PATCHELTON

I don't know if these are the same seminars, but obesityhelp.com has events around the country, with workshops and seminars, vendors and samples. Check their site for info.

Congratulations! Your starting weight was very close to mine (252). I lost 10 pounds on the 6 month diet my insurance required, and was put on a liquid pre-op diet that lasted 3 weeks because I caught a cold and my surgery was moved, but only by a week, not enough time to stop and start up again so I stayed on it an extra week. I found I do boring really well (the liquid diet is boring). Lost 25 on that. The rest is post-op. I don't think I ever would have been able to do this on my own. The band helped curtail portion size, and I did the rest. I always knew what to eat; I just ate too much of it (plus the pizza, subs, etc.) Now I eat healthy and the band is there to remind me if I am eating too much. I am really glad I did it. My surgeon is pretty happy with my results too.:sad_smile:

Breathe deep and then walk away. As a self confessed pizzaholic (my idea of eating pizza was to consume an entire 12-15 inch pizza with pepperoni, green peppers, onions, and extra cheese). I would stand in the doorway of the office kitchen and wave the scent toward me (really). I tried the front triangle (about 1/3) of a slice once after surgery and the dough just sat in my chest. Then I got to thinking, what I really crave is the toppings. So I dreamed up a crustless pizza. You can't use it now, but post op when you can have real food, it may help. Take a microwaveable dish, cover the bottom with pizza sauce (Ragu Homestyle has the least sugar). If you like pepperoni, cover the sauce with Hormel Turkey Pepperoni (70% less fat, and part of the Protein source), then add your favorite toppings. I keep Birdseye Pepper Stir Fry in the freezer. It has 3 colors of peppers and onion chunks and that is all. I cover the pepperoni with the peppers and onions, then top with Kraft Free shredded Mozzarella fat free cheese. Nuke for 2 minutes and enjoy, all the toppings, almost zero fat, none of the bread, and you have cheese and pepperonis as your protein source. I pack it and bring for lunch at work. Good luck on your journey, and hang it there. It will be worth it.

Welcome, and congratulations on your loss so far. Keep up the good work.

I wanted to be the first to tell you that you look hot, but someone beat me to it. Congratulations! I have had an amazing journey as well. While my knee arthritis might not go for a 5K, I might be able to walk you to death:laugh:! I added walking to my trips to Curves in January (on weekends as it was dark by the time I finished work). I walk in a park near where I live that has a 2 mile nature trail. When daylight savings arrived I began stopping each night on the way home, walking twice around. I am now losing daylight and can barely get around once, but will be instituting my backup plan--Water aerobics 2 days a week, Curves 3 days a week, the park on weekends. This past weekend I did 4 trips around both Saturday and Sunday, around 8 miles each day. Not bad for an old lady:thumbup:! I don't walk particularly fast, and I carry peanuts for the squirrels (a little passive weight lifting). They love to see me coming. I shake the bag and they come running. I even met a chipmunk (named him/her Chuckie) that comes to the same spot and I save the single peanuts for him/her. Chuckie stuffs one in each cheek and another in the mouth and runs off to stash them. About 2 minutes later, back again for more. I am a cheap date; they entertain me and make my walk more pleasant. I also meet lots of dogs (some who like peanuts too). Keep up the good work.:wub:

Now would be a great time to try the chewables you will need post op. I use Twin Labs Calcium Citrate with Magnesium and D (60 wafer bottle--4 a day dose) available at Vitacost.com for $7.67 each, $4.99 shipping for any size order. I order about 5 bottles (plus Twin Labs liquid Fish Oil for my Omega 3s) so I only have to order every 2 months and it all comes for $4.99. I actually paid $17.99 for it in a Healthy Options store, so this is a great price. You can also try Bariatric Advantage (bariatricadvantage.com) for their Calcium Citrate. I am pretty sure it comes with D. Citrate is the better form of calcium (absorbs better than carbonate) and the Vitamin D should be D3 or cholocalciferol.

