phyllser

I'm a retired RN & worked in health insurance doing pre-cert for 5 years. Don't know about the specifics of your policy, or your state laws, but do know you are entitled to appeal their decision, usually at two levels. So, just wondering if in your letter you stated that you wished to appeal their decision. You must use those words, that you want to appeal. Usually there is first an "in house" review, and then, the way ours worked, an independent review by an unbiased physician or physician team.

I finally started packing for real. DH is trying to tell me we need one more suitcase or a bigger suitcase! I can't believe that is him talking! So may have to go to DD's & see what suitcases we have in their barn. I want one suitcase and my wheeled backpack for the train & one more to check. We get on the train at 5:45 pm Wed. We went over to the train station and watched one of the northbound trains come in just to get familiar with the process. They're in the station no more than 5 minutes! Gotta be ready! I'm not too tight, but definitely tighter and need to be careful. PB'd yesterday, which is very unusual for me & only happened once before, and one other almost. Only thing that came up was a few sips of latte! It was strange that what I'd just eaten didn't come up. Yes, I know... NONO... I bought a latte right after eating something. Then could only take a few sips, and 1/2 hour later, the few sips came up. I was bad. I paid!

Good advice, Joann!! You're talkin' like a bandster pro!!

Sure wish you could join us. Sounds like you're not too far away. I just looked at the map to see where Port Huron & Muskegon are. Boy!! Candice has a LONG drive!! I am not having a good food day. Our Primetimers group had a "country breakfast" at someone's home this morning. There were about 60 of us there. We had to sit in sort of an awkward location and nothing was getting passed to us. So I started with what was in front of me.... biscuit and gravy! I only put a little gravy on one half of a small biscuit. It was after 10 a.m. and I was starving. Then I had some (cold) scrambled eggs and a small sausage patty. I tried a bite of cantelope then and it almost came up... didn't agree with me, and it set the scene for the rest of the day! Several hours later I was getting hungry for lunch so I had 1/2 a deviled egg. Felt stuck again. And it's just been kind of a miserable day stomach wise. DH gave me a 3 oz glass of wine a couple of hours ago and it's still sitting next to me. I look at it every now and then, but do desire to drink it or anything else! Had a small piece of fish and an ear of corn tonight. Tight day, I guess.

You're off to a GREAT start!!!

Fabulous, Dahling, Fabulous!!!!

Thanks so much for the compliments!! For the pouch test, start here: Surgical Weight Loss 5 Day Pouch Test But, all those reasons they give for doing it are really not why I decided to do it. For me it was more of a desire to renew my committment, reinforce my determination, etc. That's the intro page. Then go to this page for the complete instructions, etc.: Surgical Weight Loss 5 Day Pouch Test

Being vain?? No... sounds like your main motivation is improving your health!! We've all had those doubts, reservations and fears, but after one year, I still firmly believe I did the right thing for me. I feel better than I have in years, the weight is coming off and I'm physically in a much better place. My primary care doc has eliminated one of my cholesterol meds and cut the strength of one of my BP pills in half! Hey!! FIFTY POUNDS is a lot. You just have to keep plugging along! You'll get it off. I'm not sure if you need a fill though if starches get stuck. Do you know where you are at calorie intake? Pool exercise is great. Sounds like you're doing everything right. May have to adjust your calorie intake. I just did that five day pouch test and it gave me a boost psychologically and seemed like it gave me a renewed committment and fresh insight in to my hunger level, my calorie intake, etc. You might consider doing that. You can google it to read more. I second that!! Bravo!!

What an accomplishment!! The BUG SUIT is GREAT!

Told my PA about it at my appt the other day and she never heard of it. After the first two days, you really get in to it, don't you?! It's kind of exhilarating. DD is much better but still getting her strength back. She is still insistent it was all food poisoning, but I think something else. We'll see. If she's right, it won't come back! Enjoy your vacation day. Makeup.... never one of my strong suits! I do my best. Got my hair trimmed last night, and blonde highlights, which she overdid a little! A little lighter than I wanted, but it looks good. Afraid to tell DH what it cost and so far he hasn't asked!!

Janet, Keeping you in my prayers. When is the appt?? Going RIGHT NOW to get my hair trimmed & highlighted. Getting SO excited about next week!! Can't wait to get on that train!! Looking forward to the M of A and Plotting & planning with my sisters, etc. things to do when we get to Buffalo! My sister from OR decided to come, too. So all four of us will be together. That will be fun... maybe challenging, too, since two don't get along too well!! We'll be drinking some wine and playing some Scrabble!! And going out for a fish fry!! :eek::eek::thumbup::eek::drool::eek:

Fantastic!!! Congratulations!! So good to have you back!! Hope you can make it to M of A!! We'd be so glad to see you! Sounds like you're doing great! WOW!! Us nurses like to look at gory stuff like that!! Amazing!! I think I would've like a job in forensics, too!! Now there is an interesting thought!! I watched my 19 yr old GS lift 75 lb weights over his head last night, and listened to all the grunting and groaning and watched the pained expression on his face as he lifted first the right arm, then the left, etc. I've tried just to MOVE those stupid weights because he keeps them on the floor under DD's sewing machine table. I want to tell you.. I couldn't budget them and had to work around them to use the sewing machine!! So, every time he lifted one... that was just a few pounds less than what I've lost so far!! Speaking of interesting... it's been an interesting week!! Back to DD's late lat night & ended up spending the night. After her severals days with suspected food poisoning, she decided she wanted Chinese food when she was feeling better yesterday. So she & SIL went out for lunch, which she finished at dinner. About 10:30 pm we had a panic call from SIL wanting us to come over because the EMTs were there and about to take DD to ER again!! She had sudden onset of SEVERE chest pain and thought she was having a heart attack! EKG, etc proved otherwise, but not much sleep for any of us! We had to stay there because of 5 yr old foster child there & GS wasn't home yet. He came in soon after, but we just stayed at th house and waited for word that everything was okay! I'm TIRED!!!

Busy day today!! We went to our Primetimers group at church this morning. Lunch was served early, so we were able to leave by noon and head south for my appt w/PA at my WL clinic. Never know how traffic will be going south through Seattle area. But, it was great and we were an hour early!! Not necessarily good, because I got bored to death sitting there waiting. I worked on a crossword puzzle until I got tired of it and went through a whole People magazine cover to cover before they finally took me back!1 My highest TOPS weight just prior to surgery was a couple of pounds more than I was at my initial appt with them, so officially I'm down 80 lb. She was very pleased with that, gave me a good exam, asked a lot of questions, and took me down to radiology for my fill. She said I had 4.2 cc in my band (11 cc band), and she pulled that out and put back 5.2 cc. I got my water down fine, so they let me go. I've had about another 40 oz of crystal lite since then, and a protein drink. No problems. I think this is going to be fine. Sounds like everyone had a great day.... except for the ER trip!! Too tired to properly respond to all the posts, but sure enjoyed reading them!

Hooray!! Good for you!! Great post, Denise!! Thanks! Things I hadn't heard,things I needed to be reminded of. I am a slow loser, too, but keep on pluggin' along~! I had my one year follow-up today and my PA was very pleased with my progress.. their official figures... minus 80 1/2 lb. My log shows a few more because my highest weigh was a couple of weeks before my initial appt with them. I had a fill today, too... another 1cc, so I have approx. 5.2 in my 11 cc band. On liquids for two days now, so just finished sipping on a protein drink... took me 30 minutes because I made a real effort to take it slow. I take a lot of pills, too..... BP meds, supplements and other Rx, and never have any problems... just take it slow and easy. I use Centrum Silver Chewable for my multivitamin. Good point about the bypass pouch. Didn't think about that.

I think I will be doing it from time to time also. It really was an eye opening experience.. first two days rough, but got through it and feel it was worth it. I used the EAS stuff I got at Costco, but one shake DH made up with unflavored Whey protein, strawberries, skim milk & splenda. It was good. Not at all unpleasant. Good for you. Let us know how you do tomorrow. Haven't been on much today. DD sick with food poisoning for something. So we went over to take care of a foster child while SIL took her to the ER. They were gone ALL day. Just got home at 9:30 p.m. Gave her IV fluids... she was dehydrated, and anti nausea meds. I took her BP when we got over there & it was 82/48 and she was so weak she had a hard time sitting up long enough for me to take it. She's much better now with some fluids in her. Janet, I'm still packing "in my head"... I know we have to handle our own luggage at Chicago station, so trying to figure out how little we can get away with.

Gal responded to my post this morning. I took it entirely too personally. Her comments were not directed at this website at all but at some other health & fitness type websites. And a trainer at her gym has been relentlessly on her case about what she is doing wrong and telling her the 45 lb she's lost was all Water and muscle, etc, etc, etc. When she explained herself more fully I really felt bad for her. It sounds like she's been knocking herself out at the gym, and I believe eating all the right stuff and losing very slowly. So.... all is okay!

Oh my gosh!! ... now I understand where you were coming from. You are going to have to come up with something to shut that ladies' mouth.. I mean, short of homicide!! :thumbup: Think of something to say to her that will get her off your back for once and for all!! Sounds like the testing you did was a good move to put your mind at ease. It sounds like you're doing everything right. Some of us just lose slower than others. Try to stop all the research on the fitness sites, etc., and rest in what you learned about your body via the testing you did. It's easy to get confused and discouraged if we're getting too much input from too many different and conflicting sources!

Hi, I am here! Just been reading. I got a little huffy on the 5+ thread over a comment someone made about "self-proclaimed gurus" getting her discouraged over slow weight losses. I didn't think it was an appropriate comment to make. We share our experiences and what we learn here and in other places, from our health care providers, etc. in an effort to offer insight to one another and not to criticize or judge someone else. Basically, what we're trying to reinforce in one another is what Janet says, follow the rules, the band works! But it's been a good day overall. TOPS weigh in this morning & I was down 3 1/2 lb for the week. I won best loser of the week as well as another separate challenge some of us were doing. So I walked away with well over $10 in "prize" money, plus the weekly fruit basket which included about a pound of fresh raspberries from someone's garden. It was GREAT!! Weather continues to be quite pleasant here so I was out riding around on my scooter for over 2 hours this afternoon. Spent a lot of time looking around at Target. Wow!! Good time to do some Christmas shopping... lots of kids' stuff, toys, etc. on sale. I didn't buy much. Teachers... school supplies on sale already!!! Hasn't school just been out a couple of weeks??? Why are they rushing the "back to school" stuff???

Test sounds very interesting and helpful, but I don't think that "self proclaimed gurus" was a fair statement. I don't think anyone here sets themselves up as a "guru" or an expert. We share our own personal experiences as well as what we've learned from others, both on this site and others, what we've been told by our health care providers, etc., and you're free to pick and choose what is helpful to you and disregard the rest. I don't think any of us are here to judge what someone else may be doing wrong. Any suggestions made are intended as a help and certainly not to discourage or criticize. Experiences others have shared often help me to gain insight that is helpful to me in my own journey.

I have arthritis problems, too... knees, feet, wrists, shoulder. In the winter we do water aerobics and I love that. But right now my exercise is my Wii Fit. I know they're pricey and hard to find, but i managed to find one and I really enjoy this and it's not too hard on my joints. It's not too strenuous, but it does get me out of my chair and moving and I always work up a sweat.

