Kristin1031

Way to go Steph.....I would agree that is a victory....Not to mention you are 7 pounds away from ONEDERLAND....LOL I will be thrilled when I can get there. Still a ways away for me. I am beginning to notice the change when I look into a mirror now.

There is a thread here that has pictures of scars you might want to check them out.

Ladybug I couldn't agree with you more.....I am only 7 weeks out and I can tell you that this was the best decision I could have ever made. I feel liberated from Overeaters Anonymous....LOL I feel for the first time ever that I am no longer controlled by food period. I am not hungry with my band......and I eat 3 ounces at a meal....no more....I am satisfied with that....LOL That would never have been me before the band......I ate platefuls of food and seconds and thirds on some things. I feel that I am able to make sound healthy food choices and I survived the holidays by doing the same things, staying away from the carbs and sweets and eating meat and veggies.....so I am on the band wagon with YOU!!!!:clap2::clap2:

I work for a large medical group and that would of been grounds for being fired. We cannot divulge anyone's PHI to anyone for any reason without prior patient authorization!!! She is lucky she still has a job!! Congrats on reporting it......stupidty like that hurts all of us.

I have told all of my family close friends and co workers, I see no reason to hide it....I made a life altering decision and I want to share it. I want others to know how wonderful this can be. I want insurance companies to know that it makes us healthier and so their claims will go down......I want this so that others who come after me can get approved easier without all the hoop jumping. I want Dr's to see that the banding is definately an option for the obese and morbidly obese patients. This is important to me. To be able to help others who are feeling the way I felt for years. I want to shout it from the roof tops. In fact we were given a rubber bracelet.....(like the livestrong) bracelets at my last support group that come from Allergen and it has the LapBand logo on it and it says I'm with the BAND. I love it and I put it on after my surgery and I wear it all the time. I am not embarrassed I am proud of my decision, for it was not an easy one.

I would think that there are many insurance companies out there that will cover you no matter band or not......they may choose to exclude the band....and any complications from it as pre exisiting, but I would not think they would deny you. At least not the larger companies....call United Health Care and Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Aetna and some of these types of companies. Alot of them cover the band surgery now, and UHC and BCBS both do so I would they think they would not exclude you because of having this surgery. I have a wonderful insurance plan thru my work, it is a self funded plan thru the OSF Healthcare network of hospitals and medical group. It paid for my surgery I only paid $200 co pay. I love my job and took it because the medical insurance is awesome. I pay $103 a month for my insurance for DH and me. Just shop around, I am sure you can find someone.

I have the same dent.....it does not bother me I am sure it will all work itself out......I am not into wearing a bikini anymore after all I am 46....LOL not 26 so I really do not care....as long as my buns fit in a size 12 jeans or below I will be quite happy.....LOL

My surgeon told me that banding would definately help my acid reflux and I so hoped it would because I wanted to get off Aciphex that I had taken for 3 years. I stopped taking it 3 weeks ago and no problems and no heartburn at all. I am thrilled because that was $38 dollars a month even with my great insurance. The only pill that I still take is for my fibromyalgia. YIPPEEEEE!!! For the BAND!!

I work with insurance companies all day long. I am a biller for a Large Medical group of over 200 physicians. I would not suggest that you lie about your band. They will eventually find out. If you were to have to have an ER procedure of anykind or xrays or something they would find out. Plus, if you lie and are discovered it will hamper your efforts from ever obtaining insurance in the future. I do not see why the band would cause any problems getting insurance. They may not cover anything to do with the band perhaps but it should not prevent you from obtaining insurance.

I do not know if I qualify as a big loser but I have 140 pounds to take off so I think I am..LOL I believe fully in counting calories and fatgrams as well as keeping track of my Protein. I think this is key in getting our bodies into the right groove so to speak. I have always been successful in losing weight it is in maintaining the loss that I have always sucked at...LOL When losing I would limit my fat to 20 grams or less a day. I am still trying to stick to this. I am eating so much less in quantity that if I want a bite of something I have it. I have lost 30 pounds in less than 2 months I think it is working for me. I also log everything I eat on FITDAY.com this helps me to visualize my success or failures. It is also free here.

Peoria, Illinois but have lived in Fort Collins,CO, Tucson, AZ and LA. We would like to retire in Tucson....love it there. It is snowing here today, makes me remember why I like warm weather in my old age...LOL

I would not risk it.....Always better to follow the Dr's orders....

I guess that I carry my weight differently because of past pregnancies or whatever.....but when I went from 200 pounds to the high of 287 all of my weight was in my belly and butt. So I don't do low rise well.....but I have been the elastic waisted pant lady for quite awhile. I am so anxious to be free of them I can't tell you. I have a whole closet of size 18 and 16 clothes calling my name.........I agree with you Longhorn that the low rise pants are nasty on most people. Even the young girls who turn to them.....I find them anything but flattering. I am from the old school try to show less and be more mysterious. I know in this day and age of Brittany and Lindsay and Paris that is hard for some to understand....LOL I will be happy to just get back into some jeans period....I have 2 pair that I fit into now and I would say they are midrise at least. My port placement is to the left of my belly button and it is uncomfortable if anything rests on it.

I was warned by the RN in our bariatric program that the image in the mirror would take awhile to change. For some reason our brains don't catch up with the change right away it takes awhile. Everyone is right pictures add pounds to us anyway. So don't pay too much attention to them, look at how you are feeling and how your clothes are fitting or not fitting....LOL I have the same problem I am down 30 pounds and I do not see it in the mirror when I look. Everyone else is noticing it but me....sad but true. I was thinking people were just saying that to make me feel good. Hugz,

Michelle: I feel the same as you do, thank god for my band......I am thrilled. 30 pounds lost since my banding on Nov 9th and I am moving right along with working out and I do feel better than I have in years. I know it is because I don't eat junk anymore and I purged my system of all that stuff before surgery on my clear liquid diet. I have been careful not to get back into that stuff even now at the Holidays. Keep up the great work.....you are doing great. I am glad we both are not experiencing TRUE bandster hell......I feel for those who are.

I eat my Protein first before anything else. Most of the time I have no room for anything else....so vegtables have been difficult to get in and not even trying fruits really. I was told at my preop nutrition classes that protein should be the bulk of my diet. So I have made sure that I am doing that. I log everything that I eat at FITDAY.com and I watch the pie chart there to make sure I am getting most of my calories from the protein. It is not easy by any means.......but I do ask the ? now is this what I should be eating before I eat it. I still have an occasional treat of something carb or sugary but it is rare. I fix all of our meals at home and I cook with lean cuts of chicken and beef and pork, beef has been troublesome to chew well enough......no problems with chicken or ham. I had a stuck experience last night and it all came back up, this was the first time, and I am sore today, I hope this is not because I hurt something....sheesh alot to worry about.

What are you eating? How much are you eating? It is just a tool but didn't you get a diet or plan to follow from your surgeon? I met with a nutritionist and had to go to classes on eating and retraining myself on portions and good foods. Are you doing any excersize? This is Key I believe. I don't mean to sound nasty at all.....just curious? I would be upset if 4 months out I had not lost any weight. I think you need to look at foods and how much and not drinking with meals and the whole band plan. If you got the lapband website it has a whole plan as to how the band works.

I have not had a fill and I am not hungery either. I also follow the plan set down by my surgical group and the bariatric program that they offer. I do limit the amount of food at each meal to 3 ounces. This has worked for me because I too eat lots of Protein, I always start with the protein first finish it then if there is room, eat some vegtables and sometimes fruit. I am totally satisfied, I do not feel deprived in anyway. I am cooking the food that I feed to my DH and I am eating right along with him. I am making wholesome foods and trying to make him enjoy healthier menus. It can't hurt I figure. I also make sure to keep drinking, I am always drinking, as it still is hard for me to get in my liquid. I know that I have restriction, I can feel it, and my pouch tells me when I am full. I have begun to listen to it more these past two weeks. I think it is truly different for everyone. We are all made differently and even our bands are different, we all have different fat pads between the stomach and our band, because of the different ways in which we carry our weight. This too will make a huge difference in how much restriction you might have. I go back to the fact that my surgeon told me at my last appointment that he has had patients who did not need a fill for the first year, the band was enough restriction. I do believe alot of this road is mental, you must get yourself on the plan of eating very little and being satisfied with it. If you look at the small portion and think you are being deprived, I think ultimately you will be. Our mind is a very powerful thing, and it can make us do many things. I agree with other posters here, that I am excellent at weight loss my problem has always been maintenance. I believe the band will help me to maintain my goal because I will be unable to eat more than a tiny bit of food. I do not like feeling the pain of being over full......I have felt it twice now. It is not pleasant. I also will not allow myself to suffer not having bites of so called forbidden foods, if I want it I am going to have it, will just cut somewhere else. I will always keep my calories and fat and carbs in check by logging all of my food.

Brandy!! I say "Just Do It" You deserve it......why wait you are not that far from goal....LOL After all you have accomplished and how beautiful you are.....I would...

CONGRATULATIONS!!! Great Success!! I firmly believe that excersize is key to our success...

Well I did what I told myself I was not going to do......LOL I ate too fast and it got stuck and then oh boy...back up it all came....LOL How disgusting....LOL I am so ashamed of myself......I know better. I know too eat slowly and chew chew chew....what was I thinking......I was eating pot roast and I was chewing it, but was eating to fast after each bite........I was not concentrating on the food.....I was concentrating on DH talking to me.....LOL WOW I do not wish for that to happen again.....back to LapBand basic 101.....there is a huge reason to eat slow and take really tiny bites.....LOL

No need to resist it is the amount and how often....LOL I chose banding because I would not have to GIVE UP anything, only rechange amounts and how often I eat them. I had two bites of chocolate myself over the holidays. It was enough, I have limited sugar so much it does not take much to make me satisfied with it. Just wanted to let you know Miztr......that you should not be beating up on yourself....and allow a bite of this or that now and then.

Sades Dear....... YOU are NOT I repeat NOT a pig.....:eek: DO not even go there. You might of had things or amounts that you should not of had....but don't beat yourself up. You still have your best friend "The Band" and he is there to boost you up when you need it and help you achieve the LONG TERM goal....which we all know you will... Just do not be too hard on yourself. It is not easy this thing we are all doing. Changing 46 years of eating habits gone wild......is not an easy thing...LOL We all will have week moments, just get back up and move on with the program and you will see success measured in loss at the end of the road. Hugz,

I Love Popcorn and it was a staple before surgery, some night it WAS dinner. However, the nutritionist told us before surgery that the reason the DR's did not like us eating it after banding was because they do not want us eating EMPTY calories or foods with little to no food VALUE. The popcorn in its pure form without all of the butter and oil and salt has no food value. Hence the Dr's reasoning. So with that said I had my first popcorn 4 weeks after surgery and only then I had a cup and was full. I had some yesterday at the movie theater but only again about a cup and I was full. I will never give up a food that I love and that is great ruffage<sp>!! I will limit how much and how often I have it.

I have to admit that I had no food issues at all this weekend, I cooked Christmas dinner for all of my family. I had some ham a spoonful of potatoes with no butter and a spoonful of corn. I was satisfied rather quickly and I had a couple of Christmas cookies as well. I kept my calories where they should be all weekend. I made sure I ate plenty of protein when I did eat. I do believe that logging everything that goes into my mouth has helped me immensely. It makes me think before eating. It might taste good but is it going to stay with me the longest, is a ? I often ask now. I am working out 5 days a week. Back into my water aerobics and walking in the lap pool. I feel wonderful and I did get on the scale tonight at the club and I am down 4 more pounds....YIPPEEE!!!! Lord I love this BAND!!!