ericsmom

Congratulations! What a great feeling it is to know you're on your way, isn't it! So happy for you

I work for the Superior, WI School District and have BCBS BlueLink. Do your research - get out your policy and read it...make phone calls... I forgot to add that I have obstructive Sleep Apnea and bilateral degenerative osteoarthritis in both my knees, so I had two co-morbidities, too... Good luck to you! I hope you can determine it would be covered.

I grew up in a house that had garage sales, but didn't go garage saleing... I'm having one on the 16th of this month and I hope others are thinking they are getting great finds with my 4X clothes I'll be selling! Since there will be sales all over my end of town that day, maybe I should go look for some bargains for my shrinking body!!

I went to my first orientation on Feb. 8th of this year and had my surgery on July 5th. My psych eval was processed very quickly by my psychologist so that I could be considered at the monthly board meeting. That is usually the hold up prior to getting insurance approval. My insurance co. required a BMI of 40 or more (mine was 58+), one or more co-morbidities, and proof/documentation of past supervised diets (Weight Watchers does not keep records at a corporate level, but if you did that maybe your local chapter would have some record - I also did a medically supervised liquid diet at Miller Dwan Medical Center in Duluth, in addition to taking Fen-Phen for a year and a half until they found the combination caused heart valve damage). I had a laundry list of other attempts at weight loss. So after the orientation I met with the RN and Dietitian of the program, met the surgeon - he said yes I would be a good candidate, took the MMPI psych test on March 20th, reviewed it with my therapist on the 24th, she typed it herself because their transcriptionists were learning a new program and it would have taken a long time to get. If I got it to St. Mary's by March 30th, then they would review my case at the monthly board meeting on April 5th. After they accepted me into the program, it went to my insurance for pre-approval. Once I was pre-approved then we set a date. They were very good about getting me in as close after August 29th as they could as that was the last day I had to work (end of the school year) and I had 8 weeks off for the summer. So July 5th I had the surgery, stayed overnight, and was home by 10:30am the next day. I rambled quite a bit - did I answer your questions?

Tiger Liliy - I was born at Unity!! I was going to have my surgery there, but they started doing it at St. Mary's in Duluth, so I had it there on July 5th. I had Dr. Jay Lenz...he was THE BEST! I love him!

I used to keep a basket of peanut m&m's in my middle school office for the teachers and kids...I think it was an excuse to be able to have them there for me, too. The district has a new health and wellness policy and we can't have that anymore. That's a good thing, though, because now I won't have them there. I got everyone granola bars with a welcome back sticker on them for a treat today. I am now comfortably in my 3X's, too. I didn't realiz that half my closet were 3X's. I thought they were 2's. So I'm set for a while. Then I have 2's stashed in bins waiting for another 40 lbs or so to go. It's a testament to how often I've gone up and down, but now it's coming in handy so I don't have to go and buy many things. I get my chocolate fix by having slim fast shakes - chocolate royale - in my Magic Bullet with ice, like a malt. Yum!

I had to have that magnesium citrate for my pre-op prep. They try and make it fizzy and flavored like you're guzzling a soda, but we all know differently. Nasty stuff, but like Andy Liz said, "holy crap Batman!"

Congrats on your wonderful NSV!! What a great feeling it must have been :huggie: I can't wait to find your mirror!

Today my goals went pretty much like yesterday - I drank more water at work today than yesterday and then again this evening. Tomorrow I will drink more water, and when I go out to eat with my boss I'll order something from the WW menu.

I'll set a goal as well... Current 289 Goal 250

I can't believe I lost 7.4 during PMS!! I'll have to see how this week goes while she's visiting (sorry to the guys who are reading this!!)

Ericsmom - H 337/ S 322.5/ C 289 CBMI 49.6 (-48 lbs total, -7.4 this week!!!!) I thought I had skipped a week, but I didn't!! Boy, what a difference a fill makes!!

Well, I drank more water today than yesterday, but not nearly as much as I would have liked. I've been trying to catch up tonight.

Well, I went back to work today - I didn't drink as much water as I'd hoped. I was so busy organizing and moving things around, I forgot! I won't have to start numbers 2 and 3 until next week when school actually is in session. I had a pudding for a snack today and my usual cottage cheese and diced peaches for lunch. Same goals for tomorrow - but drink the WATER!!

OMG! I totally did this, too! Mushrooms in the can, mac & cheese, cake, canned corn or peas, pretty much anything. Then I'd have to figure out how to hide the cans after I'd emptied them! I also used to get up in the middle of the night when we would stay at my grandparent's house and sneak into the kitchen and get Cookies out of her cookie jar - again worrying that it would look like too many were gone.

Good luck to you! Just remember that everyone is different and to just do what your doctor tells you to and listen to your body. Everything will be fine and you'll be in bandland before you know it!

My son starts his freshman year of high school on Tuesday, Sept. 5th. However, MY first day back is tomorrow as I am a secretary for a principal at the middle school I'll have to take pics next week. Your son and his "girlfriend" are very sweet! I'll keep her in my thoughts and prayers.

Welcome to LBT! You will find a wealth of information here and more than likely make some great cyber friends Don't be a stranger!

This makes sense for me today then - I ate tuna salad - noodles are carbs and therefore I wasn't filled like when I eat cottage cheese. Now I know!! I have been trying to figure out why I ate it three times today at about 1+ cups per time! I have not been having any bread, pasta, sugar, etc. and I've been fine, but today I felt like I was "bad"!! I didn't like that feeling at all. Plus I had 1/2 size oriental chicken salad from Applebee's last night and for something that used to be my absolute favorite thing, it wasn't that good! It was the first time I had eaten salad since my banding, too. Boy, you learn something new every day This board is awesome for advice

You always have such a way with words, Jack!

I'll come along on your journey! This is exactly what I was thinking! I don't want to lapse into old habits!

Not one regret! I'm with Nana - wish I would have done it sooner!

Congrats Julie! I think I ate too much today, tuna salad, but I didn't have any problems...weird. I thought for sure I'd have issues, but I didn't. I hate that panicky feeling you get when you don't know what's going to happen next.

WTG Molly!! Congrats on the ticker moving again!

I med goals 1, 2, and 4, but did not get to #3 before my company came. Didn't have goals for today as the site was down - I made tuna salad earlier this morning. I had a shake when I got up and then some tuna salad before I went running errands and then I had some more a little while ago. It was SO good! Although I feel like I probably ate too much. I'm not miserable, I just thought I went past satisfied and into the "full" zone. I go back to work tomorrow, so my daily goals while at work will be: 1) Drink lots of Water 2) Get up and walk around the halls more 3) Take the treck down to the main office once a day to check my mail 4) Only have a snack if I am REALLY hungry.