*slim*

I am sure BMI plays a part in deciding if you have to do a pre-op diet. As long as your doctor said you don't have to have one, then you are ok. I am not sure the exact guidelines. I will say this, if a doctor tells someone to follow a specific pre-op diet, it is to their advantage to follow it to the letter. The diet is done to shrink the liver to make it safer to move during surgery. There have been some that didn't follow their prescribed diet and woke up without their band. I know that doesn't apply to you since you have been told you didn't need one, but that is for any others that may read this who are required to do one.

My email notification stopped working sometime yesterday afternoon.:grouphug: I am pretty sure that I am not alone.

LJM-Having spent two weeks in the hospital on bed rest waiting to deliver, I can COMPLETELY understand the eyeroll. I hope your time in the hospital is not TOO unpleasant. I know you won't get any rest since they wake you up at the most awful hours to check vitals and everything. I am sending good vibes your way.

CC-I'm glad that are feeling better.

I am sending good vibes your way. Luluc-are they just going to fix the hernia, or are they going to also give you a low profile port with it?

Niether have I Donna. I wondered if it was just me. I also had trouble getting on here today.

Welcome back Fanny! As always, I loved your pictures. Good morning everyone!

Debbie it is so good to see you doing so well. I have to be honest and say that I haven't had a bit of trouble getting my fills paid for. I have had 3 since surgery, and they have paid them all within a week of them filing. I am sorry that your insurance company is giving you such trouble. I hope that they won't give you problems in the future. Your weight loss is awesome!

You are already on your way! We are on this wonderful journey with our band. We are going to meet each of our mini goals (and our main goals).

Unfortunately, exercise was never my strong suit. I was one of the naturally skinny people until my 20s. Even then, I didn't put on major weight until I had my son. I was 25. I should have started exercising then, but I didn't. Now, I am struggling to start a routine.

You are too funny! Amen sister! I must have missed that part. Once I saw hamburger, I was done! I guess it is too late for me to tell you no. I am going to check the thread myself after I finish typing this response. The plumber has come and gone. He wanted $2200 to replace my existing pipe with a larger pipe. He wanted $1600 to replace my existing pipe with the same size pipe. I told him that there was NO way I was paying that.:glare: Then he said it would be $1000 to replace my existing pipe with the same size pipe. He claims that he will try to knock that down more, but he can't do it today. I have to take another day off for him to come back! OMG!

I read that one. I couldn't believe what I read, so I re-read it. I still couldn't believe it. I was scared to drink koolaid 2 days after surgery. There is no way I would have eaten a hamburger!

good luck BBK! tap-I am praying for warmer weather for you soon. Kat-I am glad your grandson is doing ok. CC-I am glad you are able to drink now. I am at work, but have to go home to meet the plumber today about my drainage problems. I can only pray to come out under $700. Wish me luck on that one.

Teri, if you are burning calories, it is real exercise. I don't care if it is on the wii. :-)

Are you talking about just since surgery? If you are then, I am not that much ahead of you. I lost 17 of my 36 pounds on the pre-op diet. I have only lost 19 pounds since surgery. Even with that, we are only supposed to lose 1-2 pounds per week. We are still ahead of the curve. If you are still having problems with portion size then get another fill. If you are too tight, make surethat you aren't eating slider foods (soups, ice creams, cookies) because those will make it more difficult to lose. You are not alone. We are just going to have to be patient about the weightloss. You are doing better than you think.

You are right about it not being a miracle. She has battled weight since childhood. She has a major portion control problem. She said that she is concerned about her health. She had 2 of her 3 brothers die within a year because of weight related illnesses (diabeties, heart disease). She can see that being herself. I was so proud of her. She is actually going to the same surgeon. At the moment, my excerise is sporadic at best. It has been so awful here for outdoor activity. I haven't joined a gym as of yet. I am hoping to go buy an excerise bike this weekend. I really want to get the wii fit. I had a wii, but sold it when no one used it. About 2 months later they produced the wii fit. I was so upset with myself.

Not something I needed to read as I was taking a large swallow of HOT coffee. Please don't. Richard might even deny plain.:cool: I would sneak to watch the Osbournes.:thumbup: What tap said.

I have gained and lost the same 3 pounds several times over the last few weeks. That really gets frustrating. I know I would have gained a lot during the holidays had I not been banded. I am happy that I didn't get RNY, but I think I still wanted the same weightloss. I will learn to live with that.

It is a slow process. Even though they talked about that a lot during my pre-op classes, it didn't really hit me until I was not dropping weight like a hot potato. I guess I wanted it to be different for me. It's not. I am learning to live with the slow loss. I hope that because it is coming off slow, that I won't have as much trouble with loose skin later.

That's awesome about your brother! Unfortunately, I don't have a singe member of my family to turn to for support. They are all battling health problems due to obesity and are not willing to make any changes in their lives. I just didn't want to go down that road with them any more. I am glad to say that apparently, I have inspired my cousin to have lap band surgery done. She is hoping for sometime this year.

Kat, have your DH string that SOB up by his balls! What nerve! Congrats on the grandson!

The pouch test is basically supposed to be a way to tell if you need a fill or not. It is basically a modified liquid diet. If you do a search either on this board or google it, it comes up. It is like 2 days of liquids then 2-3 days of solid protein. Several people who do it realize that they don't need a fill because their portion sizes go down after doing the full 5 days. There is a thread on here about starting the holiday detox early. There is a link to the pouch test in that thread.

Exactly! We are taking small steps to becoming a healthier person. Each pound lost, is a pound that won't kill us. I am trying to look at it that way. I know that I would never have lost this much weight in such a short time on my own. I am happy to have my band. I am hoping to find whatever it is in me to make this thing work!

To add your ticker, go to the user cp and click on edit signature. Copy the bb code from the ticker website and paste it into the white box for your signature. You have to get it all or it won't show right. Here is the tutorial http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f5/ticker-tutorial-pictures-41782/ since I know my instructions leave a lot to be desired. Also, I think that we all are going to have to just take our time on this. I know that I have gotten very upset over my weightloss, but we are in this for the long haul. We can and will do this!

I'll never tell.