phyllser

Had my surgery last summer on Medicare. Was a fairly simple process. Surgeon office did everything. I don't think pre-auth was required, but they would take care of that if so. Seal of Excellence is their big thing. I didn't stay overnight, but I've heard that is a Medicare requirement. My hospital bill ($17K) was denied and I got all upset over that, but when I dug in to it, Medicare told me that the hospital coded it to deny??!! They told me to have them resubmit it and they would pay. So I did that and the hospital told me not to worry about it because they'd already written it off and my balance was $0!?? Go figure!! I still haven't figured that one out! I was also told that I would have to pay for the nutrition consult. Never got billed for that either. It was paid! Only thing I got billed was $200 physician fee, which I think was my co-pay. Hope it all goes smoothly and quickly for you!

We can't take her title away, Denise! food COP is her identity! We need her! GRRRRR!! That's the kind of thing that gives WW a bad name!! I have both, but my default is Firefox. When I switched to Firefox, I had to reinstall the Smiley Central, but it works.

Definitely ONE HOT LALA~~!!

Preach it, Sister!!!

Congrats on reaching that new place.... only "Obese"!! That's great! I was a WW person, too, many years ago! I think it was 1971 that I reached my goal.... 118 lb. I got a pin with six little "diamonds" in it for my 68 lb weight loss, and supposedly, a lifetime membership. But they don't give you any piece of paper or anything that says that, so I don't know how you'd ever prove that you earned that distinction. They probably wouldn't even know what that pin was now!! I still have it. I worked for them after that, too, for maybe a year or two, as a weigher. I quit when I got tired of all the little criticisms! The last straw was when I was told I didn't "smile enough" one particular night! I really enjoyed it and had a good rapport with all the ladies in the groups I worked for, so I was hurt and annoyed and said "good riddance" to the bureaucracy since it had become clear to me that it was all about the money and appearances and not about the people!

Well, it's sunny, but not exactly HOT! My thermometer says 79 right now, but I took a ride around the neighborhood at noontime & I was CHILLY! It is supposed to be 80-85 this weekend. That is so cute! I wish I was in your pool! Not that it's hot enough, I just love to swim. So sorry!! I've been thinking maybe I need a slight fill, but I don't want to get too tight and have problems like that!

Where is everyone this morning?? It's a beautiful, sunny day~~!! Hooray!! In fact, if the weatherman is right, we should have a beautiful WEEK!! It's about time we had some nice summer weather! Hope you're all having a GREAT morning!

Do you need another fill??

First of all, don't get discouraged about your weight loss! You've done so well! You're entitled to a slow month! I only lost 1/2 lb the whole month of May, but with one more week of June left I'm down 6 1/2 lb for the month so far. It's the pattern I've followed for quite a few months. As for the "kids are growing up" emotions, I remember going through that and it wasn't pretty for me either! I started getting depressed about 2 mos before our oldest turned 18. I had their childhood photos all up and down the walls of this long hallway we had and I couldn't make it down the hall without bawling for a while there! It was several months of a lot of tears before I got a grip! I think those late teen, early 20's years are very tough to get through because they want to be independent and show that they don't need you and that's just how you end up feeling.. unwanted and not needed! But, then, suddenly you realize that you have this whole new grown up relationship with them and it's as rich as those childhood years. When our oldest son was going through that pulling away phase, I remember him constantly complaining about what I cooked! Seems I couldn't cook anything right and certainly not anything HE liked!! So, guess what??? He married his HS sweetheart very young.. they both were a few weeks away from their 19th birthdays. And he was in the Navy then, too, so they were living in Florida. And this person who didn't cook anything right started getting these frequent phone calls, "will you tell Kellie how to cook _____?" And my recipes were suddenly in great demand! Go figure!! Bottom line.... you'll get through it, and then it will get even better, and then the grandchildren will start arriving and you can start over again. And now pardon me while I go change a diaper!! That part we can live without, right??!! :eek: Especially 2 1/2 yr old's diaper changes!

I had 1/2 cup servings about 6X a day through the mushie stage and even beyond. If I didn't, I would get hungry. Don't remember at what point I made the switch to three meals and a snack at night. There's a ticker tutorial somewhere. I'm trying to find it so I can direct you to it. It has pictures and everything and it walks you through the whole process. I found it easy the last time I searched. Now I'm pulling up nothing. Janet knows where it is. Maybe she'll come back and help! It's tickerfactory.com.

It's been a quiet day indeed! I can read posts on my Blackberry, but it's a pain to post! I think I tried it once & don't remember if it worked or not. Babysitting the little ones yesterday was fun. Usual walk to the park followed by macaroni & cheese & hot dogs for the kids, bathing the little guy and getting them all ready for bed. Then came home for an hour before going to our next "assignment". GD was home, but evidence she'd been smoking in the house which is a no no. Does smoking in the kitchen with your head hanging out the window count as smoking outside???? I don't think so. Need to talk to her about that! Then this morning, DH tells me GS truck not in the driveway, so I got all mad thinking he stayed out all night without letting us know. So about 9 a.m. I called his cell phone. No answer. Then a minute later, he calls me back. WHO IS THIS??? "Grandma. Where ARE you?" "Upstairs in my bed, sleeping!" Boy did I feel stupid! DH didn't look very good for that truck!! I said, "Sorry! Go back to sleep!" Boy, did I feel stupid! Should've checked for the truck myself! I know where he parks, out behind the garage. Glad it will be over for you soon and you can get back on track!

I figured that's what you meant about the pizza... or that pizza was what everyone else was eating. I knew from other things you said that you were, as you said, following instructions to a T! Good for you. You're going to do GREAT!! I'm with you on the crab legs!! Seafood is definitely my new favorite thing! I always did like seafood, now i often eat seafood 3X a day! Uh!! WOW!! NO, that's not normal... definitely a freak of nature IMHO!! You are truly BLESSED~!! 70 lb!!?? In less than 5 months??? That's wonderful!! Fix your ticker! We love to see those big numbers!

I wish I knew!! Got any ideas?? I need a spy!! Let's go to Vegas NEXT year!! Hope all goes well with Mom on Wed.!

You are doing GREAT!! I'm glad you are giving us daily updates. Staying connected is a real help on your journey! We've all had those feelings, so we can all relate to the life after lapband thing! Have another great day!

Since it's a band conference, I would expect they'll have "band friendly" food. Hor D'erves... I don't know how to spell it either... probably some shrimp, veggies, maybe chicken. Just hope it's not all fried! We'll all be anxious to hear all about it. We have a busy week coming up.. ten days, really. DD & SIL flying to Cabo tomorrow morning and we're supposed to supervise the 18 & 19 yr old!! Lots of luck! Make sure there are no "unauthorized" visitors! We'll be sleeping there intermittently!! Try to keep them off guard. I'll miss my sleep number bed and will not enjoy sleeping on the lumpy sofa bed! I guess we could sleep in their bed, but... it's so high I'd need a step ladder to get in it. Tomorrow we have a picnic at noontime. Then go babysit the little grandchildren. Then come back here and "supervise" the BIG grandchildren! Sunday.... the usual stuff. Monday... other SIL is having a colonoscopy, so drive down south again and watch the little ones again!

Have you gals ever tried Chamomille Tea?? I bought some Bigelow Mint Chamomille Tea last week. NO caffeine in it. I'm typically not much of a tea drinker... that's DH's thing. But I tried something similar in Canada two weeks ago and liked it. So I've been having that almost every night before bed. The Chamomille is a natural sleep aide. I have to trot to the BR 3X during the night, but that's only one more time than normal, so that's okay! Well, first, WELCOME! And, yes, there is life after LapBand!! You will be able to eat most of your favorite foods, just in much smaller quantities. You will find your attitude towards food is going to change drastically. As the pounds drop off, you will not want those things that will sabotage your efforts, honest! It's going to be okay! We're here to hold your hand through it all. Keep us posted.

