PSJ71

Oh My, Monday, the 18th?! No wonder you have a rainbow of emotions going on! :rolleyes2:) First off, congratulations on making the decision to do something for yourself to make yourself healthier! I can only imagine how I will feel once I get scheduled and get close to my surgery! I just finished my 3-month supervised diet and waiting for them to submit to my insurance. I wish I had some great, magical advice to give you, but I don't, as I am not near banding yet. All I can say is I am excited for you and wish you the very best with your band. :thumbup:) Take Care, Paulette

HI and welcome!! I am in Oklahoma as well! Norman area ) It's good to have you!

Hi Missy, I have been following a 3-month supervised diet; however, because some of my appointments had to be changed my appointments sort of jumped around, so technically the diet portion of my plan I followed 2 months' worth; last month and this month. I started the exercise part on February 24th, the diet part March 4, so far I have lost 15 pounds. Anyway, basically, all the insurance company wants to see is that you are compliant by keeping track of your exercise and keeping logs of what you are eating and making good choices and staying on track with exercise. I was afraid of that as well, but since my BMI was in the high 40s, then by the time next month when all is said and done, I won't be below it, but even if you are, they should still approve you. I hope this helps and good luck to you )

Meschultz, That is FANTASTIC on your weight loss. Gosh I just can't wait until I get mine!! :cool2:) Great job!!! lO)

Hi Savannah's Mommy, I wondered if you had ever had your thyroid checked? Sometimes that makes weight loss difficult. I have an underactive thyroid and if I stray just a smidge off of a diet I gain at the drop of a hat. I have been following a 3-month supervised diet and found that when I followed the "fill your plate" guidelines I was satisfied with normal portion sizes as well as staying full longer. Anyway, what I wanted to say is what some of the other posters have said. "He is not your family." You have to live with whatever choice YOU make. You are not living for HIM. You are living for yourself. I am a religious person as well, but I would NEVER tell someone or make someone feel bad because they needed to have a certain surgery to help their health. He really sounds wacky. I just cannot get my mind around the fact that he is a weight loss doctor and making his living off obese people, only to chastise someone in his office for wanting or needing the same things. I think you need to keep in mind that once again, this is your ultimate decision and whatever decision you make is the one YOU have to be happy about. So what if he doesn't approve. You will be on your way to feeling better about yourself and in overall health. What's he going to do...Fire you? I think not. Don't worry so much on what he is going to say....they are only words. You are the one in the end who decides if you will let the words hurt you. Life is short and you live only once so you might as well try and be happy AND healthy. Good luck to you hun.

First off, I have been heavy all my life and yes, diet and exercise does make the weight come off, but you still have to watch what you eat and exercise even with the band. So, it really surprises me that, he, being a WLS himself would judge anyone. Especially since this is how he is making his money. I don't have the band yet, but it's looking like sometime in June. But, I think it's entirely up to you on telling him or not. If you aren't comfortable with telling them, then I would just say something like I have decided to take your advice and diet and exercise. It won't be lying, because you will be watching what you eat and you will be exercising. If you do tell him, then I wouldn't let him make you feel bad for it. For some of us, it takes a little reminder (in my case the band) to help keep us on track. Good luck to you :cool2:

Editoria, That is so fantastic that you are supportive of your daughter. It's so important for us to have someone to be there through the journey. My mom was initially the one who brought up lap band surgery several years ago to me by telling me that my aunt and cousin had it. But, I thought I could do it on my own. If that had been the case, I would have done it a long time ago. I just wish my mom was with me now that I am going to be having it done. I lost my mom in August and I miss her so much. She would have been happy. It warms my heart to know there are other people who have a special relationship with their moms as I did with mine. :smile2: Take care,

That's awesome! It will be here before you know it. I hope mine will be at the end of May or in June sometime. I just hope it's before my birthday in July. I am finishing up my 3-month supervised diet next month and so excited. :smile2: Just keep your eye on the prize.

How exciting for you!! That's awesome!! It sounds like we were very close in starting our process together. I hope to be banded sometime in May or June. :smile:) I wish you all the best for a speedy recovery!! :smile2:

Hi all, I was wondering how long it took to hear something from Aetna PPO once everything was submitted. I am starting to get really anxious because I'm almost done with everything, and they will submit my things for approval once all completed, which will be in May. So, I hoped maybe I would have a surgery date in May sometime.

Hi KitKat, I am finishing up my 3-month supervised diet, but at my last visit with my doc, he told me that Aetna is really good about approvals. He told me in their experience it's been 99% approval rate. I will have to go in for a second sleep study. My BMI is 48.1, so I'm hoping I will be approved as well. Good luck to you !!