Greetings from Maryland! It is never to early to start researching. I was banded in March and I have been coming here since November. You can learn a lot here. Read all you can. If you can, start going to the Lapband support group at the hospital you have chosen. I started doing that last summer. You will meet people at all stages of pre and post op, hear about their issues, and ask lots of questions. The better informed you are, the better decision you will make. I felt like I could almost do the surgery myself by the time I had mine! You can get lots of tips here, so ask away. Good luck on your journey.

Haven't heard of Celebrate. My dietician recommends Bariatric Advantage or Pioneer. I take Centrum chewable (they come in silver too) and for Calcium I use Twin Labs Calcium Citrate with Magnesium and D (citrate absorbs better than carbonate, and D3 or cholecalciferol is the best form of D to take), available at $7.67 for 60 wafers (4 a day dose) plus $4.99 shipping for any size order at vitacost.com. I order about 4 or 5 bottles to squeeze the shipping cost. I paid $17.99 for it in a Healthy Options store, so I thought it was Christmas when I found this online site. My dietician poo-poo's Centrum but my followup bloodwork showed no deficiencies, and it is less expensive than some. I got it at Target for about $12 for 60 (one a day).

I have Blue Choice insurance and they required the 6 month diet too. I think most insurances are doing that now. Use the time well, and it will fly by. Visit here, read the good/bad/ugly, read books (The Lapband Solution and The Lapband Companion are two good ones, available at amazon.com), start going to support groups now. You can learn a lot by talking to people in all stages of pre or post op. I went to the seminar and started going to group last summer, and was banded 3/25/08. I even had a post op tell me I didn't look heavy enough to need surgery (at 5'7" maybe not, but I was 252 lbs in size 2x scrubs for work). I am still 5'7" but I have lost 90 lbs and my 2X is now a baggy large (as soon as money permits I will be a medium) and my clothing has gone from women's 22 to misses 12-14. I am off cholesterol medicine for the first time in about 20 years, and I take one less BP med (I may lose the other one later) and have stopped my GERD med. I will be having a sleep study in the near future to see if the sleep apnea has resolved. Take full advantage of all the resources available. Use this time also to get your head around the changes you will have to make in your eating. You can do it. Good luck with your journey.

I have Blue Choice (BC's HMO) and they also required a "documented 6 month weight loss attempt" and I used the dietician on the bariatric team. Met with her once for initial weigh-in, and discussion of healthy food choices. She told me they didn't care if I lost weight, I was just not to gain any during the six months. After that meeting I weighed myself every two weeks (I work in a doctor's office so I did it at work) and email her the weight. I didn't work very hard at losing, and I was honest about my weights, and managed to lose 10 pounds. They would also accept Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, anything like that which was documented. You could use two different 3 month attempts even. Of course their customer service rep told me I would probably be denied and have to do the 6 month diet all over, because the dietician was out of network. He was wrong. Out of network just means out of pocket, at least in my case. The psych nurse and dietician were both out of network. I paid them and was approved. I was put on a pre-op liquid diet and lost 25 on that. The rest has been post-op.

I work in a doctor's office and we are all the time having luncheons. I stopped taking dessert long ago, and it is rare that I eat any of the sweets unless it is fresh fruit salad. Often there is a tossed salad of some kind, and if the entre is chicken that is not fried I might have a little of that. Mostly I carry in my own food that I can eat so if the luncheon is nothing I should eat, I skip it. As for going out with friends I don't pay any attention to what they order. I usually get an appetizer and salad, or just salad, as I can't eat a full restaurant entre. When they take drink orders I order Water (which I have always done even before surgery) and just leave it sit. That way I don't have to explain to the waitress why I am not drinking with my meal, and if something happens to get stuck I have water to try and dislodge it. I loved pizza, and someone at work asked me if I couldn't have it occasionally, and I said probably but it is like giving heroin to a junkie. I make crustless pizza (sauce, turkey pepperoni, peppers and onions, and fat free Kraft shredded cheese) in a microwave dish and nuke for 2 minutes. That way I can enjoy it, skipping the crust and having the toppings I enjoy. I keep my eye on the prize. I am off cholesterol meds for the first time in about 20 years, and wearing a 12-14 Misses (down from Womens 22). There isn't a junk food out there worth throwing all that away.