Yes, I am going to bring it. Just hope I don't break anything in the RV using it!! :redface::biggrin::smile:

Wii itself is $250, Wii Fit is an additional $89. I have two knees that need a total replacement and I am using it 40-60 minutes a day. I'm just careful... don't try anything that involved too much pivoting. I can't do the "run", so I walk in place instead. A couple of exercises, I use my cane to help steady myself. That was after almost falling off the balance board a couple of times.

Hi, I LOVE my Wii Fit & use it just about every day. My sister is in Buffalo. I don't think she's found a Wii Fit yet but she did finally find a Wii. You have to be relentless!! The Wii Fit is very hard to find here and you just have to get lucky. I was in Target early one Saturday morning and there were four on the shelf so I got one for my daughter. That is the last time I saw a Wii or Wii Fit at that Target and I am there almost every day. The electronics guy gave me the phone number so I could call every morning because I have another friend who wants one now. He said they get a shipment every night but never know what will be in it so call every morning! I got mine at Wal-Mart.com.. pre-ordered it online.

You be careful!! Congrats on the insurance victory!! Dancing????? Are you crazy????? I agree!!

Wow! That would be a hard one to support! Do they know about your surgery?? DD cooked for us last night. I had a small piece of steak, small baked potato and green beans. Okay choices, but it felt BAD because it's been so long since I ate a baked potato! She & I worked out on the Wii for over an hour before dinner! She's gotten really good at the stepping exercise. I can't do that. But I'm way better than her on the tilt table, soccer, and most of the balance exercises.

Hi, I'm a Lucky #7 from July 07. I just drifted over here out of curiosity. A few July 08 folks have wandered over to the July 07 thread, which is fine, but I was going to try to direct them over to a July 08 thread. But you have so many it's kind of confusing. Just a suggestion, but if you could find a way to get people to gravitate over to just one, you'd be able to communicate with one another more effectively. Maybe, when you decide what you're going to call yourselves, start a new thread and title it something like "July 08 Butterflies Main Thread". Best of luck to ALL OF YOU!! You're on your way to a healthier you!! You won't be sorry! Best thing I ever did!!

Hi, I'm a Lucky #7 from July 07. I just drifted over here out of curiosity. A few July 08 folks have wandered over to the July 07 thread, which is fine, but I was going to try to direct them over to a July 08 thread. But you have so many it's kind of confusing. Just a suggestion, but if you could find a way to get people to gravitate over to just one, you'd be able to communicate with one another more effectively. Maybe, when you decide what you're going to call yourselves, start a new thread and title it something like "July 08 Butterflies Main Thread". Best of luck to ALL OF YOU!! You're on your way to a healthier you!! You won't be sorry! Best thing I ever did!!

That's FANTASTIC news!! Congrats! I know that's a BIG relief! Rachel, We're more than happy to have you join us, but we're mostly July 2007 LapBandsters. There are a couple of exceptions. There are July 2008 threads: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f182/ You can find them there, unfortunately, seems to me there are almost TOO many July 08 threads! Best for sharing your experiences if you're all kind of gravitated around one. But, we're here to answer any questions you might have.

The internet.... a BIG advantage to these times in which we live. Applebee's, as well as most of the other big "chain" restaurants, post their menu online. If I know I"m going somewhere like that to eat, I go online and check out the menu beforehand. You can see the nutritional info, calories, etc. and plan what you're going to order ahead of time. Last month we were going to Red Robin with a large group of people. So that's what we did. They have a TERRIBLE menu.... everything is high fat, high calorie. But we were able to find a grilled chicken breast meal that fit the bill and that's what I ordered. If you're prepared ahead of time, you won't be so likely to fall to temptation when you're sitting there staring at that menu. Good to hear everything went well. You're on your way to a healthier you!!