L12

Prior to banding I was insanely, physically hungry most of the time (stomach growling, getting shaky and lightheaded if I didn't eat, etc.). After surgery and upon getting to a good fill level, I am only sometimes mildly hungry at appropriate times (around typical meal times unless I'm PMSing! ), and am now full with smaller portions of food. The band definitely had an impact on my body's hunger, which allowed me to stop eating so much and lose weight. However, I never really had a terrible diet--my food choices in general were pretty good pre-band, I wasn't an emotional eater, it was just that I was so hungry that I ate A LOT. I can tell when I need a fill, because I start to get that driving, insanely hungry feeling again, which resolves after a slight fill. I feel so much better due to the weight loss, and am physically ABLE to be an avid runner now, when before I wasn't due to fatigue and foot/ankle/knee problems. I am a real believer of the vagus nerve theory! I think the band may work psychosomatically for some, but it definitely had a physical impact on me.

My sweet spot (when I first reached it) was around 7ccs in a 14cc band. That stopped most of my hunger, and prevented me from eating a lot--normal, small-sized portions, but no more than that unless I wanted it to come back up and/or make me VERY uncomfortable. Since I was first banded, I have slowly gone up to about 9.5ccs to keep my hunger down. Although I'm going in for a very tiny fill tomorrow, I've been maintaining my weight with between 9 and 10ccs in my band for over a year now.

I've been trying to reach the perfect fill level for maintenance too, and have had a few fills and unfills. I've been going up and down in my fill level for the last few months, getting too tight and too loose for comfort. I'm about to go in for another tiny (0.1) fill on Wednesday to see if I can get it right. I'm SO close...!

I agree with this. I take four different prescription medications (one includes an antidepressant) and suffer from NONE of the possible side effects for any of them. Just because you MAY experience them doesn't mean you WILL.

The longer you wait the more likely that he will be upset for another reason--that you waited so long to tell him so close to the surgery date. I would be peeved if my husband threw something like this on me two weeks before planned surgery. Not especially considerate of his feelings or his time. Please let him know ASAP so he has time to get all of this straight, understand it, accept it, and can be fully supportive of you.

I agree! I eat soup all the time. Some all-liquid Soups (I LOVE tomato soup), but in many soups it is only the broth that is the "slider" part of it! Many soups have vegetables, legumes, chunks of meat, etc. in them--THOSE are not typically considered sliders.

Tricare is usually VERY easy; it sounds like the hoops your are jumping through are the clinic's, not Tricare's. They do NOT require a 6 month diet of any kind, though some doctors still insist on one for their own requirements. There are only two authorizations anyone should need from Tricare for the band--one is the authorization/referral to see the band specialist from their PCM, and that is only for those with Tricare Prime (as all others do not have PCMs or require referrals) and the other is authorization for surgery. Tricare is typically very fast in making decisions, so I would also question why it is taking so long. I would definitely call Tricare to see if the office has even submitted anything to them.

I have thin crust pizza once every week or two. I have beentrying to maintain for about a year (though still lost more without trying), but had pizza on occasion throughout my weight loss with no plateaus or problems. Allowing myself to eat "normal" foods in moderation helps me from feeling deprived and having unhealthy binges. I am eating enough to survive and be healthy, but I am NOT on a diet.

LOL, a couple of months ago I was hanging out with some friends and their family. Over dinner, my surgery came up, and my friend's mother (who has been obese for years) told me that with the band I should not be eating as much as I was. At that point, I weighed 130 lbs., had just completed a half marathon, and was still exercising a lot--reasons why my band is a bit loose. I informed her that I was in maintenance, and if I ate less than that AND kept burning as as many calories through exercise, I would keep losing weight, which is not what I was trying to do. That kind of stumped her, like she thought I should ALWAYS be trying to lose more. I've changed a great deal of what and how much I eat, but my lifestyle is different too; I can't be "on a diet" forever with my activity level unless I want to diet my way into nothingness.

Obviously, there are lots of different answers for this according to the doctor. My doctor is OK with caffeine and carbonation as long as you are OK with it! He does recommends limiting sodas, alcohol, and other things with carbonation mainly because they're not usually the most healthy things to drink, but doesn't forbid them. I drink coffee just about every day, but don't drink sodas nearly as much as I used to--I often go weeks without as I don't have much of a taste for them anymore. If I do have one, I sip it--gulping can be a bit of a problem. Most of the alcoholic drinks I like don't have much or any carbonation, so that's not usually a problem.

I'm not against veganism or vegetarianism, but I'm quite suprised that your doctor would recommend something so drastic right away. Though I'm glad she didn't automatically slap meds on the problem right away, too! I agree with ElfiPoo; some research on your part could be of benefit, possibly some changes in your diet, but if you don't want to be a vegan, you don't have to be--that is not the only option to lower your cholesterol.

With TRS, you have a catastrophic cap of $1000. You will have to pay the amount of your copays/deductibles until you have paid up to the $1000 for this fiscal year, which started Oct. 1. I had my surgery in December, so I had not put a big dent in my cap yet that year. Total, I probably paid about $800 of copays for everything (psych eval, preop testing, surgery, etc.) until I reached my cap.

I agree, salsa in the beef is delicious. Sometimes I just dump whatever combo sounds good into the beef and mix it--salsa, Worcestershire or soy sauce, grated cheese, bread crumbs, spices, etc. The burgers are always very moist when I add ingredients to the beef.

There are much worse things you could have cheated with than a can of tuna. Some people don't have to follow a liquid diet, just a low carb one which also shrinks the liver. So you didn't really do any damage, but try to keep to your doc's instructions!