kgloverii

Thanks for the compliment... I need to stress this... foam IS YOUR FRIEND. I look GREAT with a bra on, and don't need a boob job. The right bra makes all the difference in the world. :smile:

All insurance companies cover bariatric surgery on some policies. It all depends on the employers and whether they choose to exclude it. If you have the same employer, a lot of times they keep that WLS exclusion when changing insurance providers. Keeping my fingers crossed for you.

If you are hungry 2 hours after eating, a small tweak will probably do you good. I firmly believe that success with your band has A LOT to do with your fills... you don't want to have to be so concerned about 'self control' with the band. The band should dim the hunger significantly when you get to your sweet spot.

I love the language in this thread. It is so colorful, lol. For a good cleanse, I'd go with the enema. You'll feel immediate relief. A year and a half post-band, I still take Miralax every other day... I eat lots of fiber... fiber one bars are delish, and I just don't go like 'normal' unless I take Miralax.

A lot of surgeons place lifting restrictions on you for 4 weeks. I was walking on the beach the day after my surgery and back to work within 5 days, however my kids were old enough that we didn't have to worry about picking them up...

I think chicken is the cause of a very large percentage of first stuck or PB incidents. I know it was for me. Unless cooked a very specific way, chicken is E_V_I_L.

We do not have any local Sweet Tomatoes, but when we travel, we make sure to go if there is one close by. The food selection is outstanding, super high quality, and my, oh my, those soups are divine. I try to stay away from the Molten Lava Cake. However, I am never successful at staying away from it. :smile:

I had boobs.... nice luscious big ones. Now they are gone. Nice and saggy. LOL. I had myself remeasured and bought some new undergarments, that make me look great. Pre-Band, I wore minimizer bras. Post-band, Foam is my friend. I am wearing so much foam I am a fire hazard. :smile:

Startingover, I have not been diagnosed with a gastric obstruction before, but I will tell you that my band got super tight on me, stomach inflamed, barely ANYTHING going through my band EXCEPT hot water/liquids. An upper GI revealed severe inflammation, a VERY tight band. An unfill fixed the problem. It was a VERY scary thing, and I was convinced that my band had slipped. HeatherO advised me of a small 'trick' with your doc's blessing. If you ever get that inflamed again, or to a SUPER tight place because of inflammation, I took a dose of liquid motrin for a child (12 year old) every six hours for 2 days. That relieved the inflammation in a MAJOR way, and even though an unfill was still needed, it relieved a VERY emergent situation. Hope you feel ALL BETTER soon!

Brandy, I am LMAO at your post. I have the card, but have never once CONSIDERED using it. I simply don't need favors from a restaurant or want to draw attention to myself and my eating habits. I read about the bandsters that weigh their food portions and imagine them breaking out the scale at the table in the restaurant. Talk about craving attention! I know a lot of banded folks request their discount discretely, but I always would feel like I was putting a restaurant between a rock and a hard spot. I usually order Soup, or a regular meal and take home my leftovers, or order something and share with my kids. The restaurants that I know won't care if I order a kids meal, I will occasionally, but PLEASE charge me for a regular drink and don't bring it to me in the plastic cup, lol! Each person is different in their journey, and if they choose to use a card, so be it. But it certainly is not my cup of tea.

LouLou, You WILL get used to not drinking with your meals. It takes lots of practice, but you will get to the point that it does not bother you at all. I am surrounded by family that drinks while they eat, but it doesn't even occur to me anymore! HTH!

Awww... thanks Heather! I still can't wrap my head around my thinness. I see pics and can SEE that I am thin, but looking in the mirror is a whole other story!!! Can you believe you are over halfway to babyland??? I am on pins and needles!

I think a lot of people don't have any issue when flying at all. I maintain a pretty tight band, so it probably is more noticeable with a tight band...

I flew to Vegas and had that happen. I was tight for a day and a haf post-fight. Very odd... but it DOES happen.

Congrats!!!

I look at a lot of the people who responded... you guys are all band heroes too... awesome...

I always preferred vanilla to chocolate pre-band. Now, I am a true chocoholic. I made one deal with myself. Every morning, when I wake up, I have one piece of chocolate. A truffle, a square from a chocolate bar, something like that. I eat REAL chocolate, no high fructose corm syrup chocolate, no sugar free Chocolate. My current favorite is Lindt chili chocolate. One square is perfect... My eating throughout the day is 'normal' and I have very small portions. I don't deny myself anything, but I make sure NOT to eat sliders all of the time. So far, it has worked pretty well for me. :sneaky:

I originally set my goal at 150, size 10, because that was the skinniest I ever was, when I was in college and working out 3 hours per day. I got to that size and figured 143 wa normal BMI, so I revised my goal. And at 143 and a size 6/8, I knew I wasn't done. I am currently at 135 and am at a 4/6. I am still losing but VERY slowly and figure the weight loss will eventually peter out to nothing. I am like the above posters who feel like imposters. LOL. I don't feel like a size 4/6. My friend told me I REALLY need to stop losing weight and told me I should gain a couple pounds. He wa totally serious and I laughed and told him it was cause he met me when I was chubby and couldn't get his head around it. And he was like, "No Katy... you're TINY" and a lot of people say it. But the fat girl is still on the inside, and in the mirror I feel like a size 12 or 14. And even though I am buying all my shirts in small, I really don't believe it...

When I started this process, I weighed 235. I set a goal of 150 for myself. When I was in college, I took a full load of classes, worked full-time and worked out 2-3 hours EVERY DAY at the gym. With that schedule, I weighed 150 and was a size 10. I thought that if I got THERE, then I would be at my 'best.' Well, I got to 150 and knew I wasn't done. So, I revised my goal to 143, because that put me at a healthy BMI. 143 came and I have still been losing, and I knew I'd eventually get to the 100 pounds lost mark. I MADE IT!!!! WOO HOO!!!

For the record, I know of NO individual insurance policies that cover obesity surgery. Self-pay is probably the only option, I am afraid to say.

No one should beat anyone up for their 'bad' choices. 'Bad' should be a word that is removed from our vocabulary... Here is how BAD I am. I get up in the morning and eat a piece of chocolate EVERY SINGLE DAY. I also have an affection for ice cream... but not 'low fat' 'sugar free' or 'skinny' ice cream. I eat Haagen Dazs... It is all in moderation though... Deprivation only leads to binges...

Me and the monkey are on board with each other. Lose the food obsession and eat naturally, staying away from slider foods (I must remind myself of this, since I have an affection for Pringles new Extreme Dill Pickle Chips!), and you'll get there! Choose healthy, but stop the madness of choosing low-fat, sugar free foods. Those choices actually do more harm than good. I SWEAR I know what I am talking about...

It gets frustrating, the slowness of it all. But it DOES happen. Keep your chin up, you are doing GREAT!

Congrats to you!!!

These pills ARE a Godsend. I am NOT a Walmart shopper, but while in there getting an RX filled, I noticed they had them. Good stuff!