The only problem with calcium chews, according to my dietician, is that they contain Calcium Carbonate, which is not absobed as well as calcium citrate. I use Twin Labs Calcium Citrate with D. I chew 2 in the mornng and 2 at night. 60 wafers cost $7.67 at vitacost.com, with $4.99 shipping for any size order, so I order several to save on shipping. I paid $17.99 for it at a Healthy Options store. The Vitamin Shoppe may have it too, but the cheapest place is online. I had bought Viactiv, but switched when the dietician told me citrate was better. I figure if I have to take it I wanted the best absorption.

I am 5'7", began my journey at 252 lbs. BMI 38, and every co-morbidity except diabetes (high blood pressure, sleep apnea, high cholesterol, joint arthritis, GERD). I lost 10 pounds on the 6 month diet for insurance, was on liquid diet 3 weeks pre-op(supposed to be 2 but I caught a slight cold and they bumped my surgery a week, not enough time to stop and start again, so I stayed on it an extra week). Lost 25 more on the liquid pre-op, and the rest of the weight has come off since surgery. I mainly walk for exercise, plus Curves. I walk in a park that has a 2 mile nature trail, and I try to do twice around, sometimes 3. When I lose daylight during the week I will be doing Curves and Water Aerobics, with the park on weekends. I can't address the diabetes issue, but after my followup blood work, I was able to stop 2 cholesterol meds (recheck in 6 mons), one blood pressure med (may lose the other one later on) and my GERD med. Will be having a sleep study to assess my apnea later this year. My cholesterol numbers were so good I don't think I was born with them that good! (Total 142,Triglycerides 53--used to be 300 or more even on meds--LDL 66, and HDL 65). I have gone from 22W size to currently 12-14. My knees still have arthritis, but they feel infinitely better than they did before. It is definitely worth it. I have never managed to lose more than 20 on any other weight loss attempt.

Congratulations to both of you. We look forward to talking you you as post ops. Hang in there with the liquid diet. It really helps jump start your post op life. I know not everyone is put on it (I think if they think you may have a fatty liver, it helps to shrink it for the surgery). I ended up on it 3 weeks because I caught a slight cold 5 days before surgery and they moved the surgery back, but only a week, not enough time to stop and restart. They let me have a small amount of lean Protein up to 4 days before surgery. I either had 2 hard cooked eggs, or 2 unbreaded chicken tenders, both with salt and pepper. Aside from that the closest I came to cheating was eating a few unsalted peanuts from the bag I carry to feed the squirrels as I walk in the park. I dropped 25 lbs before surgery (besided the 10 on my 6 month diet for insurance). The rest is since surgery. Good luck to both of you. Take advantage of all the services--group support, dietician and the like. This is the beginning of your new life.

If you want ready to drink, Worldwide Protein Shakes are great. They are sold at Trader Joe's (35g or 21g Protein, vanilla and chocolate only, $2.29 for the 35's and $1.69 for the 21's), GNC (35's only, vanilla and chocolate only $2.99--other flavlors available online), and the Vitamin Shoppe (35's only, all flavors sold in stores and online--$2.79 each or $27.99 in a 12 pack--comes in Vanilla Cream, Chocolate Cream, strawberry, banana Cream, and Cookies n' Cream {tastes like Oreos}--available online, free shipping $99 or more--recently were on sale online for $22.99 for 12 pack). Good way to maximize your protein intake. Low carb (3-4) low sugar (about 1g) and low fat (about 1g). Calories vary from 100 (21's) to 160-170 (35's). If you like powders to mix up, unjury is good. Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry, chicken Soup, and Plain. Go to unjury.com for info.

Congratulations and good luck with your surgery.

Welcome. Don't think of yourself so badly. I am sure we all have at our highest weight, but you are taking action to end it. Think of this as the beginning of your journey to a new life and self. Good luck with your surgery.

I am not Snowbird, but I will try to answer about "frothing." When something gets stuck (mostly food but I had a pill get stuck that I took in a hurry instead of cutting in half) you get discomfort in your chest (you will definitely know exactly where your band is sitting). Productive burping is more prounouced than regular burping, sometimes bringing up some of the food you consumed because there is too much in your pouch. If you are truly stuck the saliva will start and it has no place to go but up and out. You don't get nauseated (at least I didn't) but you need to spit up. It is an impressive amount of saliva. Here we don't call it "frothing." We call it "sliming." I think we all experience it sooner or later. My stuck food experience was at work and I spent about 2 hours in and out of the bathroom. I work for cardiologists so if it had gotten too bad I would have called for help, but I didn't feel sick, just really uncomfortable. It finally resolved and I was fine. Good luck to you and your family.:girl_hug:

My goal is 100 pounds and I have lost 90 of it. When heavy I had a slightly different problem. I didn't leak with sneezing or coughing, I had what I can best describe as a slow leak. It was there all the time, to the point where I had to wear protection. That has TOTALLY resolved with my weight loss.:girl_hug:

I don't have BC PPO(stands for Preferred Provider Organization) but I do have Blue Choice (in Maryland it is Carefirst Blue Choice). Once my 6 month supervised diet was done and all appts and tests, it was submitted to insurance. They took 4 weeks to approve. I called them once and the service rep told me I would probably be denied because I had used an out of network psych evaluator and dietician (I used everyone at my surgeon's office). They accept WW, Nutrisystem and such, why would a dietician I pay out of pocket be rejected? He was sure I would be denied and have to do the 6 month diet again. I called the surgeon's office, while having a meltdown over this, and they had been trying to reach me to tell me I had been approved! Out of network just means out of pocket, insurance doesn't cover it. So if you are anxious, I would recommend calling the surgeon's office. The insurance reps don't always know what they are talking about.

If you find you can break pills (once you check with pharmacist) get a pill cutter. Even if they are scored, it will help you cut them. If you have anything that is a gelcap, that can't be cut. I take fish oil and the gelcaps are huge, so I went looking for an alternative, and found Twin Labs Emulsified fish oil. It is liquid with a mint flavoring, and not bad. One tablespoon gives you 1600 Omega 3's. And I found my Glucosamine/Chondroitin in a packet that is added to Water, like the Crystal Light flavorings. It is pricey retail, but I have a friend that works at Nutramax Labs and she gets it for me at employee price. The regular Cosamin DS capsule can be opened and mixed in cold (not hot) food. Granted the above are supplements and not meds, but check with the pharmacy. There may be alternative forms of the meds you are taking.

Why is it our butts and boobs are the first to deflate, lol! I went from a 22W to a Misses 12-14, leaning toward 12 mostly. I can't remember the last time I was a size 12! Woohoo for all of us! Other than being broke from buying clothes, I am thrilled!:cry_smile:

I haven't heard of the tea, but I had problems before surgery and was on a stool softener twice a day. I continued that after surgery (the pills are fairly small) and when sometimes that is not enough I take a senna laxative (such as Senokot, or the generic version). That keeps me pretty straight.:cry_smile:

Congratulations on your decision and welcome. You can get lots of info here. If you have chosen a doctor and hospital, I would suggest starting to go to their group support now. I began my journey last summer at 252 lbs. I had to do a 6 month supervised diet for insurance, so during that time I came here, went to group support, had some of my doctor visits, and read everything I could. My diet finished in January. I decided to bump up my exercise (from just Curves) and added walking. My insurance took 4 weeks to approve me and I had surgery 3/25/08. My original BMI was about 38 with everything on the co-morbidity list except diabetes (high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, GERD, knee arthritis). I got my head around no longer eating the way I used to (work out at Curves and pick up a pizza on the way home for dinner) and the results are in my signature line. Good luck on your journey.:cry_smile:

Congratulations to all of you about to be banded and good luck on your journey. As for shrinking the liver, some surgeons will put you on a pre-op liquid diet--protein shakes, broth, cream Soups, sugar/fat free popsicles, sugar/fat free Jello and the like was what I did for 3 weeks (supposed to be 2 but I caught a cold and my surgery was bumped back a week). I could have a small amount of lean Protein until 4 days before surgery, and I had either 2 hard boiled eggs or 2 unbreaded chicken tenders (frozen from Costco), both with just salt and pepper. I lost 25 lbs on it.