MaybeBanding26

i look forward to low carbing with the band (my date is january 18th) because i know when i get in ketosis normally, i have NO appetite. im hoping i wont have to experience "bandster hell" by doing this. since protein and calcium are the most important things (as i understand it) it seems that lap banding and low carbing are a match made in heaven....

oh good, thanks for the response!

i am such a flurry of emotions right now i cant even describe it...i believe i have just shut down! lol they wanted to schedule me for next week, but i have a very high BMI and i need my two week liquid diet! i wanna come out of there safely. i am, with the help of the search function on the forums, compiling my list of stuff to get. im gonna take two weeks off work and if i dont have to leave the house at all, that would be awesome! Quick question for the post bandsters... did any of you have a low-to-the-ground platform bed? and if so, did that present any problems? i took the platform base out of mine so my matress is essentially on the floor inside a frame at the moment....i dont generally have any problems getting into and out of bed, but i am considering sleeping on my super comfy sofa for a few days after surgery. do you guys think that might be necessary? just something i was thinking about....thanks!

very very good luck, melzie! im starting next week, myself...im thinkig about not really buying anything extra for my pre-op since i have tons of Protein shakes sitting around the house and a giant box of medifast stuff.

okay, so i definitely had to google pickwickian syndrome! for a minute i thought you just made that up! lol...its very interesting! i have those symptoms, but i didnt get diagnosed or anything with all my pre-op testing. my arterial blood gas was good. my O2 levels were good and i passed the pulmonary function test with no problems. thats strange right? i do have sleep apnea...pretty severe actually. and ive been really lazy about using my cpap. but im definitely going to be using it regularly now that i have surgery on the way...i most definitely wish to survive this surgery.

i just found out today and my date is the same as yours! i also have aetna, but i did the full six month waiting period, and then some! i couldnt lose any weight for like 4 months....probably because i was so stressed with grad school. but as soon as it was over, i lost 20 pounds in a month! i was annoyed with the waiting period back in january, but im kinda glad i had it now. im glad i could spread out all those dr. appointments. the pulmonary function test was the worst one for me...that arterial blood gas hurt SO BAD! and ive never been afraid of needles either...that just traumatized me! once i got everything in, i was approved within a week. but that was the week of Christmas, so i didnt get my date til today! lol...i have a BMI over 60 (i think) but my only co-morbidity is sleep apnea. and pcos, but i dont think they count that. they should, though! i was glad for all the tests and super glad they came back okay....ive always avoided finding some things out. but my biggest surprise was that my cholesterol is perfect!

congrats!! i found out on wednesday (dec 22nd) and am planning to call my docs office tomorrow to get my date! im glad you posted this...i need a list too. im hoping for january 19th.

im super psyched and super nervous! i dont have a date yet, but im looking at mid-to-late january....i suppose i better go buy my supplies!

did you click one of those links and get the two weeks free? no catch? no strings?

anyone use this for pre-op dieting?? im not in the mandatory liquid diet phase yet, but i do have to lose some weight before surgery. im honestly sick of food at the moment and am thinking about doing medifast...i did it a few years ago and i think it was successful

thanks for your input folks! i was wondering if anyone has ever used one of these ads that offers two weeks free for medifast??? im super wary of clicking random ads, but it pops up a lot cuz apparently google ads has figured out that im fat.

wow, i totally missed this thread. woops!

wow, sandi you rule! i am just in the beginning of the banding process and i weigh a bit more than you did when you started, but ive had bouts of being a workout junky and i can talk about what i was doing then (and what i will be doing in the weeks to come so i can lose weight before surgery) i hate cardio, i do as little as i can get away with. generally i will do 30-45 minutes monday, wednesday, friday. then do weights tuesday, thursday, saturday...alternating upper body and lower body. that has worked extremely well for me in the past. for cardio i do the stationary bike or the treadmill. i hate them both, but cardio is necessary. sometimes i do aerobics classes (hip hop and kickboxing) and i really love jumping rope. i have a great jumprope that has weighted handles and helps to tone your arms and such...

im actually a therapist myself....they wont be able to give me the MMPI! lol im not too worried about it though. hopefully, by the time i have the psych consult i will have found myself a new therapist.

thanks!:laugh::smile2:

seems like i should change my screenname :biggrin: i went to the seminar at the end of last month and just had my first appointment with the surgeon today. i also found out my weight and it was NOT pretty....he thinks that people my size should go gastric bypass, but ive been researching and reading for over two years now and i know what im getting into. i want the band. one thing that struck me was that he was almost incredulous that my cholesterol was good! he was like, "wow! how'd you do that?!?!" as if i had some magical technique! lol he was also pretty surprised that im not diabetic (i had blood tests that my PCP had done and i brought them with me) anyone else ever get doctors surprised that they dont have MORE stuff wrong with them?? i mean, i have PCOS and a BMI of like 65. isnt that enough!?! so, obviously im going to need to lose weight. i have aetna, so they say that i need 6 months supervised by my PCP or 3 months supervised by the multidisciplinary surgical team. my doc said, lets see what you can do in three months and we'll revisit. i think thats pretty fair. so, now i have to kick it into gear and do all those things that i know work but have been ignoring thus far. gotta buy some new gym sneakers!

i completely understand. my mother knows and a couple of my closer friends know. and my boss, because i was telling her that i would need time off. plus she's nosey, but i also consider her a friend. but i mean, other than that, who else NEEDS to know? i understand not wanting to be dragged down by other people's negativity. especially with the ridiculous notion out there that surgery is "the easy way out" <insert huge eye roll> once youve made your decision and youre going to do it and you know what could happen from your research, what you need is support. the last thing you need is to have to defend your decision to someone who, frankly, didnt need to know about it in the first place. im not "keeping it secret" but im also not renting billboard space.

my my, that is thorough! thanks! where does one find a good stomach binder?

my doctor explained to me that with the RNY you will lose about 50-75% of your excess weight, whereas with the band you will only lose about 40-60%. but these are all generalities and he has seen people both excel and fail with both surgeries. he said that for someone with a bmi as high as mine, he generally thinks the RNY is the better choice but he isnt pressuring me or anything. besides, i met a woman at the seminar who had a bmi of about 60 and she is in her 60s and in 1.5 years she's lost about 135 lbs. it works if you work it.

holy crap! 4 months?!!? that is amazing! congratulations!

its good to see high BMI people doing well and losing. i finally got weighed and i am 454 and 5'10...so according to my handy dandy wheel, i am around 65 BMI. i met with the surgeon today and he says because im a "volume eater" and not someone with a sweet tooth or something of that nature, that the band may still work well for me. he told me about another patient who had the band and only lost like 3 pounds over the course of 6 months because she keeps eating stuff thats not good for her but slides right through the band (i.e. milkshakes) but anywho...thanks for the updates!

would you mind posting the list of what you have thus far?

i went to my seminar a week or two ago and they have a $350 program fee. it covers the dietician appts and the mandatory psych eval. and i think a couple of other things that i cant remember.

ive been hearing a lot that once youve been banded, after a few months your hair starts to fall out....does that happen to most people or is it rare? also, why do you think that happens? is it a Vitamin deficiency or something of that nature? just wondering!

as im reading through the boards, im seeing that lots of people have had, or are having tummy tucks after theyve lost the majority of their weight. is this an inevitability? im especially interested in those with a BMI over 50, as i am in that boat, but i would like to hear from everyone. :smile2: