Who'sThere

I am not banded yet, but I will be three weeks from today.:wink: Anyway...I plan to make my Bandiversary be the same as my surgery date.

Eviebell, your tag looks pretty cool, too! However, feel free to "steal" mine. Anyone is welcome to it. I really wish we all had the same one, whether it be mine, yours, or anyone's....but that's just me. I like being united. I just did this one because I was playing around and found the red, white, and blue sparkley text.

I posted this question myself a little while ago, so, of course, I don't think it's a silly question. One fella posted a reply something like this... I was actually fully clothed during my surgery. However, the surgeon and all the OR staff were stark naked! I have a really sarcastic sense of humor, so I really liked it. Just thought I'd throw that out there to supply a few more giggles!:tongue_smilie:

My heart breask for you as I read your posts. I had a miscarraige at 7 1/2 weeks five years ago last month. There were no words that comforted me. The best thing anyone said to me (which was still of little help) was, "That really sucks!" Simple and somewhat crude, but they were the best words anyone said to me. I think I just really appreciated someone not trying to make me feel better because that wasn't going to happen. This friend just wanted to express her condolences, and I appreciated that. After five years, I wish I could tell you that time has healed the wound completely, but it hasn't. I don't think it ever will. As someone else said, it is harder around the time our baby would have been born and when we lost Bailee. We did name our baby, and that has been one coping strategy that has helped. Since we didn't know the sex, we chose a unisex name, Bailee (spelled with "lee" instead of "ley" because Lee is a family name). We also have a garden in the back of our house that we call Bailee's garden. My mother-in-law tends that (she lives with us) as her means of coping with the loss of her only grandchild. One more thing we do is each Christmas we pick out an ornament together and have it engraved "We love you, Bailee 5/26/04." I have heard of other things such as writing a letter to your child and sending it off in a helium balloon and other things, but we have done what seemed best for us. There is nothing I can say that will make you feel better, but I thought I would share some of the things we do to help us cope. Otherwise, I'll leave you with these parting words of wisdom, "That really sucks!" Hugs, thoughts, and prayers...Amy

Well, by the time I have my surgery (July 7) my journey will have taken 13 months. I went to my PCP last June. He said he thought I would be a "great candidate" which really surprised me since he is usually very conservative. He said he needed to do some bloodwork, though, before he could write my referral. He said I would need this for the surgeon. Well, I found out that I need thyroid meds. It took two months from that point to get my thyroid under control with medicine. So, it was August before I got my referral. I didn't hear back from the surgeon's office for several weeks, and during that time, I did some homework on the surgeons in my area. My initial appointment was in October with a surgeon in Kingsport (about 30 miles away). However, I didn't even end up going to that appointment. I talked to some people in the office and between their evasiveness and the surgeon's required program fee (which is bull in my opinion) I decided he was NOT the surgeon for me. I chose to go with Dr. Hodge in Johnson City (about 45 miles away) but I couldn't get in to see him until December. I took him being so busy as a good sign, and I decided it would pay me to be patient. At that appointment, I found out I would have to do a 6mo. doctor supervised diet for both my insurance and the surgeon. He wants to know that his patients are willing to follow instructions before committing to the surgery. The wait has really been a good thing, though, I think. During the time between my first consult with my PCP and my first appointment with the surgeon, I did a lot of research about the band and surgeons in the area. During my six month diet time, I did all the required "homework" for my surgeon. That consisted of a psych evaluation, two support group meetings, a nutritionist appointment, getting five years of weight records from my PCP, writing a letter from myself to the surgeon, and getting a letter from my PCP recommending the surgery. (I would also have had to have an X-Ray of my gall bladder if I still had one.) Since my approval (Friday) I received a packet of information about what all I will need to do in the next few weeks. I have to have several other blood tests, and EKG, a chest XR, uranalysis, and even a MRSA nasal swab. However, these are all scheduled for the same day, so it should go pretty smoothly. Other than waiting to see the surgeon, it would take at least six months from start to surgery with my particular surgeon because he requires the 6mo. pre surgery diet of everyone, self pay or not. However, that does vary greatly depending on your surgeon. Good luck, and don't get discouraged if it isn't speedy. Just take that as a time to get mentally and physically prepared.:tongue_smilie:

Jessica and Maggie, I'm jealous! It's awesome that y'all will kind of know each other going into this. I wish I knew someone who I would be going through this with, but NO ONE seems to post on our local thread. Apparently I'm the only one in my area that has heard of the Internet. :tongue_smilie:

Too freakin' funny!!!:tongue_smilie:

I haven't been banded yet, but I'll explain what I think it will be from what I've heard. Basically after you heal from surgery but before you get a fill, you have no restriction and feel like "what the hell did I do to myself?" This is the point where you really have to work maybe the hardest, and it can get discouraging. At least this is what I have gathered from reading on here, and it's what I'm expecting. I'm sure experienced bandsters can explain it better.

I am in graduate school, and I am scheduled to do a 40 minute presentation on the Saturday after my surgery on a Tuesday. I could reschedule the presentation for two weeks later, but I have two one-hour presentations that week! My professor will allow me to sit during my presentation. Do you think I'll be able to do it? I will have to make my decision by class on Saturday so that I can trade dates with someone else if I do decide to reschedule.

Well, I went ahead and asked my PCP's office to fax over a heavier weight. As of Thursday (the request was Monday) the lady who submits to insurance at my surgeon's office had not received the documentation of higher weight. However, my paperwork was submitted AND approved on Friday (talk about fast). So, I don't really know what was submitted, and now I guess it doesn't matter. I'm scheduled for surgery on July 7, and I couldn't be more excited!!:tongue_smilie:

I found a glitter text generator that had red, white, and blue glitter. What do y'all think?

So, I guess it's official...Freedom Fighters we are!

Great! Thanks for sharing!

Restlessmonkey is right. My doctor specifically says NO SlimFast, Boost, or Ensure. I have tried several, and my favorite so far is Cookies and Creme flavored Body Fortress Advanced whey Protien from Wal-Mart. It has 26g. of Protein in one scoop, and I put that in the blender with 8oz. of skim milk. Yum! Yum!

It is on this board, and the word Poll is in the name. I would gladly give you better directions if I knew how!

What a great thread idea! My name is Amy, and I live in a rural town in East Tennessee. I'm a 31 year old English teacher (4th and 5th grades) and unfortunately, those are my only children. My husband and I have been married for 10 years, have done the whole fertility thing, have suffered one miscarraige, and still have no children. We do have four "furry babies" that we love very much. Two are mixed breeds from the Humane Society. The other two are Jack Russell "Terrors," but we can't help but love them anyway. I, too, have PCOS. I wasn't overweight until I started puberty, but I have been ever since. I was even the captain of my high school cheerleading squad (worked out like a crazy lady) and was still overweight! (I'm 5'3" and weighed over 165.) In 2003 I lost 100 pounds on LA Weightloss. Unfortunately, I did this way too fast (7.5 months). As a result, I nearly died from extremely low blood pressure. I also gained all the weight (plus ten pounds) back just as quickly as I lost it. I started this process last June and have been jumping through all the required hoops ever since. My paperwork was finally submitted to insurance yesterday and was approved in the same day! (I suppose there are perks to being an underpaid teacher afterall...good insurance!) I could not be more excited to get this journey underway! My first goal is really to get to what my gyn. calls my body's happy weight, 220. That is still obese, though. My next goal will be to be under 200 pounds. If I could get to my high school weight of 165, I would be thrilled. Any loss beyond that would be just icing on the cake. (Okay...maybe that's a bad metaphor.) Anway, I'm anxious to get to know y'all so we can support each other in our new lives! Best wishes to all! ~Amy~

Hey, everyone! Don't forget to go to the poll and vote for our official name!

Well, at my appointment on Monday, the lady who files insurance said that it would be Friday (today) before transcription was back and my file could be submitted to insurance for approval. She told me that UHC is usually pretty quick, anywhere from 10 minutes to three days. I was hoping to find out something next week. Well, guess what?!? I got a call today (same day paperwork was submitted) at around 1, and I'm approved! My surgery will be July 7, and I couldn't be more excited!!!:thumbup:

Well, at my appointment on Monday, the lady who files insurance said that it would be Friday (today) before transcription was back and my file could be submitted to insurance for approval. She told me that UHC is usually pretty quick, anywhere from 10 minutes to three days. I was hoping to find out something next week. Well, guess what?!? I got a call today (same day paperwork was submitted) at around 1, and I'm approved! My surgery will be July 7, and I couldn't be more excited!!!

Congratulations!

Cute! I'll have to remember that one!

My paperwork was submitted AND approved today! YIPEE!!! July 7 must be a popular date. It's now my date, too! Don't forget to go to the July 2009 board and post your date there, too. Juniper is compiling a list of all the different July folks and their dates.

I think that no matter what, one's true personality always shines through. Some people who are heavy mask their true inner ugliness with false sweetness to win people over. When they lose weight, they feel they can let their true selves out. However, people who really knew them before teh weightloss knew it was in there all along and aren't terribly surprised. (I know someone like this.) Conversely, if someone is truly a kind person all the while, I don't think losing weight will make that person turn into someone uglier than they really are. People like that will still be the same kind people after weight loss. (I also know someone like that.) Here's where it can get confusing. When folks lose weight, often their self-esteem improves. When this happens, people will usually want to take better care of themselves. For instance, they might wear more make-up, cuter clothes, etc. Sometimes this can be mistaken for vanity. However, do we think those vain who have alwasy been thin and have always taken pride in their appearance? Likely not. To me it boils down to this. We are who we are. Losing weight won't change who we are inside. If we don't like what we become when we become thin, maybe we need to look to what was inside all along. I hope that I find myself to be as good a person later as I feel I am now, if not a better person for the lessons learned.

Thanks to both of you. I can't afford a personal trainer, but I hope that I can find some good routines at home or from the hubbs. He used to do be quite the fitness buff! Also, the PE teacher I work with might be able to help me out. He works part time at a fitness place, and I'm sure he'd be very willing to help me. If I get any good tips, I'll gladly pass them along.

July 7 here, too! I just got word today. My insurance was really quick as it hadn't even been submitted yesterday! YIPEE! I am doin' the happy dance!!!:thumbdown: