kimmcneely

That's great. I hopwever never was regular before surgery. I was either stopped up or running over if you know what I mean. Now though I go once a day everyday and I am very thankful. I never like the fiber cereals so I never ate much of them. Good luck to all.

No, you do not need a prescription to get this product but you can't get it over the counter either. It has to be ordered through Arbonne. It is a safe product, natural. And yes, I a consultant for Arbonne as a part time job, but if you are interested you don't have to order throught me, you can go to their website. I just offered me if you had any questions. Thanks,

Here are a couple of the kiddos and us on our cruise in November. We are leaving again in January! Woo HOO!

I love pictures so I have decided to post some myself. Enjoy! These are wedding pictures. We were married in Alaska, and it was a suprise wedding.

Well, I am 4 months out now and have never had any problems until now. I have started to have tremendous pain right between my breast and upper chest when I eat anything. Even drink things like tea or milk. I had a fill over a month ago and didn't experience these complications until now. I haven't been able to eat much at all. As a matter of fact I have lost between 10 to 15 lbs in the last couple of weeks, which in itself is exciting, but I don't want to mess this up. I want to make sure it is done correctly. Any suggestions from you veterans or anyone else who has had similiar complications?

I don't qualify for the South Texas thing, but I am Southeast. Near Beaumont. I went to Houston and had my surgery with Dr. Spivak. He is just the best in the world. There were other doctors closer to me but I opted to use him because I had just gotten such good vibes from him. I also had my surgery at Park Place Medical Center because my insurance pays for it. The only bad thing is that if you have it at Renissance or wherever you fills under fluro are included. Now Spivak will do my fills in his office free for two years but they are not under fluro. That means that if he overfills me then it is a long drive back to get a little taken out. Thank goodness I haven't had to do that yet.

I know what you mean Jack...my husband told me last night when he had his arm around me that he could tell a significant difference because he can now feel my ribs! Yee Haw!

I am going to post this in the Oklahoma site as well, but my husband and I are facing a possible move to Tulsa, Oklahoma and my doctor is in Houston, Texas. Anyone have any ideas of any doctors in Oklahoma that I can use for a fill? I absolutely love Spivak so I may just make the drive when needed to pay him a visity. It would be well worth it.

I keep thinking too that it has to do with my esophagus because it does feel like some sort of spasm. It just comes and goes. I think I will go ahead and call Spivak on Monday just to be sure because I am getting some awful headaches with these as well. Thanks!

My husband surprised me last week with a cruise to Playa del Carmen which was terrific but the best thing was all the comments he made about me in my formal wear. So nice to feel sexy for the first time in your life. Thanks to the band!!!! Just had to share the a couple of pictures.

Guess what? I had them measure me in the gym today and in less than two months here is what I am down: left column is in 2 mo, right column is overall since I have been going to the gym, not even two years. arms 3/4 inch 2 inches waist 1/2 inch 3 inches abdominal 2 inch 5 1/2 inches hip 2 inch 5 1/2 inches thigh 3 inch 5 inches calf 1/2 inch 1 1/4 inch

Well here is one before picture of me at my wedding in July 2004. I didn't have my surgery until July of 05 but I probably still weighed the same. The other two pictures are of me last week on a cruise that my husband took me on as a suprise. He is such a good guy!

I used Spivak in July and I think he is wonderful. I have lost a total of 30 lbs. Mine has been a little slow compared to some and faster compared to others. The overall experience has been terrific. The office and his staff are the best!!! Good Luck!

I used Spivak and not only is he terrific but his staff is every bit as good if not better. They are all very helpful and from the time of my consult to the time of my surgery it was only a little over a month. They did everything in their power to get me approved and it worked. Good Luck!

I don't know what the problem is, I have BCBS and they approved and covered my surgery. I was just forced to pay the out of network cost and my max out of pocket was $1500.00

I actually do know someone who did this. She got the necessary information from her doctors office with the amounts of surgery and then sent that to 401k. Had her check in a few weeks. Good Luck!

I live in Silsbee as well. LuAnn and I work together. We had our surgery done on the same day with Dr. Spivak in Houston. Kind of the buddy thing.... It is funny that there are so many simularites in all of us. Kellimoos my parents have a home on Toledo Bend as well. Nice place up there. Good luck to all the future banders!

My doctor in Houston didn't require any liquid diet prior to surgery. He did however suggest a low carb diet for a day or so prior to surgery. I guess I flunked that because as my last meal the night before, I had Mexican food and a trip to the baker for CHEESECAKE!

Well, I did it.....finally. Was able to have my surgery Wed. July 20th. Thanks to everyone who participates in this site. All the information you provide is very helpful to all those like me with many questions.

I also used Dr. Spivak, but was not self pay. I was fortunate enough for my insurance to kick in. His office staff is incredible and he was great as well. My procedure was done at Park Plaza and the staff after my surgery took great care of me. One of my nurses was even a bandster! I am looking forward to all the filler-ups with him. Good Luck!

I don't know how soon too soon is. I started putting the protien powder in my liquid food the first day. (Major fear of losing my hair!). The hospital gave me some samples and recipes. I have mixed it will jello gelatin, jello puddin, chicken broth you name it.

Hey Dee Jay, I am doing good. I had my surgery at Park Plaza and was forced to stay all night because my surgery wasn't done until 5 pm. With them doing both the band and removing my gallbladder they encouraged me to stay the night. I came home on Thursday, took it easy on Friday, and went shopping on Saturday. Today at church I was somewhat tired and made a point to come home and have a nap, but am headed back to work tomorrow. The gas was not near as bad as I was expecting and neither was the pain. As a matter of fact I haven't used my pain medecine. My husband says that it is just because I am stubborn though. A friend of mine whom I work with also had her surgery the same day. She was at the medical center. She was self pay, I was insurance (bless God!). We planned to have it together so we could support each other through it. I think she may be having a harder time than I am, feeling a little more pain. At least she is off this next week and will have time to recoup.

I was banded this past Wednesday and will be back to work on Monday. I am still somewhat tired but for me it is just mind over matter....and the fact that I am somewhat stubborn. I do have a desk job and that may help some.

I am looking at getting banded pretty soon and have done much, much research on the subject. All of what I have read basically states you must have a BMI of 40, if not 40, then there must be some type of medical necessity. I am a 30 yr old with a BMI of about 36, no medical problems, no depression and I will mostly likely be self-pay. I guess, I am just a healthy, happy fat person. Any chances I will be allowed to have the surgery? Have or did any of you experience this?

I have actually been researching this sight since a friend of mine had me go with her to a lap band seminar in our home town. Ever since then this seems to be all I can think about. I had my consultation on 6/9 and found that I do qualify and am looking forward to my even greater life that I will have once I have the surgery and improve my health. I am 30 years old and at my highest weight I weighed in at 252. I am only 5'5. I spent two years traveling with my job and severly packed on the pounds. Once I came home, the "baggage stayed packed". I was single at the time and when I came home in December of '03, the Lord really began to do a work in my life and through the internet (which is something I never thought I would do), sent my husband to me. He was originally from Oklahoma but found his way to God's country (Texas), via the United States Marshal Service. He was working for them since 2002 and had been moved to Texas to work in our local office. He along with his 4 yr old daughter were just what my son and I had been looking for. From the moment we met, we instantly knew that God placed us in each others life. Neither one of us thought the internet could prove a way to find true love, but when neither of you get out very much, God can go through extreme circumstances. We met in January and in May his parents left to go on vacation in Alaska. They had asked us to fly up in July and spend a week with them and since I had never been, I was extreemly excited about going. We had only been dating six months but new that that was enough of a relationship to last forever. We arrived in Ancorage and drove to Ninilchick and that night over a Salmon dinner, my then boyfriend made an ellaborate proposal. All prepared by him and his parents. It was amazing. A fairy tale come true. And I was totally shocked. We were engaged on a Friday and married the next Friday by his mother on the beach at "sunset". Which if any of you know anything about Alaska in July.....it doesn't get dark. It only gets about dusk. We have had a wonderful, Christ filled, love filled relationship since and our kids are extremely happy as well. Since I was overweight when we met, I have always worked on it ever since he knew me. I have lost about 30 - 40 lbs in just over a year and a half, but have struggled with it in the last months. I am not looking for the magic pill (although that would be nice), or the over night success story, just looking for the right tool to put in place and allow me to still have choices but something that will let me know when my choices weren't so good. I need help with this and after much research am sure this is the thing. Currently I am waiting on an answer from my insurance, (which is just a matter of time, because I have prayed that they would sign the approval letter without even realizing they did) and it is off to the banded world!! Wish me luck!!