tomatogirl

Me too! Unless my insurance keeps dragging their feet, anyway.

Not really my cup of tea. I think it's tacky to have shower after shower after shower. And even if you put "no gifts" on the invites, people will feel obligated to bring them.

My insurance requires it.

Doctors put them in all kids of places. Mine puts them beside your belly button.

BYE! Have a lovely Realize band-free life! :dita::hurray::tt2::cool2::party::cursing:

Thank you so so so so so so much, radar. I'm going through a private doctor and I should hear back this week. Fingers crossed, but I'm not counting on it.

I just got my temp code (the one that lets you use parts of the site, but not the full version- you get that at surgery). I like it so far. It reminds me a lot of Weight Watchers online- food diary, etc. when you enter a food in, it lets you pick specific brands and types, which makes it easier- no trotting to the kitchen to get the package to enter it in every single time. For example, I just entered "oatmeal" and about 30 varieties of oatmeal, cereal bars, cake, and cookies came up and it had the Quaker fruit and cream variety I had eaten. When I clicked it, it put it into the diary and told me the fat, protein, carbs, and calories. Another neat thing it has is that when you add a food, you can also tell it that you had trouble with the food and it will remind you. It also has an easy, clickable water tracker (little glasses of water that you click when you drink 8oz) and the same for vitamins. They have a similar thing for exercise. You tell it what you did and how hard and it will tell you approx how many calories you burned. You can set up goals, appointments, etc. You can also opt to share all this information with your doctor so they can check out how and what you're doing. I like it so far!

I do know a lot of people have mentioned submitting to their insurance co's and being reimbursed at least partially. Good luck!

Oh good lord. Get a life, dude. There are so many more important issues in this world than J&J and their crappy marketing practices (which I agree with, but I have bigger things to be concerned about; I'm sorry you don't). For every negative thing you can show, someone else is going to show you something positive. That's how these things work. You should look into Earth First, they would love you.

Higher complication rates with Lap-Band vs Realize band: SpringerLink - Journal Article

1. You cannot tell me you are not saying the Realize band is bad. You have some kind of personal vendetta against it. This is the only forum I ever see posts from you in and they're all anti-Realize band posts. Baby, take up knitting or something. You need a new hobby. 2. What about the old adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". After 2-3 years (depending on what study you look at) the weight loss is comparable. The Realize band has less complications. I'm not seeing the need for improvement here. It works. It's not killing people. Why change?

Well, when you do try to get pregnant, I recommend getting the book "Taking Charge of Your Fertility". It will teach you all the signs of your body's fertility and how to watch for it. After nearly 3 years TTC, I got the book and was pregnant a month and a half later.

To check it, first thing in the morning, stick a finger in your vaginal canal, pull it out and press your thumb against it and then pull it apart slowly. If it has the same texture as egg whites (the thicker and "goopier", the better), you are fertile (and if you're trying to get pregnant, go get it on).

I don't think there is a time stipulation on comorbidities.

is the discharge sticky and stringy like egg whites?

The handbook says: Obesity Treatment TRICARE only covers morbid obesity surgery such as gastric bypass, gastric stapling and gastroplasty when the beneficiary meets one of the following conditions: Is 100 pounds over ideal weight for height and bone structure and has one of these associated conditions: diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cholecystitis, narcolepsy, Pickwickian syndrome, hypothalamic disorders or severe arthritis of the weight-bearing joints Is 200 percent or more over ideal weight for height and bone structure Has had intestinal bypass or other surgery for obesity and because of complications, requires another surgery TRICARE does not cover: Nonsurgical treatment of obesity, morbid obesity, dietary control or weight reduction Biliopancreatic bypass, gastric bubble or balloon, or gastric wrapping for the treatment of morbid obesity Ugh. We'll see. Although I might fall under the 200% rule. 200% would be twice your weight, no?

Maybe. I guess I'll just have to see. I just keep hearing about the magical ~*2 comorbidities*~, so I'm nervous as all getup. <3

Plain, you should make that your title! It could be your gang name.

Has anyone been approved with one comorbidity? My BMI is 46.6 and when my insurance paperwork was submitted, they accidently only listed one comorbidity. The doctor's office said, "well, it's done now, so let's see what happens." What are the chances that this will actually be approved? :redface:

Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but their support group is NOT geared towards banders and I was extremely disappointed that the focus is all on bypassers. I was required to attend one meeting before surgery, so I went a couple of weeks ago. Here is the post I made about it when I got home :cry_smile:: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f17/blech-support-group-73457/ There is allegedly another support group in Rockville that I'm thinking of trying. It is supposed to ONLY be for banders. I got the information from my nutritionist. :thumbup: Institute for Genomic Research Time: 1st and 3rd Thurs of every month 6:30-8:30 Location: 9712 Medical Center Drive Rockville, MD POC: 301-251-4128 I'm planning on going next month- husband works night shift every other month and he's working night shift this month. I don't like bringing a toddler in tow where I don't know if he's welcome. :blushing: Anyway, great to speak with you! I'd love to have a local person to speak with about this.

LOL, I feel you. My husband works nights and my son went to my parents for 2 weeks a few months back. I was so lost and booooooorrrreeeedddd. And if T-Mobile didn't ban me, Verizon won't ban you. :thumbup:

I don't have it, I have an IUD, but when I asked my doctor if I needed to have my IUD removed prior to surgery (since mine is the kind with hormones) he said that any implantable BC is fine to leave intact. You may still want to ask your surgeon.

Basically, they work the same. The differences are subtle and not really earth-shattering. The realize band is softer, the realize band's port is thinner, with a bigger port access area, the realize band is wider, the lap band comes in sizes... The realize band forum (1/4 of the way from the bottom of the forum homepage) may be more helpful. I'm being banded with the realize band in oct...because that's what my surgeon uses.

I went to Curves as my MIL's guest back in 2002 or 2003 (obvs pre-band). I felt it was a total waste of time. The workout, even in my completely unfit state, was incredibly low-impact and I didn't even break a sweat. If you have been working out regularly in the past few months (GJ on your weight loss, BTW), it's probably not going to be for you. If you want to try it, they usually offer a free trial or something if you just go in there and ask- if they try to make you join without a trial, just say, "oh, well, I don't want to spend money on something I haven't tried" and get up to walk out, I gaurantee you they will give you at least a few free visits.

I love making juice popcicles! Thanks for the tip.