StacieM

Hey we started a Aug bandsters thread in the Intro section, come join us.

Hi there, I am not banded yet, but read SO MUCH and I have seen where other people do get some saline at banding time. I think that it differs from surgeon to surgeon and patient to patient. Have a lil faith, the doctor's that can use the lap band are trained and should know how to "install" them and operate them. Maybe do search or start a new thread with a poll about others having saline in at time of banding. Jsut don't panic yet it won't do any good. Good luck. PS... I know it's not easy to get a new doc no matter where banded.. but don't give up if you want to find another keep searching, calling and you will find someone. Good luck.

Welcome and good luck. I am getting banded in Aug... I love this site it gives more info (good and bad) and entertains me as well. (Some crazy arguements on here its like a soap opera) Research and ask as much as you can... it helps.:clap2:

Ba Donk... I can only tell you what my experience is the past few days... my neighbor and CLOSE friend is an OR nurse who had a baby in FEB and still looks 8 months pregnant, she did Weight Watchers about 2 years ago (when I was pregnant) and now has to start all over. It took her 2 years to get 40 pounds off and is so upset with how people treat her with looking pregnant still... SHE IS 100% against me. She thinks I am not big enough... trust me I am. She is going to see the surgeon with me (only cause she works with him and can intimidate him.. lol) but still doenst agree and makes comments al lthe time.. .I ingnore her... our other friend... she is saying if it works she can guarnetee her husband will be begging her for one... my brother who I thought would laugh and tell me I am wasting my money and time... he is all for it... wants me to be happy and healthy. Other friends, skinny and overweight think I am nuts, so I stopped sharing. When i am ready i might tell... but my point.. don't expect everyone to be ok with your choice but don't worry it's not their choice and its your body....

Lisa I understand the panic of surgery.. .I am a single mom and OMG if something happened to me then what??? BUT if I have a heart attack, ot ended up in a diabetic coma cause of my health then what for my kids? This surgery is safer than the what could bes... and so I am putting my faith in helping myself... so when it comes to panic... panic only if you don't get to do this... oh and I did jsut have shoulder surgery 5 weeks ago.. I really know the panic... knee surgery is next if I dont loose weight and repair my knee... Good luck!!

Pam.. someone with the same ideas as me... I am 5-9 almost 5-10 and 252. I was 165-170 when I graduated and wow would I love to be there again.. and I was the big girl then. I will take big girl over giant momma anyday. My mom was 5-10 and 140 all my life and she was so thin. I am aiming for 16 and if lucky 165... good luck!

My first though when I read this, is great, no time to think bad, not as much time to worry and just getting it over with while you are still in the excitement page. Just go get all you need for pre and post op and jump in... I am jealous. A few days of Protein liquid, a few days to get it together and BAM... can we trade I don't want to wait anymore! GOOD LUCK... can't wait to hear about your expereince. {{{{HUGS}}}}

Ok by no means do I know all of this I can only told you what I have read and what I have learned. First of all, whether you use him as a doctor or not Dr Ortiz has a lap band surgery book that is great to read... check it out it's on Amazon.com. Anyways... 1. insurance... don't know cause mine won't cover. 2. People always treat people different when they change. I think you wil lfind ALOT of positive but be prepared for some people not accepting the new you. Jealousy is out there and unfortunately alot of negativity too. But this has to be about you and not others. I worry more about how my weight affects my kids rather than my brother or friends. (Although making my ex a lil jealous will be nice) 3. Alcohol... from what I read it does differ person to person. Beer is usually a no no cause of the carbonation and the high calories. Many bottled drinks now have carbonation so be careful. Erosion would suck. The other big issue with alcohol is the calories.. empty calories that slide right through. I heard a glass of wine is ok, or even on the rocks. No rum and cokes or mixed carbonation drinks. Personally I will want to celebreate with a glass of bubbly but that will be at goal and hopefully I can handle a lil carbonation then. Drinking too much is just not a great idea when investing so much into the new you... 4. skin... again differs from person to person.. .but one of the reasons i prefer LB over GB is the slower rate of weight loss allows your body to adjust better and less of a chance in needing plastic surgery. It also depends on how much you loose and how you feel about whats left. I am getting a breast aug cause they are big, and after breastfeeding they SAG big time. I am getting them reduced and lifted. They are my best bodily feature and when I loose weight I want them tip top shape. Kinda nervous about Tummy tuck, but a friend just had one (no WLS) and she recovered well.. and looks great. So hmmm maybe, but BA first. Ok hopw this helps, and remember I am not banded yet, just reading everything I can about it so answering what I know. Good luck... keep reading and ASK all you think of.

Rhonda39... welcome... I wish you the best. What part of Cali are you in? I am in LA... did they give you a timeline as to how long the process will take? Do you mind me asking your BMI and any other problems you have? Are you confident your insurance should cover it? Well I look foward to talking to you more as we all go through this process. I did read about you 10% weight loss... funny thing... I ended up putting on 5 pounds to try and get covered... they wanted 25 more pounds... then I would have to loose it to have surgery.. SO STUPID!

Welcome, I wish you the best. When will you get your surgery date? And where are you having surgery and with whom?

Ok fellow Augies... I got a new date and a new plan. Originally I was going to have Dr. Ortiz do my surgery but now Dr Owens (local Doc) is going to do it for me on August 7th... here is the kicker, he does surgery in MX himself, with Dr Lopez assisting him at hospital Angeles. I have all my preop apts set for July 12th, which is when he will give me the diet and go over everything else. I wanted to see him like tomorrow but he is a very busy man and has many surgeries to schedule. I am getting the best of both worlds as a self pay, I only pay $9000, have my surgery in MX, a 2 hour drive, stay the night and come home the next day, get all my aftercare 10 minutes from my house here in the states and all fills included for a year. I like my deal... I feel like i should start to accumulate all the neccessities for pre and post op care. I already got the Tylenol liquid adult strength... but will I be jinxing myself by getting the gas x and other things now? I keep waiting for my fear to set it, right now i am so excited. Most of my friends think i am nuts, but yet the person i thought who would not support me but is 100% behind me is my brother. Of coarse he is the one who has made the most fun of my weight for YEARS. I haven't even told most of my friends and the ones who do know (select few) will go nuts about my surgery being in MX. Although one friend was just looking into the lap band today and when she mentioned it to me today I told her and now she is excited. She is letting me be the guniea pig and might do it afterwards! Kinda cool in a way... Ok going to try and sleep tonight instead of obsessing over the board tonight and tryin to learn it all!!

I am not sure where you are in LA, but check out Coastal Center for Obesity, Gastric Bypass and Lapband Weight Loss Surgery in Los Angeles and Orange County, California Dr. Owens is who I am going with, but there is a kicker. Locally he charges $17,000 out of pocket expenses... but he does go to Mexico to do the procedure, then he follows you here in LA ( I am using his San Pedro Office) and does all your fills here. Fills teh first year are free and total cost with the MX (By him mind you) is $9,000. And you don't have to stay the extra day in MX cause he comes back to the area the same day as you and you can follow up with him here if there are any problems. Their site didn't advertise this option, but when I asked if he would do fills for MX patients they called me and talked to me about this... much better for me.

First of all people travel around the world for the surgeon they want so 3 1/2 hours is nothing. You need to feel comfortable with your surgeon bottom line. :humble: I wish you best of luck with the psych... remember don't let all you alternate personalities out they don't like that LOL...:loco: I have not actually put my goal down yet but now is a good time. :confused:I am at 252 right now and first major goal is under 200. After that my big goal is 175... now if I can get down to somewhere between 155-165 that would be so freaking AWESOME. :clap2: I was and still am athletic and have lots of muscle still. I am broad so I will never be tiny. So if I can loose 80 pounds life is grand. What are you most nervous about right now?:cry Ok so I just found all the smileys.. watch out I am bored.. and its :scalesno: :hungry: or :cocktail:

Amy welcome and good luck. Remember you did it once, you did it twice three times in the charm!!

