sleepyjean

When I asked the surgeon and nutritionist about hair loss, they both looked at me like they'd never heard of that before. LOL I hope mine doesn't fall out. I don't have all that much to begin with!

The surprise is not that he's gay, it's that he's dating a two-time reality tv star. LOL

The medical clearance is usually required just before the surgery. They want your PCP to check you over and make sure you're healthy enough to go through the surgery. In most cases where insurance is covering the procedure, the whole process gets started with your PCP's referral weeks or even months before the actual surgery. People can go through any number of physical and health changes during that period, so it's really important that they check you out and make sure you're still okay and not at increased risk for the surgery. The nutritional evaluation is a good thing. The purpose is to prepare you for what's to come. In some cases, the nutritionist starts you on a pre-op diet. In some cases, they are doing their due diligence to make sure you understand exactly how the band will impact your eating habits. It is also when the nutritionist educates you on how to prepare for the first weeks and months after surgery (liquid diet, Protein shakes, etc.)

I looooove Anthropologie. I would shop there all the time if I could. I lespecially love their dresses and skirts. I'm a long way from my goal, but hopefully I'll be able to shop there one day too!

I've got more restriction in the mornings, so I take my meds at night and don't have to crush them. Maybe you could try that? (if it doesn't matter what time of day to take them)

holy crap! that's AWESOME!!!

Sorry, I misled you. She hasn't been on it yet. She'll be on the new season that starts on 8/1. She's the one choking that guy in the photo, LOL http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/celebrity_fit_club_4/106885/episode_about.jhtml

One of the things that would be so great about this group is if the people who reached their goal stuck around for a little while. It's so inspiring to the rest of us and balances out the more common threads about problems we are having, etc. Would anyone like to make a pact with me? Once I reach goal, I promise to come back and post here at least once a month for the next year. Is anyone with me? Now that I think about it, it would be nice to have a forum for bandsters at goal.

I started the process in late January and had surgery on May 1. The main reason it took so long for me is because I had to wait for my appointments. My doctor's office gave me the wrong time for my nutritionist appointment and the woman was booked solid so I had to wait over a month to see her. Then I had to arrange to see my doctor for surgical clearance and that was tricky because my doctor was booked weeks in advance and because that appointment could be no more than a week before surgery and they wouldn't even schedule my surgery until I'd seen the nutritionist, there was a lot of waiting going on. Ironically, the insurance approval was the fastest part of the process. It only took two days!

In my mind, gastric bypass was always Plan B. If this banding thing didn't work, then I caould always get a bypass. My opinion has changed though. Seeing people on TLC having tons of excess skin removed, changed my mind. Seeing someone like Carnie Wilson regain her weight and find herself on Celebrity fit club changed my mind. Looking at Star Jones and Al Roker's enormous heads changed my mind. Now, the only reason I would ever consider GB is if I gained all the weight back.

Wow, you did liquids-only for a whole month? My hat is definitely off to you!

Yay! You're on your way :-D

I think you will also find that what you *want* to eat changes after you're banded. I don't know why, but it doesn't feel so much like "giving up" my favorite foods as just plain not wanting them anymore. I find myself eating cottage cheese for breakfast every morning and LIKING it! I never thought I'd see the day. I always thought cottage cheese looked like milk that had been sitting out on the counter for a month.

I hate to shop, so I wear my clothes to death. But the time I'm ready to move to another size, the clothes I've been wearing are worn out and the only place for them is the trash!

Does your doc use flouroscopy for the fills? If he does, then he probably put an appropriate amount of Fluid in your band because he could see just how restricted he was making you. But if he was guesstimating, I dunno.

Oh dear. I was kind of hoping that things had slowed down for everyone else. Now I'm worried. I used to be pretty regular - same time every day. But since I got banded, it's more like once a week. I convinced myself it's because I'm eating so much less. I've started taking a dulcolax softener (gross!) with my vitamins every day because when the plumbing started working again, it was painful to go. Now I'm wondering if I have a major problem. Everyone else seems to have got back on track.

I read some posts about this before I got banded and didn't believe it. But then it happened to me. Ever since I got banded, I've noticed that I have much more restriction in the morning. Does anyone know *why* this happens? Does your stomach swell while you're sleeping or something?

I have blue cross and they wouldn't submit anything to insurance until all of the pre-op stuff was done. I had to wait an extra 3 weeks for them to submit my stuff because the nutritionist couldn't see me until then!

a post with a title like this is practically irresistable.

Are any of you other bandsters having trouble with fatigue? I don't know what's wrong with me. Over the past week, I've been dragging. I've started to go to bed at 9:30 and I still have to drag myself out of bed at 6 am. I'm so tired...it's bleeding over into everything. I haven't exercised in the last two days, and I'm reverting back to unhealthy convenience foods and Snacks because everything else just seems like too much effort. I'm on anti-loco meds, but I've been taking those for a year now, so I don't think that's the problem... Anyone else experiencing this or have any suggestions?

Amen, sister!

It's a joint decision, although I expect most doctors have a specific amount they usually start with. My doctor uses the 4cc band and generally starts off with 2ccs for the first fill. But the flouroscopy tool allows him to see right away if that is too much or too little and adjust accordingly before I leave the office.

I really like Carnie, so if she's on, I'll watch. ood for her for putting her struggle right out there in the public. She's really doing it for all of us who've had WLS. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed, though. I cringe at the thought of all the WLS bashers out there who will be positively gleeful when they find out Carnie has gained so much weight back. I'm sure they'll see this as a cosmic payback for Carnie's attempt to take "the easy way" out of obesity. I'm impressed by anyone who loses a ton of weight and then has the courage to get pregnant. That takes a lot more guts than I will ever have.

I have it. Just like everyone says, you won't find anything new in if you've already done some research. However, I found it to be a handy little book and picked it up at least once a day in the month or so prior to my surgery. Re-reading certain sections was a bit reassuring when I was stressing out. I also found the fact that the author is a doctor as well as a bandster made it a bit more credible to me. I haven't looked at it since, but that doesn't mean I won't! It's nice to have a book that's JUST about banding. I also have WLS for Dummies but it's about GB and LB, so it's a bigger book and contains a lot of stuff that isn't relevant for bandsters.

I also take effexor as well as prozac in capsule form. My dr. is being kind of a jerk about switching me to smaller capsules or even pills, so I've just been taking the regular size capsules. The effexor XR capsules are pretty big, but I haven't had any problems. It could be because I take my meds at night when I have a bit less restriction.