BeckyinTexas

The first 6 months after I was banded, I counted calories and limited myself to 600 calories a day. Not much food, but I never got hungry so I didn't worry about it. That is until I had a seizure and was rushed to the hospital. After a lot of tests, the doctors determined I was starving myself and that brought on a seizure. But I didn't care because I had lost 100 pounds in 6 months. After another seizure and a lecture from my lap band doctor, I started following the rules. I never drink carbonated beverages but I never gave up caffeine. I don't drink with my meals at all. I wait for at least 30 minutes after a meal before I drink my beverage of choice...unsweet tea. I try and make good choices but to be honest, I pretty much eat what I want, it's just such small portions. There are a LOT of foods my band won't let me eat and fortunately, they are the foods I don't need. I can't eat pasta, rice, most fried foods and luckily for me, cake makes me sick every time I've tried it. Bread is pretty much a no-no for me, too. I can eat crackers and toast that borders on burnt occasionally. My down fall lately has been Bugles but I limit myself to 15 of then and that satisfies me. I have KFC once a week but instead of 4 or 5 pieces, I now eat a leg and I'm happy for another week. I have to admit, I must have gotten a lucky band since I've lost nearly 300 pounds in 3 years and have only had 3 fills. I'm scheduled for my 4th fill in 2 weeks because I now am getting hungry between meals. I still cant eat much and if I do, I pb like crazy. The one weakness I have is ice cream but I go with sugar-free and I can't tell the difference. All in all, my band makes most decisions for me and thank goodness, it's kept me on the right track! I'm still losing but at a much slower rate. I average about a pound a week but that's fine with me because I'm still losing something at least. Good luck and know that no matter how much weight you want to lose, you can and will do it with determination and some common sense.

I know how you feel to some extent as I was denied by my insurance company for a pannicolectomy after losing nearly 300 pounds. I went through a horrible depression for the last couple of weeks but now I'm kicking into fighting mode and planning on giving my insurance company as much grief as possible! I'm going to appeal out the wazoo or until they're so sick of my bugging them they'll approve my procedure. My denial was based on not enough documentation that it was a medical necessity. I don't know what more they need than my cronic rashes, yeast infections and killer back pains. I tell you what, let's both make our minds up to appeal the hell out of our insurance companies decisions and keep each other in our prayers. The lap band has given me my life back and I just hope and pray the same will happen for you. I keep telling myself that I didn't gain all the weight overnight and I didn't lose it overnight either so if I have to wait a while longer for my surgery...so be it. I just know I'm going to make it happen just as you will. One thing I'm going to do is go to my doctor every time I have a rash or infection and have it documented. Maybe the insurance company will get so tired of paying out money that way they'll approve me. I don't know much about the appeal process but I'll sure keep you posted on what I find out. Hang in there and let's both be determined to make this happen. Good luck and my prayers are with you!

Trust me, you have come to the right place to vent! Heaven knows I've done my share on here and it always seems to help me get it off my chest and someone always comes through for me with some words of encouragement and answers to any questions I might have. It sounds like you've been working with some incompentent people. I seriously doubt your doctors know what's been going on, but I'd darn sure make sure they found out. There was no excuse for the behavior of the nurse that told you to just go to any radiology department and get it done. I know what you mean about worrying about taking off work but depending on what you do for a living, you should be able to go back to work fairly soon after your surgery. I had mine done on a Friday and went back to work on Tuesday. I could have gone back Monday but I wanted to milk it one more day. But I have a job where it's mostly sitting, so that's why I went back to quickly. Plus like you, I didn't have that much time I could be away from work. I know you're discouraged right now but trust me, it'll be so worth it to you after you jump through all the hoops they're throwing at you. Good luck and I hope things from now on go a lot smoother for you! Hang in there cause it's really so worth it. I'm living proof that it can and does work! Note the word living...I wasted too many years of my life being fat and now I have my life back. Again, good luck!

Steph and Kat....yea for the flat belly!!!!!!! I so hope to get one soon. I have one question for y'all. After the surgery and they remove the excess skin, does it have any effect on the upper thighs? My insurance wouldn't cover that for sure and they are horrible so I'm just hoping that the pannicolectomy might help me there.

