PATCHELTON

Amen to all the above posts. I think what we have in common is: 1) A serious committment to exercise. Find something you like and do it consistently. It doesn't have to be anything elaborate; I mostly walk in a park near home. There is a 2 mile nature trail and I carry peanuts for the squirrels. I try to do a minimum of twice around (approx 4 miles) and when I can 3 and even sometimes 4 times around. Until I have daylight again after work, I do Curves and some Water aerobics. 2) Follow the doctors recommendations. Utitlize the resources. Go to group support. Call your doctor if something doesn't feel right. Come here for more support. 3) Make sure to get your Protein in. We all may approach that slightly differently (different brand preferences for Protein shakes for example) but get protein first, then healthy carbs and fats. Be sure to take your Vitamins, Calcium (citrate not carbonate) and B12. 4) Read nutritional labels. Some people like to low carb, others not. I shoot for the lowest sugar and fat first, ideally little or no saturated fat, then I try for the lowest salt and then lowest carbs. I like Cereal, and that is carbs, so I look for the lowest sugar/salt/fat content, as in plain Cheerios, Joe's O's from Trader Joe, or high protein cereals from Kay's Naturals. 5) Find healthy substitutes for old fattening favorites. I am a reformed pizzaholic (I would work out at Curves, pick up a pizza on the way home, and eat the entire thing 12-15 inches!). I now make a crustless pizza (meal portion microwavable dish, cover bottom with 1/3 to 1/2 jar of Ragu Homemade style pizza sauce, cover that with Hormel Turkey Pepperonis, top with (if you like these) peppers and onions (I keep Birdseye Pepper Stir Fry in the freezer for this) and top with Kraft fat free Mozzarella (or Cheddar). Nuke in microwave for 2 minutes to heat and melt cheese. It may be hard to believe, but that will satisfy my craving for pizza (and I live less than a block from a pizza shop). 6) To repeat what someone else said, the band is a tool. For me it helped me control the amount I ate. What I ate was still up to me. I have a quote hanging over my desk from a book I have that says "The band is not around your lips. It is around your stomach. It cannot keep food out of your mouth. Only you can do that." I stay away from concentrated sweets (occasionally I will have a finger full of that gooey icing from commercial cakes--on special occasions or holidays I may have dessert), pizza, subs, junk food (I buy my Snacks from kaysnaturals.com--protein chips and snacks, and cereals). I eat variations on a chicken caesar salad (romaine--use those green bags from TV to store; grilled chicken breast in olive oil or PAM; cut up hard boiled egg, parmesan cheese, light caesar dressing and fat free croutons--sometimes I substitute julienne cut turkey or ham that I find in Mars supermarkets. You may hear light as opposed to fat free in regard to dressings and mayo and that is because for some reason the fat free ones have more sugar, so they feel a little fat and less sugar is the way to go and fat free mayo doesn't taste like mayo, so I use Kraft Light. I recently compared skim milk to light soymilk and the soymilk has less sugar so I switched to that for smoothies and cereal. I plan to try a switch to Greek nonfat yogurt with some sugar free preserves added for the fruit. Most of the yogurts have a lot of sugar. Some foods you may find don't digest as easily after surgery. I don't eat much bread because of that. Other things I eat but carefully, making sure to chew. In restaurants I tend to stick to an appetizer and salad, or Soup and salad rather than a big entree. For me it didn't take a lot of fills. My first fill of 3ccs got partially unfilled 24 hours later and several months later I got a slight fill of 1.5ccs, so I maybe have 3ccs or a smidge more. For some people it takes more. Everyone is different. I have gone from 2X to medium tops and small pants (I wear scrubs at work) and in numbered sizes from women's 22 to misses 12. I am broke from buying clothes (I even found a pair of designer jeans at a thrift store--paid $3.49 for Ann Taylor Loft in size 12) but it is a good kind of broke. Think about thrift stores or outlets for transition sizes to save money, or catalog sales with free shipping specials. If you remember the band is a tool to aid in portion control, and you use it for that, and commit to regular exercise, plus eating healthier and staying away from concentrated sweets, you should do well. Good luck with your journey.

I believe it is a comorbidity. It was on the list I had, and it was one of my ailments. High blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, reflux, joint arthritis, diabetes--I think that is the list. There may be a few others, but from this list I had everything but diabetes, with a BMI of about 38-39, and I qualified.

Welcome. I am a member of Dr. Singh's fan club too. He banded me 3/25/08. I used him because my sister who had RNY a couple years ago really liked him, and that was good enough for me. I researched all my options and decided the band was for me. I am very happy with the results. Hope to see you at the group support meeting at St. Agnes on 1/19 at 6pm in the Alagia Auditorium. I used Bea for my psych and Arlene for dietician too. Good luck with your journey.

My best advice is take full advantage of the resources offered by your bariatric center. Support groups are wonderful; I started going to them the summer before my surgery. You can learn a lot. I have a problem eating bread so I eat very little. Fat free croutons on my salad go down well. They disintegrate and bread gets chewy. I am a reformed pizzaholic (my idea of working out was to go to Curves and pick up a 12-15 inch pizza on the way home and eat the entire thing--a serious pizzaholic). Rather than deal with all that dough, I devised a crustless pizza that gives me all the toppings with none of the crust (take a microwavable dish-meal portion size-cover bottom with 1/3 to 1/2 jar Ragu Homemade Style Pizza Sauce, cover that with Hormel Turkey Pepperoni, then I top with peppers and onions-I use Birdseye Pepper Stir Fry-top with Kraft fat free mozarella or cheddar-nuke on high for 2 minutes). I also do variations on chicken caesar salad. I use those green bags you see on TV, buy Romaine in heads, break some up, cut up a hard boiled egg, add a grilled chicken breast or turkey cut up, sprinkle parmesan cheese and I use light caesar dressing with fat free croutons. I don't like to cook much so I have salad a lot. I make chili with ground turkey, reduced salt chili seasoning, a can of kidney or pinto beans undrained, and a can of chopped green chilis--brown the meat, then add the other stuff and simmer-when hot throw some Kraft fat free shredded cheese on top. A pot of chili makes 5 or 6 meals for me now. Before about 2. When I eat out I frequently stick to an appetizer and salad, just to be safe. But I tried some mozzarella sticks recently and they got stuck so I was in the restroom sliming for 20 minutes. I just told my friends the cheese didn't agree with me. I also still drink a protein shake every workday and sometimes weekends too. I carry Kashi TLC bars in my purse, in case I can't eat on time and I am starving. They have less sugar than most and some protein so unless you are low carbing they are not bad. When shoping I read labels like a maniac. I try to find the lowest fat and sugar first, then lowest salt and then carbs, and the most protein I can find. For snacks I use Kays Naturals Protein Chips. They sell cereal, pretzels, a variety of snacks, all high protein, gluten free, low sugar, not too bad on carbs. They come in 1-1.5 oz bags. The web sits is kaysnaturals.com. Their shopping cart has been down recently, but keep trying. They keep me out of potato chips and cheese curls. I also have made a serious commitment to exercise. Nothing fancy, mostly walking. I walk in a park near home, carrying peanuts to feed the squirrels. The park has a 2 mile nature trail. I try to do at least twice, and if time, weather and such permits, I will do 3 and sometimes 4 times around. The squirrels are ecstatic when I do that. Until daylight savings comes back, during the week it is too dark so I do Curves (minus the post workout pizza) and water aerobics. The absolute most I take off is 2 days, but I try for only one day off from exercise. When the daylight comes back I will likely walk daily as I pass the turn for the park to go home after work. Curves is also in the center where I turn off for the park, and the aquatic place is also on the way home, a factor of importance if the gas prices go back to $4.00 a gallon. Find something you enjoy doing and it will be much easier to stick to it. If it is a chore you will end up quitting. I was never much of a walker before, but I started before surgery, and I could see a difference in how my clothes fit even before I was banded. I was a women's 22 (now misses 12) and a 2X in work clothes (now medium tops and small pants--I wear scrubs). Not every day is perfect, but if I eat something I shouldn't, next day I am back on track. I try not to beat myself up about it. I also weigh myself daily--can't stand the suspense of that once a week stuff. I can also adjust if I see my weight creeping up. Once a week would drive me nuts. Now if I could just find a really good plastic surgeon who is hot to do some pro bono work . . .:yikes:

I think the surgeon and/or dietician on the bariatric team is a good place to start. Tell them you are struggling and see what they advise you. I had to do a 6 month diet for insurance and the dietician flat out said she didn't care if I lost weight, I just shouldn't gain any. I managed to lose a whole 10 lbs. I was also put on a pre-op liquid diet to shrink my liver prior to surgery and prepare me for the post-op liquid phase. Up until four days before surgery I could have a small amount of lean protein (I cooked unbreaded chicken tenders with salt and pepper, or I had 2 hardboiled eggs). I ended up on it for 3 weeks because I caught a cold and they bumped my surgery a week, not enough to stop and start again, so I just did another week. I could have broth, protein drinks, sugar free jello, yogurt, cream soups, water, skim milk and the like. I do boring really well, so I did well on the liquid diet (except for a handful of peanuts I ate while walking in the park-I had peanuts for the squirrels and I was really hungry). I lost another 25 lbs on that. The rest has come off since surgery. It is hard to get your head around eating differently but as someone said "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels."

My insurance (Carefirst Blue Choice) paid for my surgery (including a night in the hospital) but does not pay for fills or anything related to weight loss or weight control. Go figure! I haven't heard of any not paying for surgery but paying for fills. Your description of how the doctors office billed insurance sounds like the charges have been reworded to acceptable charges, and the relationship to weight loss surgery carefully omitted. Good for the patient; maybe not so if the insurance company finds out.

I had my surgery done at St. Agnes by Dr. Singh, who is excellent. Dr. Averbach and Dr. Von Rueden are also there. Von Rueden came from GBMC to St. Agnes. The hospital has a Bariatric Center of Excellence rating too. If you are curious and want some information you can register for a free seminar (a required first step if you go forward with surgery, otherwise no obligation). Just call St. Agnes and ask about the Bariatric Seminar dates. You can also come to the group support meeting. It is the third Monday of each month for Lapbanders, and the next one is Monday January 19 at 6pm in the Alagia Auditorium. You meet people at all stages, people thinking about surgery, pre-ops, post-ops, people several years out. They talk about issues and you can ask questions. I started going to the group during the summer of 2007, at least 6 months before my surgery. you can learn a lot. You may have trouble qualifying with a BMI of 32, but the criteria is changing all the time, so don't let that deter you. At least find out what your options are. Hope to see you at the meeting.

I answered your post under the "Frustrated in Maryland" thread, so I won't repeat it all here. I used Dr. Kuldeep Singh at St. Agnes, and I am very pleased with the results. St. Agness also has Dr. Averbach and Dr. Von Rueden.

St. Agnes, Bayview, GBMC, Sinai, Harford Memorial all have programs. I had my surgery done by Dr. Singh at St. Agnes. St. Agnes has a Bariatric Center of Excellence rating. My sister had gastric bypass there several years ago, and really liked Dr. Singh so I went there. I researched the procedures (obesityhelp.com is a good place to read all about them) and chose the band for myself. I am very pleased with the results. You can call St. Agnes and register for their seminar (no obligation to continue the process, but if you do decide to go forward the seminar is a required first step). It is free and will give you lots of info about the surgery. I also started going to support groups last summer (2007) because I had to do a 6 month documented diet attempt for insurance. I spent the time learning all I could. If you are interested in St. Agnes, the support group for lapbanders is the 3rd Monday of each month (Jan 19th is the next one). You can meet pre-ops, post-ops and other people thinking about surgery. You can ask questions and listen to other people's issues. It is from 6-7 in the Alagia Auditorium. You don't have to register and the meeting is free. Hope to see you there.

The Friday before my Tuesday surgery I came down with a slight cold. I called but I said I thought it would be over by Monday (it was) but they postponed my surgery a week. I too was on the liquid pre-op; I just stayed on it an extra week. Not enough time to stop and start it again, so I toughed it out. Actually lost 25 lbs on the pre-op liquids. The delay is for your benefit. I believe there is more risk of respiratory complications so anesthesia will not put you under if they think you are sick. I survived; you will too. Turn yourself in.

