momcof3

Ash - sounds like allergies. Tamra - you can do the 1200 calorie pre op diet - if you follow the allowed foods it will be band friendly - if you notice the allowed foods list on the pre op diet do not include rice, pasta, bread etc just like after banding. If you were able to follow it and lose weight before surgery you should be able to after surgery. Just make sure you measure everything to make sure you aren't going over the 1200 - a little below that would probably be better.

I agree with your thoughts on the pouch test Bella. We know our pouch is still there (unless you have slipped or eroded but that is rare and you would have pain). I haven't been under 200 in over 20 years so once I get there it will be a biggie for me. Congrats Chrissy on your surgery date - it'll be here before you know it. I'm thinking of only weighing myself once a week on Tuesdays (so I can compare it with my Tues evening Kaiser weight) - this daily weighing can be frustrating. I guess I need to move my scale downstairs to the laundry room to force my behavior to change. Riley - how are you doing?

Something I learned last night at my Kaiser class is that we should set attainable goals and that we should set small goals. If we set a goal for ourselves that is too big or hard to reach and then we fail, we start the negative self talk. Also once you set a goal you need to write down the steps you will need to take to reach the goal and then monitor where you are at in the process. If I say I want to lose 30 lbs it sounds impossible for me to accomplish, but if I say I want to lose 3 lbs it is reachable and I will feel good about myself and then I can set another small goal.

That's interesting that they are banding people that have had RNY - I'm guessing their pouch was stretched to heck to be able to have enough to band and still have a pouch. Kinda sad. Tamra - I too have the emotional eating triggers - it is hard but you have to learn to resist or this will never work. Try to stick to the 1200 calorie pre op diet until your appointment and you might be surprised. Make little goals for yourself - take it one meal at a time so it is not overwhelming. Anyone hear from Riley?

The pouch test lasts like a week doesn't it? It is going through all the post op food phases, but only like a day of each stage. I don't think they are keen on it as it is a temporary fix - which is why I think people do it in the first place - to drop a few pounds quickly for an appointment etc. Riley - does it look like they moved your eyebrows? When my grandma had that surgery and we took her home she will still a little loopy and looked in the mirror and wondered why they put her eyebrows so high - silly it was her stitches. Not sure if that is how they still do it nowadays though.

Tamra - I didn't say nuts were okay - I said they wouldn't be considered a soft protein. Nuts do contain protein but they also have a lot of calories. Do you like canned chicken breast? Whatever you do to tuna you can do to canned chicken breast. Has anyone had any experience with putting the food you have on the pouch test on your food log and then giving it to Robin? I would be prepared to explain it when she reviews the food log next week.

Good Luck today Riley and have a nice time on your happy juice. Wow skin has to be hanging down to our knees for them to cover it. I wonder how much it costs if you pay for it. If the whole tummy tuck is more expensive I don't see how they can make you get that as opposed to the pannelectomy. I wouldn't call nuts a soft protein though as far as the pouch test goes. I for one have a hard time stopping at just a little bit of nuts. Do you like egg salad Tamra? Even one hard boiled egg with a little mayo and mustard is alot as far as quantity goes. I ate so much of it last year that I can't stomach even one bite of egg. But it got me through a long period of time.

where are they putting the filter? I've never heard of it. Is it something temporary? Yes John that is a visual that will take awhile to get out of my brain. You'll look like one of those guys on Biggest Loser.

Congratulations on your surgery date. Stand your ground with your boss - you have waited long enough already.

Riley - is Kaiser covering the breast lift and tummy tuck too? Did they say the difference in price between the full tummy tuck and the pannelectomy? The eye thing they consider medical if it impairs your vision. Good Luck tomorrow.

Thanks Ash - your kids are little - I spend more than $400/mo on groceries for the four of us - but not too much more - I too am a coupon queen - gotta love the dollar off ones. And it is amazing if we all think back to how much we spent on food before starting this journey - drive throughs, restaurants, snacks - oh my we are saving now - which lets us do something else with that money. Interesting on the binder saying that about fills - I will have to check my Richmond one.

That's too bad that she would say those things about you Tamra. I know it is hard, but you need to try not to let negative people have the power over you. There will always be people who have something bad to say about us no matter how much we weigh - sadly that's the way the world is but we have to learn to not let that send us back to food - for a lot of us that is how we got where we are today - emotional eating. Maybe you should talk to your mom and let her know how much that hurts you and if she has negative things to say about you to keep it to herself. I'm sure there are people even in my office who don't approve of my band or the plan I am on now but they just don't say anything to me. And you know what they don't have to approve of it - I am doing it for me not for them anyway. All we can control is our own behavior and to let the people who are bringing us down go.

Tamra - I am sure if I would have asked Richmond if I could do the Medical Weight Loss Management Program through Kaiser they would have said no - but I don't need to ask their permission. The Kaiser doctors who run the program know I was banded in Richmond in Aug 08 and they are fine with it. They weren't sure if I would actually lose much weight as my body was used to low calories anyway, but it is working so far. You pay $250 to start with for the physical to see if you qualify to be in the program. If you don't qualify you get it back. Then you pay weekly for the Optifast product you order - mine is $98 a week. The program fees are spread out - $350 the beginning of the month for a few months and then $260 one month - something like that. I would see if you can make your band work first - remember I had surgery almost two years ago. Dr. Im does fills differently - I got 4 cc at the first fill, 2 at the next, and 2 at the next, then the unfill, and then 1 so I am at 7 cc. It depends on the person how much is enough. I watched the Oprah that had the author of the "Women, Food and God" book that you are reading Tina. Do you like it so far? What she said made a lot of sense. I didn't do so well with my food this weekend camping - I didn't bring enough of my shakes - was two short - who taught me how to count? I ended up having a soft serve ice cream cone on Saturday instead of the two shakes so calorie wise I might have been okay, but not nutrition wise. Then yesterday I had one cookie and a piece of watermelon instead of my two bars. Egads I felt bad last night - physically and mentally. I am back on track today and I'm not beating myself up about it - something I have learned so far in my class - negative self talk does not help.

The card I got from Allergen is hard plastic like a credit card and looks official. I haven't heard from Heather - busy moving in . I don't think I have time to get all my laundry done tonight so I will have to continue tomorrow after work. My normal rule is I only do laundry on the weekend.

Canolie - you can call the Allergen toll free number and give them your surgery information - date, surgeon, address and they will mail you the card. You can do it online at their website, but I couldn't figure it out so I called them. Yes the Kaiser program I am doing is very expensive all together including the Optifast food it is about $4300 - it includes all the bloodwork, doctor visits, classes - but if you divide it by the 30 weeks we have to go it is only $143/mo or if you divide it by the total program time 84 weeks it is about $51/wk. I am having to charge the whole thing at this point - you don't pay it all at once. I am considering it as an investment in ME. Thank you for understanding and keeping any negativity to yourself (I know not everyone approves nor do they have to). Tina - I don't know if all beans are sliders, but I do know that refried bean and baked beans are. It is hard not to turn to them if dense protein gets stuck. I pretty much don't go out to eat with people other than my parents or kids. I think it is hard for some people to understand why we can't eat and certainly why we can't drink. I know they don't want us to drink alcohol but it isn't very realistic to think that for the rest of our lives - everything in moderation but I would avoid the carbonation. Of course I don't do food well in moderation. I think I will be doing laundry a couple of more hours - camping is fun, but it put me off schedule for the laundry etc. I am planning on going to the Point West meeting on Saturday.

Sad thing is I already had the surgery and lost 65 lbs - which in their eyes is a success - they consider if you lose 50% of your weight it is successful. But I can't live the rest of my life 40 lbs overweight with the fear that I will gain the other 65 lbs back and unless I get my mind reprogrammed just having a lapband is not going to work. Boy I smell someone's barbeque - actually a lot of people's as we are at a campground - never realized how much food is an integral part of camping.

And before anyone asks, no I didn't tell Richmond about it and yes they probably would not approve, but the doctor I see at Kaiser Elk Grove every other week is not concerned and my blood work (they do it every 3 wks) is great and once we are transitioned back to regular food at 16 wks my band will still be there. Richmond has not checked on me since I last saw them the beginning of Sept 09 and this August will be two years since I had band surgery. I have 4 protein shakes and two nutrition bars a day and I can only eat 3/4 of the bar before I start to slime so I have to wait a bit before I eat the rest. I am eating 960 calories every day and they took me off of my vitamin and calcium chew. I have something every 2 1/2 hours and am not hungry in between. Oddly I still make food for my kids and it doesn't even bother me that I can't eat any of it. I think it is pretty sad that Kaiser will pay for bariatric surgery, but they won't pay for their own weight loss program. Bariatric surgery is supposed to be the last resort - at least that is what they tell us. I may actually have a little taken out of my band after I transition back to regular food so I can eat things like salad and vegetables.

Boy I have a slow wireless connection at this campground - I typed up a message to post twice earlier and lost the connection before I could send it. Even if I could have a revision to sleeve, I am quite sure I wouldn't do it. As I have found out, no bariatric surgery will work forever unless I get the emotional stuff under control. I hear how everyone wants good restriction so badly, but at least for me I can tell you that alone won't do it. I have had good restriction since Sept 09 and still I would lose and gain the same 3 - 4 lbs over and over. Frustration would set in as I ate the way I was supposed to and exercised and still didn't lose weight. I tried upping my calories with proteins and ended up getting stuck and pbing alot. Then I turned to sliders - not just bad ones but healthy ones too like beans. Then I would get back on dense protein and then fall off - a vicious cycle. I checked with Kaiser in Elk Grove to see what they had to offer in the way of assistance. I decided not to do Healthy Ways as that is a temporary fix (I've done it before and yes you lose on phentemerine for a while but then gain it back). So about 5 weeks ago I joined their Medical Weight Management Program which is an 84 wk program. I am in a group of 22 people. I had to have an extensive physical - tons of bloodwork and and EKG to make sure I was healthy enough to do the program. I told them I have a lapband and although they have never had someone in the program who had bariatric surgery already they accepted me. It is an expensive program - even though we are all Kaiser patients - our regular insurance doesn't cover it. I am on Optifast shakes and bars exclusively for 16 wks and we meet once a week for weigh ins, blood pressure check and education. So far on the 3 1/2 wks of the Optifast I have lost 11 lbs. I have not eaten anything else but that. If after 84 weeks of behavior modification I don't change, I never will.

Chrissy - maybe it is too much sodium? Lunch meat has alot of sodium and nitrates - maybe cut that out for awhile. Do you weigh at the same time in the same type of clothing? I weigh 4 lbs more at Kaiser in the evening in my clothes and shoes than I do in the morning naked - even though I wear light clothes and shoes at Kaiser. I also always weighed more in Richmond than at home.

The next Point West support meeting is Saturday May 22 from 11-1. It is always the fourth Saturday of the month. Congrats to all the people getting close to a surgery date. I am 13 lbs away from Onederland and I haven't been under 200 for over 20 years. You didn't seem crazy when I met you Chrissy.

I too didn't realize you got all your fluid taken out Nicole. But I know you can get back on track - you did great on the pre-op 1200 calorie diet - maybe you should go back to that? I hear you Tina - as we have found out most of our journey is not really about food - it is just our drug of choice to cover up the other issues. I truly believe that for me at least it is maybe better that I didn't get to goal in the first year as then I wouldn't have started to deal with my other issues and started to change my behaviors. I won't probably get to goal even in this second year (end of Aug will be 2 yr since I got banded), but that's okay too. I can't give any advice to the people who have sleeves, but I can let the bandsters know that if you think this is a quick fix - it isn't - and it wasn't intended to be one. It is all the gaining weight, losing weight, gaining weight etc. that messed up our metabolism to start with.

Hope all the moms had a great day. I made lasagna, salad and garlic bread for my parents and kids - but I didn't have any at all. Be careful on the fries - even if you can get them down they are a food that can lead you down the wrong path. The behavior modification part of the process is so important because later when the weight loss slows down or stops, if the behavior hasn't changed you will probably go back to old eating habits and gain weight.

I read this article the other day about weight loss - I found it to be very insightful - here's the link - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36784702/ns/health-behavior// Glad to hear you made it to WA safely Nicole.

I was sad too - I was talking to a lady who needed an listening ear and then I turned around and you were all gone - didn't get my hugs from anyone except Heather.

What were Nicole and Mo doing? Guess I should have went to lunch too.