SpecialK

This is a different kind of NSV -- I got out one of my pretty spring/summer dresses to wear to church this a.m. because I know I won't be able to wear this size again soon. I have been avoiding wearing dresses because I just didn't feel pretty due to my weight so I splurged yesterday and got a manicure and pedicure, got my nails done in a pretty hot pink and I'm stepping out in style this morning holding my head high. Hope everyone has a great Sunday!

Saw this today on my food tracker web site and it fit right with what you need. Hang in there. "Don't Give Up What You Want the Most For What You Want at the Moment"

I guess I maybe hit the Maximum days I was allowed to edit the original post so I'll just add onto a new post...where there is a will there is a way! :thumbup: 248. TGC - March 20 249 Andrea1 - March 4 250. Shaunni78 - March 10 251. Hazel-eyes - March 14 252. Shoop3010 - March 25 253. JulieC - March 25 254. Boadicea - March 18 255. Tess415 - March10 256. Dosh - March 25

Welcome Call Me Joy! We have a few 'grannies' on this Mt. Carmel thread and everyone is doing great so it looks like those in our 50s and 60s are still kicking it with lots of years left to live and enjoy after we lose weight with our band. Good luck! Keep us posted when you get a surgery date. Hope you can drop in Polaris sometime for the local Columbus bandsters and bandster-in progress friends meeting. See the thread under Ohio as well as the Mt. Carmel specific thread.

Yes, there is a whole shamrock patch of us that got banded on March 17th and I was one of three of us at the hospital on the same day and it was funny that we were lieing on beds side by side in the pre-op waiting area! Check out the Band surgery dates thread I created for the heck of it to see who all got banded in March. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f114/march-2008-bandster-dates-57036/

I am scheduled for my 1st fill on April 29th and I truly need it. I am getting hungrier and hungrier trying to stick to 1200-1400 calories a day and that sounds like a huge amount compared to the post surgery weeks when I could easy do 800-1000 or even less. I am really active and feel great so its nothing physical other than just hunger. I am trying to watch portion size but its definitely not just 1/2 cup for me at this point, closer to 1 cup and even 1.5 cups but I'm making it high protein choices and limiting carbs so I feel what I'm doing is Healthy Eating which is my ultimate goal - getting healthy and staying there!

Yes, it seems pretty common that they are using what is called Steri-Strips to seal the incisions in many hospitals now. They will eventually come off as you shower but don't "encourage" them to come off early. I like the other person's idea to trim off the part that is hanging loose so they don't snag on clothes.

Just a warning that they give you alot of IV fluids in the surgery and overnight in the hospital so I'd wait at least 4-5 days before hopping on the scale or else you might see a surprise gain followed by a loss then. Congrats on your banding.

NDWife - Charlene called me and let me know when it was submitted to my insurance and she called to let me know when it was approved. Nice to hear from you again. I'll say a prayer you get your May band date!

I'm not sure why the doctor didn't do the 1st fill with fluroscopy to begin with. That's what our doctors/hospitals do. I'm glad to hear you did get a good first fill and that they are going to work out the insurance snafu with you too.

Here's some steps of things I did and I was using Insurance to pay: 1. Schedule and attend free doctor/hospital bariatric program orientation session to learn about their programs, doctors, etc. 2. Usually they give you a packet of information to fill out and mail in to them to see if you are a good candidate for surgery. 3. Check with Insurance company and find out specifically if they Exclude Bariatric Surgery including Adjustable Gastric Lap Banding and/or Gastric Bypass/RNY, etc. and what the qualifications are to get insurance coverage approved. What BMI and what co-morbidities do you have to have to qualify - i.e. sleep apnea, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, etc. being co-morbidity examples. 4. Many of the Insurances will require: Surgeon consultation visit to see if you are a candidate, 5. Cardiac clearance - most of us are overweight enough they want to make sure you are okay. 6. Sleep study/clearance - if you haven't been cleared for sleep apnea 7. Psychological study/clearance - its pretty basic but they want to be sure you are mentally and emotionally ready for this life change. 8. Diet and nutrition counseling - at least 1 pre-op session with the doctor/hospital 9. Primary Care Doctor supervised weight loss effort - as noted in other posts - sometimes 6 months consecutive evidence in the doctors' progress notes - not just that they weighed you but that you discussed weight loss issues. Some get by with 3 months - varies by insurance. 10. Any other 'hoops' to jump through the particular doctor gives you or their bariatric program for that hospital.

The answer is YES - many of us had to show at least 6 months of supervised diet and exercise program to get insurance approval. I used an online food tracking tool and would meet with my doctor to discuss the kinds of things I was eating, calorie levels, etc. I'm glad I actually got into the good habit of accounting for portions and what kinds of food I was eating, especially Protein levels as its a big help to me post surgery now to keep doing it. I've heard a few different online tools that are out there. I use My Food Diary :: Online Calorie Counter w/ Diet Journal & Exercise Log and its $9 a month, I've heard people talk about FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal and also Free Diet Plans at SparkPeople but whatever method you use, good luck!

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone add to their tag signature line how many fills they are on and how many cc's each fill and total cc's. It is funny to see really how fast in 2008 we all went from clamoring for Insurance Approval (January) to clamoring for a Surgery Date (February), then First Fill...(April) aren't we the smiling bunch ... due to losing weight finally and forever!

I am almost too embarrassed to ask but I'll have some 30/32 items I could bring to the May meeting if there is someone who is needing those. I know alot of you are way below me on sizes but I'll get there some day soon! Personal Message me for more details:rolleyes2:.

Grammy-->Yes, it seems the Dr. office is always very very busy but I've never felt rushed when it was my turn to get to see him. I'm a cat-mom too of 2 kitties!

Hi. Mondays are my weigh in days and I'm feeling pretty discouraged this a.m. as the scale is saying I'm up 4 lbs from my lowest point since surgery. Now I know it can be fluid retention from just having knee surgery 4 days ago, but it is just so hard to see the scale go in the wrong direction. I am going to really try to buckle down hard this week and watch my calorie level and see if I can pull a weight loss by next Monday for my Fill appt then on Tuesday. I have been tracking what I'm eating really close and I'm staying about 1200-1400 calories which is where my doctor said I could be for this stage but now I'm going to try to get back closer to 1000-1200 for the next week. How about the rest of the bandsters - what are you seeing and what level of calories are you at? I have to remember that even at this rate, I'm still eating half of what I was pre-surgery days so I need to keep it in mind. I'm going to attach a graphic here I got from a March 17th bandster called Scrappy! I feel like this cartoon. Maybe jumping up and down on the scale will burn a few calories.

We are up to 239 Shrinking Shamrocks! We Rock!

Yes, I did forget about the differences between Tower Elevators and Central Elevators. The Tower Elevators is what I was referring to about the Testing Center and if you come in the Main Entrance of the hospital, its easier to access the Central Elevators which is where you drop off at the 4th floor for surgery registration. Yep, I agree the best thing to do is stop and ask someone with a Mt. Carmel badge if you're confused. That's what I did. I got out and did an hour walk on the knee yesterday and was doing fine and even got on my riding mower to do the lawn but this a.m. I'm a little sore and stiff so I'll take it a little easier today but overall, this knee is going well. I'm like Sarah, just hanging in there for my fill on the eating front.

Testing Center is easy to find. Park in the attached garage (Mt. Carmel West) and the 3rd floor level has a walkway that connects you over to the hospital and you just follow the signs. The testing center itself is on that same level where you come in for the walkway (I actually think its the 2nd floor of the hospital) but I have always had to go down to the 1st floor to the Testing Center Registration - get checked in, then they sent me back up to the Testing Center itself. For a dietician appt, I don't think you'd have to do the Registration desk part. Anyway, they've got good signs marking where to go.

Wow. I've never read anything like that. Our doctors all do the first fill using Flouroscopy so they know exactly where the port is. After the first fill, then I think they can judge better how to find the port. I get my first fill April 29 and I definitely need it as I'm getting hungrier each day trying to stay at the same low level of calories. I'm committed but it is work and toughing it out.

I think about any jewelry store could do it, I know I've had jewelry work done at Jared's the Gallery of Jewelers and they are in lots of cities. I didn't want to just put a ring on a necklace but still enjoy wearing it as a ring but until I got this, I'd definitely put my wedding/engagement ring on a pendant chain.

I'm home and the knee surgery was a piece of cake. Hardest part was when the alarm went off at 4 am to get up to be ready for when my brother picked me up at 5 am to be dropped off at the hospital. I am able to already walk on it with my full weight but I'm not going to push it too much and just give it a couple days rest but maybe be out even this weekend on my riding mower! We'll see.... LOL Well, its nap time... isn't nice to say that on what would otherwise be a work day 8-) Here's a good laugh -- when they weighed me when they checked me in this a.m. it said I'm down 10 lbs this morning from where I was when I got weighed at the doctor's office last Friday!!!! OMG! I don't really believe it totally but even if its 5 lbs I'll be dancing a jig if I can update my ticker soon. Maybe I'll start setting my alarm clock to get up and get weighed at 5 AM if that's true---NOT!!

Hi all. Darla and I attended a 11 am session with the new Mt. Carmel bariatric program dietician and she seems really nice. Her name is Andrea Czopur, ? spelling I will double check. She has worked for Mt. Carmel a combined 8 years I think she said and did a stint at Grant Medical Center as a food nutritionist too. I think the thing I liked the best was her admitting she isn't a fanatic about every bite she eats, that she emphasizes Healthy Eating, and she is encouraging us to keep a good food journal so that if we hit a plateau and are struggling to break through, she can go over things with us. Yea! She said she watched 2 Gastric Bypass surgeries and 1 Lapband surgery this past week and has a phenomenal respect for how skilled our surgeons are! She got to see how they form the stomach pouch and how big it is so when she is telling us to stick to 1/2-1 cup servings, she knows what it looks like where its going! I'll look up her email and phone # when I get home and post those here too.

I posted some pictures from Saturday April 12 on the Yahoo Group web site HeatherA has set up for us. If you haven't logged in there, thought I'd post a note here. I still have more pictures on a disposable camera to get developed and then I'll add those too. BrandNewLisa - please add your pictures you were also taking. THANKS

Well folks, I have been quietly working on getting lined up for a 2nd surgery in a month - March 17th banded vs April 17th for knee arthroscopy and a meniscus tear repair on my right knee tomorrow at another Mt. Carmel - the New Albany hospital. I have to be there at 5:45 am and should be home by noon if all goes well. I've been really vocal about telling the ortho nurse, doctors, hospital staff including anesthesiologist, etc. about my lap band - NO NG (nasogastric) tube insertion without a Scope! They shouldn't need to put a tube down my throat but just in case of emergency.... I'm making sure they all know what a lapband is and what precautions to take. I should tell you I have a cute MedicID alert bracelet I wear that is pretty hidden of what it is. It has the normal MedicID tag under my wrist and the top of my wrist, is the decorative part with cute crystal beads. Since I drive alot by myself, live by myself and also travel overseas at different times, I felt this was just a precaution in case of an emergency but I'm enjoying having the bracelet. They do make plenty options for men as well with just a braided leather or just silver/gold.