Thank you all so much for the suggestions and encouragement! I was so depressed this weekend and I felt totally helpless but since then, I'm getting back to my old fighting slef and UHC is going to get a run for their money! I made an appointment with a bariatric doctor so he can start documenting the problems that I'm having. All I have to do is lay off the Gold Bond powder for a day and the rash will be there with a vengance. Considering how hot and humid it gets here in Texas, the summer months probably will give me plenty of rashes to document. I also took someone's advice and contacting an attorney about the "obesity law" and what rights I might have under that. I haven't gotten any definitive answers from him yet, but I think he might be helpful with this. I had polio as a child and it affected my left leg and I've always walked with a limp. It's gotten worse now and one doctor said it most certainly could be from the weight of the extra skin but he failed to put that down on the letter he sent to UHC. That's something I'm going to bring to their attention. So, I'm in a much better frame of mind now that I'm trying to erase those pictures from my mind just as I plan to erase the results from my weight loss! Thanks again to everyone on here. All of y'all have never failed me even when I'm very discouraged. Y'all are the best!!!!!!

Steph....You look great!!!!!! I'm so happy for you and so proud of you. I have one question....did you get approved by your insurance company on your first try? I've been so down since I was denied but I'm ready to starting appealing their decision. What insurance company do you have? Wish me luck and again, you look so darn good!

Worked like a charm! I'm an now officially registered for the conference and I can't wait! I've told everyone that I'm going to be one of the success stories and I've had offers that they'd love to buy me a new killer outfit to wear on Sunday. I might just take them up on it, too. I'm really looking forward to this. Cher, if there's anything I can do to help you out, please let me know. I'm already getting excited and it's still a while until October. My goal is to get to my goal weight by then so this is just added incentive to make it happen.

Cher....I've tried clicking "Pay Now" on the link and it takes me to PayPal and nothing shows up. Am I doing something wrong? Thanks, Becky

My higgest weight was 469 and I'm only 5'2". Three years and 3 weeks after getting my lap band, I weigh 183 but I'm still only 5'2"! As for the hanging skin, not sure about teens, but I'd guess they'd have a better chance of it tightening up. Definitely try and have the surgery! Do it while you're young and don't wait until you're my age and regret losing so many years of your life because you missed out on so many things because of your weight. Good luck and just know you can do it!

Right now I don't think I have ever been so discouraged in my life. I received a copy yesterday of what the plastic surgeon submitted to my insurance company along with the pictures that I had done the day of my visit. I look in the mirror and it makes me sick at what I see but until I saw the pictures of myself, it hit me like a ton of bricks...my body is disgusting! I've never seen anything that looks as horrible as my body does. I've been up all night alternating between crying and thinking why in heaven's name did I ever let myself get to the point where I literally look like Jabba the Hut from Star Wars. I'm not sharing all this with you to try and make someone feel sorry for me, I'm just at a point right now where I half wish I'd never even lost all this weight because I feel more like a failure now than I did nearly 300 pounds ago. I'm scared right now because I just feel like saying I want to give up. I don't want to go through the rest of my life feeling like this. I recently met a man that is wonderful and tells me that my body is not what he cares about but he hasn't seen me without my clothes on. I can't even begin to think I could start an kind of relationship with him and not know that he'd be disgusted with how gross my body looks. I'm sitting here typing all this and I'm really not looking for sympathy, I just had to tell someone how I'm feeling and I know I'm telling people that can so relate to what I'm feeling right now. I honestly can't believe any so called doctor could look at the pictures that I looked at and say it isn't a medical necessity. They even sent pictures of me holding up my grotesque stomach so the open sores could be seen. I can't even begin to imagine what the hell does a medical necessity case look like if the poor person looks worse than I do. I'm sorry that I'm just rambling on and on about this but I'm really scared right now about how I'm feeling and I have to have someone to talk to that understands. I tried to talk to my sister last night but she doesn't understand at all. She told me to just be happy that I've lost so much weight and I'm healthier. I know that's true and I should just be thankful that the scales show a much smaller number but in my heart I know my body looks worse now than before. Again, I'm sorry that this is so long and I sound like a big cry baby but I'm honestly afraid about how I'm feeling right now. I literally don't know what to do but try and put my feelings down in here. I know before when I would get discouraged, this site and all the wonderful people on here have made me feel better and get over whatever was upsetting or concerning me but this is something different. There's no one else I can talk to besides y'all that even come close to understanding. Thank you all for letting me hopefully get some of this out of my system. I've got to snap out of how I'm feeling but after seeing the photos of myself, I think reality slapped me in the face. I'm really sorry to be such a mess right now but I just didn't know what else I could do but try and share what's going on inside my mind. If you've read this far, I'm really sorry for sounding so negative and I so don't want to be. I've tried so hard and it's not easy but now I feel like all my work has been for nothing. God, I'm even depressing myself more after rereading this but I feel like I HAVE to try and get this out of mind before I really start to lose it. I keep saying I'm sorry for asking anyone to read this, but I'm just hoping and praying that this feeling will pass soon! I wish to God I'd never seen the photos of myself because I think I actually had myself fooled into thinking I looked so good. The thought that keeps running through my head is why in the world did I ever let myself get to nearly 500 pounds? Thanks for letting me share this and I just pray that how I'm feeling right now passes soon because I hate feeling and thinking like this.

I have about 25 pounds of loose, hanging skin from my stomach and the only type of undergarment that I've found that help me conceal the best I can is a brand sold at WalMart called Cupid. I get the high top one that goes from just under my bra but doesn't have the extended leg. It's a panty type. This might sound gross, but I can tuck all the skin in and it doesn't start coming out like it did when I spent more money for some of the name brand types. Mine costs $8.86 and it works wonders for me! It's only when I take it off that reality hits and all my loose skin takes a nose dive.

Holy smoke, Mark! Way to go!!!!!!!! Us former big folks have sure shown people that no matter the amount of weight we need to lose...the band works! You are doing fantastic!

Steph....I'm so happy that things are going so well for you! Thanks again for all the encouragement that you've given me as well as inspiration to fight my insurance company tooth and nail to get them to change their decision so you, Kat and I can start up the new and improved 3 Muskeeters club. Again, I'm so happy and proud of you.

If anything I said inspires you Nora or anyone else.....that makes me feel good beyond belief! One of my goals is to show people that start out weighing as much as I did and people that weigh less that it most certainly can be done. I have a couple of stories I wanted to share...the first one....I worried about the saggy skin but I kept telling myself that if a man can come on the Maury Povich show and strap and tuck their bodies to make them look like women, heck, I could do the same thing! Bring on the tight fitting panties and if needed I'll just pull out the ole masking tape. So far, so good. I actually have found that even with the sagging skin, I look pretty darn good. I didn't know I actually had a figure besides round. The other story, when I came out of surgery, my family was there along with my Momma. She had the beginning stages of Alzheimers and got confused easily. She looked down at me and said, "Well good Lord, if you were going to have surgery to lose weight why in the heck didn't they cut more off you!" At the time it wasn't funny to me but now I think it's priceless. As MsTrina said...If I can do it, anyone can!

One more thing...the pain. there is some but it's honestly not that bad. The only pain I had after surgery was the gas pain and it only lasted a while. I had my surgery on a Friday and went grocery shopping on Sunday and then went to work on Tuesday. And I tend to be a bit of a wuss when it comes to pain but it really wasn't that bad for me. No matter what pain it might have been for me, it was nothing compared to my feet, legs, knees hurting every day lugging around all the weight I was carrying. I don't have that any more, thank goodness. Like I said, the pros most certainly outweigh the cons any time, hands down!

