phyllser

Is this the thread where we were discussing pills and how to get them down?? I had my 2nd fill yesterday and this morning, I was fine after a very small bowl of cream of wheat, and then I took my pills! I think I'd be okay with just my prescription meds, but those vitamins!! I have a multivitamin, vitamin b complex, cranberry capsule and the worst... fish oil capsule. No more fish oil capsules! Since I took the vitamins I'm feeling sick to my stomach. It seemed like it was all caught up in my throat for a while. That has eased some now, but still feeling sickish! Yesterday I bought Centrum Silver Chewables. I think I'll go back to those so I can eliminate that other multivitamin. I DO eat a lot of fish so if I can't find a liquid fish oil capsule I'm going to forget about that one! It's just too big. I was surprised to see I had a little over 1100 calories yesterday on mostly liquids. It seemed like I was hungry all day and had very little to eat. But the calorie count says I shouldn't have been hungry. I did lose 1/2 lb. since yesterday though! Hope everyone is having a GREAT DAY!!

Hi, Carol, I started my pre-op diet drinking SlimFast in the morning, usually a salad at lunch time and small meal at dinner.... meat, veggie. Then I found a protein powder at Costco that I liked so I started using that instead... fewer calories, more protein. I was eating between 500-800 calories a day. Yes, it was to shrink the liver. And my BMI was over 60 and my doctor frowns on doing surgery on patients with 60+ BMI. I searched on the internet for bariatric surgeons certified as "Center of Excellence" affiliated. Then I started making phone calls to see who would take Medicare and how long the wait was. Someone posted that Medicare had refused to pay their hospital bill because it wasn't an overnight stay. So far, I have only had to pay $202 and I think that was for the dietary consult. My surgery was 7/20, so I'm thinking that if anything was refused I would've received a statement or bill by now.

Had to do a pre-op diet as doctor wanted me to lose 10% of my body weight. Took me about 6 weeks to lose 20# and doctor agreed to give me a surgery date. I didn't have to do many of the preliminaries others have had to do... sleep study, psych eval, cardiac work up... none of that I already had a CPAP from previous sleep study, had a cardiac workup within a year and psych wasn't required, so just a dietary consult, which I was told Medicare wouldn't pay for. I've only had about $200 out of pocket expenses so far.

I've heard there's a fill center in Arlington. Is that too far for you?? http://www.northwestfills.com/ There may be others. I did a search on Fill Centers USA and Pocatella Idaho was the closest to my zip code! I live in Everett.

OH, we're both having our 2nd fill on the same day. I don't have any dietary restriction before the fill, just full liquids for a day afterward and then a day of mushy. The rain was not as bad as predicted, so I shouldn't complain. The football game... well, I'd hoped for better! The Seahawks have been doing so well this season... until today! I have a "Fantasy" team, too, in my grandson's Fantasy Football league! Seahawk Shaun Alexander is one of my players, so besides the Seahawks loss, he sure didn't get me any points today!! And my grandson tried to get me to trade him for another player last week. I wouldn't do it because they player he wanted to give me was injured! I probably would've done just as well with him as it turned out! Oh, well! Maybe next week will be better. Hope all goes well for you tomorrow. We'll have to compare notes at the end of the day. I have either 3 or 4cc in my 11 cc band so far. My doctor uses fluoroscopy to do his fills and still had a hard time finding my port last month!

Welcome, Elaine! We are glad to have you join us here. My surgery was July 20 and I'm down almost 40 lb. I will be 64 next month. I use an electric scooter a lot of the time because of bad arthritis in my knees. I have been working very hard at extending my walking distance since surgery. I'm hoping when I get some more weight off I can get my left knee worked on.. probably replacement is necessary but I haven't seen an orthopedic doctor in several years. Keep up the good work!

Welcome to this thread. I will try to help you find it again more easily: Across the top of this thread you'll see some headings, one of which is "Thread Tools". If you click on that, you'll see an option that says "Subscribe to This Thread". Click on that and in the future, you should get an email whenever there is a new post on that thread. Some say they don't always get the emails, so I'm not sure exactly how that works, but even if you don't get the emails, once you are subscribed to a thread, you can go to the home page and click on "Quick Links" and then go to "Subscribed Threads" for the list of the threads you've subscribed to. I am Medicare, on disability, also. I had a difficult time finding a doctor and facility who were "Center of Excellence" and who would take me without a lengthy waiting list. I had my first consult in early May and my surgery July 20th.

