kathystrick

Good job on the weight loss Tess! Sorry you didn't get that fill today, but hopefully soon!! Glad things went well at the doctor's today. Continue keeping us posted!

On the subject of TT... I checked with my insurance to see if it was covered (I know, a little early to be thinking of that yet, but was just curious:rolleyes2:) and my policy said it will cover a TT if your skin hangs lower than your "privates". :scared2: WTH??? And who do I want looking at my giant roll of fat THAT closely?:confused2: Guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. But, on a funny note...sure am glad I'm not a man!! :blushing:

Pasta :glare: :Dancing_biggrin: Some doctors don't require a pre-op diet, although it seems like most do so they can have that extra room from the liver shrinkage. Be sure to get that straight with your doctor before surgery time!

Nerves are a natural part of any major decision, especially one involving surgery and such a major life change. You will have your date and be through the surgery on your way to a healthy future for you and your son before you know it! I only wish this option would have been available to me when my son was young. He will be 18 by the time I have surgery, so I guess I will have to save all of my new energy for when he starts having children. Good luck to you!

See? You lived to tell about it! Good luck tomorrow and post as soon as you feel up to it. Hopefully I will be joining you on the post-op thread soon!

Hi and welcome to LBT! Congratulations on your band and weightloss. You are off to a really good start! Keep up the good work and let us know how it's going!

Hi ladies and welcome to LBT! Congratulations on getting your band Tess! How did things go at the doctor's today? Did you get that fill? Glad the approval moved through so quickly for you Hazel! May 1st will be here before you know it and you will be off posting on the post-op thread. Is your doctor requiring any sort of pre-op diet? Good luck to you both!

Hi and welcome to LBT! The best piece of advice I can give is to educate yourself: learn about your doctor, the surgery itself, how things will be post-op, and most importantly, the reasons you over eat in the first place and how you are going to deal with those emotions when you can't medicate with food anymore. This site is a great place for information and support, so be sure to utilize all that is available. Good luck!

Wow, Anna! Congratulations! Glad things went so smoothly for you. Welcome to LBT and good luck!

Hi to all of you! Doing your headwork prior to surgery is definitely one of the most important things. Figuring out when you eat, why you eat, and finding an alternative to food to cope with things is crucial to having a successful WLS experience IMO. Also, educate yourself about the dietary restrictions. Know that you will still be able to eat things that you "shouldn't", so you will still have to have willpower to refuse the temptation. Exercise is key to the weightloss as well as tightening that skin back up post-weightloss. Will all of the loose skin shrink back up? The response I saw on another thread here was that if you have stretch marks, chances are you will have skin hanging when you're done. The amount, I would assume, varies from person to person. Those are all of your concerns I can address, being pre-op myself. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress and decision.

I was wondering the same thing when the comment was made about "slider foods". Nothing but pure willpower is going to keep you from eating just about anything you want; thus the term "tool" being used when referring to Lap Band. I am seeing this mentality on several other boards on the internet. People seem to think that once you have WLS, BOOM! You wake up and don't want to eat anymore and become thin. Too bad it isn't that simple. The work never ends!!

Sounds like everyone is progressing great! Glad all of your appointments went well. This waiting is definitely the worst part! Good luck to all of you!!

Hi Paty! I'm doing pretty good. Thanks for asking! I've lost 10 pounds on my own in preparation for surgery. I am anxiously awaiting word from insurance though. Good luck to you!!

I had a hard time making the decision to have surgery myself. When I first started thinking about it, I have to admit, it made me feel like a failure that I had to resort to surgery to lose weight. Then as I did more research and delving into myself, I realized that isn't the case at all. There are a LOT of people out there who need help and just can't do it on their own for any number of reasons. I am one of those people. The way I was taught to eat was all wrong. The way I was taught to deal with my emotions (FOOD!) was all wrong. NOw, from all those years of doing everything WRONG, my stomach is so big that it is almost impossible to control my hunger because it is always there. I am relearning all of the "wrong" things I know in preparation for the surgery. Hopefully, that will make being a success that much easier. Good luck in making your decision.

Congratulations on getting your date!! You are going to find so many different opinions here on the taste of different Protein drinks. Some people can't stomach them at all due to the smell, texture, etc. It is a very individual thing. There is a thread on different ways to get protein here: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f9/list-protein-rich-foods-values-3498/ . Good luck to you!

The first thing you need to do is call your insurance and get a copy of their policy on WLS. That will give you an idea of what hoops they are going to want you to jump through for approval. All companies are very different. My BMI is over 45 with no comorbidities. I am not approved yet, but have met all of their qualificaitons and am waiting. I have Anthem BCBS

Hi Marzipan! Hope things work out for you this time. Good luck!

Thank you for the kind words.:thumbup: You are on the right track for sure dealing with the head issues first. I took the same approach, and even though I am still pre-op, I find I am not nearly as longing for food as I feared I would be. There are other coping tools available, we all have just never learned them.:tongue_smilie: I am setting 30 pound goals for myself right now. Thirty pounds is still a lot of weight, but seems so much more reasonable than the big numbers. Hey! I am already 1/3 of the way to the first one! But only 1/16 of the way to my final goal. I think saying it the first way looks a lot more encouraging. :biggrin2: Good luck to you!!

Same here. I have no desire to be as thin as the charts say I "should" be, but just to be more healthy. ***And before it even starts, this point has been debated here a hundred times. Nothing derogatory has been said about those who do choose to reach their "healthy BMI". It is just not the choice we all make, for whatever reason. PLEASE leave it at that for a change!!! Our decision is not yours to understand anymore than yours is ours.

Hi Josh and congratulations!!

You may find more information on your specific insurance on the insurance and financing thread. I don't know why some insurance requires you to undergo yet another 6 months of dieting if you can provide a history of weights from a doctor's office. As far as pre-op testing, that also depends on your insurance and what your doctor feels is necessary based on your comorbidities. I have none, so the only testing I had was upper GI, ECHO, and blood work. The rest are based on your history. Good luck!

It's all based on the individual doctor. Some people don't have a pre-op diet at all, others have high protein, low carb. It all depends on your doctor. I know, NOT FAIR!!!!

Oh, he's still reading them alright.:rolleyes2:

Thanks for posting an article to get us all thinking. Your website is awesome as well! Thanks again!!

Great article. Thanks for sharing!