lauralee08

:party: FYI: Just a note that I have been unable to work out a support group, however Dr. Emmanuele here in Visalia has one going, as does Dr. Higa in Fresno. Hope this helps!

Hi there gang! I am a recent patient of Dr. Karen MacKenzie. Just wanted everyone to know that I am working on starting a support group for bandsters in the Tulare County region of California. So, anyone in Visalia, Tulare, Lindsay, Porterville, Exeter, Three Rivers, Fresno, Clovis, Bakersfield, or anywhere close, you are all welcome. If you are interested in joining the group, please email me at Support@VisaliaLapBand.info, and as soon as we set up the first meeting, I will notify you. This group is open to anyone who needs peer support, pre-op, post-op, lap band, other bariatric surgery, working on the 6-month diet, or just have questions/considering surgery. We will try to coordinate some visits with local doctors, nutritionists, etc., so we get good information and interaction with the people that will be guiding us through this process. Here's to helping each other out!

You will be okay as long as you stay in the BMI range that qualifies you for surgery. That, and maybe put a couple of rolls of quarters in your pocket! HA! Kidding, I swear! Also, the whole idea is to get a weight loss method that you can keep for life, to keep the weight off, I'm sure that you've been on diets and lost weight before, then gained it back. So just because you can lose weight doesn't mean you can keep it off. Make sense?

Hi there! I just got banded in May, and did really well at first. But now I've stopped losign weight, so it's back to the doctor for another fill for me too! It doesn't always go as planned, but at least we are trying! Good luck to you, and I hope you can get back on track soon.

While I was on the liquid diet I bought Isopure protein powder [GNC sells it], it has 50 grams of protein, about 1/3 of all the vitamins you need, and is made with no sugar or carbs. And it's not thick and goopy and tastes pretty good. When I went into pureed food, I did some of that with fruits to make a smoothie. Also, I found some really great broths - mushroom, etc. - and soups that I could blend up at Whole Foods. I tried to find the best, freshest, purest that I could afford, since I knew I wouldn't be eating much.

Good for you!:thumbup:

Talk about hitting the nail on the head. That's exactly it. This is why I have one really good, close friend, and the rest aren't worth my time!

Best advice I can offer is what my psych dr. told me - focus on the future, on what you want to become. Everytime there is a temptation in front of you, think about whether or not that will get you closer to the surgery, and approval for it. Think about where you can be in a year if you put your mind to it. And remember, you will need to drastically change your life and eating habits after surgery, so I found it way easy to simply do it a little at a time before surgery. Obviously, I could not control the amount I ate, and I still cheated, but I could control a lot of other things. I gave up regular sodas first, switching to diet [try Boylan's diet sodas, they are awesome, and regularly at stores like Cost Plus World Market - orange cream, black cherry, yum!]. Next was butter, I cooked a lot with both butter and olive oil, so I gradually pushed it to where I used mostly olive oil, even mixing my butter with olive oil for a spread on toast. Then I tried to find other foods that were healthier, switching from Ben & Jerry's to sugar free low fat TCBY frozen yogurt, and making tac salads with no tortilla, just lettuce, tomato, salsa, some extra sharp cheese, avocado, and seasoned meat. Then I focused on eating more veggies/fruits. It's a lot easier to give up beer and chocolate cake when you ease into it, starting with healthier chocolate cake [i tried making my own with baking Splenda instead of sugar] and you need to still have a taste here and there to satisfy your cravings so you don't lose your mind and raid the fridge in the middle of the night! This is the progression that worked for me, but then I really enjoy cooking and that made it easier. I hope this little tidbit helps you at least a little!

Isn't it just the perfect excuse to buy new shoes? I love it! I've gone down a 1/2 size so far, plus I no longer have to get the wide width. From 10W to 9.5M, I think we need a new type of ticker!

HA! LOL I would venture to say we all do! I finally had to cut off my relationship with my mother, who was always my best friend, because I just couldn't deal with the craziness anymore, and stay sane myself. Going through this with your family behaving this way is poisonous to your good mental and physical health, and I can speak from experience that you need to let it out, to a doctor if you have no one else. Don't hold all of this inside! I am lucky that I have my husband, who has gone through and understands all of my family issues and we talk a lot, but I still find it worthwhile to seek out a therapist/social worker every now and then, if only to remind me that an outside source thinks I am sane, grounded, and doing the right thing. And if they don't think that, they will talk me through how I should be handling things. Good luck, and I hope your family someday realizes that you are beautiful no matter what you look like. If they don't, just wait til they get old and wrinkly, then they'll understand! :tt2:

Sad to say, but this happens to way too many of us that decide to take control of our lives and get back on track. Well, it's her loss! She is losing out on a great friend, and that is a shame. Know that you only have to come here to find someone to talk to that understands and cares about you and your situation. Keep on Truckin' Baby!!!

