abandnewday

Wow so cool good luck to you. I am signed up for my first 1/2 marathon 9/26/10 in bellingham WA. My wife and I are doing this together and we are excited about it. We walked 13.2 miles yesterday just to get a feel for it and gauge what are time woould be just walking. Our event gives a 6 hr time limit. We walked 6--2.2 miles loop around our house and with bathroom breaks we finished in 4hrs and 30 minutes. Without the breaks we figured we would have finished in 4hr 10 minutes or so. We walked--did not run or jog. You should be just fine. I would suggest building up your endurance if you are not already doing so. I am doing 2 hrs of step aerobics 2 hrs of sipn classes each week. In addition I plan on walking 4-6 miles 4 days a week and walking 8-10 miles every Saturday until a week prior just to adapt to the mileage.

Let us know how you do.

Hal,

Welcome. It is nice to have another guy on these boards. Good luck.

Andy

That's a crappy reason to get denied. Sometimes these insurance companies really piss me off. Would they deny coverage if you missed a supprot group for a pacemaker or other medical device. NO. They just look down at us fat people and act like we can really make this happen ourselves if we weren't so lazy.

Anyway good luck and keep on them.

I am 12 days out and was feeling good. About 2 days ago my port incisions started to hurt. Any big movement is very painful. The area does not look infected. I am wondering how long it takes for the area to be healed. Thanks.

Like you I could not stand anything lite, reduced fat etc. i loved mayo. However, I tried and I really love olive oil mayo I believe it is rom kraft. It is 45 cals per tbl, much less than regular mayo and I think it tastes great. i do not miss regular mayo anymore. I am not sure if you tried it or not.

It's not a breakfast food but I love it. I take canned chicken breast and chop it up real fine add olive oil mayo and mustard. 4 oz is about 160-180 cals and has 26 grams of Protein. If i feel I need more I add a couple of crackers and maybe some mozzarella cheese. It is a great protein breakfast.

Hey group hope everyone is doing well.

It is time to share my great news. As of this morning I have lost a total of 30 lbs!!!!! I started counting calories Feb 1st. I started my pre-op diet Feb 18th and surgery on the 25th. I lsot 15 lbs pre surgery an 15 lbs post surgery.

Disclaimer I am a guy and yes I know it comes off faster. (Sorry Ladies) Time to update my ticker.....

I am 5 days post-op and the biggest problem for me is gas. It is something aweful. It is coming out both end and quite frequently. I went through a box of gas-x and than switched to mylanta gas chewables as they have a stronger amount of the medication. I think that the gas comes from 2 different sources. The pain in my upper shoulder is from the co2. The other gas pains in my gut and digestive tract are from the pre-post op diet of liquids only. I think my system is just not used to what i am giving it. I hope this helps. Everyone is different and you may only have little/no gas after surgery. Good luck.

I agree with the prior post. Nothing I can say should take place of your insight and decisions. I would look at it this way. You have high blood pressure and pre-diabetes. You have been yo-yo dieting. If you do not go forward with the lap band would you be successful at losing the weight and keeping it off? If the answer is no you can not keep the weight off I would take that as a strong proponent for lap band. Diabetes is a terrible disease that can easily spiral out of control and take 10-15 years off your life if you let it. However, with a healthy weight you can keep it at bay and reclaim your life. In your situation I would look at the lap band as preventative medicine. Hope this helps you. Good luck on your journey, where ever it takes you.

I agree with the prior post. I would also suggest if possible to get a second opinion. As evident on these boards no 2 doctors seem to be on the same page about pre-post diets, rules for after care etc. You may have a doctor that has biases one way or another. Do your research and don't give up. Even if you were banded tomorrow you still need to put in the work to get the desired results. You are worth the investment in yourself. Worst case scenerio you keep the same surgeon and lose the 50 lbs prior to surgery, this is weight that you would need to lose anyway. You will be ahead of the game. Good luck.

Get back in touch with your doctor and nutritionist. They are there to assist you. Use them and they can help you succeed. Good luck.

Congrats. Man that was a fast turn around time. Good luck on your surgery.

Hey everyone,

I did not see my question posted anywhere. I would like to know how long the gas pains last after surgery. I am 5 days post op and taking gas-x like candy. I am getting sharp pains in my upper chest and left shoulder that don't seem to be going away. Any info would be great.

80 grams of Protein seems high to me. I am a guy weihing 325 lbs and my nutritionist said I should be getting about 70 grams of protein. Could the Hair loss be from something other than protein intake?

I too weigh myself daily first thing in the morning. For me it reinforces my accountability. If i do not check in with the scale I am not confronting my demons head on. I also only record my weight one day a week. It use to be mondays but i am switching to Thursdays to coincide with my banding day.

I too have anthem bcbs. They required very little and I had approval within 8 days. I was impressed with how smooth it took. I just had to meet the bmi, dietician and psych eval.

At first I thought I would only tell my wife. But as time goes on and the closer I got to surgery I let a few select people in on my decision. Now that I am post-op I feel more open to the idea of sharing but if and only if it could be done in a positive and supportive way. I will not let everyone in on my personal health decisions but a few more people would not be the end of things.

Good for you on making your decision. I too took a long time to research, study and contemplate this huge lifestyle decision. I feel the more informed you are the more prepared and sucessful you will be in the long run. It is an exciting experience. I was banded 2/25/10 and so far so good and it is/will be the best thing i have done for myself.

Yes it is possible to lose 10 lbs in 7 days. I had my surgery 02/25/10. I did the required 7 day preop diet which was 5 110 cal EAS low carb Protein Drinks and 1 (360 cal) meal. I stayed pretty close to this, cheated a little and lost 11.7 lbs. You do lose initial weight easier as your liver is releasing toxins, fats etc and the shrinking of your liver is the goal of the diet not nessesarily the numbers. Don't stress you can do it. Good luck.

I have Anthem BC/BS as well. If you go to their website www.anthem.com go to the find a doctor tab. Here you can search under surgeons to find in network providers. Hope that helps you.

Just my 2 cents......

I asked my surgeon what would be the odds of him needing to remove my gallbladder during, before or after being banded. His response was just a small percentage and that he sees this to be more and more common for Drs' to remove the gallbladder as a way to ring the cash register (his words not mine). So thread starter I would take a good look at more info and possibly get a second opinion. I would hate for you or anyone to go through more medical procedures than nessesary.

As my Dr. says sodas and liquid calories are speed bumps and potholes to you and your weight loss journey. 1 every once in awhile may leave you a little uncomfortable but repeatedly going over potholes will do permanent damage and/or reduce the amount of excess weight loss. I have invested way too much time, money and effort into me to let sodas/beer destroy my tool.

I agree with everyone's post. I want you and everyone else that happens upon this very problem to remember the feeling of joy you had when you weighed yourself and discoverd you lost 37 lbs. That moment, I know comes with elation and a sense of pride in yourself. When times are tough focus on the positives and use them to reinforce your own self-image and self-worth and remember you are WORTH IT!!!! Great job on the 37 lbs. :tongue_smilie:

Alright everthing is complete....I just finished my last pre-op appointment. I met with the sleep docotr as well today. Yeah no sleep apnea....what a relief. 1 week from today surgery. I just need to finish filling meds and getting some more 'supplies' for the first 2 weeks post op. Good luck for the rest of us in Feb to be banded.

p.s day 2 of pre-op diet not as bad as day 1:thumbup:

Good for you!!!! Any weiight loss is good weight loss. Keep going!!!!