Wheetsin

Some other posts that may help: Insurance question........ Anyone with United Healthcare get LB? Can you appeal if there is an exclusion? Insurance Covers , But Employer Excludes????????????? And from a post I made a while ago:

Find out if it's a policy exclusion or an employer-elected exclusion. You can usually get this information from an HR rep or your SPD (summary plan description - the huge booklet you get that details what's covered). Some people have had luck when it's a policy exclusion (that's not the technical term, maybe someone can help with that) -- but when it's an employer-elected exclusion there's not much you can do. It would be like not paying for a warranty, and then expecting warranty work.

Not a KC specific thread that I know of (granted it has been a while since I've looked), but there's a Missouri forum here.

Anyone else here have Railroad health benefit coverage through United Health Care? I have UHC, but not that program. If the 5 year history is overweight and not obese will I be denied given above co morbs? any clue? I'm not sure, but if you call your provider they can tell you the requirements for approval, including whether or not your situation would qualify. Figure out what your BMI was during that time and refer to it when speaking with them rather than "obese" or "overweight." That may help. Why doesn't insurance cover the dietician, but they cover a sleep study? Gonna have to ask your insurance company that one, it's their choice. I was told that the doc I am working with has put through people under 35 bmi before... but the co morbs gotta be bad. General guidelines are BMI 40+, or 35+ with 2+ comorbidities. I've also gotta find a way to lose my 10% weight as is required by my doc before I can have the surgery.... I am at a loss of how to do that minus diuretics and laxitives... How about cutting back calories? Easier to do when it's "temproary." How much are you overweight -- what is 10% going to be? If you're desperate (e.g. 10% is a lot) try the induction phase of the Atkins diet. I couldn't recommend it long-term, nor do I think adherence would be likely, but for short term quick weightloss it's hard to beat.

Hi and welcome. There are several of us here from the MO/KS areas. I'm in Kansas City pretty much right between KCI and WoF. There are several bandsters in the KC area, Blue Springs/Raytown, and even on into OP, Olathe, Lenexa, etc.

Yay Jacqui!! I've long debated the theory that drinking flushes food through the band. You're the only other person I've seen who objects to that idea. It certainly doesn't for me. If I eat something, then drink anything other than the teeniest, tiniest sip, it just sits there, almost instantly hurts like a bitch, and has to be yakked up unless I'm lucky and it eventually makes its way through. So definitely a good point to OP - I shoulda caught that angle.

Actually (sorry - I kinda cringe at posting this) your math is off. If each meal prohibits drinking for a total of 90 minutes (30 before, 60 after) then that's a total no drink time of six hours. May not seem like much, but an "extra" 2 hours a day makes for a good amount of Water, and it's not as hard as it may seem at first. Here's a very simplified example (my math is probably wrong too!): Start drinking at 6:30 or 7 (on your drive in, while getting ready, whatever). Stop drinking at 8. Breakfast at 8:30, resume drinking at 10. Stop at 11:30, luch at 12. Begin drinking at 1. Stop drinking at 6, dinner at 6:30, resume drinking at 8. Bed at 10. With that schedule, you have about 11 horus in the day available to drink. At 64 oz, that's about 6oz per hour. 6oz is what, a Dixie cup? No problem. Of course, who's going to live their lives on a water drinking schedule? Not me! But that's just an example to show you how this really isn't as hard as what you're thinking it will be. :eek:

Tight pants - well, I'm personally not a fan of fat people in tight pants, so I never wear them. Won't be able to help on that one. Pantyhose - I don't wear them. If I'm wearing a skirt that's above mid-calf it's on a casual day. If it's longer, hose aren't needed. If I'm wearing slacks I'm either barefoot in my heels or I will use a knee-high or trouser sock. Jeans - I began wearing jeans as soon as my staples were removed, which was 1 week post-op.

Guys, there are threads and how-to's for tickers in the FAQ section. Look there and you will see step by step instructions. Let's please not divert the OP's question/request with discussions about tickers.

You may want to look at these threads: Expectations vs. reality Cannot Eat During The Day Have Had 2-unfills Banded and somehow confused What's your restriction pattern? And many, many others where this is discussed (these were just the first few search rseults).

I would say wait on the fill. You are describing a restriction pattern that something like 44% of bandsters (here, who took part in my poll) have. It's not uncommon for me to have to sit and wait for liquids to clear in the morning, and be able to eat meat, veggies, etc. at night. It's not odd, it's actually very common. Restriction or "sweet spot" doesn't necessarily mean that you experience the same amount of restriction all the time. I chased fills & unfills, and I can't get any sweeter than what I currently have.

I've referred... 20 or so. At least 6 or 7 have completed the surgery, at least 3 are in the paperwork phase, and at least 4 others are self-pays waiting on tax refunds before they proceed with the paperwork. So if those in the prep phases go through, that would be about 13/20. Not bad! I think we should make a deal with our surgeons. 20 confirmed referrals = free PS.

Ok, it's not so much the actual sewing, but the leading up to. I have this 3 tier metal basket thing. I want to make some cloth liners to go in the baskets. I've tried lining it with cloth napkins but they're too big and the wrong shape so I fear I'm going to have to make something. Picture of said thing is attached. I want the liner to kind of overhang between the three points where it's connected to the stand. What's the easiest, total novice way to go about making some kind of pattern for these liners? I tried just laying in a big piece of muslin, getting it to lay like I wanted, then taking it out but that wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I tried shaping a big piece of foil, and then straightening it back out, but that seemed really off once I cut fabric to it. I'm thinking it would basically be a circle (for the interior of the basket) with three triangles spaced evenly around it, for the flap things. Not hard, you'd think, but this is completely eluding me. What should I do?

I'm telecommuting and on a (boring, pointless, no reason for me to be on it) conference call so I will check it out...

Oh Green, you've reminded me that it's been a very, very long time since I've shared an in-law update. I may need to start another thread... Things are a little better today because I had to drive our little 2wd loaner somewhere (after another snow/ice storm lastnight) and I made it back without a third wreck! You can tell my driving confidence is shot to hell.

I was on a 2-day diet of clear, sugar-free liquids. Broths, sugar-free popsicles, sugar-free Jello, etc. No fruit juices, nothing with "no added sugar," etc. This is far from scientific & detail accurate, but you'll get the idea. Part of what the liver does is function as sort of a pantry to store various things our body needs. Cans of glycogen (a sugar form), boxes of Vitamins, barrels of Iron, etc. When we don't have those things in our system -- say we haven't eaten anything yet -- but our body is hungry for them, the liver opens up the pantry, takes some of its reserves, and pushes them out into the body. By controlling our diet to ensure some things are missing, the liver is forced to deplete its stores, which causes it to shrink in size (my analogy would be a sponge that has been wrung out). The liver is pretty much in the way of where our surgeons need to do their work. So... the smaller the liver, the easier time surgeons have of positioning the band, and the lower the chances of organ damage. Plus it's a good jump start to weightloss.

Oh yeah another sort of tip thing I do - I buy "granny panties" from LB. They have a high cut in the leg, which I like, but the tops go up really far. Usually above my belly button. And I like their quality. I consider these underwear to by me everyday girdle, because the height & fabric of the underwear is enough to help hold in the jigglies.

Never did the towel, at least not once I got dressed. I did used to dry off twice though. The first dry off right after the shower, and then another right before deodorant & undies went on. I used to used some Mexsana medicated powder, but this stuff can really burn sometimes. I've also heard of using the blowdryer. I'm finally to the point where I don't have to lift my stomach up to dry under it. Man, having to do that sucked.

Search for "card discount children menu" and you will find LOTS of threads on this same topic.

There is no such thing as a card that will give you permission. It's at the restaurant's discretion. What they give is usually something along the lines of a card with the lap-band on it that states the card holder has an adjustable gastric band and can only eat 2 - 4 ounces at a time. Some surgeons distribute these, some do not. Mine did but I have never used it. Childrens' menus usually consist of crap food that I don't want to eat (chicken strips, grilled cheese, hot dogs...). Plus, the few (maybe 2) times I have ordered from a childrens' menu, I've just told the waitstaff I'm not very hungry, asked if I could order a childrens' item, and had no problems. If it had been a problem, I would have just ordered a regular entree and made 3 meals of it.

Unless you're in open water infection shouldn't be too much concern in the pool (heavy chlorine), but you will want to be careful outside & right around it. I was advised to wait 6 weeks before swimming for exercise, and 4 for leisure.

Oh, use a stick deodorant, and not a "wet" deodorant like roll-ons.

I have a really flabby, deflated pannus. What I do aside from daily washing with antibacterial soap, and making sure it's completely dry after my shower, is simply to swipe deodorant under it. The deodorant keeps it dry and also keeps it from getting stinky (let's be real, it can get stinky just like anywhere else that sweats). I used to get a lot of irritation here, especially before I lost the weight, but now it doesn't bother me.

That I'm aware of, it's not a "real" language. Real in quotes because things like leetspeak (technically that would be L337 5p34k) ...real but not "formal" languages. Like Alexandra, I too would be curious to know what it is, other than hard on my eyes. :biggrin:

I usually order a to-go box when I order my food. I simply say "Go ahead and bring it now because I know I will need it." No one has ever questioned me. If I sense a question, or someone asks if the food was ok, I just say "It's great so I want to take it home, I just wasn't as hungry as I thought." If Ie ver got a direct question, I would just tell them that I have a lap-band and physically cannot eat that much food. In fact, some local bandsters I know locally used to get together for lunches every now and then, and once we were at The Melting Pot and not sure if they'd let us all split a fondue so I explained to the waiter that we had all had weightloss surgery and physically could not eat more than one fondue between all of us, and he didn't charge us the surcharge you're supposed to get for sharing.