You might want to try again now, they've changed a lot about the way they are doing things and may have time to do the preauths now. The preauth doesn't have to be overwhelming, although it can involve some time. I used to work for a health ins. company, which helped me out quite a bit. If you ever need help, just let me know, maybe I can guide you through the process and translate the jargon. Every insurance company and every policy is different, but the best advice I can give you to start is when you get insurance, call them and get all of the exact steps and qualifications you will need to be approved for surgery - in writing. And always get the full name and extension # of the person you talked to. You may be surprised, I called on my BC policy and they literally did not ask for a thing, even told me that if they had given me the auth for the consult that I would be approved for the surgery. Way different than my Cigna policy where I had to jump through hoops and document everything, before finally giving up.

Yeah, my first week was like hell. I was very nauseous from the anesthesia, and so I had a hard time getting that under control. I lost like 29# in the first 6 weeks, but only 5 since then, so I really need to start focusing on my diet and exercise. I've only had one fill, and may need to go back and get another one, I'm starting to feel hungry again fairly soon after eating. Another thing is that I want to go back to my therapist that I saw before surgery (for the pre-op evaluation) and just hit on a few issues, because I know that those issues are driving some of my desire to eat. Anyway, that's where I am right now, total of 34# gone!

Hi Ladies! I have BC/BS and Dr. Karen MacKenzie in Visalia takes that insurance as well, I believe both HMO and PPO.

Yup, I had Dr. Mac too! I love her, and of course Sandy is a good friend of mine, too, so that made it even better!

I'm here in Visalia, and I was thinking of starting one up myself. As far as I know, there's not currently a support group in Visalia, not sure about Tulare. I am going to call my doc tomorrow anyway, I will ask and let you know if she has found a place for meetings yet.

I went with Kaweah Delta, they were the only facility contracted for my HMO. She also does the surgery at Cypress Surgical center, which is supposed to be good, and I think now she is credentialed at Tulare Community Hospital as well. But everyone at KDDH was very nice, and I had to work closely with several people in the insurance billing dept, and they were all very helpful. You know, they charged over $10,000 for the use of the surgical room - the surgery only took 40 minutes - thank goodness I didn't have to pay that!:thumbup:

Hi there! I was just banded by Dr. Karen MacKenzie in Visalia, Ca. She is awesome, and she and her staff worked really hard with me to get my insurance in order. I got a referral no problem, but it seems that the hospital we chose was not on their approved list for this procedure, so they wanted it in writing that Blue Cross would indeed pay the claim. Anyway, my surgery took about 50 minutes, and other than having issues with nausea from the anesthesia for the first week [this happened with another surgery I had several years ago as well], everything's been going very well. I have lost 20 pounds as of yesterday, and 2 sizes! My friends are all fighting over my old clothes.:smile: I go for my first fill June 11th, but I'm doing good without it, I don't get hungry very often and still limit my meals to 6 ounces at the most. I did find a really great protein drink, Isopure [look for the one that says Zero Carb, there's no sugar], and that's usually my breakfast to make sure I am taking in enough protein every day. The Cookies & Cream is tasty! Well, I'll stop for now, just wanted everyone to know how great my doc is!!! If you are in the Fresno/Visalia area and looking for a lapband doctor, she's the one for you.

My doc said no carbonated drinks of any kind - ever - unless I was stuck on a deserted island with nothing but sodas! She did say it would be best to limit caffeine, and although I love my coffee, I had already started changing that habit and she was fine with what I am doing now. Late last year I gradually switched from full caff to half caff, and since January I do a blend that's about 75% caffeine free, all sugar free, and I use fat free half & half. I have always made my cappucinos and all at home, so that made it easier for me. I use Torani sugar free syrups to flavor them up, splenda if necessary, and unsweetened cocoa powder if I want a mocha. I miss soda, but for me giving that up was worth it. If she had told me no more coffee ever, I might have thought twice about it!

I might have been lucky, but if you are going to a doctor and hospital that are contracted (in-network) for your plan, then they are contractually not supposed to ask for money up front unless it's a copay. And the psych eval should be covered under any medical plan due to federal legislation, the nutritional counseling maybe not, but don't let them screw with you! Main thing to remember is to contact your insurance company before you give anyone a dime and let them tell you what you should pay. And then make them fax or email that to you so you have a record of it. Hang in there!