Angelyco

Hey all. I've been avoiding the WLS world for some time now because I just feel like a failure. I haven't had a fill since last January (2011), I keep telling myself I want to lose just a little bit (10 pounds since my last weigh-in at the doc) before getting a fill so that I don't feel so awful...and all I did was gain some. I'm still under my starting weight, but this sucks. I do really well when I have a fill, but without the insurance paying for it, even $150 seems like a lot out of pocket. In other news though, my husband and I just bought our first home a month ago! So at least life is moving forward even if my weight loss isn't. At this point I would honestly consider converting to the sleeve, but my insurance doesn't cover ANYTHING weight-loss related.

I'm still here..and still struggling. I did get a fill back in January, but haven't really lost anything, just bouncing back and forth over a couple pounds. I'm so jealous of those of you who had really excellent results.

Some insurance plans also require a 6-month supervised diet before surgery, it all depends on your plan. For me, I just had to do the psych eval and nutritionist, then scheduled my surgery, which was 6 weeks out from then just because of so many other surgeries booked at the same time. During that 6 week wait was when I saw the pulminologist and my primary doctor had to see me and fill out paperwork saying I'm okay to have the surgery.

My BMI was about 71 when I had the surgery. Yes, 71! I was 444 lbs (5'6"). I already knew I wanted the band when I first went to my doctor, and he NEVER mentioned having bypass instead. He had no problems with my weight as a candidate for the band. It's all a doctor's personal preference on what they want to operate on and what they believe will be successful. I've been banded 2 and a half years and I lost about 70 pounds, then bounced back the last few months, but it's not the band's fault - I have had a horrible time getting the fills I need. When I have restriction, I lose weight.

Hey Junies! It's been awhile and I've been hiding. Some of you have done SO well with the band that I feel like a failure most of the time. After my gall bladder surgery in May, I've gained. From the surgery itself, I lost 10 pounds and gained it right back, it was probably just fluid anyway, so I try not to count that. Besides that, I've regained about 26 pounds. I had gotten down to 371, now I'm back up to 397. I haven't had a fill since Dec 2009! My company switched insurance providers last year and they don't cover ANYTHING weight-loss related. Today I finally called my doctor's office and it turns out that it's only $150 for self-pay to get a fill done in the office. I have an appointment with my doctor next week, he may or may not be able to do the fill right then (I might have to schedule another appt for it). I wish I had called sooner, I had no idea it would be that affordable. Here's to a new year, I'm not going to set any concrete weight loss goals, but I do hope to be under 300 by the end of the year!

I was really starting to like Rick, too. This was only Week 5 and there is SO much game play going on, I'm getting really tired of it. It makes the show less interesting. The girls totally could have teamed up against Frado or Brendan, I was hoping they would. I really thought nobody would vote for Rick, but I guess threats are more important than helping your team.

Tina. Scraped by last week, begged to go home at the beginning of this week, decided she definitely wanted to stay, then got eliminated anyway.

There is too much crying this early in the season...

First, I would just like to point out that the guy who won the weigh-in is the one who had bypass surgery. Interesting, eh? He apparently lost 70 lbs with it before he came on the show. I don't like how they did the weigh-in and elimination this week. I DO like how the weigh-in was a surprise and nobody could prepare too much (we've all read the articles of former contestants and the stuff they did before weigh-ins). However, having a challenge to determine the two to be up for elimination is bullshit, in my opinion. The people who are more in shape for that particular challenge will always get ahead. Beyond determining the top 8 and bottom 8, your weight-loss is pointless after that. Yeah, sometimes the eliminations are unfair if someone has just one bad week, but I can already see how people who are in better shape would try to throw the weigh-ins in different ways if they are confident they would win the challenge. Of course, this is all assuming that this is how eliminations will be determined for the rest of the season.

vlp, the first episode is already on NBC's website, you can watch it online

I just got a chance to watch the first episode tonight. I actually did notice scars on at least 2 or 3 people before they actually MENTIONED the one girl who got vertically banded. They didn't mention WLS for anyone else, but I definitely saw the scars. My opinion is that in the early years of the show, they must have turned away people who had WLS because they didn't want to bring it up on the show, didn't want it thrown out there as an option, or just had a very low opinion of the people who tried it. I think with the success Ron had with the show vs. bypass, it seems like they found the perfect weapon to bash WLS. Sure, they didn't -really- talk about it much with Ron, but those of us who are educated on the surgeries picked up on it. I still firmly believe that Ron only did as well as he did on the show because he was FORCED to eat right--Dr. H even said that his pouch was intact and still the size of an egg. He had an advantage over other people there, in my mind. Anyway, just to chime in about the conversation going on, when I was in high school, my doctor would often talk about what's available for weight loss, but at that time (10-12 years ago), there was really nothing safe enough for my age. Bypass was really the big thing back then, LapBand wasn't really heard of in my area, and my doctor said bypass was just too dangerous for me. I wonder if he would have recommended the band if it was an option then. I actually went through the opposite of some of you - my mom was constantly trying to get me to stop eating so much, we NEVER had junk food in the house, not even sugared cereals. Because of that, I always felt deprived and I started sneaking food whenever I could, but my mom basically kept inventory of everything we had and would constantly accuse me (rightfully so) of stealing food. Once I started working and babysitting and whatnot, I bought my own junk and fast food and such whenever I could and ate in secret. When I was in college and on my own, I ate all the food I wanted because I finally could. I think even if I could have had the surgery at 14 years old, it probably wouldn't have worked for me because of this environment I was in. Unfortunately, I'm STILL trying to break the habit of buying bad foods, eating in secret, and hiding it from my husband. I usually end up telling him about it, and he's never mad about it, but I just don't know why I can't stop doing it.

Agreed :w00t: I think I want Koli to stay and Daris to go. I didn't care for Daris's attitude about his weight gain, it's like he didn't really care.

Just an update, I ended up in the hospital this weekend and had my gall bladder removed Monday. I just got home today. While the surgery and recovery is much better so far than the band, having a drain REALLY sucked! All I want to do now is sleep.

I was a little disappointed in the makeovers, it seems they got to choose their own clothes this time and it was really to their detriment. The guys looked MUCH better, but Ashley didn't seem to have much change - maybe she didn't want a new hairstyle? Who knows. I did notice though that people whose partners went home, the partners didn't come for makeover night. I wonder if they're trying to keep their looks under wraps since it's getting close to finale time. I'm officially tired of Sunshine, I want her to go home. I think I want Koli to win, first time all season I'm hoping for someone. I think I'd be happy if Ashley won though.

I've wanted the yellow team separated for awhile, but what really pushed me over the edge was this weeks challenge - every time O'Neal fell while trying to chase a calf, Sunshine screamed. Your dad is a big boy and can decide if he wants to actually TRY to help or not. I thought I might like Sunshine but I just plain don't anymore. Not that I really wanted her to go home over O'Neal, but after all the BS and crying they went through, she was being so selfish when it came to the pleading to stay on the ranch. She KNEW her dad would ask everyone to vote for him to go, she could have at least acted like she would have given up her place for him. She's thin now, he still needs it more than she does - that's not to say that I wanted him to stay, I think he was holding everyone back with his knees, I'm just saying. I felt awful for Ashley. She had a pretty good week, and she was happy not to have fallen below the line with one of the yellow team, but she had to act heartbroken because then both of the yellows fell together. I don't know if she was really heartbroken her not, but she said herself that she didn't want to go below with either of them. Her moment of happiness was taken from her because of the yellow drama. Can't wait for the makeovers!