lapbander081004

Once I had all my paperwwork into the office it took less then two weeks to get the approval. Was banded two weeks later. but I have BC/BS traditional and I don't know if that makes a difference. But its my understanding that BC/BS of Michigan is approaving this surgery almost across the board. Good luck I know personally you been struggling in this process.

Ryan, Mine and my families prays are with you both. Remember brother I am a fellow Michigander and if you need anything let me know. I'm not too far from you and I'm willing to help if needed. God Bless you

Zoe, Sorry to hear you were under the weather. Glad your better. But thanks for the tip on how to bring up calorie count when you feel it may be to low. One of the guys at work just won a free trip to Vegas at a cop's donut eating contest. He ate 7 Krispy Creams in one minute. Hell I could do that banded LOL But I didn't enter cause I was afraid my Dr. would throw me out of his office window if he heard I did ...lol...Might have chanced it if Dr wasn't on the fourth floor

What you wish for Marie

Sharon, you have to remember that the port is attached to the top of a muscle just under the skin so you shold be able to feel it. Some can feel it with no problem others have to press. But like Darcy says the Dr needs to feel it to fill or unfill it. I had a fall shortly after my surgery where my protruding belly scraped down the side of a shopping cart and now my port is tipped. They think I maky have pulled the bottom two stiches off. But its not any problem at this time so they are going to leave it alone. It actually sticks out a tiny bit when I'm standing but then I wasn't planning on showing off any mens fashions in the near future lol.

Betty, Glad you like the suggestion. Other then sperm donation and heavy lifting us men don't contribute much ...lol

Like penni I'm creative as heck. my first name here was grt139.. my thre initials to my name and my badge# from the police department. My new name is cause I'm banded (duh) and the 08/10/04 is my banding date.

Monday 2/21/05 7:00am Breakfast: 1 c- corn flakes...1/2 c- skim milk...1 small banana...1 slice low car 100% whole wheat toast w/ 1 tbl Peanut Butter.

Becky say "I do rides -- and I go upside down too. I never have anyone who will do that with me." Greg is back anmd he says "I'm not going there"

I'd like to keep it going but I just realized if you go back and edit the original one we did here you can't then go and fix all the post after you so it just needs to be a new post or we could close the thread at the end of each month and start a new one. One for every month. But I do think this is good for all to see that total. its amazing...I own a car that weights less then this amount.

Betty , Don't get discouraged. I just went threw (and may still be in a slump). I stayed the same for almost 6 weeks. Then last week I decided that even though I was moving inches around I wanted to do a reality check and I started writing every thing down I was eating and in the honest amounts. In tracking my food again I found that I had gotten off on what I was supposed to be doing so now I'm back following it well and I'm seeing the benifits. Last week I lost my first pound in 6 weeks and today I lost another. So it appears I may have broken threw. But the important thing is I feel great and doing things I wasn't before and I know these pauses in weight lost, as upsetting as they are, are only temporary. The band helps cause in other diet attempts this is when I'd get upset and stuff myself back to higher weight. Band won't let me stuff so I just keep trying to follow my program. Good luck and don't give up the faith

Nancy, You hit the nail on the head.(are you a carpenter???) The scale used to be my enimy and then after the band as fast as I was losing it became my constant companion. Now its like a distant friend cause I only get on it on Mondays Good luck and remember the band only works if you want it too. The diets we used to fail at had a reason for the failure. We never felt full. Now the band will allow you to feel full you just have to make the right choices of what you put in the stomach.

I work midnights in the est zone and I use the chat room often with people on at that time.

Betty, Are we supposed to adjust our weight as we change??? I only weight in on Monday so need to know if you want this updated when there is a change// Thanks

SECRET - SOMETHING YOU TELL ONE PERSON AT A TIME

Before banding I lived on diet coke and all then junk I could eat because of the calories I was saving drinking the Diet Coke. I have yet to find anyone here that was more addicted to it then me. I work midnights as a 911 operator for a local public safety department and on my way to work I stop at the 7/11 store and buy a 44oz diet coke. I'd get to work and the officers would be in briefing that last approx 30 minutes. they then get ready to go on the street. Someone would always come up and ask me if I was ready for another Diet Coke and I'd say yes. Sometime more then one would ask and I'd say yes to each one. So I'd get several more 44 ozers in the next hour. The around 3am they have to come in to pick up paperwork and one or two would bring me in anotter 44 ozer. Then at 7am I get off and go home. I don't go to bed till 3 or 4 pm so While I'm up in the morning and early afternoon working around the house I'd drink two 2 litre bottles of Diet Coke before bed. When I was told I had to stop dinking it as part of the band process I almost didn't get banded just because I couldn't break the addiction. But I decide to try figuring the two week liquid diet before hand was a good time to use as a test of my ability to stop drinking this junk. Well I had three straight days of a severe headach from the caffine withdrawal and on the second day almost had my wife take me to hospital due to thinking I was having a stroke from the pain in my head. When it passed on the thrid day I swore that if for some reason I didn't get banded I'd never drink Diet pop or any pop for that matter again. And I have not had a single drop and do not miss it at all.

Now that we are using our credit cards to buy new clothes and all I thought that this information would be helpful. This is probably the most realistic Scam I have read. I will not give anyone any personal information until I am given a phone number to contact to check on the need for them to have the information. But after reading the follwoing I'd have to admitt they may have gotten me on this one. We have to be so careful with our information. PLEASE READ AND PASS ON TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY By understanding how the VISA & MasterCard Telephone Credit Card Scam works, you'll be better prepared to protect yourself. Those con artists get more creative every day. ************************************************* The scam works like this: Person calling says, "this is (name) and I'm calling from the Security and Fraud Department at VISA. My Badge number is 12460. Your card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern, and I'm calling to verify. This would be on your VISA card, which was issued by (name of bank). Did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device for $497.99 from a Marketing company based in Arizona?" When you say "No", the caller continues with, "Then we will be issuing a credit to your account. This is a company we have been watching and the charges range from $297 to $497, just under the $500 purchase pattern that flags most cards. Before your next statement, the credit will be sent to (gives you your address), is that correct?" You say "yes". The caller continues - "I will be starting a Fraud investigation. If you have any questions, you should call the 1-800 number listed on the back of your card (1-800-VISA) and ask for Security. You will need to refer to this Control Number. The caller then gives you a 6-digit number. "Do you need me to read it again?" Here's the IMPORTANT part on how the scam works. The caller then says, "he needs to verify you are in possession of your card". He'll ask you to "turn your card over and look for some numbers". There are 7 numbers; the first 4 are part of your card number, the next 3 are the security numbers that verify you are the possessor of the card. These are the numbers you sometimes use to make Internet purchases to prove you have the card. The caller will ask you to read him the 3 numbers. After you tell the caller the 3 numbers, he'll say, "That is correct, I just needed to verify that the card has not been lost or stolen, and that you still have your card. Do you have any other questions?" After you say No, the caller then thanks you and states, "Don't hesitate to call back if you do", and hangs up. You actually say very little, and they never ask for or tell you the Card number. But after we were called on Wednesday, we called back within 20 minutes to ask a question. Are we glad we did! The REAL VISA Security Department told us it was a scam and in the last 15 minutes a new purchase of $497.99 was charged to our card. Long story made short - we made a real fraud report and closed the VISA account. VISA is reissuing us a new number. What the scammers want is the 3-digit PIN number on the back of the card. Don't give it to them. Instead, tell them you'll call VISA or Master card directly for verification of the conversation. The real VISA told us that they would never ask for anything on the card, as they already know the information since they issued the card! If you give the scammers your 3 Digit PIN Number you think you're receiving a credit. However, by the time you get your statement you'll see charges for purchases you didn't make, and by then it's almost to late and/or more difficult to actually file a fraud report. What makes this more remarkable is that on Thursday, I got a call from a "Jason Richardson of MasterCard" with a word-for-word repeat of the VISA scam. This time I didn't let him finish. I hung up! We filed a police report, as instructed by VISA. The police said they are taking several of these reports daily! They also urged us to tell everybody we know that this scam is happening. Please pass this on to all your family and friends. By informing each other, we protect each other.

Allie_lee...your not a stranger anymore...you made a fatal mistake posting. your one of us now and we don't let go easy... Still need that ride keep posting some bandster somewhere near you wil offer you the ride home from your proceedure. Welcome to our family here and best wishes for a smooth proceedure and a quick recovery.

Chantal, Getting ready for bed now and I will ad your sister and your new niece to my petitions to the Lord

Personally I think someone should look into the legality of it all. If I was required to obtain a password to get in here to post should that not be protected??? I would think so. Information I put in here that doesn't show to others can be brought up when they click in.

Well its two days after...Hope your recovering well and not in any pain. let us know how your doing as soon as you can.

The cancellation of the NHL Season irrates me. And generally what people have to say to me or about me whether it is negative or positive doesn't irrate me. I always feel people have the right to speak thier minds. Then someone here really irrated me by making a very small statement in a post about me and I went into a month longer inner irratation. Now that I remember that they have a right to speak I have gotten over it. So back to jut the NHL being irrating to me. Other then that I am very open about what I have done and how it is going for me. If my friend who finally told me about his had been a little more open with me I'd have been banded sooner. Being so open has resulted in several people I have had contact with looking into the band and having it done. So far not one has regreted it and all are doing well.

Betty 54 Paula 43 Kelly 65 Becky 77 Carol 102 Alex 110 Nana~49 Rich 20 Larae 22 Maureen 73 Marie 56 Wyld Blu 73 Penni 54 Vera 60 Darcy 59 Kelly 39 michelle 135 cindy 88 mary 65.4 greg 77 Total 1321.40 <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->__________________

I say its Mr Green in the Parlor Room with the Candle Stick

I agree with Marie, I'll take the health vs excess skin anyday. But so far I have been very lucky and even though I'll be 55 soon and have been over weight since I was 21 my skin is responding to the slower weight loss and excercise. I believe the only skin problem will be an apron at the belly level. I have no fear of having that removed when it is time.