Wheetsin

Hello all, My parents recently switched from their civilian policy to TriCare Standard, in hopes that LB would be covered... it abolsutely was not covered with their civvy policy. I gave them the codes to call with and they were told it's not covered due to "experimental" rating. They kind of don't know what they're doing, they're lost when it comes to the online world, so I read through every post I could find around Tricare, MTFs, etc. And then tried to summarize the information to them. I have a question though. What's "PCM"? I get that MTF = military treatment facility, but saw a lot of reference to a "PCM" as a key factor in getting approval, and I have no idea what that is. And when I relayed the info to them, they didn't have any idea either. My parents had been on a civvy policy for about 12 years, and only used their military hospital for prescriptions. Is PCM like a PCP? How would they "get" a PCM?

Does this board have food no-nos?? :confused: (Honestly, do we?) I dont' like chocolate, so it's pretty much an auto-no-no for me. But I think people tend to stay away from it because one of those things that you can't have just one of. My opinion - if you crave something, have some of it. Unles, of course, you have to buy it in a sandwich baggy on the street corner.

I see both sides of it. I'm in a field that's subject to outsourcing, an in fact my particular position is often one of the first to go. So from a selfish standpoint, I cringe every time the words are mentioned. On the other hand, from the business side, it makes sense. Damn objectivity... I can echo what's already been said. I don't like calling a customer service line and getting someone whose accent is so thick I can't understand it. This goes for an India, south... whatever. I had to talk to someone last week for a problem with software I have at work, and they had a very heavy southern accent, and kept referring to "Huppa". And I had no friggin clue what Huppa was. I didn't see it anywhere in the application, it wasn't in the user's guide glossary, etc. So finally I had to politely ask for someone else, because I couldn't understand what she was telling me. So then it becomes clear - hooper. That call took about 45 minutes longer than it should have, because of all the things I simply couldn't understand. One of my first jobs was as a telemarketer when I was about 17. That company told us they like to base call centers in the midwest because we're the most accent-neutral place in the country. I can't vouch for the accuracy of that, but we *do* have a *lot* of call centers here. In fact, during the interview process for this company (I use "interview" lightly) we had to read a portion of a script... it was like a test. They told us up front that anyone who had too much of an accent, or couldn't enunciate, wouldn't go on to the next round. So I'm guessing that company is out of business by now. :faint:

I had my annual physical last week. I don't have much need to go to the doctor, so I had only seen her once since my surgery and she didn't remember I'd had it done. This doctor considers herself "pro lapband". So she walks and starts looking over my stats and this is how the conversation goes. I got quite a tickle out of it: "Now you have a BMI of 37. Do you know what a BMI is?" "Oh yes, very familiar with it." "Really? I think your the first person who's ever known what it is. Well obviously I'd really like to see that number come down a little." "Yeah, me too! But it is down. It was over 56 less than a year ago." *looks at me befuddled, jaw hanging* "I had lapband surgery in March." "Well, I'll just shut up then!" My doc is awesome, she cracks me up.

We have them all over the place, and they've been there for *years*. I have no idea what the law is about them, but I do think they are distracting. And I do know you can't put up signs advertising a business or a house for sale in an interstate median, so I'm not sure why you can advertise someone's death. If a person has a heart attack at work, I doubt anyone would allow a cross to be put up at the place in the breakroom where they fell. Even if it was a state building. And if someone was hit in the head by a wildly hit baseball at a public park, I doubt they'd allow a memorial to be placed. So I'm really not sure why it's "ok" to have them on medians and shoulders. And yes, I do find them distracting. Here people will go as far as to put shiny little windmills, or battery operated lights (like xmas tree lights), or metallic streamers all around... and laminated photographs, etc. I'd think most people would want to memorialize the place where the person was "laid to rest", not the place where they were "brutally decapitated". I'm only aware of one where the state has intervened, and that was because the people went so far as to plant flowers & greenery around the memorial they built, and whatever body manages the "natural wildlife" along the interstate (it's one of the "scenic route" places) was afraid that the planted greenery had a chance of seeping beyond the memorial and overrunning the natural foilage. The other thing I really don't understand is why people make tributes out of their vehicles. I don't know if this is done everywhere because honestly, I travel a LOT and I've never seen one outside of my own state (thought that could be coincidence), but here people people very frequently have "In memory of John Doe, 1980 - 2004" stickers on their back windows. Usually next a Dale Earnhart (sp) "3" and Calvin peeing on whatever make of car they aren't driving.

I can relate! My band was my first surgery, and the two things I was most afraid of were the IV and the actual sedation. The IV was a piece of cake. They gave me a lidocaine shot first, then placed it, but there were so many things going on and I was so overwhelmed that I really didn't even notice. I was nervous in the prep area, and my pulse was skyrocketing. They injected something into my IV that made me very calm. Still very aware, but very relaxed. Very mmmmeeellllllloooowww. I was having a conversation with my husband, but... well, you know how when you're really tired - so tired you can't fall asleep, and someone tries to talk to you and you're responding but you can hear that you're doing it veeeerrrrryyyy ssssllllooooowwwllllyyy? That's exactly what it was like. It wore off after a while, so I asked them for some more. They called it "Happy Juice". Now - I remember then coming to get me. And I remember bits and pieces of the trip to the OR, but not the whole trip. I remember making a comment about "that was really nice of someone to leave you enough room to get by" (because the hallway was lined with wheelchairs, gurneys, etc. and it was a tight fit... and something about the medicine they gave me made me very... I don't know... mean, in a way.) I remember being pushed into the OR and seeing a lady standing by a tray. And the anesthesiologist telling me to get on the table, and then he and the assistant were arguing -- I was too tall for how the table was set up and they were debating what to adjust. And I remember them putting something on my legs, and I remember the anesthesiologist putting the mask on my face and saying, "I'm just going to give you some air." And I remember thinking, "When he switches the air to gas, I'll never fall asleep, what a fool..." (because the mask wasn't sealed, it was a little crooked and there was a big gap on one side.. I remember thinking all the gas would just go out that side). I can pretty much remember everything from right outside the OR until the moment I thought they'd never get me to sleep... and I don't remember squat after, until recovery. And the next thing I knew someone was asking me to lift my butt so they could get an xray film under me, and there were people buzzing around me doing different things. I'm guessing the "bits and pieces" recall was due to the amnesiac effect. But then it's weird that there are some things I remember with 100% clarity. Before my surgery, what was freaking me out the most about going under was -- ok, everyone told me "you won't remember it"... but whether or not I remember it wasn't the point. If I experienced something horrible (I was so afraid they'd remove the breathing tube after I was awake), It's little consolation that I won't remember it, because I still have to experience it, and at least at that moment I'm completely aware of what's going on. One of the first things I did in recovery was to reach up and feel if the breathing tube had been removed or not.

Why can't we (who are involved in the debate) debate the topic of our choice?

I have to disagree. It's very different from vomitting. "Vomitting", by definition, is when the contents of the stomach are forcefully expelled through the mouth. So you're producing things like stomach acid, bile, undigested food left in the stomach, etc.. When you "PB", you are expelling something that's in the esophagus, stuck in the stoma, or the saliva & whatever else you've added on top of something that has become stuck. You do not expel the contents of your stomach, you do not expel stomach acid. Whatever has made it to the stomach stays there. From a previous thread: There are some things in common, like it comes out your mouth, and you might make a wretching sound or have heaving, and both can be preceded by discomfort and excessive salivation... but TOTALLY different in what's happening physiologically. E.g. frequent vomitters will have problems with erosion of the enamel on their teeth, because the ACID erodes it over time. Frequent PBing would never lead to enamel loss due to acid erosion.

Once you get to the thread, at the top there is an option for "Thread Tools" and next to it is "Search this Thread". Took me a while to figure that one out too. The search from the main bar will limit you to threads, but to get to actual posts within a thread you then need to search again, inside the thread, using that option. At least AFAIK.

I should add, for Gadget, that even though our posts have some similar threads - don't take mine as a response to yours. I started mine before yours was posted. We'll just say great minds think alike.

Religion, like most things in life, can be (and often is) one of the things you're conditioned to have. That's not saying people are mindless and can't think for themselves - that everyone is a mouse running around in a big Skinner's box of life. Not at all. But when you learn - since birth or shortly after - that there is this thing called god, and you're taught from a very early age, even before you can make distinctions and apply critical thinking, that god is a "force" and everything we know is a result of that force - then of course people tend to believe what they do. At least at an early age, they truly don't know any different (e.g. they cannot yet reach the higher levels of the cognitive domain). And absolutely there are people who step back from the "training" as they get older and can, and question and scrutinize, and of course there are people who do not. But even the ones who scrutinize, are scrutinizing the validity of a belief system that's already in place, and that's different from scutinizing the validity of something that has never been in place. So we apply our higher cognitive abilities, and often yeah - it falls in line with what we "know"... maybe that's because we've learned that all these things others question are "miracles" and so it becomes, somewhat by definition, impossible to see things from a truly objective standpoint. And sometimes people feel and know in their heart of hearts that their faith is their true salvation. And sometimes people find too many questions are unanswered, there's too much "magic" involved, and they decide to leave the path of their faith to find answers that make more sense to them, or are a little more concrete. Faith is a pretty abstract thing, when you really think about it. As an analgoy - and not a great one because age is more if a factor in this analogy than in the situation of religion -- Most children who are told about Santa believe in Santa. They can't quite yet rationalize to the point of seeing how Santa might actually be impossible (referring to the jolly icon, and not the "xmas spirit"). They believe it because it's what they've been taught to believe, and because as far as they can see, it makes sense. And then they get older, and their brain develops, and they begin to be able to scrutinize and differentiate, and all of a sudden - how can a man that's 3 feet wide get down a 2 foot chimney? How can one man go to every single house in the world in one night? How come Santa's writing looks just like mom's? And they will begin to question their faith. and begin to seriously evaluate something they've always accepted as a truth. And sometimes through their questions they learn Santa doesn't exist, and sometimes their beliefs are just confirmed. Eventually when people grow up they understand that there really isn't a rotund man who lives with elves... how they come to this understanding... different for everyone. For some it's because enough people tell them no that they believe no. For some they simply outgrow it, like trick-or-treating. For some, they see or witness/experience something that teaches them it's false. Some probably feel the pain of being laughed at by others who don't believe, so out of shame and pressure they no longer believe. And countless other scenarios. But if these prompts weren't in place, or if their questions about fitting down a chimney or handwriting could be answered in a way that allowed Santa to remain true to them, even if it couldn't be *proven*, and regardless of age they were constantly being reminded of how Santa is real and gets these things done... and every week/day/hour/minute they somehow paid respect to Santa, then heck yeah we'd have adults who still believed he was true. Please don't take that analogy the wrong way. I'm not saying "god is like santa", or using the analogy as a way to say "god isn't real". I'm using it to explain "there's a process of logic and cognitive evaluation that occurs whenever we have to judge the probability or existence of something we can't experience in a tactile/solid sensory way, and all kinds of things can impact the outcome of that process." But now take everything I just said and see it from the context of another religion. Or remove the religious references alltogether and replace them with ones of culture, or race, or... Something that often comes up here & everywhere else that these kinds of issues are discussed is, "But we have so many versions of a belief system, and each one knows that they're the right one, but since they can contradict each other - obviously not all could be right." It's like having a hundred absolute realities (and no, for the record I do not believe in absolute reality). If it's an absolute reality, there can be only one. But all the different "rights" out there can't be right if there's dischord (even minor), or if there's mutual exclusion. So it can't be an absolute, and that's a part of why an awful lot of people who do not have religious faith see a whole lot of "doesn't make sense" in any religion that claims it's right.

If you're hungry, eat. Your body needs to heal and you need nourishment to do that. Normally hunger doesn't recede until restriction has started, and that's probably not happening until your fill. So until then, moderate what you eat, but don't keep yourself from eating because you believe you shouldn't be doing it. Especially not while you're healing.

Colloidal oatmeal - home remedy, but very effective. They key is to keep the oils, rather than discarding them. Have you tried Aveeno brand products? Their moisturizer contains colloidal oatmeal base & oil. I have really sensitive skin that's very T-zoned, and non-stop oily in the summer while dry in the winter. Aveeno is the only lotion that worls reliably, and it's very soothing. You can also add colloidal oatmeal packs to your bath, and when you see the oil come to the surface, cup that Water and smooth it on your skin. But as I said, these are just home remedies and not cures to greater problems. Since it's itching and not just cosmetic, a trip to the dermatologist would be a good idea.

Hi and welcome. I'm in Kansas City (MO) - there are several of us around, and several Malley patients. I think the KS forum has a thread running about him right now, but I could be mistaken. As for your BMI & insurance - do you have any comorbidities? I did not, so was unsure whether or not insurance would cover, but they did, quickly, with no questions asked. Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions.

Not sure what you tried or why it wasn't working, but you'll want to use a layer for each graphic element. That keeps them separate - which means you can always go back and position/change/manipulate one piece without touching the others. If you don't work in layers, you're really clamped down in terms of what you can do without having to recreate the entire thing. So you'll want a layer called something like "Shoes" and that will hold the image of your running shoes, and one called "Ribbon" with your pink ribbon, etc. I've used photoshop (and PSP, and fireworks, and illustrator, and...) extensively for years, so feel free to ask any questions you have. Something to keep in mind - unless you're going to create all of these images from scratch (which I'm guessing you aren't), or have purchased reproduction rights to proprietary graphics, you can't usually 1) reproduce or alter the original images or 2) sell anything featuring that image, whether for profit or not. Copyright rules are a fickle beast.

Sunta, the most common explanation I've heard for this, which is not going to be news to you, is that it was a matter of a self-fulfilling prophecy (so to speak). Unless you want to get into Chariots of the Gods kind of theory.

Where is your area?

I started to fix my typing errors but since it's after midnight I say grammar schmammar! Peace out, word to your mother, holla, or whatever it is the cool kids say these days.

This is part of why I enjoy the debates with you, and gadget, and TOM, and others who are willing to open up and listen, and not think that saying "Yes, that makes since, but have you thought of it this way" is the same thing as saying, "Oh sweet peas on a cracker, you're right and everything I know in life is now attacked." I think a lot of it is the whole "us vs. them" mentality. A lot of people in the debate, regardless of their beliefs, investigate only one side of it... and if it makes sense, they go with it. Very rarely can it be - you're a christian, cool... I'm not, cool... let's talk! (Or you're a whatever, I'm a whatever). Because you're talking about beliefs that people hold so near and dear to their hearts, that not sharing those beliefs can cause personal offense. Notice I'm not specifying any particular group here, because it happens on all 18,546 sides. Christians may believe that we stemmed from apes and evolved into modern man, but they're probably going to hold the belief that it was by design. Atheists might believe that energy leaves the body upon death, makes sense given whole Law of Thermodynamics, but they're not going to consider it a soul. There are mutually exclusive theories out there, but they aren't all mutually exclusive just because they stem from extraordinarily different systems of belief.

Ah, anxiety dreams. Mine were around eating something, and then realizing I hadn't chewed it. Or since I generally try to follow a low-carb diet, eating something high in carbs (which really doesn't phase me in reality) without realizing it... like "Oh I didn't know those pretzels were hidden inside the piece of bacon" and freaking out because I've blown it. Welcome to type A.