That looks pretty rustic!! Fantastic getaway! Watch that wine! Five Day Pouch test has been good for me. Today is the lat day. I've become more aware of my restriction and better in touch with my hunger level and how it fluctuates! Bad bouts of hunger the first two days on the liquid stage, but drinking some crystal lite would help. It wasn't that bad. then the first day... on soft protein, I was so full all day I could barely drink anything. Yesterday, on firmer protein, I fought hunger again off & on all day. But I did okay and came in around 1000 calories by the end of the day. (I was under 1000 the day before.) OH, I've been getting weighed early every morning on the Wii... the 2nd day I was down over 2 lb, the next day about 1/2 lb and the next over 2 lb. again. Today I was UP almost 2 lb. DH was up today, too, and he hasn't been eating much more than me and he's been walking a LOT!! So, we're wondering if we're both retaining a little fluid because it was over 80 degrees here yesterday and we were outside most of the day. My feet and ankles do not look swollen, however. So... it's been an adventure and I"m glad I did it. OH, speaking of wine.... I had none the first three days. Yesterday I had one small glass... about 3 1/2 oz. I did have a 16 oz sugar free, fat free latte each day. We threw away our old scale and we're only using the Wii, so we should be getting pretty accurate weights.

If your co-worker has been open about having the procedure and you know she is happy about it, I'm sure she would be delighted to talk with you about it. ASK... I'm sure she will be eager to share her experience with you and there's nothing like face to face! I don't even remember what my doctor asked at the first visit. Seems to me he did most of the talking, wanting to be sure I thoroughly understood both procedures.... bypass vs. lapband, so I could make an informed decision. He looked over my medical history, current weight & BMI to determine if I was a candidate. My BMI was quite high, so he then told me that he wanted me to lose 10% of my body weight prior to surgery. I didn't quite accomplish that, but I did get my BMI down to what he considered an acceptable level.

It's uncomfortable, but doesn't feel at all like choking. Kind of like you're really full and the food won't go down. I use Papaya tablets... they're chewable, they don't have an unpleasant taste. They're not real easy to find, but RiteAid sells them under the Pharmasure brand. Some people use pineapple juice. Generally, drinking something won't help, but some say that the pineapple juice acts as a lubricant.

Okay... let me get my two cents in here. From what I understand, Optima is a protein drink you can buy in most any store. I used it for a while but decided it was a little high in calorie count and switched to EAS Protein powder which I buy at Costco, but I"ve seen it at RiteAid, Alberstson's, etc. Optifast is apparently a multifaceted weight loss program including a variety of different Optifast products and supervised by a physician. As for what you have or don't have prior to or after surgery, each doctor has their own way of doing things and it's best to follow your own physician's instructions. My doctor gave me no list of do's and don't for pre-surgery, just post-op instructions. Some doctors require two weeks of protein drinks prior to surgery, but, Judy, you're the first I heard that was told clear liquids only the day before surgery. I dieted aggressively for about 6 weeks prior to my surgery date, but DH took me out for a special spaghetti dinner the night before surgery!! Judy, is that Buffalo NY??? I was born there & grew up in Cheektowaga. Heading back that way the end of the month to visit family.

Congrats, GYM RAT!! You are truly motivated!! What a GREAT accomplishment! Exercise is addicting! And, I'm very competitive, so I keep trying to beat my best scores on all the Wii events. Chewables... have you tried the Centrum Silver. They're not too bad. There are liquid vitamins, but the only ones I've tasted were much more nasty than the chewables!! I think I saw some different chewable Multivitamins at costco yesterday that were kind of like the calcium chews. Someone suggested Gummi Bears chewables. I thought they had some or seniors, but I've only found kids'. That'd be okay, I suppose. Spotting problems resolve?? Minot.... what memories!! When I see you I'm going to work very hard at not bad-mouthing that wonderful place!! I had too many unpleasant experiences there! The whole strategic air command experience was absolutely the worst two years of DH's 21+ yrs in the AF!! And that was NOT Minot's fault!! About your DH's comment.... I was going to suggest to you that you bribe him with that, but, there you go..... he came up with it all on his own!!