Ellisa

Somehow I'm off the date list. Should be on the 18th. Ellisa

Well Twilight, you give me hope... I was dreading my 3 hour drive home day after my surgery. I'll quite whining right now! Still have 10 days to go. Hope the arm/hand thing gets better for you.

<br /> <br /> <br /> Sounds like you are doing great. Congratulations. I love the car, Yes you are on your way. I'll catch up on the 18th!

As I understand, insurance will not cover the surgery if there's an exclusion on your policy but it doesn't hurt to try. If you need another surgery such as repair of hiatal hernia or gall bladder and have it done at the same time, you might only have to pay the difference. My sister planned to self pay her lap band surgery. She asked the doctor if he could remove her gall bladder (something she'd been putting off) she had no idea that the insurance would then pick up part of her surgery. I don't know the exact dollar figure.

I'm not banded yet, but my DH was 2 years ago. He eats his protein and low carb (non starchy) veggies first. He only has starchy and sugary things occasionally and then he usually just tastes them. His favorite snack is peanuts. Yuck.

My DH is 2 years post op. He can eat anything except dry meat (and he likes his meat well done so grilled steak is out). He had salad for supper last night. But he chews everything very carefully. I'll be banded this month, so I'm checking out everyone else's posts because I don't expect to be as fortunate as he. I tend to have a more sensitive stomach to start with.

Justin, Instead of yes or no, how about "maybe later?" I can't add anything to what Danna said.

This is tooooooo funny. <br /> <br /> My old gals look at the floor no matter what size. Ya think it might be an age thing? No problem, I just got me one of them rawhide bras. They are wonderful. What you never heard of a Rawhide bra? You know "Head 'em up and move 'em out!" Okay so only the +50 crowd will get it.<br /> <br /> Today my DH went for his DOT physical (he's a truck driver). He said the nurse was very large breasted. He said she took a hold of his hand and shoved it up near her arm pit to take his BP. It was 178/75. She took it 3 times. She said it was just too high on the top number. He's never had high blood pressure and has lost 135 lbs since being banded 2 years ago. When the doctor came in he was puzzled too so he retook it. It was only 105/78. The only thing they could figure is the breast on his arm raised it! Good thing I'm not the jealous sort eh?<br /> <br /> I'm not worried about the girls. They can only lose so much, proportionaly they aren't that large. But my "booty" is another matter. I expect to have mud flaps when I get to a decent weight!

I'm on my 3rd day of liquid, have to do it for 2 weeks. Yes I use whey Protein powder. I mix it in yogart smoothies, tea, V8, SF pudding, Jello, whatever. It's not as bad as you think. It keeps you from feeling shaky and hungry. As for how I'm feeling about my surgery? That would be simply READY.

GrannyK, My sister lives near Lebanon IL, we bypass Lebanon OH, and Lebanon IN. But don't go nearly as far as Lebanon MO.

From what I'm gathering everyone's doctors are different. My DH had to be on clear liquid for a week. My sister went to liquids the next day. My doctor allows us to go to pureed the day after. Did you get any post of instructions?

Doin' a happy dance for you! How exciting!

GrannyK, What part of MS are you from? My sister is in IL, about 45 min from SL. She was banded last month.

I bought some unflavored whey Protein. It seems to help a lot. I mix it in my smoothies, SF pudding, even add some to my tea and V8 or whatever. I really thought this was going to be worse. I decided on my own to do low carb for several days before. I think that helped because I had my carb craving out of the way first. I agree, I just keep thinking each pound gone is gone forever. I've NEVER had that kind of motivation before and it's POWERFUL!

Yes they WILL!!! Congrats!

Granny, I'm on day 3 liquid, surgery Dec 18. Small meal? Small meal? You get a small meal???????? Actually I haven't been terribly hungry. But I don't let myself get that way!!! A little protein powder (whey) in tea helps. So do the yogurt smoothies. Actually I'm adding the whey protein to everything and get really excited if it has lumps. LOL

Lana, If that's the only money you will spend out of pocket, it's not nearly as much as we paid in co-pay two years ago to the out-of-network facility for my DH. Two years ago there weren't so many options and we were less informed than now. But it was money well spent for the health, peace of mind, and new life my DH has. Absolutely stick with where you know you are going to get the best!!! I think that half the battle is trusting our doctor. We all have been through the doctors who offer us no real solutions but rag on our weight. Surgery $$$$ Pre op visits $$$$ Peace of mind and healthy life.... priceless!

Dustout, My Dr. is basically a bariatric surgeon, he can perform other types of surgery related to the digestive system, but he is known as "The Band Doctor." However he doesn't have a private surgery center. He uses two hospitals in the Cincinnati Area. He and his staff are awesome. I don't care if I email them at 10:00 p.m. someone will respond! (Even though I say "wait until office hours, this isn't urgent.") You had asked about the diet in a previous post. I am currently on the pre- op low-carb high Protein liquid diet for two weeks. This is day 3. The day prior to surgery, I'll be on Clear liquids, until midnight. Following surgery, it's ice chips until liquid is toleraged. By the next day I can have pureed foods for two weeks then soft (mushy) for two weeks. I was totally surprised the liquid is before not after. I'm learning that every doctor has their own ideas. My DH was on full liquids two weeks prior, clear liquid one week post, full liquids two more weeks, then pureed followed by mushy. That was two years ago. I think the facility (Barix) was still following the open RNY diet as they had just started doing lap-band. My sister had lap band & gall bladder a few weeks ago. She only had to do full liquid 2 days, clear liquid one. I guess the important thing is to trust our doctors and follow instructions.

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Lana, I guess another good thing about this board with us sharing these types of details is that others can be aware of the differences in charges from facility to facility. Two years ago when my DH had lap band we went to Barix near Columbus Ohio. They didn't charge a program fee. We knew they were out of network but they told us the total out of pocket would be $1500. The person we were talking to knew that we were concerned about the difference between in and out of network facilities. Well guess what? The out of pocket was around $5K. And the person at the facility who told us that wasn't at their headquarters where the bills come from. I would guess that the program fees and other fees are creative ways of getting money in addition to what in-network providers have agreed to accept from insurance. But that being said my $300 was worth the peace of mind. And I didn't pay it until they had all my paperwork and said that it looked like there should be no problem with approval based on what I had. I've heard that they have told people that they needed additional info, or probably didn't meet the criteria to be covered. So had I gotten negative feedback, I wouldn't have paid to have it submitted. Had mine been $2800 I simply could not have surgery there. I can't fork out that kind of money right now. But if I could afford it and it were the only facility I felt comfortable with, I would pay it.

Hello Dustout! You are doing awesome! Keep it up. Yes I have a date, the 18th. Pre ops are Friday. But this liquid diet is tough. I didn't realize I'd be thrilled when there were lumps when I mixed V8 with Protein powder!!! (don't have a blender at work, and too much trouble to deal with if I did)

I'm 53, work for an IT department. Issues with weight began late 30's. Up down up down... Married for 34 years, two grown children, 5 grandchildren. Graduated with associate degree in June 2007. "Non traditional student." My husband was banded two years ago this month. I will be on December 18th. I could ditto most of the comments already made. Life's too short to be this uncomfortable about this aspect of my life.

I'm from Ohio, will be banded Dec 18, 2007.

Hi everyone, On another thread there were several of us being banded on December 18th. I thought it would be fun to start a thread for us. But hey, the more the merrier. So if you have been or will be banded during the month of December 2007. Jump in. Oh I doubt anyone will really care if you were banded at another time and want to join in. Ellisa

Thanks Sunshine... I guess I hadn't looked that far.