Shinyhappymommy

Hi all you wonderful people! I am so excited because I got a call today from the insurance to tell me I'm approved. I would have been really surprised if they had rejected my request because their requirements are pretty straight forward and I fulfill all of them. Anyway, my surgeon's office is ready to fit me in on February 4th or 5th. They weren't sure today which. I'm so excited and nervous all at the same time. I hope I don't die. That would really suck. Other than that, I'm just really excited to get this journey started. I live in rural Kansas and I'm having surgery in Denver, Colorado with Dr. Dave Melniczek. I'm a daycare provider and have three kiddos of my own. I look forward to getting to know more of you. Melissa

Thanks for the link to Chef Dave. I love it!

Regarding emotional eating/disturbed eating: I have been wondering if any of you who have been banded for a while have experienced any healing from those issues that got you fat to begin with. I know that I will have to rely heavily on the Lord and His strength to get through this. Right now I'm feeling scared of letting go of the food. (I'm not yet banded.) Food has just been a part of my life for a long time and I like it. I don't like being fat, though, so hence the journey begins.

How awesome! The snow is just getting heavy here. We're supposed to get 7+ inches, so it'll be interesting. I hope all goes very well with your surgery and recovery. I can't wait to hear how it goes.

GraceUtah, I just had to say way to go on your progress. 3 lbs to goal? Wow. When I grow up I want to be just like you.

Since I'm not banded yet, I don't understand. Why is it hard to be in one place for very long? Do you need to eat more often? We have church over 30 minutes away and usually have meetings before and/or after church, so it's often a 6-8 hour day for us on Sundays. Yikes.

It's Wilkommen. I served in the Germany, Duesseldorf mission from 1993-1995. So you live there now? I had misunderstood that you'd lived there in the past. I see that you got banded there. There aren't as many obese Germans as there are obese Americans. At least that's how I felt while there. What's your take?

Thanks Chris. Hays seems like the big city compared to where we are. I'm curious, are you right in St. Louis or on the outskirts? We lived in Kirkwood for 4 years and love the St. Louis area. I have family in St. Charles and down on the Hill.

Ooh, how exciting! How long did your insurance approval take to come through? My surgeon's office said they were hoping we could get it approved by the end of the year. That would be awesome!

Just wanted to say hello! I'm also LDS and we live in Kansas right now. I'm waiting for insurance approval, just went for my initial appointments last week. I have to travel to Denver for the surgery. We live in the middle of nowhere. I am from Cache Valley Utah, but we're currently doing a tour of the country as my dh progresses along his career path as a meteorologist. Nice to meet you all!

Thanks! How is your progress coming?

Have you checked out their website? The workout is an expensive one, but I really like it. I got serious results the first time I used it and was doing the instructional tape. I lost something like 15 inches in the first two weeks. I've gained so much weight since then that I don't think I can do the basic workout yet. After I'm banded and I start losing weight, I'm sure I'll be able to switch back to the basic. For now I'll just do the T-tapp More workout.

I haven't heard that starvation mode is a myth before. I'd be interested to hear more about that.

On the subject of those of you who have gained your lost weight back, I have some insight that my surgeon shared with us on my initial consult. He said that once you have reached the point where you're 40% above your ideal body weight that a physical (he may have said biochemical) change occurs in your body and from that point onward your body will fight against any efforts of weight loss. He said weight can be lost, but the body will fight against you until it's able to regain that lost weight. Of course, he's "selling" Lap-band surgery, but I liked the explanation. He helped me figure out when I hit that 40% spot and it was about the time I got married and started really putting on weight. I'm 5'8" and it was about when I hit 205. He told of a professional football player that he worked with who had lost 150 pounds three times but even with his extensive physical training was unable to keep those pound off without surgery. Compelling stuff.

Losingjusme, You should definitely start with the Instructional tape #1. You won't be able to do the exercises properly without hearing Teresa explain them in detail like she does on the Instructional tapes. I'd like to get back into doing T-tapp. I have the T-tapp More DVD which is for "Those who have more to lose or more candles on their cakes." She has MO models working with her skinny self to give a better understanding of what this will look like for us.

Yikes! If I had to shut down for 6 weeks I wouldn't be able to have the surgery until summer and I really don't want to wait that long. Of the three daycare kids, I really only have to lift one of them and she's about 16 pounds. The killer will be my own baby who is 21 lbs 9 oz. I'll have to lift him eventually whether I'm doing daycare or not, though. I'm thinking dh will be home for a week of my recovery. I can't really see asking him to get more than that off. I guess I will email my surgeon and ask him directly what time he would suggest I take off. I think two weeks is reasonable, anything other than that I couldn't see doing to my daycare families.