Serena thank you so much. I did spend awhile today on the phone with my insurance and could get no where as to their "guidelines" or requirements. I was told however to just have my doctor submit anyways and called and asked his office to do so. I hope he does. I thought about asking his office for the "info" they have but figure it would come with the denial letter. I did argue the fact that without allowing me to submit I could not appeal. So hopefully I get somewhere with this. I am not sure how long it will take for my doctor to submit and for them to deny or approve, but I think i have to see the surgeon somewhere in this process. I am going to call his office tomorrow and see what they recommend. Oh and I will hold you to that persuasive letter.. .thanks... I know i will be mad and upset when writing it so I appreciate the help.

oneangel... welcome. I am 33 and a single mom and I so understand the importance of being around. I wish you luck. I am being banded this summer, just working out the details...

Ok well I am technically a self pay right now and the date chosen is Aug 2.. however I was able to talk my doctors office into still submitting to my insurance... they never submitted because the "guidelines" say I don'[t qualify. Well I had a long talk with my inusrance company and they claim it to be a case by case scenario so we are submitting. Now the date I chose is with Dr. Ortiz but I am considering Dr Owens/Dr Lopez where they do the surgery in MX and then I follow up in San Pedro (Part of LA) locally 10 minutes from my house). So we will see how that goes. if It does by my insurance it will still be Dr. Owens, which i Prefer. Ok so when and who for you?

Serena... what state do you live in? I live in Ca and have medicaid... my doctor told me after reading the requirements I don'r even qualify for submission... I thin kthat is wrong and need some help trying to convince them otherwise. I have a BMI of 37 and have lots of co-morbidities and BAD family history... they should at least consider me.:clap2:

Just have to say thanks to all the people posting on this thread. I have only been on here a few weeks and done a little posting. I have read some serious stuff, alot of help and sometimes I read too much. Last night I read some on the men's only and it was funny.. .BUt NOTHING BEATS THIS....you lightened me up, made me laugh and realized how real people are. I am not putting anyone down, picking on anyone or making fun of anyone. I am just thanking you for the fun reading....

MoonFlower... what di you find out about this union of doctors? I was told that Dr Lopez works with Dr Owens... were you looking at the lap bad or the Plastic surgery part... I am curious to know what you found out...

Ok that I can handle. I like coffee but I dont drink much of it, I like it too sweet. But I love crsytal light, so I will check into this cafeinated one today! THANK YOU.

Ok so I have been posting about two weeks (seems like a long time ago) but never erally introduced myself. My name is Stacie , I am a single mom of 3 beautiful children... and i am overweight. (That so sounds like an AA meeting). I am 5-10 and 252 (weighed today at PCP's office.). I was told today by my PCP that he tried to submit for WLS and according to my ins its BMI's of 40 or more only. I have CA state insurance (Medi-cal) so off to Dr. Ortiz in MX I go. Not worried about the MX part, i can deal with that. What I am really worried about is giving up my caffeine. I either get it in a form of soda or starbucks type drinks. I suffer SEVERLY from migraines and avoiding caffeine is like having unprotected sex and not ever wanting kids! i need it. So I am looking for some help as to what i can have... oh yeah.. .I don't do ice tea unless its presweetened already I just cant get it right. Flavor teas are cool... but most are caffeine free...HELP Ok lots more to come... hoping to get my surgery date for end of July beginning of Aug... will know any day here once I figure all the arrangements.

Being the ebayer I am I went there to go to their site and came across a great alternative. Ever been to the mall and seen those koisks that sell the photo engraved dog tags? Well you can get those made (in different styles and even colors to match) alot cheaper and they can fit quite a bit on them. It might even look less like a medical alert to the unknown eyes....

I just want to say thank you to all of you for these posts. I would have never thought of getting alert but see that it might be helpful!