There is a list somewhere, don't know where off-hand. PB = Productive Burp. It's generally accepted as the term for when something becomes lodged in the stoma and cannot pass, and has to be expelled from the esophagus. In other words, you yak it up. "Burp" is a very mild analogy.

Honestly, I eat that on a good day. But I don't really have an active job, either - corporate desk job with the occasional exception. How do I cope - you know, I just forget to eat. I very, very rarely feel hunger. And I've moved beyond the mental grip that food had on me. So between the two, I tend to forget to eat. Sounds hard to believe, I know, especially from someone who weighed close to 400 lbs. And what gets me is that I do this on minimal restriction. I mean - If I don't chew, or swallow too much, I know it - but... how can I explain this... I've never felt mechanical intervention in the quantity of food I eat. I lost my appetite when I started the pre-op diet... and it NEVER came back. So I have no doubts that the band is doing its job... or as much if its job as it can with my fill level. I think to a very large degree I just got used to drastically reduced meals... stomach shrunk or whatever you want to call it... and I just fill up faster. I definitely have a differnet "stomach full" sensation than "band full", and usually hit stomach before band. The other night I had a decent dinner and followed it up wth a Protein drink - was desperate for another 20 grams. And while I never felt the restriction or felt the band full, my stomach (real stomach, nt pouch) hurt, like it would before banding when I'd eat some huge meal. Ah -- I'm rambling. The point is, for me anyway, it's easy because eating has become something much closer to "interrupts what I want to be doing" than "must do now". It's that whole eat to live, not live to eat thing. When you get there, which I think I am - for the most part - it's not that hard.

Wish I could help (trust me, I mean that, I'm a loose "C" on a good day!), but I have no personal experience. The best I can offer is a friend's experience. She said it took her about 3 weeks t feel back to normal - lots of soreness in between, but not constant, mostly when moving the wrong way or "forgetting" and bumping into something. Her pain was noticeable especially the first 4 days post-op, but tolerable. She said the first day it felt like someone pushed her boobs through a meat grinder... but she wasn't staying on top of her meds either. Don't know about the stomach or exercise. I know she didn't stay the night (because I went over to help take care of her). She wasn't married and has no family, so we (friends) alternated stopping by for the first 4 days. Most of what we were helping with was things that required lifting (household duties), and company. After that she swore she was fine and ready to go it alone. She's not as small as she originally wanted to be, but has adjusted nicely and is now happy she didn't go smaller. I went to her consultation with her, and what he did with her was use cutouts to "mask off" part of her boobs in various sizes... so she could get a rough idea, and then he made suggestions based on her frame size. And then she asked me to start putting the implants in my bra so she could see how they'd look to someone else. :faint:

Bloodwork came way after my initial consultation. When I had mine, it went: weigh > vitals > wait in this room for surgeon > surgeon comes in > surgeon asks questions > I ask questions > general chit-chat > surgeon leaves >coordinator arrives and says, "Pick a date". For me the bloodwork came when I was getting my admittance stuff done, between the consultation and the surgery.

A lot of it comes from confusion (or perhaps lack of separation is a better way to put it) between RNY and AGB. With RNY, most of the time, there are things you just can't eat. With AGB, you can eat whatever will pass. I can't even say "a lot" but several AGB surgeons began as RNY surgeons, and when they grew their practice to include AGB did not completely revamp the guidelines, nutritional info, etc. the way they probably should have, so a lot of AGB patients actually have RNY care sheets. The gum is a suggestion, for the most part. Actually everything is a suggestion, for the most part, though some surgeons will certainly exclude some things. Gum has an inherent danger in that it's not something that a churning esophagus is going to be able to manipulate enough to clear the band. So if it's stuck, it's probably going to stay that way, unless you can get it up. Swallowing gum probably isn't a common thing, but it's one of the things (like large pills) where if it goes down, and your restriction is good, you're probably going to KNOW it.