I think most everyone gets nervous and has second, third and even fourth thoughts about the lap band and how it will affect your life but trust me.....no matter what, it's so worth it!!!!!! I was freaked out on the morning of my surgery and started not to go and that's one decision that I'm glad I didn't make. Sure I've had to change the way I eat but whenever I have a craving for something even if it's not good for me, I eat whatever it is but with my band, I don't ever overeat. The protein shakes...I do them occasionally but not that often. I make sure I take my vitamins and I've done great. The saggy skin, you betcha there will be some. I have so much but hopefully someday I'll be able to have surgery to remove some of it. But the advantages that come along with the lap band far outweigh any of the disadvantages. Most people don't understand why we have to turn to the lap band to lose weight but we know why. We simply overeat and most of us can't control that. I know for sure that I couldn't. I told my doctor that he put the band around my stomach not my brain. I still think about food and wish I could have such and such but my band does most of the work for me. Sure there are certain foods that my band won't let me eat but heck, it's so worth it. I never thought in a million years I could give up my beloved diet Dr. Peppers, but the last drink of one I had was at 11:55 p.m. the night before my surgery. I won't lie and say I don't miss them but it's something that I won't let myself give into. As you can see, my lap band has literally given me my life back by helping me lose weight. I not only look like a different person, I feel like one and trust me, it's a great feeling! Hang in there and just know that there are people on this site that can encourage and advise you no matter what. We all been there, done that and I'm betting that most everyone would tell you basically what I have....it's so worth taking the chance and going for it. You ever need anything...I'm here. Good luck and be prepared for the best thing you could ever do for yourself!

I'm very serious. I just though that you being kinda far from here it would be to much trouble for you. But since your Mom lives in Van Alstyne, I'm betting you and Joy come up to visit her so if you're ever going to be up this way, I'm ready for sure!

Thank you all for the support and advice. I'm just about over the shock of being turned down and ready to give them the fight of their lives! I'm going to be such a pest that they'll approve me just to get me out of their hair! I'm definitely going to look into the "obesity law" and see what I can find out about that. Thanks again to all of y'all for always being there when needed. I'm feeling a little more optimistic about this happening eventually than I was Friday. I'm going to make it happen come hail or high water!

I called my insurance carrier this afternoon and they told me that I wasn't approved because it was considered cosmetic. I don't think I've been this disappointed in a long, long time. I feel like someone just took a dream away. One that I wanted more than words can say. I pity the poor person that they would deem a medical necessity since I've lost nearly 300 pounds and was told by two doctors that I had 20-30 of skin that should be removed. What the heck does it take to be considered a medical necessity???? I'm still shell shocked because the plastic surgeon that I met with said he hadn't seen anyone that needed the surgery like I do. My question is this....has any appealed the decision their insurance company made? I'm hoping someone, anyone can help me because after I'm finished drying my tears and get over the huge disappoint, I want to kick it into high gear and appeal to the max. If anyone can help me out, please, please let me know what I can and should do. It might sound so silly to most people but I've never been this down. I just hope and pray that there's something that I can do to change their minds.

What a cute story! Sounds like you were blessed with 2 precious boys. Also, thank you to your husband for what he's doing for all of us and to you and the boys for being so brave while he's gone! God bless you all. It sounds like you're off to a great start so keep up the good work!

Kate.......YEA!!!!!!!! I know how excited you are and I'm so very happy for you. Get ready because you're going to begin your new life and trust me, what a wonderful feeling it is every single day. I'm so happy for you and will keep you in my prayers. Best of luck!!!!!

The dates are perfect for me so Cher.....count me in!!!!!! OMG, I'm so excited already and can't wait to go. I work for Collin County and around 30 of us were fortunate to get the lap band, so I'll let them all know about it as well. We can certainly have a big ole group from North Texas! Well, large in number group cause we're all a whole lot smaller now than when we first started this fantastic journey!

I would LOVE to come!!!!! What are the dates, time, etc. I live in McKinney and as soon as I read this I got so excited that it was going to be so close. I can't wait to hear back from you so I can check at work and make sure I can get off. This would be so great as I've just about worn all my friends and family out with lap band talk. I could actually be with fellow lap banders that would know and appreciate what I'm talking about. Let me know the info and I'm thinking that wild horses couldn't keep me away...well as long as I can get off work.

His name is Dr. Frederick Duffy and he's at Medical City in Dallas. I really was impressed with him and he has several books of before and after photos that really looked great. He was recommended to me by my lap band surgeon, so I knew he'd be a good one.

Dr. Jay is great! He's one of the nicest guys I've ever met. So far, I've lost more weight than any of this other patients. I'm a bit competitve, I guess. Well, my close to Dallas would be McKinney. And I'm not sure what stylin is but I'd be up for whichever. It's just something I promised myself that I'd do and man, I really want to. How's your wife doing with her band? I bet she feels the same way as I do about Dr. Jay. Take care and let me know where y'all live.