MrsMAJL

My husband is in the military and is now stationed at Ft. Lewis. We moved here in January from Kansas, I hated it there. We love it so much here that this is where we are going to stay when he retires in about 5 years. Where in Puyallup are you? I am on 74th Ave. Ct. E, off of 144th. You have done well with your loss as well. I was thinking of starting a lapband support group in this area. I haven't heard of one around here, so figured it would be easy enough to start one. Let me know if you want to get together for coffee or something.

I'm in Puyallup as well. I would love to get together people in the same area. I moved here in January and don't have too many friends here yet and my family is all back on the East coast. I've had my band since 4/18/08 and am at goal. Going in for a port reposition and tummy tuck in Sept. 18th. If anyone is interested in getting together, I'd love to hear from ya.

I have Tricare Prime and didn't have to have a psych eval. I also didn't have any other tests, I just got a referral from my PCM and that was it. I had my surgery just under 7 months ago, so I'm wondering why it seems like everyone else needs to have one and I didn't. I find it hard to believe that they changed the requirements in such a short period of time, it took them long enough to cover it.

I went through my surgery alone (my husband is in Iraq and my family is not from where I am living now) and I would not suggest doing it. I did fly my mother in to be with my "kids" (my dogs) while I was gone and I took a taxi there and hired a car to bring me home. My mother has some vision impairment and could not drive me there and it was more important to me to have her watching my babies. Besides, your doctor should not allow you to drive home and be home alone. You have to remember that you have just had surgery and will still be under the influence of the anesthetic drugs and you never know when complications could arise. Also, my doctor would require that I stay overnight if I live an hour or more away from the surgical center. Speaking from the emotional part, it was more stressful and upsetting to be alone and not have anyone I know there when I woke up from surgery. Good luck!

Not dumb questions at all, especially if you don't know the answer to them. Pretty much exactly what I felt. It lasted for a couple of days and then got better as I was getting back to regular food. Don't be surprised if it takes a little longer to get back to "normal", sometimes it depends on how long you have been liquids as well.

Congrats on getting your band! I had it as well for a couple of days after surgery. It's from having only liquids and the medications, it is pretty normal. Once you start getting back to regular foods you will become more regular. Hope this helps!

Congrats on getting banded! Fills are not an exact science and everyone is different in how they react to a fill. I currently have 8.4ccs in my 10cc band and have pretty good restriction, others that I know with a 10cc band have a lot less and are getting great restriction as well. Fills are sometimes a constant adjustment and everyone has a different "sweet spot".

If you are losing hair then you are not getting enough protein. You should be getting between 60 and 100 grams a day. (Some doctors say 60, some say 100. Mine wants me to get 80 to 100 a day)

I also have Tricare (Prime) and I didn't have to do anything but get a referral from my PCP. After that, I made my appt. for my initial consult On March 4th of this year. I got my approval for surgery from Tricare 6 days later. I had surgery on April 18th of this year. I am not sure if they have changed the requirements since I've had surgery, but I was 100+ pounds overweight and had bad knees.

I also have Tricare Prime (West) and my timeline is as follows: February 21st, referral from PCP March 4th, consult with surgeon at surgical center March 10th, approval from Tricare April 11th, pre-op bloodwork, EKG, chest x-ray April 18th, surgery Highest weight was 319, current is 229, goal is 160

I go to the Weight Loss Surgical Center in Overland Park. I had my surgery there as well and have been extremely happy with them. Everyone there is very nice and professional. I'm in Lansing, so I'm not too far from where you are from.

It is most likely from the tube that was down your throat to help you breath during surgery. It will take a little time for that to go away.

I am in KS as well, Lansing (near Leavenworth). I had surgery on April 18th this year and have to say I'm doing pretty well. I've lost about 70 pounds so far and have had 5 fills. I actually think I've hit my sweet spot with this one. I posted before somewhere else about wanting to start a support group for people near me. If anyone is interested email me at ALionberge@aol.com. I would love to set something up. Hope to hear from people soon.

I also want to have a clothing exchange at the meetings. I have a lot of clothes that I'm sure someone could get some use out of. So, if you have clothes that are too big for you, start cleaning out the closets now!

I'm looking to start a support group in this area and was wondering how many people would be interested in joining. I didn't really want anything formal, just a get together with people that have had the surgery, going to have it, or are thinking about it. I don't know of anyone close to where I live that has had it so, I figured that there has to be more people like me that are looking for support. Right now I'm looking into places to have a meeting. If anyone is interested, feel free to send me an email with what days are good for you and we'll see if we can come to a concensus on a date and time. My email address is ALionberge@aol.com.