sistasassy

I am having my surgery done in Decatur by Dr. Albert Gilman. He accepts medicaid if you have a BMI of 40 or above. Once I had completed my psych evaluation and nutritional evaluation and they got everything submitted, it only took about a week and a half to be approved.

We go a number of places that will not let us order from the children's menu. My son is a big strappin' wrestler but eats like a bird when we go out. He would love to order from the kids menu all the time. We just get him a regular meal and box automatically. That way either he, my husband, or I get the other half the next day. So much less traumatic that dealing with impossible people at a restaurant. I, too, do not see why they cannot be accommodating for people who have proof of why they are asking to order from the kids menu but for the sake of stress it is just best to let it go. I am sorry your experience was bad but awesome that you still ate right! Looks like you still had a good meal and Olive Garden food is soooo tasty!

It will come in time. My twins are ADD and are behind in a number of ways. They also have varying levels of learning disabilities. Matthew is receiving help for math only now and is starting to catch up in maturity. Melissa is still receiving LD services for just about every subject. She has trouble with comprehension. She is also in puberty and that is just compounding her problems. Up until about a year ago they were about two years behind in everything (school, social, and just plain ole life). It is getting better and they are beginning to catch up.

Supposed to be sometime in September but I am waiting to hear back from them. Tammy (his nurse) was supposed to be coordinating with the proctor to get it all set up.

My husband will be able to stay with our kids but they pretty well run on auto-pilot now anyway. I am getting nervous but so excited, too. My husband is going with me the day of surgery and then has to go home that evening and work the next day. My doc requires his patients to spend the night and since my grandpa lives in the city where I will be having surgery, he is going to take me home. I live about 45 minutes from the hospital. It will give my grandpa a reason to come see everyone in our home town this way, too. Oh yes, been through the terrible 2's times 2 here....and the 3's and 4's and now the 12's! It really does get better and easier as it goes. I have five kids here in the house right now and it is soooo quiet. They are all sort of doing their own thing. Your days of tranquility will come! :smile: I got my pre-op diet in the mail the other day from the nurse. She says two weeks of high Protein shakes and liquids with a low carb meal in the evening. Getting more and more real everyday! :wink2:

Hi Teri! I am also Teri. I am a 41 year old married mother of 5. They are AJ (17), Kendra (15), Joey (13), and I, too, have twins, Matthew and Melissa (12). My awesome hubby's name is Greg. We live in East Central Illinois. I was to be banded in August as well but became ill and had to wait. I will now be banded in September and am very excited. I want to live a long and healthy life. I am so looking forward to being healthy. It is neat to see how much we have in common. We could be banding twins! :biggrin:

I am being banded by Dr. Gilman in Decatur in September and was wondering if there was anyone else he has banded. I know he has recently banded a few and there is to be one other banded on the same day that I am. Kind of excited to meet my "banding buddy" on that day. I hope to, anyway. :smile2:

Pending cordination with the proctor and my surgeon, I will be banded on either the 8th or the 22nd of September! Wow! So exciting to finally be this close! Found out I will be on a two week liquid pre-op diet though. That will be crumby but I have just one thing to say about it.....Bring it on, baby, cuz I am ready to get healthy! Woohoo!

I changed my name. Is what I am at all the other sites I go to so I figured this would be easier on me.

Good luck to you too, dp! Hope my date is that soon too!

Woohoo! I got my approval letter today! Needless to say that after months of jumping through hoops and then seemingly endless waiting I am thrilled! Gonna go pack for the hospital.......(joke :smile2:)

I have been designing my battle plan for that time period. I am pre-recording my shows on dvr so I can skip the commercials. I am also going to make sure I have a fresh stock of movies from the video store to eliminate more commercials. I also know how to get just about anywhere in town without going down the main food drag where all the good smells are.

Dr. Albert Gilman in Decatur does the band on the medical card. Give him a call. Much closer than Chicago.

Well, all my stuff was submitted to my insurance on June 23.....or was it?... I waited and waited and waited. My insurance is guarenteed (sp?) to respond within 21 days. At 31 days there was still no word sooooo, my surgeon's nurse phoned the insurance company and they claim to have no record of my info. My nurse resubmitted a week ago and then called to confirm. Now I wait again..................................:thumbup:

skeyethelimit I would be interested to know which surgery you have had.

I love Freecycle. I just gave away about 10 bags of clothes my girls were not wearing anymore. I also found my son's trombone on there.

I am not from Alabama either but I know someone who lives there. Does that count? :smile: Anyway, one thing to consider before becoming concerned is something I read just a few days after coming to this board. Keep this following thought in mind: Most people who are doing fine do not come to a forum board. There are those who like to interact with other bandsters who are doing fine who do come but most who are doing fine are just out there living their lives. I know many who have the band are doing great with no problems who do not routinely use the internet, let alone know that LapBandTalk is even here. I went to the HysterSisters forum board while I was pre-op and then for a while post-op while I was healing from my hysterecotomy. After that, I just sort of quit because I was fine. You will find much of the same thing here. You will read alot about people with troubles because they are looking for answers. Its kind of like when you have a problem with your computer and go to a forum to find a way to fix it. Very rarely do you find people who get on there just to say "Hey, I have had my computer for 5 years and it is fine." You will find those looking for help and you will find kind souls who go there to try to help with answers.

Sprite Zero is not bad. Has a bit of an after taste but it is okay once you get used to it. It should be an okay alternative to regular tastewise.

I think an "implant to help control hunger" is a pretty accurate description. I think that people need to remember that Lapbanders are learning to control their lives they are learning how to finally take control of themselves. To me, the only lap band failures are those who just continue to eat out of control. AND, they are only failures if they do not seek additional help and support to continue the process. There are lapband misfortunes such as erosion, accidental slips, body rejection, etc. Bypass and rerouting surgeries are usually successful, yes, but when you factor in the weight gain that they usually have at the end, to me, that is failure. There was no self control and no change in lifestyle and thinking about eating. I went to eat with two ladies one night, one with the band and one with the bypass. Both ate regular fat-laden food to the point of having to stop on the way home and BOTH women were out of the car throwing up. They eat what they want and then when they are too full, they throw up. To me that is failure. They did not learn to change their lives and how they eat to be healthy.

Waaaaaaaahoooooo! I have been just FREAKING out waiting on my sleep study results. Been waiting for two weeks (I know, I have no patience). Anyway, they are NORMAL! Yeah for me!!!!! :tt1: I also got my ultrasound results back and they say that my liver is normal size. Do you think that may mean no pre-op diet?

Congrats on your 75 lbs! That is awesome! As for your co-worker, congrats on taking the humble side and trying to let it go as well. I think that it is a hard task to do. She is obviously uneducated about the band and what is involved. She is also most obviously very very jealous. If I were you I would continue to accept compliments and smile and move on if she does it again.

Hang in there. I had to wait for three weeks to get my psych doctor to dictate the info needed and am now at the two week point waiting on my sleep study results and the one week mark waiting on insurance approval. It seems that a big part of this process is waiting. It will go quickly.....just not quickly enough for us with little patience. :thumbup:

I have been to the doctor's office/surgeon's office many times and have had to wait. I have waited for 2 hours in the ER before. The point I am getting to is that there may be someone with that doctor who needs his/her care more than we do at that moment. I was in the ER one time (in the midst of my very first and most major panic attack) and was told that, although my paramedics were going to stay with me for the time being (so I would not be alone), the doctor and the nurses would not be in just yet. Mind you, I had never had a panic attack before and would have sworn to you that I was having a heart attack and dying. I could hear noise and voices and beeping in the room next to me. A few minutes later there was almost an instant quiet......and then screaming and wailing. A 23 yr old father of 2 had just died after valiant efforts by the doctors and his staff to save his life. I will never complain again about having to wait when I am basically healthy and, in all reality, DO have the time to wait. That young father did not. It taught me a hard lesson. Now, that being said, the nurse needs to work on her people skills. She could have handled it differently. I would have waited to see that doc and then addressed the issues with him.

It is not bad. I had been nervous but it was much easier than I thought it would be and it is over rather quickly. Again, drink lots of Water after.

Awesome awesome awesome words! I, too, have seen the switch flip in people's eyes when I talk about the fact that I am going to get banded. They do not understand the road ahead of me. They think the weight is going to melt off by magic. They do not realize that I am still going to have to deal with pain in my ankles as I begin my walking routine, or that I will still have cravings (head hunger) to overcome, or that I will possibly have limits and no longer be able to handle a few of the foods that I love, or that I will have to be in and out of the doctors office for fills (and maybe unfills), or deal with being "stuck" or "sliming" or "pbing". I have just basically quit telling people unless they ask, which means that someone gossip has passed the word along.