minpinmom

Hey guys, I thought this was so freakin funny. I pulled up my online status with my Insurance and it shows that the Hospital/Dr.s claim for . . . Drum Roll . . . $46,521.64 My Insurance paid . . . $6783.74 I just thought that was too funny not to share.

I wish I could help, but all I can add are prayers and warm wishes going your way. Good Luck!

Not me, when they wheeled me from recovery, I asked to go to the bathroom - they unhooked my IV and that was that - but a pump sounds pretty cool.

I was everything you mentioned! I never ate healthy - I love to cook and butter makes everything better! I ate all the time, lots of sweets, ate way too much of everything and grazed constantly. I have been banded less than 2 weeks - and I can't believe that I am not hungry after eating 3/4 cup of food. The other night - I had eaten and felt full and still went in and took a bite of lowfat, low sugar icecream and it almost made me sick. I was over-full. I love my band! Had it not been for the band, I would have eaten 1/2 the container.

I was banded 2/19 and have lost 9lbs! Woo Hoo!

I told my Dr. I was getting between 300-400 calories a day on liquids. He said that wasn't enough - Now I am getting 800-1000 a day on mushies. AND LOSING!

Thankfully you are ok. Your Dr., his office and the nurses responsible for your care should be shot! Ok, maybe that is a bit harsh, but a good taser would do wonders for their attitude. You don't even seem bitter - I would be posting the Dr.s name, nurses name, hospital, everything and it wouldn't be nice. Thank God for your nausea, it might have saved your life.

Take a day and calculate how many calories you are consuming. You may not be consuming enough. I was on Clear Liquids and only lost 4lbs in a week, my Dr.s moved me to mushies because he said I wasn't consuming enough - the first 2 days on mushies I lost 5 more lbs! I never knew that eating to little could halt your weight loss.

We must be related! I thought I was the only one whos clothes hid 100lbs! I haven't had anyone attack the idea, but Lord help them if they do. I think it is great that you are excited. I too am so excited. Everyday is now a day that I can change for the better. I remember times on WW or some diet and I would lose a few lbs, deep down, I knew it would come back on. Now, I know it won't. I think I love my band too. Hadn't thought about naming it, but, with I might have to now!

I went to my Dr. for my 1 week followup (on Tuesday) and had lost 4lbs (I was happy), but he said I should have lost more because I was on Clear liquids, (about 400 calories a day) but my body shut down because I wasn't eating enough calories. He put me on mushy foods (800-1000) calories a day and I am down 9lbs (5 of those in the two days I upped my calories) I never thought I would eat too little to lose, but man oh man, it fell off when I upped my calories.

I took the underwire out of my bra and thought that would work - NOPE so I scampered into Lane Bryant told them my problem, they measured, and then added 4" to the width (so it wouldn't be tight) and went DOWN a cup size - it was perfect. It is one of those with a wide band at the bottom. It is only going to fit me for a couple of weeks, it is already getting looser. But man oh man has it been worth it. Before, I walked around holding my boobs to keep them from rubbing my incisions. Sorry for the mental picture there.

Fight! Fight! Fight, Angie Fight! (suposed to be to the old highschool fight song) You know my opinion. They can't force you to use on base facilities. I fought for my husband - wasn't easy, but I did and I won! Don't give up - and don't give them the option. If you tell them and they say no, let me know, I will pull out my old letters that I wrote and I can tell you what chains of command to write to. It only took 2-3 weeks when I went to bat for my hubby. You can do this!

I agree with EVERYTHING you just said. My hubby tells me he loves me the way I am - but I just can't believe that. He never sees me naked - and I am always hiding behind something. I am so self conscious. I hate it. Times are a changin!

Everybody is different. I didn't take any of my pain meds - not even at the Hospital. But the surgery hits people very different. I would tell your Dr. and see what he says. I found that walking around (slowly) helped me a lot. Every now and again, I have to take Tylenol at night because I have overdone it during the day. I am 9 days out.

I was starving around day 4, not so bad in the morning, but by night time, I was an angry, hungry witch! It gets much better once you go onto thicker liquids, (broccoli and cheese Soup was yummy) You may want to call your Dr. about being so hungry, he may have you move up the stages faster - mine did. I was consuming too few calories, so I wasn't loosing very much weight.

I kinda do feel different. I am taking care of my self a little better than before - always putting on smell-good lotions and making sure I have earrings on and my hair is cute. Odd for me - I feel this is my second chance at life. I can't believe it still. I keep trying to explain away my weightloss - like, oh, its probably just water, or maybe I weighed with heavy clothes on, it is hard to believe that I am ACTUALLY losing weight. I love my band. Your time will come - it will seem like forever, but it will come and when you find out, time will freakin fly! I haven't had time to process everything!

In every experience I have had - dealt with me waiting on the INSURANCE company - as was my Dr.s office. If I hadn't called my ass off every day - I would still be waiting! I agree - if your Dr.s office is crap and not keeping you updated - call them - but everyone that I have talked to - we are all waiting on the Insurance Company and Lord knows they aren't going to keep you or your Dr.s office updated! Congratulations on getting your approval - sounds like you have waited a long time for it!

I am on mushy stage - and my Dr.s book/pamphlet he gives you with diet information in it, says at this stage eat pears and bananas. Next week I go on normal foods and can have anything, but it suggests pealing all fruits and NOT eating the tough part on an orange/grapefruit. Hope this helps!

My Dr. doesn't have any enrollment fee. I had a $12.00 copay and $11.00 hospital stay that I had to pay due to my Insurance, but nothing to my Dr. He didn't even charge me for follow-ups. It may be worth your money to travel further to a different Dr. That is a LOT of money!

OK, time for some fun. I have had my surgery - but still haven't received the letter in the mail! Too funny. I had my insurance company fax and fax and fax until finally the Dr.s office got it. They finally got the approval (via fax), and I was scheduled for preop the next day and surgery 5 days later! Keep calling and BECOME the biggest pain in the butt your insurance company has ever had. (Mine has to log each time I call) waahaaahaaa (Wendy's evil laugh)

Last night I made Ricotta cheese with enchilada sauce (I added some other things - black beans,cilantro, low fat mozzarella - but I am on the mushy stage) but that may be a good match I baked mine till it was bubbly. yumm.

Wow, I don't know that one. Lucky you to be in Germany, my sister and I were born in Frankfurt - my family spent 9 years there and loved it, we returned stateside when I was about 2 so I don't even remember it. I don't have a clue about Tricare remote -sorry.

The powder - I have to add ice to it when I blend it - also about 1 tsp low fat peanut butter to the chocolate makes it pretty good. My Dr. won't allow powders once you have been banded, you have to drink the pre-canned kind - I still put them in my bullet with a couple cubes of ice, it really changes the consistancy.

You need to get an online account with Tricare, that way you can see your referral go through in real time. Mine normally takes about 4-5 days, depending on how fast YOUR Dr.s office is. As soon as Tricare gets it, it take about 1 day (in my experience). Go to your Tricare West website and there should be some way for you to log in. (on Tricare South, you log in with SS# and then change your login info after that)

I had my 1 week follow-up yesterday - got to love a 5PM appointment downtown. Took me 2+ hours to get home (normally a 55 min drive). But the appointment went awesome! Dr. Spiegel came in, took the steri-strips off and said my incisions look great! (I was afraid the strips would hurt when they removed them - but they didn't) The incisions are soooo small - I can't imagine him getting any tools in there. I had only lost 4lbs, he said he had expected me to loose more on the clear liquids. I told him I was only getting about 500 Calories a day, he said that was why I wasn't loosing. :-) I was supposed to start the Thicker liquids stage yesterday, but he moved me up to the mushy stage! I was so happy I wanted to kiss him. When we got home last night, I made baked Tilapia 3 whole ounces and 1 bite of mashed potatoes. I ate my fish first (took like 20 minutes) and was no longer hungry. I am totally amazed. I know it will go away and I will soon be able to eat more, but I just can't believe it actually works. Wow. This morning I got up, ate Cream of Wheat (Oh My GOD was it good). For lunch I had part of a dry baked potato with some low-fat Broccoli and Cheese Soup I made for my thick liquid stage. I didn't even eat 1/2 of my potato - normally I would have eaten all of that, part of a sandwich and chips and coke and cookies. Oh, and overnight - don't ask me how, I lost 2 more lbs. I am down 6 pounds! I just can't believe it. It is odd though, I keep fixing my plate thinking, yea right, like that will fill me up, and there is ALWAYS lots of food left. I have to admit, the hardest part is NOT drinking during or after. I feel parched. I am not much of a soda drinker, so that won't affect me much, but I am so used to drinking with my food. I had to take my drink and put it in the fridge so I wouldn't grab it by mistake!