WOW!! That's great! :clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2: I wish I could walk more! Four Miles is really good! Hmmm.. I was feeling good because I didn't take my scooter to church this morning!! Shame on me! Left knee hurts with every step, though. Hope to get that fixed in the spring when we get back from PS!

:update: Well, the scale hasn't been moving dramatically lately... moving, but so slowly! So I decided to update my measurements today. I hadn't taken them since not long after the start of my pre-op diet. It was encouraging! I've lost 6 inches in my hips, 12/ inch - neck, 2 inches - bicep, 3 1/2 inches - bust, 4 1/2 inches - waist. Trying to remember the questions: I have an 11 cc band and my first fill, Sept. 24th, if I remember correctly, the doctor added 3 cc. I go back tomorrow morning and I'm hoping for another fill. I've lost about 4 lb. in the four weeks since the first one, so I don't think I have enough restriction. I can eat about 1 - 1 1/2 cups at a meal. I have a hard time feeling where my port is and the doctor had some difficulty finding it at the first fill, even using fluoroscopy. He said it is very deep. I have very rare episodes of brief discomfort in that area. It was a little tender after the first fill from all the poking around. It is a dark, dreary, cold and rainy Sunday afternoon here in the Pacific NW and the Seahawks got pummeled today, so I'm trying to keep my spirits UP!! :faint::doh: :umbrella::rain::rain::rain::umbrella:

You're right!! I don't really miss the Diet Coke at all so it would be really dumb to try it again. I'm sort of hooked on Crystal Lite now. I like the Albertson's brand, too. Can't really tell the difference and its usually on sale 2/$5 which is way cheaper than Crystal Lite. They just don't have many flavors in the Albertson brand. And they don't have the little boxes of "On the Go" Crystal Lite which is really handy when you're --- ON THE GO~!! I like my Crystal Lite a little diluted. Mixed according to their directions it's a little too sweet. So I put one of those little "On the Go" tubes in my 24 oz. water bottle and its just about right. We stayed at our daughter's last night & I forgot to bring some with me so now I'm stuck with plain water until we get home this afternoon. It cuts down on my fluid intake because I'm not a big water drinker.

Hi, Judie, I will be 64 the end of Nov. I had my band surgery in July. I don't regret the decision for a minute. Things have gone quite smoothly thus far. I have my second fill on Monday. I was down almost 40 lb., then went on a week long trip to visit family and regained 5 lb. Have gotten most of that off this week, though. Its slow but steady progress.

Okay, food Cop!! No Diet Coke!! I did enjoy a couple of Cosmopolitans last week in Buffalo. I only intended to have one! But then my brother-in-law ran in to a friend from work who "insisted" on buying us another round so how could I refuse!! Anyway, it helped to keep me from punching out my Uncle Ed! He is so obnoxious & I have to put up with him because he LIVES with my mother!! He's my Dad's younger brother. He & my mother "fell in love" after my Dad died and now we're stuck with Uncle Ed!! He gets really rude to my DH quite often and he did it again last week for no reason so I was not feeling very gracious towards him. The Cosmopolitans helped smooth our last evening together!! I promise...NO MORE! My DH lets me have about 2-3 oz of wine each afternoon... although I didn't get any today!! boo hoo

Great Progress! Hope the rest of the process goes smoothly and quickly for you. Congrats on the 43 Years. We celebrated our 43rd in August. :clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2:

Uh-oh!! you're tempting me to try my Diet Coke again!! :phanvan

Have a great time in PS & don't worry about the kids! They'll be fine! Enjoy yourselves. PS is wonderful. I LOVE it!! I can't wait to get back down there. We head that way in our RV in about a month.

Oh, My! That sounds awful. Don't know how you are managing two jobs and then being sick on top of it! Hope you can get some rest and get well.

You are so right, Janet, and we NEED you cheering us on. I tried to find that little icon with the angel whispering in one ear and the devil in the other for my last post but I couldn't find it. I was sure there was one there!! My DH was having lunch with some old AF/Boeing cronies, so I had him drop me off at the mall so I could shop. Of course, I was starving by the time I got there after a 4 oz. Protein shake for breakfast around 8am. So I looked for the food court. There is none!! They took it away in January, my daughter told me later. So my choices were few... Orange Julius, a hamburger joint, Rainforest Cafe and that was about it. So I took myself to the Nordstrom's Cafe!! I had a small cup of Tomato Basil Soup and 1/2 turkey sandwich garnished with a little tiny salad. I ate the insides of the sandwich and left the bread, ate the soup and the salad and part of a small piece of toast. I was happy with myself because it was tempting to just go to Orange Julius and get a chili dog, or go to the hamburger joint. It cost me a little more, but I'm WORTH IT!! :decision: I FOUND IT!!

:clap2:I like that... Indio on your shoulder!! And she's chanting, "NO MORE DONUTS!! NO MORE DONUTS!!"

Yes, we did get back from Buffalo... very late Saturday night. The return trip was very pleasant. Short flight on a small jet to Atlanta and then we had three seats from Atlanta to Seattle. I watched a movie and then played alot of Trivia on their computer system. And, we seem to still be on Eastern time! I am a NIGHT person but I'm falling asleep in my chair by 9pm, wide awake at 6am, hungry for dinner at 3pm!! Only took about a day to adjust to Buffalo time but now can't seem to get back on Pacific time! Anyway, I gained 5# my week in Buffalo. I think a lot of it is fluid retention. I was down 1 1/2 # this morning. Ankles, feet, legs still swollen but going down. It was so humid there and then there was all that eating out! I made good choices, but too much sodium, I'm sure. I only ate fried fish the first day there. Then broiled.. scallops a couple of times. Neither of us has gotten sick so far!! Knock on wood!! My sister was SOOOO sick with the flu! Sore throat, congested, sneezing, choughin AND throwing up, diarrhea. She was sick for three full days! But it was almost a week ago now so maybe we managed to escape it! Congrats, Lynette!! You're doing great! I have my 2nd fill one week from today. DH and I renewed our TOPS membership today (Take Off Pounds Sensibly). I've been a member over 15 years and have yo yoed the entire time! I like the weekly accountability so thought it would be a good thing to get back in the swing of those weekly weigh ins & meetings. We have a group in CA that we go to in the winter, too.

Janet, You always have lots of "words of wisdom" for all of us and I know we all get inspiration from them. That's what this board is all about... sharing our thoughts, experiences, ups & downs. We provide encouragement, comfort, etc. for each other as well as cheering each other on... we can do this together!! Yes, looking forward to meeting you, too! I am so ready for CA! One more month before we head south. Now, everyone say a prayer for our travel day today. I am nervous because my sister that I'm staying with has had the flu this week. I am so paranoid about getting sick and throwing up, and especially today... on airplanes all day. Every time I feel a little gurgle in my stomach I think I'm getting it!! And she has a cold on top of the intestinal flu she had! Yikes!! :plane:

Trying to keep up with the posts by logging on once or twice a day! A challenge! This is our last night in Buffalo. Flying home to Seattle tomorrow afternoon. I will be glad to get back home and back to more normal eating patterns! Too much eating out here with family! Tonight we had 20 people out for fish fry! That was after spending the afternoon at the casino! I broke even! I will be afraid to get on the scale when I get home. Not only all the eating out, but very swollen legs & feet and all day on airplanes tomorrow!! Ugh! Hoping to upgrade to first class with some of our mileage for the Atlanta-Seattle flight! Good to get all your news & updates! Janet, you are a whiz kid! Keeping on top of everything & everyone!

Thanks! And I hope the scale is good to me when I get home!! Too much FAMILY here & everyone wants to go out to eat! Twice today! But... tomorrow the slots! You're doing great! It was exciting to get in to Twoterville or whatever it is they call it! And then I went under 290, but afraid I may be back up now. Two more days and we go home!! Back to normal eating patterns! CHIM: I was waiting for your comments on the BODY BUGG!!

I've heard of that town. So, down near Olympia maybe? South end of Puget Sound, probably. We have four "kids", ten grandkids, a couple of "step-grandkids", and three "step-great-grandkids"!! Great for making you feel real old! Our grandkids are spread out from 2-19 yrs, and I am enjoying still having little ones around. That's one of the main reasons we recently moved back to WA. They're fun!

Hi, Don, Good progress! I am Medicare and Tricare for Life and so far just have $202 to pay... can't remember what it was that wasn't covered, but I'm not complaining. I think it was the dietary consult. I was told ahead of time that Medicare doesn't cover that. And then a few weeks ago, I found out that Tricare doesn't cover this procedure at all! I always say "APPEAL" because I used to work as a pre-cert nurse (RN), but, I don't think you can argue with the government when THEY say its not a covered benefit! Oh, well! I expect i'll end up with a few hundred in bills, but that's okay! We were married 43 yrs last month! Congratulations!