Southern Missy

Been thinking of you today Shawna and know that you have been blessed! So, hurry up and let us know how you are!

Will do... starting to get butterflies now. Also, a big case of emotional. I have spent the last 2 days crying. I know DH wonders during times like this what exactly it was he signed up for!

If you are trying to get this covered by insurance and they require the 6-month supervised diet, you might as well wait. Otherwise, if you are self-pay or if your insurance does not require the 6-month diet, then I would definitely do it. Every little bit helps! Good luck!

Yay Shawna! It all worked out -- I am so happy for you! I just finished giving my husband the last of the saga... even he was irritated with all the BS you had to go through! I'll be thinking of you tomorrow and hope you have a totally uneventful day! :thumbup:

I do and I LOVE IT!! I only started it in the past 2 weeks when starting my preop diet. However, it is great for keeping me on track and not letting me forget anything... I have successfully been losing a pound a day. I just always confirm that the item I pick is the same as what my box says. After that, it is in my "items' so I'm assured that it is right.

Kevin, It sounds like the advice you have gotten here is pretty good. Let me add that I have heard that "soda" can stretch your pouch because of the carbonation so if you are having problems with restriction I would not drink any of those. I won't be banded until Thursday so I am certainly not fussing at you, just trying to help! Good luck to you! :wink2:

YAY SHAWNA!! :wub: WHOO HOO!!! I have been out of town since last Thursday but I have definitely had you in my thoughts. When updating myself on the posts tonight I was so disappointed that MidSouth was being so un-helpful. I CANNOT stand when someone tries to tell me I didn't do something that I KNOW I did! :confused: Then, when I read further and found that they were wrong... well, I am just ecstatic for you!! :thumbup: I bet you were on cloud 9 for the rest of the day and weekend! I just love when things work out and we don't have to suffer through a weekend wondering what will be the outcome. Good to be back in town, girls. Now, I just hope I don't kill myself trying to get everything in the house just like I like it AND get in some extra work before my surgery on Thursday. BTW, just have to give myself kudos -- We went to TN for the weekend because it was our 16th wedding anniversary and a good friend was graduating with her teaching degree. Not even once did I cheat on my preop diet and everyone was just so complimentary, telling me how good I was being! I was pretty proud of myself and think I still continued to lose weight. So far I have been averaging a loss of a pound a day on my preop diet which is totally unheard of for me. Definitely an ego booster and I cannot WEIGHT to weigh in the morning!! :wink2:

I say if you are motivated to begin that you should. I wasn't all that fired up to go on a diet but the benefits I have reaped from being on it has not just been weight loss.. I have had a couple of episodes where I actually got pretty anxious about not being able to eat something and it really kind of happened out of the blue. It wasn't something I was expecting so I am glad that I was able to face it and learn how to work through it before I was in the midst of a liquid diet, postop, and possibly in pain. Following an Atkin's-type diet is pretty much standard for most and seems to do a good job of shrinking the liver. I have also heard that following a preop diet as well as trying to start some type of exercise are both beneficial by making the recovery much easier -- don't know if it's true yet but I have nothing to lose by trying! :smile:

I have had all of you on my heart today and know that you will have successful surgeries! For those on May 1: - Monica, BandFan1, feelgoodagain, Jamie, Awomangodcanuse and for those on May 2 (since I will be out of town) - Christal, BeachBumNJ, Kammi, serena1968, tootscritter, CirrusPilot Just remember to WALK, BREATHE DEEP, and COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS! Remember, you beat all the rest of us to it! :smile: We can't wait to hear of your experience!!

Like Allison, I have been floating around the board for quite a while and just recently got approved and got my date -- pretty whirlwind past week! :smile: I am 36, a mother of 4, from Prattville, Alabama, which is just about 20 miles from the capitol, Montgomery. I was overweight as a child but not detrimentally so and it was only after I had my 1st child that my weight began to soar and I have been struggling ever since. I saw my highest weight to-date in the last month! :eek: I have been on multiple diets like everyone else but I always fail to lose any significant weight. Very, very discouraging. However, since starting the preop diet last week, I have actually lost 1 pound a day and am confident that this is just the start of a beautiful new life for me! I look forward to all of us getting to know one another better and appreciate the ability to learn from one another. YAY MAY!! :wink2:

YES, definitely let us know! I will keep you in my prayers that it all comes together so that they won't have to change your date. These are the types of things that are totally unneccessary and SUCK!! :smile: It kinda makes me angry and it's not even me! :biggrin2:

Shawna, I would also let Naomi know exactly what you have told us... you were COMPLIANT with it for the 5 days like they required and you can't help it that the stupid machine malfunctioned. I would also let it drop that if this can't be resolved somehow that you will be forced to go elsewhere (of course, very kindly and very broken-hearted-like). AND, if all else fails, I visited 4 different doctors in the Bham area before making my decision so I can try to answer any questions about them that you may have if it comes down to that and you are interested! Hang tough, girlie!

Lexy, let me just say: You are DA BOMB, GIRL! Thanks a bunch!! :blushing:

YAY!!! Congratulations!! Isn't it wonderful?? I was beside myself for days... okay, maybe still am a little bit! :blushing: Welcome to our group!!

Shawna, here's hoping tomorrow brings better things! It won't be long from now and we won't even remember half the hurdles we had to cross to get here. I tell you, just getting approved was a relief for me. I wonder if a Tylenol PM or something like that would help you get through the night better... just a thought. I don't envy you with the CPAP, though. I hated mine, too. It just wasn't practical. I actually use a mouth appliance for my apnea and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. Alright, sorry for the ramble... You're gonna make it! Hang in there! :blushing:

Another important thing to remember is that you CAN go to more than one seminar. I attended 4 different seminars before I made my decision. I was able to compare the information from each seminar, ask questions that I felt would be pertinent to my success with the band, and get a feel of whether I was comfortable with the physician AND his staff. Besides, they aren't having these seminars as a public service -- they're trying to earn your business! :blushing:

Okay, I have a question. When I saw the nutritionist, she said that if you do this diet faithfully and "cheat" for any reason that you have completely undone the good that you did and have to start all over again. I honestly don't know whether I believe this or not and wondered if anyone knew FOR SURE. I have been straight-up faithful with the diet but my wedding anniversary is this weekend and we are going out of town. I have made lots of plans and am prepared to continue the diet while we are gone but we are definitely visiting a restaurant that we LOVE while we are there. I have already thought of an item I can have from the menu which would not be cheating EXCEPT for a sauce that I know is creamy. I don't want much but a little taste would be awesome since we only visit there once or twice a year. So... will just a tiny smidge totally undue my hard work and cause my liver to spontaneously combust or is she just trying to keep us faithful? :coolgleamA: I appreciate any input you can give! Thanks!!

BTW, I'm stealing this quote, too! :blushing:

Thanks JB! I certainly appreciate your support and the compassion with which it was delivered. :blushing: I just read something today on here that really stood out to me .... "we always think we deserve this **food** as a treat but why don't we ever think... we deserve to be thin/healthy". I have to agree! Thanks again!

Angelic1, Lexy is fine-tuning a logo for us with the Shrinko de Mayo name... It is TOO cute! You are welcome to use it, too, if you'd like! :blushing:

You are quite welcome! Thank you for being a computer diva who is meeting our logo needs! :w00t: (BTW, tried to change it but it wouldn't let me .... um, well, didn't mean to call you by the wrong name, I thought I remembered it right but I didn't.) :w00t:

Lexy, Apparently I am not going to find time to make anything I like at least as much (that's the problem when you already have something great!) as the logo with the sombrero that you came up with. However, is it possible to add a flower to it somewhere? I'm pretty computer illiterate or maybe I'm just a computer hardhead -- I refuse to learn anything that I don't absolute have to know! :coolgleamA: Let us know and THANKS for an AWESOME LOGO!! Missy

Thanks everyone for your answers, even those who "don't play a doctor on TV" . It was my intention to get the sauce on the side as the rest of the meal is totally within the confines of my diet. I just, like I said, didn't want it to blow all this work I have been doing. Thanks again! :w00t:

Kristey, My doctor put me on a No sugar, LOW fat, protein-rich diet for a week now and I feel Fabulous! Apparently the lowering of my carbs has been tremendous in making me feel better and having more energy. I wouldn't have believed anyone who told me that it would do that but it sure has! Plus I have lost 4 pounds and I have only been on it for 5 days. If nothing else, cutting out all carbonation would be a great start! Good Luck!

Hi Chrisann! Living in Alabama, we definitely know the ins and outs of ALLERGIES. I used to get sick 3 or 4 times a year with sinus stuff and then last year my PCP put me on Singulair. It is a prescription but MAN, IT ROCKS! We are a family of 6 and all of them have been sick twice this year while I have been just fine. It works great! Singulair is small but also comes in a chewable. Most doctor offices have samples although I don't know if they have the chewable samples, hmm... Anyway, hope this helps!