Loving-It

Great & congrats on the band and the 10 lb. loss!! :clap2: I would have had someone else mop the floor though, I think you need to rest up for a few more days. :cheeky

Seems like a waste of good ju-ju to me. :biggrin1: Go to other threads and make some friends, rather than concentrate so hard on making an enemy.

What is the deal with the newbies registering just to post in this thread? :ermm

Wurd. :love:

:wow2: HOLY CANOLIE!! I have had some of the biggest burps of my LIFE today! LOL! Sorry if that's TMI but they are amazing. Snort!! :hurt

Can you sip some milk? That should dilute the spicy and hopefully offer up some relief. I hope you get some relief soon. (((hugs))) :cry

Prayers and good thoughts to his friends and family during this sad time. :cry

Want2lose, check your PM's.

I was totally covered by insurance. I had a referral from my physician. The total cost was $9,000, with $40 of it not being covered by insurance but paid by me as co-pay.

I go back in 5 weeks for a check up. They told me that if I feel I need an adjustment to act like I'm coming for a fill, no liquids/no food, and they will do it in the office. Nice, huh? :biggrin1:

It was pretty good. I was really nervous when I got there but then it was a cake walk. Nooooo problems.

Just so ya know, I joined yer group.

I've been overweight pretty much all of my life. I've had kids at school say things, I've had the doctor say something, I've had associates at the office to strangers on the street say something to me. I had a co-worker who everytime she saw me in the breakroom would break out into jumping jacks. I've found the best thing for me is to just stare them down. No mean looks, no evil eye, just stare at them. Then they squirm and look away. It works everytime. I'm too old to argue with them. Thank God they are able to point out what moments earlier I was blissfully unaware of....the fact that they are dumbasses.

I have CareFirst BlueChoice and I was told they don't cover the psych evaluation. I had to pay out of pocket. That's good you were able to find someone for $150. The doctor I saw was recommended by my surgeon. Her name is Dr. Nancy Freta and she's in Vienna. I won't go into how much it cost but it was more than $150. She was really nice though.

That's awesome!! :clap2:

I still have the burps. Somedays my daughter is quite impressed with me. LOL! :heh:

I was a cashier for a store called Waccamaw Pottery. They were located in Potomac Mills Mall in Woodbridge, VA. It was one of the main anchor stores. People came there by charter bus and everything just to shop the mall. It was crazy but I loved it. The store is gone now which is too bad. I started when I was 16YO and worked there maybe 2 years?

I thought your pic looked familiar. I think I saw you at the July support meeting. You sat at the end of the table farthest from the door? Hello!! :clap2:

Oh no, I didn't see it the day of the banding. After my first post-op visit my surgeon gave me an actual photograph. I have it at home. During the first few weeks I looked at it a lot. Sick, huh? :heh: It's kind of cool in a Learning Channel kind of way. Heh-heh! Thanks for the advice about the bread. I've been careful the past few weeks but I have had a bit here and there. The main advice they gave me yesterday for when I get back on regular food was to just take it slow. Chew, chew, chew and slow, slow, slow. :hungry: :biggrin1:

He told me he thought I would need another in 6 to 8 months, but if I get to where I don't have enough restriction to not wait. To call him right away and he'll get me in for an adjustment. Same if I'm not able to swallow anything, especially liquids. I hope my stomach loses some fatty tissue. I have a picture of my stomach from the day they put the band on and it's pretty gross. Some pink but a lot of fat.

You'll be okay. I had my first fill yesterday. I was super nervous too but by the end I was alright.

:clap2: I haven't had much restriction for a few weeks so I'm very happy to have had this done finally!! Oh my gosh, I was soooooo nervous. I laid up on the table with a towel under the middle of my back to lift my belly. He pressed around and pressed around looking for my port. Once he found it he cleaned the area and administred a local anthestic. He told me to prepare for a pinch and some burning. I felt a small pinch but not much else. He said that my port is right by my main incision so the nerve ending are still regenerating. No feeling there yet. Double-whoo-hoo! Then he had a hard time finding the entry to the port. Took a few minutes but no worries, I couldn't feel anything but pressure. So finally he gets it in there and they lift up the table so I am standing upright. I look down and there is this syringe sticking out of my abdomen. LOL! It was weird because I really didn't care, I was happy to see it and not feel it. :biggrin1: Now comes the worst part of the whole experience. The barium swallow. GAG! :sick When I had my pre-op testing done, the barium was strawberry flavored and cold. This stuff was neither. It was blah and warm, which made it extra blah. But it was cool because as I took a swallow, I looked on the screen next to me and could see my stomach, the band, the pouch and the barium heading on down. He added and removed as he saw the barium flowing through the band. I had to take a total of 3 really big gulps, but it was worth it. After it was all over he came up to me and said he could tell that when I first got there I was very nervous, which I was, but I had tried to fake it and be brave. But he said I did very well and that the band and my pouch look great. He said the images could be used in a training class it looked so good, which totally made my day!! So last night it was a little tight. I had a Slim Fast shake this morning and so far so good. No issues with liquids. I'm on liquid for the rest of today, then two days of mushies and back to regular food on Saturday. I'm on my way and I'm pickled tink to finally have my fill! He wants me to go back in a month for a check up. :biggrin1: I don't know how many CC's I got because we talked about it and he said that 4 cc's for one person may give them perfect restriction but 4 cc's for someone else might not be enough. It depends on the location of the band and such, so I chose to not know.

After you prepare your meal, measure out 6 ounce servings, put them in freezer bags and pop into the freezer. Then you can just pull one out and have instant meal. That's the best way. You'll go crazy trying to cook just a 6 oz serving.

Good luck! Hope it went well! I get my first fill on Aug. 15th so I'm anxious to hear how it went.

There was a special that talked about that. How successful would a crack/cocaine addict or alcoholic be if they had to take just a hit or just a drink, each and every day? Unless you've been overweight, you just can't understand.