MissK

Hi DoctorNorm Welcome to the forums, congratulations on the surgery, keep us updated on your progress!

Gotta love TopTier and the killer responses she's kickin' out, too! :thumbup:

Hi Jenn Welcome to the forums, I'm not of much help, but wanted to say congratulations on "showing them who's boss" when they only gave you 8 months to live, I'm sure if you can beat cancer than you can beat this problem too! Best wishes to you.

Gawd, that must be awfully hard to prepare meals for others when you can not eat yourself. I haven't been banded yet, so don't know the answer to your question, but you may get a better response asking this in the post-op forum.

My name ISN'T Michelle, but I still wanted to say welcome and good luck on your journey! See you 'round!

Welcome to the forums, hope... and best of luck!

Great work to date Ellie, welcome to the forums - nice to see a fellow Aussie aboard :-)

Best wishes to you!

Good Luck Cari !!!

Abso-freakin-lutely!

Hi Nursemarti, I haven't had the surgery yet so it's hard for me to say, but there is evidence of the pros and cons all over this website, you just need to take the time to read through the posts a :-)

Wow, that is really rough, I'm sorry to hear that. I am thankful of the approach my surgeon takes - at the time of surgery he charges $4000 above the scheduled fee ($16,000 instead of $12,000) BUT he never charges you another cent for any follow up care; consults, fills, re-operation (although there will obviously be hospital/anethetist fees if this occurs, but he wont charge for his services). It is comforting for me to know that I will not have to worry about funding this on an ongoing basis, with the exception of always maintaining my health care insurance.

My surgeon told me that I was not a candidate for bypass on the basis that I am young and simply not big enough to warrant it; but that I am an ideal cadidate for banding. The very reason I was attracted to banding is also the very reason why I am going through with it; because it is non-invasive and, should something go wrong, reversible!

Hi Nikki Just take a deep breath and try to remain calm, do everything you can to distract yourself from thinking about the liquid diet. I am sure people approach it different ways, I plan on weening myself ONTO the Protein shakes by adding them in as Breakfast 6 weeks pre-op, then breakfast/lunch 4 weeks pre-op followed by ONLY shakes 2 weeks pre-op. Just remember all the reasons you made this decision and all the benefits it will bring, be brave and you will be fine - we're all here to support you!

Wow, so sorry to hear that TT - I thought I was in a similar situation recently when my insurance company excluded my surgery from my policy; I was DEVASTATED! I found out later that by law they must provide a period of time before they can do that, so the exclusion doesn't commence until 1 January 2010. In the mean time I have upgraded to a more expensive policy that DOES cover the surgery at all times, to ensure my long term health care. Your husband is sweet, I hope you find a way.

By the way, OptiFast is the shake my surgeon recommends.

Hi Sammy You and I have a lot of similarities. I am also Australian, I am 27, I have had weight issues my entire life, I suffer from PCOS, I was first taken to see a doctor about my weight at age 6, first taken to a dietician at 8, first taken to a weight loss clinic at 10. My family AREN'T large, which makes it hard, and I have found it hard in the past to discuss my weight with people... although I am getting much braver in the lead up to surgery when people say "why???" when I tell them I am being operated on. Psychologically, it has been a hard road... feeling like an outcast, lacking the confidence to do some things I've really wanted to do in life, lacking the confidence to apply for promotions because I knew my competition was thinner, feeling like I was a disappointment to my size 8 mother and an embarassment to my oh-so-popular brother, believing that no one would ever love me the way I am, and the list goes on... I am being banded on 18th August, so I can't really guide you through the process as I haven't done it... but if you decide to go through with it, we can do this together. I have added you to my MSN contacts in case you want to chat, my ident is kelsha@.

Hello I amin Australia and don't have to have a psych consult, but my dietician's appointment is on 13th June. I am not too stressed about it, lord knows I've seen dieticians many times before. So I guess I'm not much help, but just wanted to say welcome, congratulations and best of luck!

Fantastic! Welcome to the forums, and best wishes on your journey to finding a happier, healthier, hotter you!

How exciting! Best of luck to you! MissK x x

I'm sorry your husband is finding this tough, have you asked him outright why he gets upset when you talk about it? Would he consider doing it to? It would be an amazing process to go through together. Best wishes for your surgery! MissK x x

I am SO with you on that, TT... it's only the name of a shake for goodness sake! I would have been seriously irritated at that. My surgeon has never hidden what shakes he wants me to use (optifast) and, in fact, in a little over a week I am going to start using them earlier than he suggested for my daytime Meal Replacements and still have dinner at night until the pre-op diet commences and THEN replace dinner with the shake as well. It's my personal pre-pre-op diet... lol

It depends on the motivations of your surgeon as well; my surgeon is interested in the long term health benefits, the reversal or avoidance of type 2 diabetes and other associated medical conditions; for his older patients, he assesses them very closely to see whether he honestly believes there will be a substatial long term health benefit and also assesses them on whether he truly believes they are able to put in the hard work required in terms of diet and exercise to make the band really work. So from what I can tell, he doesn't say "no" automatically, but older people are closely scruitinised.

I am an August bander, my surgery will be on 18th August

Hi there I am in Australia and did not have a LOT of hoops to jump through. The surgeon does have a minimum BMI that he likes people to be over, I am not over that BMI but I have a life long medical history of battling my weight and it was clear that my BMI was only going in the wrong direction. I don't have to see a psychologist, but I do have to have a pre and post op session with a dietician. He basically assessed my motives for having the surgery at his consult and made a decision based on our discussions. My surgeon also charges $4000 above the scheduled fee, this is mandatory and is used as a 'piggy bank' to cover all of your post-op care to ensure there are no excuses as to why you can't attend regular check-ups with him.