I've been wondering too about this. I run a small daycare in my home. I'm trying to decide when to have the surgery and trying to figure out how long I'll need to shut the daycare down for. My husband will be home to help me out and can help with the children, but I'm unsure of how long I'll need. My surgeon said it was 1-2 weeks of recovery. Well, that's a big difference to me, is it one or two? He also said I shouldn't lift more than 20 lbs, (my own baby weighs more than that) but I forgot to ask for how long. I have two babies and a toddler and a preschooler home all day with me. Anyone have any input for me?

One other thing I liked is that the nutritionist and the psychiatrist came to his office to meet with me, so we were actually in the same conference room for all three appointments, one right after the other.

Well, I met with Dr. Melniczek yesterday. I was quite impressed. I am planning on going with him for my surgery. He is actually very new to doing lap-bands. He worked with the doctor who did Carnie Wilson's gastric bypass for years and has lots of experience in laproscopic bypass. He said the Lap-band surgery is so much simpler from a surgeon's perspective than the gastric bypass. Anyway, after much thought and prayer, my husband and I feel comfortable going with him. One major bonus with him is that his price is cheap at only $10,000. He also says that his follow up care is second to none. He even gave me his cellphone number. So if you're looking for more personal care in a lower volume facility, he might be it. Another thing that is good for me is that he flies out to my small rural community about once a month so I won't need to drive three hours to get my fills, he'll come to me.

We're getting ready tonight to travel to Denver tomorrow for that first visit. I'm nervous and excited. I really want this first surgeon I visit to be the right one for me to use. I want it to work out and I want to get on the road to getting banded. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks for the support everyone! Hi honey!

Dr. Melniczek uses the Lakewood Surgery Center. He's part of Associated Surgeons.

I won't be living in the same area forever. In fact, we'll probably only live here another 6 -9 months. If I have surgery with a certain surgeon, and fills are part of that price, what happens when I move? Am I just out of luck? Have any of you had to have another doctor work on your band for slippage, or removal because you have moved? I've heard some say that surgeons won't touch someone else's patients sometimes, but I can't live in the same place forever and I don't want to wait until I'm sure I'm not going to move before getting the surgery. Anyone else have experience with this?

I see these two huge threads on Dr. Kirchenbaum, so I'm guessing lots of you have been banded in Denver. I live in rural Kansas, three hours away from Denver, so that is where I'll be having my surgery. The surgeon I'm looking into right now is Dr. Dave Meliniczek. I have an initial visit with him this week. He flies out to my rural town every few months, so I could potentially do some follow up here. Not enough reason to choose him for the surgery, but it would be a nice benefit. Dr. Melniczek is fairly young and new to the business, so that is a concern to me. I'm wondering if anyone here has been banded by him and what your experiences have been. If I was self-pay I would surely look into Dr. Kirschbaum. I've got great insurance that will cover 90% of the surgery, so I'm not super concerned. Although, 10% is still going to be a pretty penny when we're talking tens of thousands for the surgery. Other than Kirschbaum and Melniczek, what other options are there in Denver for LapBand?

After years of fascination with weight loss surgery, I have finally come to a place where I'm going to go through with it. I know I'm ready because each day the desire in me grows greater and the fears are minimal. What has always happened to me before is that I would read and read and read all the great success stories, but inevitably there would be something that would deter me; tales of surgery complications, or descriptions of how little they were eating, and there's always the story of someone for whom the surgery didn't work, or worked too well and now they can't keep the weight on, etc. At that point I would think, I could never go through that! A couple of weeks ago I had some big realizations and suddenly everything clicked for me and there's been no turning back. Nothing I am reading is deterring me. I think that the Lap Band really is a great option for weight loss. A little about me: I'm 35 years old. I have three children who are the light of my life. I have a loving and supportive husband. I have been heavy much of my life, but only MO for the last 7 years. I run a daycare in my home. I live in super-rural Kansas, so I will be traveling 3 hours to Denver, Colorado to have this surgery. My initial appointment is next Wednesday. I was even able to schedule the nutritionist and hopefully the psychiatrist on that same day. I have the feeling that this will go quicker than I had first thought. I'm thinking that Spring Break will be a good time to do this. (Unless, of course, the process goes even faster than that.) We'll have to see. I've really enjoyed reading on this forum and look forward to getting to know you great people. Melissa