Different insurance companies may have slightly different requirements, but I will share mine with you. You can probably get a good head start (I would also look around and see who else is out there while waiting to see this guy). First I would call your insurance company and find out (in writing if you can) what their criteria is for acceptance. I have Blue Choice HMO through my employer. If your insurance is through your employer, they have a manual of what is covered. You may have to share that you are investigating bariatric sugery because the manual is usually large and they won't copy the whole thing. I got the pages covering my surgery so I knew exactly what I had to do. Calling them is next best, but when I did that they told me only bypass was covered, and that was not accurate. My insurance says you need a BMI of 40 or more and be 100 lbs overweight, or if your BMI was 35-39 you had to have one or more co-morbidity (weight related health issues) such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, reflux (GERD), joint arthritis, sleep apnea, and the like. My surgeon told me I had metabolic syndrom, all but diabetes, meaning I had everything else I listed except for diabetes. My BMI was like 38-39, and I was a good 100 pounds over where I wanted to be. Another requirement for my insurance (many insurances but not all are doing this, and it is something you could do now while waiting to see the surgeon) is a 6 month DOCUMENTED weight loss attempt. Many will accept receipts from Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem and the like. You just have to have some documentation. I didn't so I had to wait and do the 6 months before I could have surgery. I got the dietician on the bariatric team to set it up for me. Only cost me $35. Again that will vary, depending on what your insurance company wants. If you need to do it, your PCP could monitor it or refer you to a dietician and you have time just about to have it completed if you start now. While I was doing the 6 month diet, I decided to learn everything I could, good, bad and ugly. I started coming here last November. I also went to obesity help.com and read all their info about all the surgeries. My sister had gastric bypass, and I was interested in the vertical sleeve, but my insurance only covered the band and bypass, so I went with the band. See my signature line for the results. Also check and make sure your surgery will be done in a Bariatric Center of Excellence. To get that rating the hospital has to have done a large number of surgeries with a low complication rate (means they have lots of experience). Also most places that do surgery offer group support that meets once or twice a month. I started going to that after making my decision to have the surgery, and I have been going since last July. Pre-op, recent post-op, people out several years, people just thinking about it, all come and share stories, and issues, and basically share the struggle. You can learn a lot there, and here. There are several magazines that are helpful too. OH, which is obesityhelp.com's magazine, is very good. There is another one called WLS Lifestyles, a little more technical, but also very good. OH can be subscribed from their website, and I thin WLS either has their own site or bariatriceating.com may have a link. You can investigate Protein shakes in the meatime, and find out what you like. Look for low fat, low carb, low sugar. I use Woldwide Protein Shakes, available at Trader Joe's and Vitamin Shoppe. GNC has them but are the priciest ($2.99 a can). Cheapest is TJ and Vitamin Shoppe drops the per can price ($2.79) to about $2.38 if you buy a 12 pack. That is for 35g protein shakes. TJ has 21g($1.69) and 35g($2.29) but just in vanilla and chocolate. VS has just 35g but in all flavors, including strawberry, banana Cream, and Cookies n Cream(tastes like Oreos). unjury is another good brand. It comes in powder that you mix in milk or maybe Water. You can check that out at unjury.com As for Vitamins and Calcium you are put on chewables after surgery. Bariatric Advantage has a whole website of supplements and I think they still sell a sampler pack you can get to try them. Centrum makes chewables, even in Silver for old folks like me. I get my Calcium (get citrate not carbonate--better absorbed) from vitacost.com. The brand is Twin Labs calcium citrate with Magnesium and D(D should be D3 or cholocalciferol--not sure if I spelled it right). They come in 60 wafer bottles for around $8.00. Vitacost charges $4.99 for any size order, so I order as much as I can afford at a time. Cheaper then any store I have seen it in. By now you are probably cross-eyed, so I will shut up. I hope this has helped and not overwhelmed you. As you can see there is a lot you can do between now and June, and taking the initiative may help you become one of those select few people the surgeon accepts. Good luck on your journey.

I had problems from before surgery. I take a stool softener twice a day. The pharmacy told me it was okay to take up to twice. When even that isn't enough, I add a senna based laxative, which works gently. Senokot is the best known brand name, but many stores sell generics for less. I will take that at bedtime for a day or two and continue the softeners. That will usually straighten me out.

It means Productive Burp. Sometimes if you eat a bit too much, or too fast, you may have a tendency for the food to get stuck. Sometimes the PB will help relieve it. Another term you will see here is sliming. When something gets stuck, for some reason you will start producing a LOT of saliva, and since you are stuck it has no place to go but up and out. You don't get nauseated, but you do need to spit up. It will be mostly saliva with maybe a trace of what you have eaten. I don't do it often, but it helps to be near a bathroom. Eventually what you ate will go through, or at worst come up and you will feel better. I think I described PBs and sliming. Others may have more to add. This is a great place to ask questions and trade tips. Good luck on your journey!

I had bad numbers pre-op, even on two meds. My first post-op bloodwork was a major improvement. My triglycerides which were usually 300 on meds were 53. I will still on meds for this, but my total went to 143, HDL 65, LDL 66. I used to have a total over 200. The only thing out of whack were my liver enzymes, still elevated. So my PCP stopped both meds and this month I have followup to see if my numbers are still good, and if my liver enzymes have come down. They can be elevated from the cholesterol meds. My surgeon said it could be a fatty liver, so I had a pre-op liquid diet, but he said my liver didn't look that bad in surgery. I am crossing my fingers that my numbers are still good when I do the next blood test. I follow a low sugar, low salt, low fat as much as possible. I don't eat much bread (fat free croutons are okay--they disintegrate, but anything that can get a little chewy bothers me so I steer clear), and I eat a lot of salads with light dressing. I devised a crustless pizza so I could enjoy the sauce and toppings withiout the crust. I make it in a microwavable dish (meal portion size) using Hormel Turkey Pepperoni and Kraft Free fat free cheese. Most pizza sauces are low in sugar and fat, and I use Birdseye Pepper Stirfry for toppings over the Hormel. It is just frozen 3 color peppers and onion chunks, perfect for topping pizza. It satisfies my urge for pizza and I stay out of the pizzeria (one of the reasons my cholesteral wouldn't come down). Nuke for 2 minutes on high. Maybe the dieticician could look at what you do eat, to see if anything stands out that may be contributing. Good luck on your journey.

I don't feel uncomfortably cold, but I have developed a taste for long sleeved tops and fleece sweatshirts. The electric bills in this area are ridiculous, so I try not to raise my thermostat above 70. I have a quilt that actually folds up into a throw pillow, but opened it is a lap quilt and the pillow covering becomes a pocket for your feet. I love to get all comfy under that while watching TV. My cats like it too. I usually end up with one in my lap. I would say I feel the cold more, but it is not bad. I agree that when fat the insulation took care of it. Now I am collecting sweaters where before I couldn't stand the thought of wearing them (too hot). I think I will keep the sweaters.

It has been just over a month for you, and I think 10 lbs is a very respectable loss. As for meals, I make salads (Romaine, Parmesan Cheese, grilled chicken breast, cut up a hard boiled egg, and use light Caesar dressing), using a container for dressing and the other salad stuff. I also sometimes put Turkey meatballs in spaghetti or marinara sauce, some Parmesan cheese on top in a microwavable container (meal portion) and nuke for 2 minutes. That way you eliminate the pasta at least for the time being. When you feel ready to try pasta, use the whole grain type. Better for you. I also like chili. I brown a package of ground turkey, scrape of the narly fat stuff that cooks off it, then add a 15 oz can of kidney (light or dark) or pinto beans, undrained, a 15 oz can tomato sauce, a small can of chopped green chilies, some chopped onions, and simmer until hot and bubbly. Then I sprinkle Kraft Free fat free cheese on top and let it sit for a little bit so the cheese will melt. The I get out my Tupperware and divide up the whole pan into about 6 meals or more. Then you can nuke for 2 minutes to reheat at home or at work. No fridge at work? Get an insulated lunch bag that uses freezer packs. I carry a ready to drink protein shake, some yogurt, a small can of V8, some nuts (not roasted and salted, but the kind you bake with--I get almonds, walnuts, and pecans and count 10 of each and put in a snack bag--they can be a little hard to digest, so you might want to wait a while on those). I also get cereal and snacks from kaysnaturals.com. They sell them in 1-1.5 serving bags, and I will often pour the cereal into my yogurt to eat, or eat it by itself. They also have protein chips in different flavors. They sell a sampler box that allows you to try different flavors. I also make crustless pizza. You may find that chewy bread tends to get stuck (I do fine with fat free croutons on my salad-they disintegrate rather than get chewy). I take two microwavable dishes (meal portion size), cover the bottom with 1/3 to 1/2 jar of Ragu Homemade Style pizza sauce; cover with Hormel Turkey Pepperoni; cover with toppings of choice--I like peppers and onions and keep Birdseye Pepper Stir Fry in the freezer to use--it is just chunks of 3 color peppers and onions: cover with Kraft Free fat free Mozarella or Cheddar; nuke for 2 minutes. As a recovering pizzaholic--I would work out at Curves, pick up a pizza for dinner, and eat the entire 12-15 pizza myself--this really satisfies my craving for pizza. Try it. A lot of post-op eating is trial and error. I don't do low carb, but I try to eat good carbs, like cereal, salad, whoe grain pasta. I have read where some people have a problem with salad greens; I don't. Sometimes I don't know for sure until I try something. Just be sure to chew thoroughly. Some of the harder to digest foods will go down if chewed thoroughly. Hope this helps.

I don't know what post-op instructions they gave you, but I was told to let the steri-strips fall off. When I could shower I just soaped the whole area (with the bar not a cloth) and rinsed. Gradually most of the strips fell off, but my skin started to itch so when the last few wouldn't fall off, I helped them. The itching was driving me crazy so I carefully applied Eucerin anti-itch moisturizing spray. Sprayed it on my fingertips and applied to the red itchy areas, but not directly on the incision. That helped. Don't worry too much about showering. You will have some small scabs that will eventually fall off. It was the itching from the steri-strips that drove me nuts. I am sensitive to the adhesive on bandages and disposable electrodes. I get an itchy rash. I don't remember any problems with showering. As soon as you can get out and walk, and keep walking. That is my primary exercise. Until daylight savings comes back I also use Curves and Water aerobics. I walk on weekends and holidays and when I have enough daylight almost daily. I found a park near home that has a 2 mile nature trail, and I carry peanuts for the squirrels. I try to do twice around as a minimum, but if I have time I will do 3 and if really ambitious, I will do 4 times. I have gone from women's size 22 to misses 12, and from 2x scrubs (I work in a doctor's office) to medium tops and small pants. I am addicted to my walk, and get cranky if I can't go on the days I have daylight. Unless it is lightning, ice, or heavy snowfall, I am there (even in the rain). I am like a nut case jogger you see in all sorts of weather, only I do it walking, stopping to feed the squirrels, who are alway happy to see me. A little off your thread topic, but since you are newly post-op, thought I'd throw in a little extra advice. Good luck on your journey.

Requirements will vary slightly from one surgeon or insurance to another. I have Blue Choice (HMO under Carefirst BC/BS of Maryland). Since I didn't have documentation of a 6 month diet, that is where I had to start. I met with the bariatric team's dietician and she set it up for me. During that time I had my consult with the surgeon, my psych consult, and I started going to the monthly support group meetings at the hospital where I would have my surgery. --started 6 month supervised diet --had surgeon consult(rec'd checklist of items to bring) --had psych consult --had stress test req by surgeon/echo req by PCP --finished 6 month supervised diet --saw surgeon again --saw dietician for pre and post op dietary consult --had pre-op class --got surgical date --pre-op liquid diet 2 wks before surg(this varies by patient) --surgery

A standard reason I see a lot in WLS magazine articles: "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels." For me, my main motivation was to address my health issues. As my surgeon said I had metabolic syndrome, all but diabetes. I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, reflux, knee arthritis. My followup bloodwork (on all my meds--2 for BP, 2 for cholesterol, pain med for knees, reflux med, and CPAP machine for sleep apnea) was awesome! Total Cholesterol 142(normal 100-199), Triglycerides 53(used to always be around 300, even on meds-normal 0-149)LDL 66(bad cholesterol, normal 0-99),and HDL 65 (good cholesterol-higher the better-normal range 40-59). The only thing out of whack were my liver enzymes which can be elevated due to cholesterol meds, and they were still elevated, so my doctor stopped both cholesterol meds, one BP med, the reflux med, and gave me Rx for the one BP med (which we are now trying me off of to see if I can stop that too) and the pain med for my knees. I got them both at Walmart for 90 days, $10 each. I hardly even need the pain med because I made a serious comittment to exercise (mostly just walking) and have lost around 100 pounds. My knees feel pretty good, so I rarely need the pain med. I fluctuate within a 5 pound range, but basically I am near or at goal on a given day, which is 150. Romance is still non-existant, but I will be 64 in February, though I am not ruling out turning into one hot senior citizen. I only half joke about saving for plastic surgery, at least a tummy tuck. If I hit the lottery I will have a total body lift, boob enhancement with my own tissue, and a facelift. Not an ounce of elasticity in my excess 64 year old skin, but heck, I am not complaining. You can hide a lot under clothing. I am in a size 12 (down from Womens 22) and in small to medium pants and medium tops from 2X. I am broke from buying new clothes, but it is a good excuse for being broke. A tip on clothing: As your size changes, check out the local thrift stores. Clothing is extremely cheap, and with some careful seaching you can find some nice, gently used stuff. I went to my local one and found a pair of jeans and an acrylic sweater. The sweater even had the extra button in a little plastic bag still tacked inside. May have never been worn. The jeans looked like they saw minimal if any use by the previous owner. They were selling for $6.98 each, but the store was having a 50% off sale on selected items and they were both selected items, so I paid $3.49 each for the. The jeans are Ann Taylor Loft in a kind of red heather color. I love them. Have them on right now in fact. Hate to think what they were retail. I could never bring myself to buy designer jeans. Even LL Bean's $29.95 jeans were a stretch. But I have an LL Bean credit card and you earn $10 coupons toward future purchases. One time I had 3 coupons and I order a pair of jeans and all I had to pay was the tax. Got them for $1.75. They have free shipping if you have their card, too. I also buy a lot from Blair catalogs, as their prices are pretty reasonable. I also trade clothes at work with a few coworkers. Anything to save a little money. You can add looking better in your clothes to that list too.

I have never been much of a Breakfast eater, and some people feel tighter in the am. Weekdays, when working, I usually have a Protein shake for starters (I like Worldwide Protein shakes, available in 5 flavors at Vitamin Shoppe). If I want a little more I have a small can of V8. I take them to work and have them while working. If I am really hungry I will add a yogurt and sometimes a bit of Cereal. I get stuff from Kay's Naturals (kaysnaturals.com) because they come in small bags, making it easy to pack for work. When I get hungry for lunch I might have a dish of a Mexican recipie I like (kind of a tex mex dip), or a crustless pizza (another of my own creation--none of the bread but all the toppings) or one Lean pocket, or turkey rollups(98% fat free turkey lunchmeat with a slice or two of fat free cheese and a little mustard, rolled up without bread), sometimes a salad with chicken and light dressing. Different people have different tolerances for food, so it is a bit of trial and error. Snacks I tend to make part of my meal (I have enough trouble working in all the Water they want you to drink, so I hardly have time for snacks), but either way, Kay's Naturals has protein chips, pretzels, cereal. I get my snacks from them. Keeps me out of potato chips. I use glucosamine/chondroitin, and the makers of Cosamin DS make a Power Pack that you can mix with water like Crystal Light. That forces me to drink a 16.9 oz bottle of water to help with my water quota. On the weekends if I sleep in some, I might have a real breakfast of Cheerios with an apple cut up on it, or some dried Cranberries (dried fruit is high in sugar, but Craisins has 100 cal packs out, so I get them--it helps me control how much I add to the cereal). When I do this I usually only do 2 meals and maybe one snack. I do carry a snack with me, in case I am hungry and can't eat for a while. I looked around for something easy, and Kashi TLC bars (some protein, Fiber, and lowest in sugar of all the bars I looked at) that I get at costco in a bulk pack is what I carry. One of them will take the edge off without wrecking my eating plan. A lot of Protein Bars are loaded with sugar, so investigate before you invest. Hope this helps.

Assuming all seminars are pretty much the same, it is an informational session where the various surgeries are explained, and info about what you need to qualify. Some insurances may have different criteria, but, in general, a BMI of 40 plus 100 lbs overweight, or a BMI 35-39 with one or more co-morbidity (diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, joint arthritis, reflux, sleep apnea--there may be more, but that is the basic list). There is no weigh in at the seminar; that would take place either at your surgical consult, or when you meet the dietician. Some insurances require a documented 6 month weight loss attempt (I didn't have that so I met with the dietician who set me up for it and I had to wait until that was over before they could submit to my insurance). You will also get a psych consult and a pre and post op meeting with the dietician, plus a class with the bariatric nurse. I had all of that, and I think in general most places work that way. The seminar is just informational, to give you an idea what to expect. If you find you don't qualify you don't have to make any other appointments, and the seminar is usually free. Good luck on your journey. The band is a tool to help you control portions; it is still up to you to eat right and exercise. Hope this helps.

