Brandy~

Another Oregonian checking in! I live in Eugene and I will be banded at the Bariatric center at Sacred Heart.... It was suppose to be by Dr. Umbach but I understand he is leaving the practice so his partner Dr. Yarbrough might be the doctor. Either way this has been a long journey that I am hoping is coming close to an end! Nice to see all the Oregonians on here :wub:

Keep up with my husband and friends while mountain Biking, hiking, walking etc Walk on the beach in Hawaii without feeling like everyone is staring at me get a hot get up and do some pole dancing!

Holy cow that sucks... I don't go anywhere without my whole skin regimen and deodorant. I can't imagine that ;(

Oh no now I have to make a stop there and try them hahah I had no idea these were good before I started this whole LB thing.

My doctor is hoping for 4/24 for me as well. That is only if insurance comes through in time :wub: We will see. Congrats on your date though! Some people take their band date on as their Bday... Now you get to do both

I knew I was over the 40 BMI so I wore a skirt and thongs to my consult lol. But they didn't have me take anything off for the weigh in. Except they had me take my jacket off when they took the before photos.

I have to say that so far quitting smoking has to be one of the hardest things I have done... I quit 2/07 so it's been a year. I would still like to have one but realize that it's just another vice that I have to keep out of my life. I did gain about 30 pounds within the first year that I quit... I am working on getting that off now that I am waiting on preauth from insurance :wub: Congrats to all that quit!

I have seen it at the Safeways here in my town.. I haven't tried that flavor yet though.

Ok my doctor hasn't mentioned it to me yet... But in my consultation he mentioned that I would have to quit taking a couple medicines a month before the surgery... My major concern without going into alot of detail is I take birth control to control periods.... I don't need if for any other reason since I have my tubes tied... However, without the medicine I am almost home bound with periods that are so heavy and never ending that they are disabling. Has anyone else been in my shoes? If you don't stop the medicine what happens? I should add last time I went without the medicine my period was 16 days straight.

Congrats! I cannot wait till I get to post results like that :embaressed_smile:

Congrats!! I can't wait till I get to announce mine from the rooftops :thumbup:

I would start right where you are... Go through all the Pre Op surgery threads read the questions posed and the answers... You can truely never have too much knowledge. I had to wait 6 months before my surgery so I have just spent the whole time reading up on what to expect and adjusting my lifestyle to fit it before i get banded :thumbup:

Congratulations! WOw I cannot wait for this Eureka moment :thumbup:

It doesn't sound silly at all... we must do what works best for us. If I was you I would wait for a time like you said that you won't be stressed and you can just kick back. I am sure that your healing will go much smoother. I am just taking a week off work even though I have a desk job and I am going to just lay around the house. My work knows I am having surgery but they don't know what kind... they offered to let me take a couple weeks off but I want to come back to keep my mind off things :biggrin:

Hi Michele (your name is spelled the same as my friend :biggrin: I did the same thing... it was almost like those commercials where someone smacks you in the head because you could of had a V8! I can't believe I waited this long, suffered this much, and now I am here.... I read anything and everything on this forum. The doctors keep making comments to me about how informed I am and how tehy haven't had someone with so much knowledge and it's all from here. I have a 6 month diet requirement... I went into it being complacent and about 3 and 1/2 months into it I woke up and thought... Oh jeez if I am doing whatever I want now what makes me think I can be banded and lose?? So here I am taking the pre op stuff much more seriously! You're 100% Right... Do not waste the oppurtunity!

I checekd with my insurance and was told they only need 10 days to make a decision so I hope when I submit on 4/2 that they get to work on it asap haha. My surgeon said he might be April to get me banded by the end of April if the insurance comes through.

I am in the same boat as you :biggrin: I have BCBS and I am 14 days away from last appt! I didn't jump on the weightloss wagon as fast as I should have... I waited till the last 1.5 months.. I plan to lose about 10 more tho before surgery maybe even more if I do a liquid pre op. I agree I didn't think I needed the 6 months to adjust but I think looking back it gave me alot of time to learn things that might have came up after being banded :thumbup:

I have done so much research regarding all the life changes and such that I will have to make that I never stopped to think too much about the surgery. I should be getting near the end of this pre op adventure soon! Hooray! Now my question is: I understand I will probably have 4 incisions that are smaller and one larger one for a total of 5. Did your doctor use stitches or staples or something else? I wont see my doc again until I get preauth from insurance so I was hoping to see what the doctors are using so I know when I go in to meet with him.

This is the age old question and there is no one that really knows.... we have all heard it both ways... The good news is.......... They use the weight to submit for insurance approval from your first appt. I too am on a 6 month supervised consult program. I have finished 5 meetings and will go to the last one in 16 days. What I did was the first month I blew the diet ate what I wanted... Second month I cut out of of the fast foods and sodas around the third month I started thinking I will take it a little more serious and I lost about 5 pounds a month since.... so I now look at it as every single ounce I lose now I will NEVER have to lose again... This is a great way to jump start your weight loss. I wouldn't begin starving yourself or anything I would use this as a time to prepare your body for the lifestyle changes that you're about to make. Embrace this oppurtunity to change your life and in the meantime read up the forums to gain knowledge Happy bandings!

Very awesome about your consult... and congrats that your tests came back well. When I heard the 6 months supervised diet thing from my insurance I was sooo heart broken. The good part is though in the meantime I found alot of support from this site. I really don't know anyone on here personally or have I made a connection to anyone but they will all jump in and give their support the minute you need it. Fill up your 6 months with knowledge... it's the greatest gift you can give yourself to prepare for this lifestyle change. The band is a tool and if you use it right you will find a whole new healthy you. I wish you much luck in your banding journey and I hope you have a great seminar tonight

wow wide array just as I figured. I might be too impatient to wait to find out and might have to call and ask lol Thanks everyone :shades_smile:

Oh man... My surgeon won't schedule a date until I get preauth :thumbup:

I take tons of medicines.. I am going to have to look at them again I hadn't really thought about this.

Which BCBS do you have? I have BCBS of Minnesota and mine requires that I attend 6 meetings one per month with either a medical doctor or a dietitian and follow a diet designed by them. I have made it through 5 months so far! I have 17 days till my last appt. Good Luck

What testing he requires Is there a required weight loss does he do a pre op liquid diet How soon does he do fills after the band what brand of band and what size phsyc eval? Support groups and or exercise groups through his center :mad2: Good luck it's not as scary once you do the initial visit :cool: