cindyg1212

Cindy, Don't worry about a little ice cream. We still gotta live a little! As long as you get back on track, it will only be a little blip on the radar screen. I'm not surprised that your suit got too big already. You're melting faster than that ice cream you ate! By the way, I'm going to Cape Cod on Friday through Monday. Is your shop anywhere near the Cape? Hi Sades, The concert was a blast! Hubby and I haven't been to a rock concert in 13 years and now we went to 2 in 2 weeks. We saw Chicago with the Doobie Brothers 2 weeks ago. Do you know about the famous Woodstock festival that took place in Bethel, NY in 1969? Well this guy bought the land it was on and turned it into a music center with an outdoor concert pavilion, museum, snack stands, gift shops, etc. It's brand new and beautiful. Up in the country and a great place to go for a summer concert. Its only 1 hour north of us. They have bands from our era, our parents era, and for the teens. There's a concert every weekend. We are seeing Journey with Heart and Cheap Trick at the end of August. Haven't been to this many concerts since my teen years. Its really fun to see so many middle age folks and older rocking out to the music! Great way to keep young. The band members are aging too but they still sound great. It was pouring as we walked back to the car. Just like people did at the original Woodstock festival, we got wet and muddy. We had a great time! How are you feeling today? You'll be back to your old self in no time except smaller!

Hi Sades, How's your back and side today? I'm going to a concert tonight with hubby to see the Steve Miller Band and Joe Cocker. Classic rock legends. Don't know if they'll sound as good as they did 20 years ago but it should be a fun night out. I'll check in with you later.

CONGRATS BANDPAL!!! :tt1: OK, time for me to join you and Wendy as new Onederlanders. I had a bad couple of weeks but I am ready to get back on track. See you over the border real soon! :party:

Guess what? I didn't have any port pain! Just gas pain. So weird. I stayed up so many nights doing schoolwork this past year that even when I don't have any, I can't get to sleep at a decent hour. My biological clock is all screwed up. I'll fall asleep at about 5am and the kids wake me around 10. I'm so used to functioning on 5-6 hours sleep. I would probably lose faster if I got more sleep. I need to work on that. But after a busy day taking care of everyone else, I love the quiet of the night. I do my best studying and papers late at night and that's when I can sit uninterrrupted at my computer. It is a bad habit that I need to break. When the kids have school, its hard for me to get to bed earlier. I have to be up at 6am with them so I have to get to bed by 1am. That's actually hard for me.

Sades, you're not a newbie. It really wouldn't make sense to join a July '08 group. You've had many fills and been through all of the stages with this group. Besides, we would all have to chase you down and drag you back here! I'm glad for you that you're not having much pain. I wouldn't wish what I went through post-op on anyone! It was horrible. I wanted to rip my band out! I lost around 8 pounds that first week and didn't even care. At the time, it didn't feel worth it. Of course, I feel differently now but those first 10 days were hell!

Hey, Cindy! Anyway you could paste your face onto the cheerleader avatar? If not, go put on a cheerleader outfit and take a photo! Your new bathing suit and a set of pom poms should work! :biggrin:

Testing is always a good idea. At least we'll know what we're dealing with. Sometimes it's just that we're getting older and our metabolism has slowed down. I feel bad for Kirsty Ally. I know she's not working for Jenny Craig anymore and the pics on the tabloids are very unflattering. When I worked for Nutri/System, it was a lot like Jenny Craig. In fact, Jenny Craig got into a price war at that time and knocked the Nutri/System centers out of business. That's why Nutri/System is only online now. We used to sell programs of 100 pounds for $1000 plus the cost of food. Jenny opened centers in the same towns and sold all programs for $199. Nutri/System couldn't compete with that for too long. Anyway, the biggest problem with those programs is that clients have to rely on pre-packaged food and add fruits and veggies. No one can live on those foods for life which is why so many people gain the weight back. Those programs teach nothing about portion control or counting calories, carbs, or fats. Everything is done for you which was the draw. Easy to lose weight fast as the meals only came to about 1000 calories a day but so hard to keep the weight off. We did offer a good maintenance program but hardly anyone stuck to it. One of my centers had a husband and wife lose over 150 pounds each. They were featured in national advertising including billboards and magazines. Within a year, both had gained all of their weight back and restarted the program. It was heartbreaking!

Sades, I'm so glad you are doing well. Can't believe that you don't have any gas pain and didn't the first time either. I had it so bad for 10 days. I used to feel it all the way to my ears! I would sit on the floor and rock back and forth hard to get the gas to move. On the 8th day, I had to go back to the hospital for dehydration. I could barely drink Water as it was making the gas worse. They did an x-ray of the band and found a huge gas bubble hovering over it. By day 10, it started to subside. The fear of that gas would scare me about another surgery. In that aspect, you're lucky. Get as much rest as possible. This will soon be a distant memory.

I think you may be right that if you were still an active member, they would pay more willingly. Do you pay out of pocket for fills or are you on a new insurance plan? If everything was done correctly, you could register a complaint with the department of insurance for Texas. That's where you had your surgery, right? I found a website that lists how to register a complaint for every state. Click on Complaints and Appeals. Just scroll down to Texas. Maybe you can get some help. Wouldn't hurt to let Cigna know that if this doesn't get resolved, you will have no choice but to seek help. They won't want the headache. Hope this helps.

First of all try and relax a bit and get things in perspective. You have done amazingly well but you may need a small fill to get back on track. If you can eat almost anything at 7cc's, ask for a barium test like Sades and Judy did to check on the band. Let them check for a slip, unlocked band, etc. If everything looks good, get the fill. I think that no matter how much weight we lost so far, the demons are still there waiting to attack. I know that I fight them all of the time. I have yet to pass up chocolate when it's around. I wish chocolate would get stuck! I am a slow loser but I know that if I cut back the sugar and carbs, I will lose faster. It's a tough, uphill battle. The skinny nurse practioner who I see monthly at my surgeons just debates with me on my food choices and lack of excercise. She doesn't get that the problem is in my head. I've had a tough few weeks too but can't get a fill as I get stuck too often. Ask for the x-ray and take it from there. You'll get back on track. July 23 is in only 10 days.