1. Crossing my legs comfortably. 2. Buying size 12 clothes and having them fit (down from Womens' 22). 3. Going to a clothing outlet for scrub tops and pants, picking up some medium of each (down from 2x), and when trying them on at home discovering the pants are too big! I took them back and actually tried on a small at the store because I didn't believe it. Believe it! The tops are still medium but the pants are small! 4. Wearing formfitting tops and pants and getting COMPLIMENTS! 5. Stopping almost all the medicine I was on. We are trying me off my one blood pressure med to see if I can stop it long term. 6. Walking 4 times around the nature trail (2 mile trail) instead of once or twice. 7. Packing up my old clothes and giving them to the thrift store. (BTW--I found a pair of size 12 Ann Taylor Loft jeans at the thrift store, hardly looked like they had been worn, kind of a brick red color. They were having a 50% off sale so I paid $3.49 for them. They fit like a glove and I love them! Thank you to whoever donated them.)

:smile:Hi. I live in Edgewood, Harford County, Maryland. I was banded 3/25/08 by Dr. Singh at St. Agnes. Singh, Averbach and Von Rueden are the surgeons at St. Agnes. They are a bariatric Center of Excellence, too. I currently fluctuate between 149 and 152, and my goal weight is 150, so I guess I am there. Now to stay there!

I live in Edgewood. I was banded 3/25/08 and while doing my 6 month diet for insurance and waiting for approval I decided to bump up my exercise with walking. I asked around and was directed to Mariner Point park in Joppatowne, and I have become addicted to walking there. I am headed there in about ten minutes as my office is closing for Xmas Eve. There is a 2 mile nature trail, paved. I carry peanuts for the squirrels, and even befriended a chipmunk (I named him Chuckie) who is now hibernating, but the squirrels are still out. I don't walk for time, I walk for distance. I do anywhere from 2 to 4 times around the trail. How fast depends on how many squirrels I run into. I can't say enough about walking. I noticed a difference in how my clothes were fitting even before surgery and a significant weight loss. I have gone from 2x and women's 22 to medium tops and small to medium pants(about a size 10-12). Right now I usually only go on weekends and holidays, as it is dark when I leave work at 530. I also go to Curves in Joppatowne and Water aerobics(Underwater Playground in Edgewood on Business Center Way off of Puliaski--MTTh 6pm). When daylight savings arrives I pass Joppa Farm Road on the way home so I walk almost every day, sometimes combining a stop at Curves. If you are interested in meeting you can email me directly (work is the best place to reach me-I will get it Friday 12/26) at pchelton@midatlanticcardio.com. Good luck with your journeys.

I was curious about these, and I asked my dietician about them. She had no problem with them and referred me to a Health food Store to get more info. They were a little far, so I investigated a link my sister found. If you want graphic, the web site for Blessed Herbs is definitely that! They even give you the option of turning off the pictures from the testimonials! I have never seen so much s**t in my life! I ordered from another place (BH cost like $89) for $60 something, and when it came I changed my mind, called them got an RMA number sent it back with delivery confirmation. Now they are giving me a runaround, saying they issued the credit, but it is not on my account. One CSR had me fax them my statement to prove I didn't have the credit, the next one said the credit was issued and I should take it up with my card bank. I asked for a supervisor and they put me through to a voicemail and the person has not called me back. So I called my card company. I printed the delivery confirmation and I have the numbers of the CSR's I talked to. My credit card CSR checked my account and it is not there. So they will take up the issue for me as a failur to refund. I will get my money back, but they do not make it easy. I may complain to the BBB too before I am done. I returned a product once because it didn't work well and the shipping charge was rediculous. They tried to tell me I couldn't have the S&H back, and I said had I been told what it was going to be I would not have ordered the product. I went to the BBB for their state and was ready to go to the Attorny General for the state, when they decided to give me my shipping back, because I made it clear I was not going away until they did. That said I decided to try a product in Vitamin Shoppe called First Cleanse. I wasn't impressed. I threw the balance out. I do better with a senna laxative (Senokot or generic brands) and a stool softener. I order on the internet all the time, but be careful of TV infomercials. They are the ones I have had the most trouble with. Go to a reputable health food store and ask lots of questions. Or you could contact your dietician and see what he/she thinks.