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If you are looking at my weight loss, I forgot to tell you that I lost 18 pounds on my own before starting Optifast.

I have just finished a 21-week program on Optifast, 14 weeks of 800 calorie of shakes and nothing else. I had weeks where I even gained weight or only lost .2 pounds. Just hang in there. You might not be losing water weight but you are losing body fat. Were you told that you need to drink at least 64 ounces of water a day in addition to the shakes. Very important to dropping those pounds.

I was told by my doctor that Medicare doesn't do pre-approval. They decide whether to approve or not after you have the surgery. But their medical necessity rules are pretty slack. My doctor just sent paperwork to my secondary insurance to get their approval.

So sorry, Jessica. I can only imagine your disappointment. I officially ended my 21-week Optifast program at the hospital today. I did this on my own - not a requirement for surgery that is. I lost another 3.1 pounds this past week. I am so excited. I still plan on dieting on my own until I go on my cruise on the 24th of November for 8 days. I have my pre-op appointment the day after I get home from the cruise, start my pre-op the next day, and two days later have surgery. I am so glad my doctor only has a 2-day pre-op regimen of Clear liquids. I drank nothing but liquids for 14 weeks - not one bite of food. At least I am expecting my 3 weeks of liquids for post-op will be much easier from those 14 weeks. At least I think I have learned how to separate head hunger from actual hunger. Welcome aboard, MissSac.

congrats on your surgery, Speechpath. Glad to hear you are doing well. I hope I will do so in December.

BTW, I will be banded in Atlanta.

Congratulations to you both on both your surgeries and your weight losses this far. I wish mine were over. I have a question for you Nip. What kind and how much hernia repair did he have to do? Did it require more time in hospital? I have an abdominal hernia and a hiatal hernia and was wondering how this would affect everything. On the main page, keep scrolling down til you find the monthly support groups thread. Open it up and scroll down to October 07. Open it up and you are there.

Endodoc, what protein shake/s did you like?

Another December banding here. Remember to check in at December07 group under Monthly support groups. I have been undergoing the Optifast diet since the beginning of June on my own prior to seeing the surgeon. I have been successful so far but know I couldn't keep it off. I drank nothing but shakes for 14 weeks and have slowly been reintroducing food over the past 6 weeks. I will end the diet next week but I plan to keep on dieting on my own until surgery. I will be accountable only to myself but I will be attend the support group for after-Optifast until surgery.

Sorry, I thought that was pre-approval not prior approval.

The only thing I have had to pay for so far was the dietition ($85). BC/BS picked up everything else for me.

What do you mean by prior approval?

Sorry you didn't get to hear Dr. Steinberg much but as I told you it was a toss-up on which one I would use. They assist each other during the surgery. I know Dr. Menacherry will be assisting in my surgery. There is a lot to do and it gets very frustrating at times but don't give up. It does all work out in the end. I didn't need a referral either since I have the PPO but I did need a letter of clearance from my PCP. And as I said she had me go to a cardiologist for a stress test before approving me for surgery. She said my EKG and echocardiogram were normal but my heart hadn't been tested under heavy physical activity in years due to my bad knees and she wanted to make sure that there was no blockage that would cause a problem in surgery. It was a chemical stress test and I passed with flying colors. Feel free to ask any questions that I may be able to answer. Shirley

Forgot to say - Good Luck on you new adventure. It's a roller coaster of a ride, just hang on to your hat. It will be worth the effort at the end.

After the seminar you are to call and set up your first appointment with Dr. Steinberg or Dr. Menacherry, whichever you prefer. I personally had a hard time making up my mind between the two. Both will talk at the seminar. At that first appointment he gives you a list of things to do before a second appointment - dietition, psychiatrist, pulmonologist, primary care physician. He will give you a list of doctors you have to get approval from but you can go to anyone you like. I also had to see a cardiologist at the recommendation of my PCP. He also wants all of the insurance paperwork prepared. After insurance approval, I went in for my second appointment with him to sign my consent form and had to have an upper GI done and if needed, a gall bladder scan. I had my gall bladder removed so I didn't have to have the scan I saw Dr. Ritz in Tucker- the psychiatrist on his list who also leads the bariatric support group I went to the South Eastern Lung Care in Decatur - pulmonologist on his list I went to Holly Dobson - the dietician on his list at DeKalb Medical My first appointment with Dr. Steinberg was Sept. 5, insurance approval on Sept. 12, second appointment on October 5 and surgery date on October 10. Hope this helps - ask away From your PCP you will need a letter of recommendation and clearance for surger - you will need a TSH (thryroid test).

The gal that handles insurance at my doctor's office called BC/BS. She said that they told her that I didn't need approval but it wouldn't hurt to send in my paperwork anyway. She did and in less than a week I got an approval letter from them. They forwarded it to the doctor also. They state that they require precertification before any hospital stay so why wouldn't they need to see your paperwork. I am a little different as BC/BS is my secondary insurance.

I am being banded on Dec. 6. I will be on liquids for 3 weeks and mushies for 3 weeks (my doctor's protocol). So I will not be on food for Christmas. Not a big deal to me. The holidays are about family and friends anyway, not the food. You can still go through all the tradition feeling good that you are not gaining weight that you will have to turn around and lose. Think about it anyway.

I have BC/BS Federal Employee program as my secondary insurance. Medicare is my primary. I received BC/BS approval in less than a week.

I have chosen Dr. Steinberg and Dekalb Medical for my surgery. I attended seminars both at Emory and DeKalb and was very impressed with the latte one. I had a hard time choosing between Dr. Steinberg and Dr. Menacherry. Dr. Menacherry will be assisting Dr. Steinberg for my surgery.

I haven't gone to any of their support meetings yet but plan to after surgery. Right now I attend a support group with my Optifast diet at Emory.

Hi Kathy. My name is Shirley and I live in Lilburn. Who is doing your surgery? I am having mine done by Dr. Scott Steinbert at DeKalb Medical Center.

The doctor said he would do surger with up to 60 BMI. As you can see mine was much higher and I got it under before I ever went for my first appointment. I am going to try to get it as low as I can before surgery. I have 1 1/2 weeks to go to totally transition from liquid Optifast to real food. I have continued to lose weight in the process. I ate 3 meals a day last week plus 2 liquid snacks and still lost 2 pounds. This week I dropped one shake and replaced the snack with a milk exchange - in my case yogurt.

I checked out two different doctors and hospitals for lap band surgery and found no restrictions as to age. I turned 66 this past Friday and will be having surgery on December 6. I too have bad knees and have been using a scooter for 2 years. I have already dropped 64 pounds by dieting since February - aggressively since June 1 on Optifast. As you can see I have a long way to go yet. I am very thankful that I am healthy and have no chronic disease problems.

Does Dr. Steinberg/Menacherry give you anything for nausea? I read on another thread about a nausea bracelet. Also, what kind of post-op instructions did you get and what can I expect the morning of surgery? Sorry for all the questions.

I was told that any pill larger than a birth control pill could not be taken whole. However, you have to ask your doctor what pills can be crushed as all pills cannot be, especially any of those that are timed released.