TX, obtaining legal help is always a good idea if you can't get anywhere. Did Cigna pre-approve the surgery? If so, call and demand to speak with a manager (head-monkey). Customer service (a term I use loosely) just gives pat answers. They look in the notes on your claim and read what's there. You need to speak with someone in a higher position. When my insurance company, Oxford, approved my surgery, they sent me a pre-approval letter. Did you get such a letter? If so, there should be no discrepancy. If not, did the surgeon obtain pre-approval? Should be in your records.

You're right about the carbs, Cindy. Whenever I cut back on carbs, I lose. I have to psyche myself up to do it though. I had a rough few weeks. Need to get back to business.

TX, if you have to wait for a fill, try to focus on making good choices. You'll get back on track. A new move is stressful and taking away your focus. About Cigna. Did they pre-approve the surgery? If so, what's the problem? Today I got a bill from the anesthesiologists for $1178. They put a post-it note on it saying that the insurance company inadvertantly paid their money to the surgeon. They want me to work it out. Why it took 8 months to bring this up, I don't know. Insurance companies are impossible to deal with. Why is Cigna stalling?

Marivan, I feel that way too. I have to fight for every pound. Twenty years ago when I was fairly slim, if I wanted to lose 10 pounds I did it in 2 weeks. I used to cut back to 800-1000 cal a day and lose almost a pound a day! Fast forward to 2 kids and 100 pounds later and I struggle to lose 1 pound a week. So frustrating!! However, before the band, I couldn't lose at all. I try to look at the big picture. If I continue at this rate, I will be at goal by next summer. And the slower we lose, the easier it will be to keep the weight off. No one knows this here yet but in my mid 20's I was a manager and Area Manager for Nutri/System Weight Loss Centers. I'm embarrassed that I used to counsel people who needed to lose weight and now I can't do this myself. The nurse practioner at my doc's gets annoyed with me because I know what to do to speed this up and I always have an excuse. I used to have clients who lost more than 100 pounds on that program. Unfortunately, those who lost it the fastest would gain it right back if they didn't stick to the maintenance program. I had a number of clients who lost it all and wound up back in my office crying because 6 months later, they gained it all back. This won't happen with us. Not only because we are losing it slowly, but because the band will keep us in control.

Hi Sades, I'm up late. It's 1:22am here. Middle of the afternoon for you. How are you feeling? Any gas pain? Try not to dwell on the time you lost and focus on how great you'll do from now on. You're gonna fly past all of us!! Hey Cindy, love the cheerleader avatar!! Wendy, how old is your son and how much does he want to lose? My 16 yr old daughter wants a band. I won't let her and she's too young anyway. Besides, she wouldn't qualify. Not enough weight to lose.

Sades, So glad everything went well. I didn't know you were staying over in the hospital. Thought it was day surgery like my banding was. Sounds like so far, so good. Get lots of rest and before long, you will be as good as new and much lighter.

Sades, Are you OK? How did it go? Are you feeling alright? I'm a little concerned. Please pop on and just say if you're OK. I'm a worrywart!

Hey Cindy, great job!! Your doing amazing! I need to get more focused. I haven't lost in a couple of weeks. I'm due for a big loss.

Hi Marivan, I have about the same amount of restriction as you and can't go any tighter. I get stuck too easily as it is. I lost around 50 lbs but it's really slow. The way I look at is I could have gained 50 instead of losing it so I am happy. If it takes another 6-7 months to get off the next 50, that's OK. I eat about 1,000 to 1200 calories a day. Years ago, the weight would have melted off me but my metabolism seems to have shifted into neutral. I'm getting my thyroid checked out but it's probably perimenopause and too much yo-yo dieting in my past.

Foofy, My hubby brought home shrimp in lobster sauce from the Chinese restaurant. I love them so I cut them into really small pieces and chewed them into tiny bits. Because they were soaked in the sauce and were really soft, they went down OK. More fattening this way but I only had 2 jumbo shrimp. I don't think I am going to try them dry or firmer ever again. I'm pretty tight and need to stick with soft, moist food. Sometimes that means adding calories but I'm not taking in too much at a meal. My weight loss slowed down the past few weeks but that's from late night snacking when I was up late doing schoolwork.

Foofy, I got stuck from a small piece of shrimp a few weeks ago. It actually took an hour to pass through. I was out to dinner with a friend and we were talking and laughing and I guess I wasn't paying attention. I slimed for that whole hour. We were going to the movies after dinner and I had to keep running to the bathroom. Missed the first half hour of The Sex and The City movie. Suddenly, I had this horrible stabbing pain and then "whoosh", it went through. Was the worst stuck experience I've had so far!

Gotta say, Wendy, you are doing amazing. Can't believe how much you lost since Nov. I'm so inconsistant. Up and down, up and down... This roller coaster is making me dizzy!! :redface: Congrats again! I'm feeling motivated to join you over the border!

Congrats Steve! Can't wait to join you!

CONGRATS WENDY!!! :smile2: I am soooo jealous!! :redface: I have been eating too much late at night to stay awake studying and writing papers for 2 summer classes. It's been insane! Now I will only have 1 class the next 6 weeks so hopefully I'll get more sleep and join you in Onederland soon. Bet the grass is greener over there! :biggrin2:

Sades, How are you feeling? Hope everything went well. Just wanted you to know that your bandster buddies are thinking of you! :redface: