MacMadame

Well no matter what, I am NOT doing shakes. Except for the full liquid stage, of course, when it's shakes or starve. I think they are gross! Before I changed some of my eating habits, I was getting in an average of 60 g of Protein a day, which is slightly more than recommended for a woman my age, but it was often less than 20% of my calories because I ate so many carbs and often stuff made with white flour and sugar, or worse, high fructose corn syrup. I figure if I keep my protein content the same, but cut out the bad carbs and lower my calories, I should be okay. I think I can do that with the band, because I won't be hungry all the time. That's the theory, right? In the meantime, I'm supposed to lose 10% of my body weight in preparation for surgery. It's tempting to do the high protein diet for that since I know it will work and be relatively painless. Decisions. Decisions.

My immediate family knows including my mom and dh (d does not equal dear) told a bunch of people, which annoys me. I am just at the point where I know this is the right thing to do but I am also at a point in my life where I just don't feel like putting my energy into educating people or getting any flack. So I don't intend to tell anyone else until it's a done deal. I figure once it's done, no one can try to talk me out of it, which would annoy the crap out of me, and if they have negative thoughts, most people are too polite to actually repeat them to me when it's a done deal. If they do -- well, they are a tool so who cares what they think, right? But if people ask me how I lost the weight, I'm going to be honest. I don't have anything to be ashamed of and pretending I don't have a lap band just perpetuates the myths that obese people are that way because they are too lazy to change their lives and anyone can do lose weight and keep it off if they just put their mind to it. I hate that myth and I'm not going to do anything to keep it alive.

No, what is silly is your inability to see another POV.

I've been trying to find this on the UCH web site for over a month and I finally put the right keywords into the search!! (or maybe they just finally got it on the web site) This will tell you what WLS they cover or don't cover and why, what some of the criteria is for being approved, and lots of other info that might be helpful. I haven't found a direct link, but if you go to https://www.unitedhealthcareonline.com/ and type "bariatric" into the Search box, you'll get a link called "Bariatric Surgery" and clicking on it will bring you to the page. The text is too big to paste here so if you can't find the link the way I describe, PM me and I'll email you the text.

Did the whole $2000 come out of pocket or will you get some back from insurance? Mr. Mac just had a piece of road debris cut a 3 inch slot into his passenger side door. It took almost a week and $2000 to get it fixed. Luckily our deductible is only $500, but I would have much rather had that $500 to spend on something else. We can't get it back from another driver either since it's no one's fault when scrap metal gets kicked up on the road. At least his rental car was nice, just like yours sounds. He drives a Ford Focus so the rental seemed VERY roomy by comparison.

The dietician I went to recommended I eat more Protein and said it would keep me full longer. I have been doing that and, as a result, my fat intake has increased too. Since I have no gallbladder to help break down fat in my diet, that means I get really farty. And that's just the short-term results. I have to decide if feeling less hungry is worth it and so far I am doubtful. I think I can get to that state just by drinking more Water. I would rather cut down on the refined carbs and simple sugars, but keep my protein intake the same. I think I'll be healthier overall.

I want to get banded that weekend, not go to a seminar. Though at the rate I'm going, I'll be lucky to be banded this year.

I hate to be pedantic (okay, I lie -- I love it ) but the First Amendment has nothing to do with posting on a message board. The first amendment just says Congress can't make any laws the abridge your right to free speech (or to establish a state religion). The more appropriate rule in this case is the one my 9 year old likes to invoke when her brother tells her what to do: you aren't the boss of me! :thumbup:

I enjoyed mine too. I like meeting new people and talking to them.

Actually, gastric bypass is almost always done laprascopically. It's only done open if the person has too much scar tissue or anatomical issues that prevent it being done laprascopically. But there are plenty of other reasons to go for lap band over bypass. Personally, giving the safety issues, I think US doctors should always recommend lap band first and only go for bypass if the patient has some particular reason why the advantages of bypass outweigh the added risks. An example would be if you have a medical condition that requires you to lose weight quickly or risk dying. Another would be if your psych eval showed you'd be a bad band candidate but a good bypass candidate. There are people for whom bypass is a better choice. But there are a lot of people for whom the lap band would work just as well and be less risky. Sounds like a win-win to me. :thumbup:

No, theists miss the point... Doing good in the world has nothing to do with whether or not you believe in God. First of all, all systems have behavior that benefits the system and behavior that does not. Humans are social animals who want to live together in packs. Therefore, they behave in ways that benefit the system. Those who don't get removed from the pack and that's a horrible fate for a social animal. Secondly, there are plenty of people who believe in God (or Gods) who don't do good in the world and there are plenty of atheists who do good in the world. Therefore, empirical evidence shows that a belief in God is not a requirement for being good.

This is what the food diary that my surgeon's gave me said: "Please be as honest as you possible can be. Our goal is to understand where you get your calories and what eating behaviors are important to you. In this way we hope to know which operation is likely to work best for you. We also hope to be able to recommend changes in your behavior, or education about your diet that will make the operation more successful. You will not be denied an operation based on poor eating habits, so there is no benefit to you to be anything less than completely honest as you fill out your food diary." I was really tempted to use 3 good days and be as good as possible during them when I first got my food diary, but reading this made me change my mind.

The person who told me this was a trend wasn't talking about WLS, just regular medical care. Honestly, I didn't believe her. But if a bariatric surgeon -- someone in a very cash-oriented field of surgery -- isn't accepting non-insured patients, it makes me wonder. I think the US health system is such a mess. Nothing about it surprises me any more.

I have been told that some doctors aren't taking patients without insurance any more -- that it was some sort of trend in the industry -- but this is the first time I've heard about it happen to a real person. It's kind of scary if this is a trend.

Dr. Foster is in my network now, but I have an exclusion on my policy and may change insurance in Aug 1. She's not in the network for the new place. It's very annoying.

Your liver shrinks if you lose weight. You lost weight, so you should be fine.

I prefer the caramel flavor to the chocolate. They do taste like real caramels. Yes, they are only 20 calories, but I'm trying to cut refined sugar out of my life and it all adds up.

I tend to only have enough clothes to get through laundry day and only in whatever size I am. I am always kind of amazed when people talk about digging something out of the closet that they used to wear and having it fit. My stuff wears out too fast since it's always getting washed. This is what comes of hating to go clothes shopping and only being able to shop in the fat lady department, I guess. :tt1:

Mine was billed to the insurance company at $350. However, I went through my EAP and they only cover $85. The shrink just eats the rest, I guess, because I only have to pay $10.

There are MX doctors who don't have disturbing posts about them. Why not use one of them?

I guess I'm more cynical than that. Outside the US, lap band is the most common WLS while in the US it's RNY. I don't think RnY is somehow more successful here than elsewhere. I think it's our wacky health system that is causing doctors to push RnY over the band. Don't get me wrong, RnY has it's place. We aren't all alike so the same WLS isn't going to be the right choice for everyone. But it has a lot more risks than the band and, for that reason alone, I think they should be doing a lot less of them.

Yeah, I finally gave in and got underwires and now my clothes fit so much better. Makes me sorry I was such a wuss about it before.

If you can only eat 3/4 of a cup during the day, then I'd just ignore him and have a planned snack between lunch and dinner, preferably right before working out. If you plan it, account for the calories in your daily allotment, and eat something healthy for it, then I see nothing wrong with it, no matter what the doctor says.

I have used their Calcium chews but then I read the ingredients... the first ingredient is Corn Syrup and the second is Sugar!! I guess that's why they taste good but I'm going to try to find something that's not candy instead.

Did you tell him you were hungry all the time and doing it on willpower? It seems like some surgeons don't really understand that obese people can diet up a storm; it's keeping it off that is the problem. They see the weight loss as a sign that the band is working when you may just be in diet mode, like so many times before.