cashley

I'd question those requirements as completely unnecessary... and yes I do trust doctors to cut on me but still think that I have a brain to think for myself and most defiantly question anything that seems unreasonable or unhealthy.

I know people can live for a month on liquids but she said "clear liquids" and that seems unreasonable... that type of diet causes your hair to fall out and all kinds of health issues It makes no senses and contradicts what most doctors recommend..

I can't believe some of you all wouldn't "question" it.... Hell yeah - I believe in questioning and seeking second opinons. Just because someone is a doctor (or a surgeon) doesn't make them all knowing.

Wow! That's great progress in one year... Congrats!!!

Eat Fiber One Cereal every morning for breakfast.... it works!

I don't eat much but supplement with a Protein shake (or two) per day to keep my energy up. I'll do that until I'm close to goal and then try to get more real food down. I feel really good and have great energy.

Doesn't the drinking during the meal make you feel like you are drowning. There is no way I could drink anything with any food... it's painful.

Awwwww Shucks!!! ~~Blushin~~ Thanks Leatha_G....

When I get to goal I want one of those cool tavern wench outfits like DonnaB (pretty sexy... I think guys dig that look :scared: )

I think the starvation mode is a myth... I do because I have failed on diets repeatly telling me I should lose weight on 1100 - 1300 calories (or whatever weight watchers is) and If I wasn't losing then they assumed I was cheating.... Well now I know I need to eat only 600 - 800 (a 1000 max) to lose.

At weight wathers they always told me not to go that low and their method was proven... I say proven to fail!

Without the lapband I'd be miserable eating only 600-800 calories and would feel like I was staving. It would be hard to do long term but with the band it makes it possible.

I'm sad that it takes so few calories to actually lose but I'm glad at least I'm losing.

I guess i was a thread killer here... this was a fun topic, anyone else have some old pics?

I had my bikini area done and it was pretty painful. It was supposed to be 5 sessions over a 6 month period and I only did three of them. I wanted my entire bikini area done (not just the bikini line) and it hurt the most where the hair was course. I had a tan the second time and it was way too painful. So when I came back for the third visit I made sure no tan.

I want to do it again so I can get it finished since I still have to shave though it's less hair I didn't do it enough to be shave free for life. I'm just scared now....

I had part of my legs done also and that didn't hurt hardly at all. It was less then the pain of a tattoo on my leg portion but way worse then a rubber band snape on the sensitive areas or the corse hair areas.

I ususally order Soup and salad and that goes down just fine with no questions.

This is fun - what a great topic!

This first one is in '94 and it's about 130 pounds... the wedding was in '97 and it's about 150 pounds... the last one is more current.

Okay, I will be brave enough to admit it.

I do love my band and I am working with it. But I wish i had just done the bypass for the lifelong option. I am not looking forward to the "longterm" band option resurgery. I feel a bit like a ticking timebomb. When will I lose it?

So yes, for ME... I would have paid the extra money to do bypass. And when I do need a revision surgery on my band I will convert to the bypass.

I agree with your post and 100% feel like a ticking timebomb.... after reading here from the people who have lost their band it becomes a big burdon on your brain thinking about it. My mom keeps saying "Don't worry, don't think about it" but I do!

Since I was self pay and I know if I have complications I have to pay more that's very scary. So I've already made plans with a doctor that if I have a complication and need removal I will immediately convert to RnY ByPass. The cost of removing the band vs the conversion isn't that much. The doctor said that he would also do it if I was at goal weight as opposed to letting me gain it all back. This has put my mind at ease knowing that I have this option.

Also, I don't like this PB thing and it happens quite often (and yes I chew well and don't rush).

For some odd reason calamari goes down great for me. Especially fried... yum!

I'm even pretty tight and was surprised as hell that it went down so well. I eat fried food all the time, the oil makes it go down better especially chicken, plus I don't buy in to the "Low Fat" crap but do stay away from Transfat since it's a modern invention.

I had a barium swallow today (for the past 3 weeks I've felt like I have something stuck in my throat) and I'm wondering how many calories barium has!!!

Hey Gadgetlady... this post was a while back but I wondered how your barium went and if they discovered any problems? I'm having that same feeling like something is stuck in my chest. It's been going on for about three days and all started after an awful PB on boneless chicken wings. I think I ate them too fast and had bad PB's... now I've been hurting and trying to do liquids only til I heal. I'm going to the doctor on Thursday and hope it's better then. If feels like my pouch is bruised. Which I hope will heal... I'm praying it's not a slip.

Hope you're great gadgetlady and fill us in on your status. (I may have missed the post but I tried to read though the last few pages and see how you're doing)

Hi Everyone from February... how's things going? I love reading this thread and catching up with what seems to be "old" friends.

I'm having a bit of acid tonight and feel uck. I didn't have a fill my last appointment since I'm still very restricted on my current level. I struggle with making good choices. I love summer but wish it was more Soup season. I eat out a lot and some days I just can't find things that go down well. One "awful" food that goes down just fine - Nacho's Bellgrande. I know those aren't the best for my daily calorie intake but when I'm on the road (I travel) it's sometimes the only thing that will stay down.

I guess I'll keep experiementing with fast food until I find a few others that stay down well with hopefully less calories.

Hope you all are doing great.....

My fill level is tight... probably too tight but I love this "Non-Interest"... I do believe this is what skinny people feel like.

I would have some removed from my band but even with eating about 600 - 800 calories a day I'm only losing about 1.5... I'm afraid if I have the fill reduced then I won't lose at all. (I've been a yo-yo dieter and an exerciseahaulic (spelling is bad too) for most of my life. My metabolism needs this boost right now.

I still drink two Protein shakes a day and pick at most of my meals. Usually just a few bites at any given meal. I don't PB as much since I've learned what not to eat and how careful to be. That also has me stearing away from a lot of healthy Protein though.

I don't care much about food and it's the best thing side effect of the band. I love being "NON-Interested"... It's like losing a drug habit and it's exactly what I wanted to happen. I wanted to eat to stay alive, not stay alive to eat. I want my enjoyment from life and not junk food.

I just finished "Twelve Sharp" from Janet Evonwitch (spelling)... I love the Stephine Plum Series.. they are fun, interesting and light!

So - being unbanded myself - after reading all of this thread - I guess I have to ask: people who lose with no fill - for months - who lose quite a bit - is it a matter of Head Control? or do some maybe actually have restriction with just the band there? curious.........

Depending on how much fatty tissue is around the stomach area depends on how much restriction you get with the band only. Some people will get restriction without a fill for months. In fact, that is the reason that they created the VanGuard band is due to the regular 4cc band being way too tight for some people.

I on the other hand was starving until the 2nd fill... not an ounce of restriction from the band alone. It was hard to stay on the liquid diet and control myself when I was starving and felt like there was no difference between pre-op and post-op...

Things are good now and I'm losing at a decent rate... (Only about 1.5 per week but much better then before) I'm very happy with what I can and can't eat and hope to stay happy.

A nice rare juicy filet menon goes down just fine. In fact better then chicken I think. It's lower in fat then other cuts and is super tender.

I asked my mom's doctor if she'd be able to quit hers since her colestrol is under control and she's lost a lot of weight and he said "No"... that it's for life. I thought he was crazy but I've heard several doctors tell me that now and my doctor actually explained how they do so much more then just lower colestrol and that death from heart disease is actually down in since the use of statins.

I'd be interested in seeing others responses... and when you all ask your doctor would you mind posting so I can see the replys they give you also?

IMO, there should be a huge divide between RNY qualifications and those for banding. The current guidelines don't take into account the exponential difference in risk level. Someday, we can hope, they will.

Exactly... I was only 5 pounds too light to qualify for the surgery according to the AMA standards... was it better to gain the weight, keep trying the diet route or "fudge" those 5 pounds. I choice heavy clothing, heavy shoes and some stuff in my pockets...

Did it fool the doctor? I don't really care since I didn't want to be the the operating room with open heart by-pass surgery at the age of 45 like my mother was.

I had the money, felt it worth the risk and was doing it whatever it took...

Also, I realized there always has to be a cut-off point... I was just too close to that "cut-off" that heavy clothing worked.

The BMI guidelines are still very flawed since they do not take into account your bone stucture or the amount of lean muscle mass. My husband will always be considered overweight and over BMI since he's a weight lifter and has a great deal of muscle. He holds world records in powerlifting but has problems with getting decent rates on life insurance due to his BMI.

I'd like to see a new standard for BMI that took more factors beside just height and weight.

Opening this up for discussion, not judgement or criticism.

One of the things I've witnessed here that has always made me raise my eyebrow a bit is people's questions about -- and others' willingness to help -- "beat the system", so to speak. I haven't seen the topic come up in a while, but when I first joined it was fairly common for someone to want advice on how to qualify for the lap-band, even though they don't qualify. And there was a lot of advice given about putting sand in clothes, weights in shoes, forcing down a gallon of Water before being weighed, etc.

Opening this up for discussion - in general - is it ok to "nudge" the system this way? Is there anything wrong with doing it? What's the line between what's "ok" to nudge, and what isn't?

The original thread didn't say anything about insurance. Even if you are self-pay there are guidelines the " U S " doctors are supposed to follow on who qualifies for the surgery. Though there are some doctors who do it cosmetically, there are still guidelines on the 35 BMI with co-mor or 40 without....

So my question is... what do you all think about nudging the system if insurance isn't part of the equation???? I'm not talking about insurance fraud I'm talking about nudging the guidelines of who qualifies for the surgery according to the 'standard US practice and the manufacture recommendations". <o></o>

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I don't always agree with the laws, regualtions, policies........

But I choose to follow them even when I don't agree with them.

So you always follow laws, regulations and even just policies? Never speed? Jay Walk?

Talking about nudging the system is a bit specious. It is never a matter of 5 lbs or 1 BMI point that keeps medical necessity from being established. People just don't get declined for this sort of reason if they truly need the surgery.

I mean, if someone has a BMI of 36 and is otherwise perfectly healthy, then no, surgery is NOT medically necessary. If someone's BMI is 38 or 39, they probably DO have some accompanying co-morbidities that would "nudge" the case into qualifying territory. Bottom line: The surgery must be medically necessary for a carrier to cover it. Between the patient and the doctor this determination can be made. Fooling a doctor or lying to the carrier is NOT the way to do it. Being honest with ourselves and our doctors about our health is the very first step in the process, and the medical necessity will be provable if it's there.

Believe me, I'm not one to defend insurance carriers. But they must follow medical guidelines and draw lines somewhere. The system requires rationing, which is true in countries with universal health care as well.

I know you work in the industry but the first doctor I saw said "Absolutly not for a BMI of 39... he said "Go and gain the weight and come back"

I also thought he was a jerk and that's why he didn't do my surgery.