Hello from Norman Oklahoma!! I'm not banded yet, but hopefully will be at the end of May or in June sometime :smile2:

Hi All, I have a question for those of you who had to do the supervised diet for 3 to 6 months. I have to do mine for 3 months, but today I went to see my surgeon who is doing my 3-month supervised diet. He asked me what part of dieting is the hardest, and I told him hunger. If I feel hungry I will eat. So, he asked me if I had ever tried a suppressant. Of course I have, but he told me he wanted me to try Pristiq, which is an antidepressant, but he says it blocks the hunger area of the brain. So, I will get my prescription filled tomorrow, but I just wondered if anyone has tried the Pristiq while doing your supervised diet? He also told me that a lot of people who have used it during the preop diet tended to handle it better. So, I'm rather excited to try it. I just hope it works. :laugh:) Any info would be appreciated if you have any experience with this. Thank you bunches, Paulette :crying:

HI Ada, I am glad you only have to pay 40.00. I hope I will only have to pay my required 30.00 office visits. I am still not totally sure. I was a little bummed because I started the ball moving in November by having my bariatric coordinator appointment, also my blood work, chest x-ray, ekg, echocardiogram and stress test. Then, after I do that my employer sends a notice 2-1/2 weeks away from them changing all of our insurance. In this insurance, I went from not having a deductible to having a deductible, my copays going up, and not having to have a supervised diet to having to have one. So, I was upset when I found out I would have to do a 3 or 6-month diet, but actually since I have calmed down and thought about it, I am actually a little thankful because I figure this is going to benefit me in the long run by getting used to certain expectations. I hope you have a smooth supervised diet and you are approved without hesitancy. ) Good Luck!!! :thumbup:

Hi Adagray, I am wondering the same thing myself as far as if I will have to pay a huge office call visit with these supervised visits with my surgeon. My O/V amount is 30.00 each time to see a doctor, but not sure if this is the amount I will have to pay at each diet visit. I sure hope it is covered.

I'm not banded yet, but I asked my surgeon this very question when I went in for my consultation visit. He told me that a lot of times he will ask the patient to come in and do an unfill until it passes. He said he would rather do an unfill on someone than to risk slippage or any type of damage to the stomach or the band. This was the first time I had ever heard of that, but it sounded reasonable to me. I am usually the one in my household who ends up getting every sickness worse than everyone else. In fact, an ER doctor thought someone had strangled me once after I had the stomach flu. All the vessles in my eyes were busted and the whites of eyes were so red from blood. But, I see a lot of people say their docs give them an anti-nausea med like Zofran or Phenergan.

Hi Heather~ That's awesome that you are pregnant. In 2000, I walked into a gym after quitting smoking, because I knew if I didn't get involved with something I was going to end up gaining weight. I was already at 203 pounds at 5 feet 2 inches when I started the gym in May of 2000. Over the course of 9 months, I lost a little over 50 pounds, felt great and was looking great as well. The problem was I was starting to get burned out with my diet. I was still in love with my exercise, but man the diet was something else. I was allowed a Protein shake in the morning, mid morning a protein cookie, then a Meal Replacement shake and then I had what I called my chewable meal, which usually consisted of baked chicken and some salad or some type of vegetables. I did this religiously for about 5 months, then I started "modifying" my diet some, which make my weight loss slower. In February my husband and I decided to have a baby, and in March we got our wish. During the course of my pregnancy, I didn't continue to exercise and didn't completely watch everything I was eating because I felt hungry all the time. I ended up gaining over 50 pounds with him. By the time he was born I was up to 250 pounds, lost 25 after about a week only to gain that plus more. I finally got up to my highest weight ever of 280 pounds. Since I have gained so much weight my ovaries of course haven't worked right since. So, the lap band was a more attractive method for me, because I didn't have to reroute anything and it is just more flexible than having the RNY. I feel I could have a safer pregnancy with the lap band. I hope to be able to have another baby within the next 2 years. I definitely feel I need this surgery to help me manage the amount I eat. I do love sweets though and I guess this makes me nervous. But, I know once I set my mind to it I will be fine with that as well. I went that entire 10 months WITHOUT having any sweets at all. I just want to have it done soon. I'm 37 and not getting any younger as far as having another baby. Sorry this ended up being so long. lol Congratulations on your new baby. Thank you all again for sharing your experiences! :smile:' Paulette

Thank you all for the posts so far. I started looking into the WLS earlier in 2008, decided on the band, then was enamored by the amount of weight that can be lost with the RNY. I have always been freaked out by the rearranging of the insides for that procedure, and also my husband and I want to have another baby within the next couple of years or so. Since gaining so much weight after my first pregnancy I now have PCOS. Anyway, I am thinking I am on the right track with the band, because that has been the biggest downfall for me as far as weight loss goes---being hungry! I can't stay on a diet if I feel constantly hungry. I will admit though, I do like sweets, but have been trying to kick some of my bad habits before having the surgery. I'm hoping that with this 3-month supervised thing, that this will help me even more. I just get scared from time to time when I see people go through the whole process to get the band and then hate the fact they did it. As a whole, I think I would be happier with the band, mainly because I can keep my insides pretty much as they are and if I am fortunate to have another baby, then I can have the band deflated. I am enjoying reading all of the stories you are are posting and thank you very much for taking the time to post on my question. :thumbup:

Hi all, I wanted to ask some of you who have your bands if you regret having it done as opposed to the RNY or another weight loss surgery? I have pretty much made my mind up to have the band, but I admit I have been on the fence as far as RNY or band. I've almost got all of my testing done, but have to follow the 3-month diet in order to finish it all. I have been reading a lot of posts here and there about people who are not happy with their bands and wish they would have gone for a RNY. So, I'm trying to compile a list and a percentage of people who are not happy OR who are happy with their bands. It just scares me when I read about posts that people are frustrated and not losing weight even if they are doing things right. I so don't want to be one of those people who opt for the band and wish later they had done the other. If you aren't comfortable posting for all to read, please feel free to email me at PJones4052@yahoo.com. Thank you :thumbup: Paulette

You know Sandra, when I first decided I was going to have WLS, I had my mind set on the band. Then somewhere down the road (with the help of Youtube) I found myself so confused. I found people who had had the gastric bypass and they were dropping weight like ice melting. I was so against having bypass because I didn't want anything rerouted. I had also read some of the scary posts of people who had the band who were going through so much and getting discouraged because they weren't losing weight like they should that I had made up my mind to have the bypass. However, after looking into both and the risks, complications, etc. I have found myself 100% sure that I will have the band. My reasoning for my decision is: 1. I don't want my insides rerouted. I have read horror stories of people having gastric bypass, losing bunches of weight, then their pouch stretching and regaining most of their weight back, then having to undergo another procedure to put a band around their stretched pouches. 2. My husband and I want to have another baby. I feel that by having the band this would allow for me to have a more natural and healthy pregnancy. 3. I want to lose weight slowly. I know i will most likely have flabby skin, but I want the weight loss to be slow enough that maybe at least some of it will shrink back. 4. Less complications, quicker healing time, and if I start gaining weight I can always get a fill. I do know I will go through bandster hell as it is called. I know I will get hungry before I hit my "sweet spot", but I would rather go through a few months of being hungry and finally hit my sweet spot then try and go this alone. I too have lost a very substantial amount of weight but ended up one way or another gaining it all back and a whole lot more. I know that I am going to be responsible for adopting a healthy way of life for the rest of my life consisting of diet and exercise. I just bought an elliptical for my home in addition to a gym membership for the supervised thing. So, I'm trying to make some serious changes before my surgery. You should sit down and make two columns about which things are important to you regarding both surgeries and see what you come up with. I bet it will make it a little easier for you to make a decision. I wish you the very best of luck and let us know what you decide! Paulette

Hi Good luck to you!! I'm right there with ya on hoping to have a band soon! :cursing: I've finished most of my testing. I have my sleep study to do tonight and an EGD. My insurance changed, so now I have to undergo a 3-month supervised diet, so hopefully within the next 3 to 4 months I'll have it. I surely hope so. Please keep us posted on how things go! Paulette

Hi Audsmom, I haven't had surgery yet, but started having PVCs, a year ago. I was told those are usually benign and don't really cause problems. However, they are scary. Some people have them and don't even realize they have them. Have you had your labs checked yet? I am asking because when I had my PVCs at their worse, apparently my thyroid was low. When I was put on medication, it seemed to help them quite a bit. I do still get them every day at least once or twice. But, I have noticed if I cut my caffeine intake it seems to help a lot. Also, stress can make them worse. I don't think you really have anything to worry about. Now, the tachycardia they might want to look into more. I hope all goes well for you.

Hi Florida Pete, Thank you so much for replying. From what I understand, it is covered, but I am going to contact Trinet themselves, which they are handling our human resources things now it seems. Not only did my company change insurances, but they added a company to handle the other things as well. I just chose Aetna PPO, out of several different insurance options. But, I will double check and make sure it is covered. My BMI when I went to the doctor a little over a week ago was 50. So, I know I Have a high BMI for sure. Again, thank you and thank your wife for me as well. :thumbup: Paulette

Hi NurseKathy, Does Aetna cover any of the 3-month supervised program?

Hi Lapbandtalker, Yes, I had thought about that as well, but unfortunately, I don't have great credit due to several issues that happened with my husband breaking his hand, being out of work, paying off the home my mother and I coowned after she passed away. So, taking a loan to have the surgery wouldn't be fruitful. Also, because of these issues that happened, I don't have a savings anymore. :thumbup: Thank you so much for your reply.