

Depends on the individual situation. I had my first consult on June 22 and my surgery date is the 20th of this month. I didn't have to attend a seminar but my insurance did require four months of weight check visits, a psych eval, a few basic tests and a five week wait to see if I was approved. Some people go in weeks, I've read that it has taken others over a year.

That is a good plan. If you are going to be off, anyway, take that time to have your surgery and recover and start the new year off with a new start.

Hi kelmat and welcome. I'm scheduled to go on the 29th of this month. I am on my pre-op, now and so ready to do this. Hang out, you'll meet a lot of very nice and knowledgeable and supportive people here.

Welcome and congrats on taking your first steps.

I'm on day two of my pre-op. I have to do two Protein smoothies (i can add frozen fruit if I like, no bananas) and I am to have one "lean and green" meal a day. I can handle this. It's mostly mental... That's what I keep telling myself.

Thank you. I'm thrilled. Started my pre-op, my approval letter is safely tucked away and everything is on track. I can't wait.

Prescott in the house. Pre band, scheduled for the 20th. Started my pre-op, today. (Fun city! ) Im going through True Results in Scottsdale, Dr. Gowen Nirmul is my surgeon.

Yay! Congratulations! I go on the 20th. I can't wait.

If this new PCP isn't supportive of your healthcare needs, he/she is not the right doc for you and you need to move on and find another one. Seriously. Your doctor is there for YOU. Your health and well being is what matters and your doctor should be putting that first and if they can't or won;t, find one who will. You deserve no less.

Ugh! that final waiting period is the worst! I had my final hoop jump visit on September 22nd then I was told that it would be four to six weeks wait to hear if I had been approved. (I have Aetna.) It took five weeks. Longest five weeks of my life! LOL But looking back on it, now that i have my approval and date and my approval letter safely tucked away, it doesn't seem so long, after all. Hang in there, the time will pass, I promise you and soon, you will have everything you have been working towards.

Congrats on your upcoming surgery. I am not a lifeguard so I can't say for certain but I am guessing that being only nine days out from surgery is not going to be enough recovery time for you to return to work. Never mind putting on a bathing suit, being a lifeguard is seriously physical work that requires a lot of strength. You have to swim, lift, carry, bend, twist and so forth. Do you think that you can do all of that, that soon after major surgery? I don't want to come off as a total jerk here but ask yourself, if you were in a perilous situation and needed rescuing, would you want the person coming to your aid to be nine days out from surgery and possibly not fully physically ready to be doing the job? Maybe you should sit down with your supervisor and have a conversation with him/her, let them know what you are planning and why. Tell them about the length of time you are going to need to fully physically recover and get back up to speed and see if there is other work that you can be doing, in the meantime.

Hi Mommy of 7 and welcome! Typos... Aren't they just too much fun. Congrats on making this decision for yourself and getting your surgery date. This will be one heck of a terrific Christmas (holiday) gift. I understand that jittery, ready to go feeling. I am scheduled to go on the 20th of this month and I am beginning to feel like a racehorse in a starting gate. I am so ready to do this.

Congrats on your new band. Here's to a speedy and smooth recovery.

Hazel, I learn so much reading your posts.

Seriously.

I'm so glad that you got your cardiac clearance and you are a go. Woo hoo! You'll be a pro by the time I go in. I was really surprised that I didn't require additional testing. I just did the usual, blood tests, a respiration test and an EKG. Easy-peasy. No sleep study, I don't even need a chest X-Ray prior to surgery. Probably because I just had one in March. Weird how that works out. I'm starting to get that racehorse in the gate feeling, I'm ready to do this. 20 days to go.

How do we join social groups? I'd like to join the November 3013 Group.

Just follow their instructions. Mine told me two Protein shakes/smoothies (I can add frozen fruit if I like, no bananas) and one meal of protein and green veg for three weeks prior. Not too horrifying, I can handle that. Thank you, I'm sure it will. I hope that yours goes great, too. Soon we'll all be banded, and advising nervous newbs. Heh! Heh!

Would you send me an invite, as well, please?

I am scheduled for Lap Band surgery on November 20th through True Results in Scottsdale with Dr. Nrmul. All of my appointments were quick and smooth. I rarely waited long, often they would give me something or other to fill out and I would barely have time to rush through it and they were calling me back. I think the longest I waited was at my first appointment, and that was fifteen minutes, at the most. So far, I have just seen P.A.s and N.P.s but everyone has been efficient friendly and so sweet. I meet Dr. Nirmul on the 19th, the day before my surgery. My experience from start to now has been smooth, easy, dare I say nearly effortless. True Results rocks.

I am in Prescott, also. I am scheduled for surgery on November 20th. True Results in Scottsdale with Dr. Gowen Nirmul. I haven't attended any support group meetings, yet.

Hi fellow November Bandsters! I can't believe I'm finally saying that. I started my process on June 22nd and I FINALLY got a call from my practice, today that I am approved! I meet my surgeon on November 19th and my surgery date is the 20th. I have to do three week of pre op dieting, I'm starting in a few days. I am so ready for this. So. Ready. I am going through True Results in Scottsdale, AZ. My surgeon is Dr. Gowen Nirmul. Let's get this party started.

I am so sorry that you have had such a terrible and traumatic experience. As with any surgery, complications can happen, the odds vary by the individual. In your case, it sounds as if several things were going bad and reached critical mass all at once. Was your band responsible? I can't say. Was it your gallbladder? That surgery? A post op infection exacerbated by unknown problems that were brewing beforehand? Who can say. It is just awful. Thankfully, you survived and I hope that you are healthier and will have a long and healthy life ahead of you. I am aware that there are risks, some possibly serious to going forward with my Lap Band surgery. I have done my research, I have read much of the good and much, much of the bad. I have weighed them one against the other and for me, the possibility of staying this weight or getting even heavier (which is happening... *sigh*) is far more dangerous to me than many of the possible side effects or complications I can encounter going forward. Believe me, my eyes are wide open, I am making a fully informed decision.

I also have Aetna, and like Irishflower, I had to do the stupid four month, keep your weight around the same, within about... five-ish pounds, do a psych eval hoop jump fun house. Ten days before my last appointment in September, I was informed that Aetna had changed the rules and that we had to be at least one pound UNDER our starting weight. Gah! So, I dieted like a madwoman and just squeaked it out at that appointment. After that, I had a four to six week wait for approval. I just found out, this afternoon that I am approved and my surgery date is November 20th. I can start my pre-op diet in a few days and I can finally breathe! The point to all of this nattering is, all insurance companies are different, some make you go four months, some six, some a year... Some you start the process and your ass is in the OR in a few weeks! Just stay on top of it and go with the flow. From start to approval and getting my surgery date, it took from June 22nd to today. It felt like forever but now that I am through it, and looking back, it wasn't so bad, after all.