MickATL

The fact that we EXPECT people to have a problem with it or just say a name and not say they are our partner/boyfriend/girlfriend/etc. is called the "heterosexual priviledge". That str8 people can talk about their husband and that's okay. It's not considered "personal" business. Just like your user ID says you are someone's mom which could imply your str8. For me, I say it takes mental energy to try and hide parts of my life that I shouldn't have to. If you don't like it, I'll spend my money somewhere else. But our personal lives are a BIG part of how we live, who we eat with, why we overeat sometimes and an inability to be completely honest about all of those things is not healthy. Talking about our relationships, how food is involved and how we socialize around food helps us learn, evolve and grow through the weight loss surgery process. If people don't like it, find someone who doesn't care. I don't think my surgeon needs to be gay. He just needs to be good at what he does. But me having to hide the fact that I have a boyfriend because I think he'd have a problem with it, means I wouldn't use him. In my case, I am as out loud and proud as they come and nobody ever has a problem with it. Probably because I don't.

So far, I have not found a place to host my group. Although I do attend a group called Lawrenceville Wings (you can find it on yahoo groups). I do attend the Emory group and I think it's awesome. They are not promoting a specific surgery and right now there are far more lap banders than RNY patients. Not sure who gave you that bad information. //I was banded last August and have been a miserable failure of a bandster ever since.//Sorry about your success or lack thereof. You can message me with questions, comments or concerns you have about your band and your program. You can also read my blog at Mick's Corner for more tips on what I eat, how I exercise and what I do to be successful. In the end, this process is 30% what you eat (measuring your portions, not drinking and eating, eating healthy foods, etc.), 30% moving your body more and 40% attitude. That means 70% has nothing to do with the band. Most of the success rest on our shoulders to make healthy choices, move our bodies more and to be positive. Emory allows you to attend a support group meeting for free. You can find out about them at Emory HealthCare - click on bariatric department. My preference was to attend the RNY group sessions because those patients DO NOT CHEAT. It seemed like the Lap Band patients whined about not being able to eat certain foods and the RNY patients just didn't do that. I found them more helpful. I like that Emory rolled the 2 groups together because the post op instructions we follow are almost the same. There are minor differences but, in general, we all follow very similar rules: - Measure portions - Don't drink for an hour after eating - Take a daily Vitamin - Increase our daily activity - Eat a healthy well balanced diet - Chew food thoroughly - Take small bites I try to focus on the similarities and not the differences. There is also a Lap Band group that meets in Atlanta. They are on Yahoo Groups as well. Although, they meet at a bar & grill. I don't find that a support group meeting at a bar & grill makes the healthiest eating decisions. So I don't attend many of their meetings. Hope this information helps.

I would love a Wii-Fit. It weighs you, tracks BMI and work out progress. Everything I read shows it's pretty effective at making exercise more fun and interactive. Anything that changes up a routine before it gets boring works for me. Variety in my daily work outs is becoming more important the longer I am post op. I have mostly focussed on cardio with an exercise bike and it's becoming a bit boring. Now I am looking for ways to spice up my work outs. I purchased a kettle bell (google it) and a Hoist V3 home gym to start building muscle. Now I just need to finish my home gym/basement and setup all my equipment down there!

Congratulations on your surgery! The decision to share, what to show and how much detail you share is really a personal thing. I am an open book. I figure the more people who know and can help me stay the course the better. I didn't embark on this journey for the quick fix anyway. My friends and family will notice I eat healthier smaller portions. That's about it. But I would rather they understand I'm making permanent lifelong changes and not "he's on a diet". I wouldn't want anyone to base a decision to have lap band surgery on my wonderful success or someone else's lack of success. We each walk this path alone. Even if someone does really well, they can stray. The great thing about the band is it is adjustable. We can work to find the right level of restriction and balanced eating to maintain a weight or get back to losing. Good luck on your journey! The hard part is over now it's getting on with the rest of your banded life.

I have been in contact with Whole Foods to try and have our meetings there. It might make for a more healthy environment where they can go through various shopping options, scenarios and making over recipes to be more healthy. More to come.

Hopefully this link lets you join my Yahoo group. There is a link there to the Obesity Help group as well. Click to join atlantaWLSsupport

Follow-up with Emory. Their Bariatric office staff is excellent! Also, sometimes you have to call and speak to different people to find out. The best bet would be to let Emory submit the procedure codes you want. I have BCBS of Georgia and they covered my lap band. Some insurance policies cover out-patient surgery but not in-patient. So same day laproscopic out with-in 24 hours was covered by mine but not extended stay more extensive surgery. You may want to write down who you speak with, ask them to email or fax you a copy of your policy where that is spelled out or indicated. If you don't like their answer. I would hang up and call back and speak with someone else until they can show you in writing where WLS is excluded. Don't give up. Be diligent. It's alot easier for people to give you a quick answer than to look things up and verify. So if you can't find the exclusion on the website, make them show you where it says it. If they can't, it's covered. Again, I would let Emory go through the approval process for you. Don't give up. Don't lose hope.

Do you have a bulldog? We have a 7 1/2 month old red brindle named Nash. He's a cutie pie! Thanks for joining my group!

Congratulations on your surgery! There is a grup that meets in Lawrenceville as well. I hope the link below works. It will get you plugged into my Yahoo Group. I also have a sister group on Obesity Help. The OH group was pending my completion of Support Group Leader training which wrapped up this weekend. Next up.... scouting a location! I look forward to meeting you and, in the meantime, if you have any questions, feel free to post them here or on the Atlanta WLS Support group below! Click to join atlantaWLSsupport

I am thinking of starting a Support group in the Metro Atlanta (Tucker/Northlake) area. Looking for WLS people at any stage, who would be interested in attending. Please let us know what day of the week that you could NOT attend. We will keep you posted as to our status. Also, let us know if you would like to volunteer in some manner, as we are looking for some hlp to get this group going. Thanks and we are looking forward to meeting all of you soon! If you click on my link below, you'll see a link to "Join my support group" at the top of my blog. My blog documents my journey from 326lbs in May '07 to 170 lbs today. Looking forward to getting to know people in the area looking for others to connect with, learn from and share successes with.

Good for you Sadie! That's how it should be. I remember first coming out and talking about "the heterosexual priveledge" which is to talk about kids, hubby, in-laws at work but gay peole are supposed to keep their personal lives to themselves. WTF?!?!? If you talk about your husband at work, I should be able to talk about my boyfriend. I have stopped referring to him as my partner. In the South, people always ask me "Partner??? What kinda business y'all in?" I find that boyfriend gets the point across without using the term lover which is just a sexual term in my book. Start practicing eating slowly, taking small bites, chewing your food thoroughly and, if you aren't... start exercising. It will help with recovery and it's a major aid in helping the weight come off post-op! Congratulations on your date!!!

That is basically it. You put it on every morning. You wear it all day. It has a built in accelerometer that knows when you are moving and how hard you are moving. It somehow converts that movement into calories burned. You do have to enter some information about yourself so it can figure it out. Here's basically how it works: BioTrainer - measure physical activity and calories burned You don't have to use their online system to track your calories in and have it analyze the #of calories you burn everyday, but I think it's pretty cool. They offer 10% off to WLS patients with the discount code: WLS. It's like free shipping. I also found this demo on their site of the online nutritional program. BioTrainer food Journal: Demo Good luck and keep moving!

That is basically it. You put it on every morning. You wear it all day. It has a built in accelerometer that knows when you are moving and how hard you are moving. It somehow converts that movement into calories burned. You do have to enter some information about yourself so it can figure it out. Here's basically how it works: BioTrainer Weight Loss System ™ - measure physical activity and caloric burn You don't have to use their online system to track your calories in and have it analyze the #of calories you burn everyday, but I think it's pretty cool. They offer 10% off to WLS patients with the discount code: WLS. It's like free shipping. I also found this demo on their site of the online nutritional program. BioTrainer Nutrition : Demo Good luck and keep moving!

That is basically it. You put it on every morning. You wear it all day. It has a built in accelerometer that knows when you are moving and how hard you are moving. It somehow converts that movement into calories burned. You do have to enter some information about yourself so it can figure it out. Here's basically how it works: BioTrainer Weight Loss System ™ - measure physical activity and caloric burn You don't have to use their online system to track your calories in and have it analyze the #of calories you burn everyday, but I think it's pretty cool. They offer 10% off to WLS patients with the discount code: WLS. It's like free shipping. I also found this demo on their site of the online nutritional program. BioTrainer Nutrition : Demo Good luck and keep moving!

I'm in conservative Atlanta. When I went in for my pre-op tests, the psych consult required your support person to come with you. I brought my partner of 13 years. They wanted him to hear what my eating requirements were going to be and the kind of support I would need post-op. I guess if you aren't out in your life, then what's the point of telling someone who's going to cut you open, place a device and send you one your way? I'm out to everyone. My attitude, if it's not a problem for me, it shouldn't be for you. If it is, then I'd rather go somewhere else. It takes energy to hide things. To play the pronoun game. Its 2008. Believe me, you aren't the first queer patient they've had. If it's a big ugly secret for you, it will be for others. I'm out to the dietician, on the yahoo lap band groups I post on and basically everywhere. The people that have a problem with it probably don't reply to my posts but... I have alot of friends on Yahoo and OH and here and I don't skirt the issue. I think people like me regardless of my orientation. It's a part of who I am. Denying it would be like denying I am male. I used to think people didn't need to know. What does it have to do with anything? It has everything to do with everything! My sexuality is interwoven into my character, my life, my personality and me denying it sends subconscious messages to psyche that says I am ashamed of who I am and other people are right for having a problem with it.