montynic

Congrats on your success thus far! Keep up the great work!

langes21~ Looks like you and I are getting banded on the same day... Hooray for 4/1!! Congrats on the pre-op diet weight loss. I started mine on the 10th and have dropped from 328 to 315. Only 15 more days! Hopefully we can stay in touch :cursing:

Congrats & Happy Birthday! I hope everything went smoothly and can't wait to hear about it.

The policy at my surgeon's office is that you must have your insurance authorization in your possession for at least 5 business days before calling and bugging the office to schedule your surgery. (I guess this is to prevent people from calling incessantly.) Anyways, I impatiently waited the 5 days before calling the office and they told me that they had not received the authorization yet... after a few days of calling, faxing, and waiting... I finally got the call back from the office to schedule my surgery. All together, I had my authorization in my hand for 3 weeks before I was able to actually schedule the surgery.

As ketosis sets in during your lo-carb pre-op diet, many changes begin taking place in your body. Most people only notice the odor emanating from their mouth, but some people are attune enough to their own scent to notice the different smell all over their body... Hang in there... and don't worry too much, considering your husband can't smell it :scared2:

Congrats! That's awesome! Mine is April 1st... looks like we will be banded soon! Hopefully you are not as impatient as I am though... :scared2:

As you can see from my signature, I attended the info session on 1/4, went to my initial consult on 1/18, and am scheduled for surgery on 4/1. My Dr. said the average time from start to finish is 3-4 months if the insurance company does not require a 6 month medically-supervised pre-op diet. My process will be just under 3 months. Obviously, any medical conditions that surface may delay the process as well... That being said, I definitely agree that everyone's journey is different!... And I am very impatient as well :-)

I am a fan of Isopure Protein Powder and Isopure bottled beverages from GNC. Each scoop of powder has 25g Protein and each 20oz bottle has 40g protein. So far, my liquid diet schedule has been as follows: powder in my morning coffee (to make either a mocha or latte), powder in milk for a snack, serving of sugarfree Jello pudding (with powder added to the mix) for lunch, powder in milk for another snack, and a cup or 2 of broth for dinner (and sometimes either sugarfree jello or a popsicle if I feel like dessert)... approx. 600 calories, 120g protein, and 25g carbs...

Try to hang in there. The 16th is just around the corner. Make sure you are getting enough Protein in your liquid diet, as the protein helps make you feel full longer. I have been doing a liquid pre-op since 3/10 and am averaging around 120g of protein a day... For what it's worth, I have not been hungry at all... I guess all of us respond differently. Good luck!

I, like you, will just have to wait and see what is in store for my ginormous thighs... when I did my measurements before starting my pre-op diet, each of my thighs were 34 inches! I plan on using lots of lotion, Vitamins, spandex, and exercise... But "thunder thighs" run in my family; even in the super-skinny people.

You guys can definitely loose the necessary 10lbs! I started a pre-op diet on 3/10 consisting of: 3 shakes made with Isopure Protein powder, 1 serving of sugarfree Jello pudding with Isopure powder added to it, and a couple servings of broth in the evening. I am also making sure that I drink at least 64oz of Water per day. When I got on the scale this morning I saw that I have lost 10lbs already in the past 5 days! Granted, it is just Water weight, but it is still 10lbs! (Started this process at 325, started the pre-op diet at 328, weighed 318 this morning)

Good luck to all of us! April is just around the corner!

I completely agree with everyone. I haven't been under 200 since Junior year of high school, in 1999. I know I will cry WHEN (not if) I see 199 again. I haven't been under 300 in so long that I think I will even cry when I see 299. I am currently down to 320, from a max of 360. My surgeon set a goal weight for me of 175, but I would love to see around 140'ish... afterall, I am only 5'5".

Here's hoping we all reach our goals! :frown:

That's awesome! I think about that all the time when clients come into my office... there is this one horrible chair with skinny arms in the lobby and I can't wait to fit in it without exploding over the edges.

I'm being banded on 4/1 and my 26th birthday is 4/3... Happy Bday to me!

I'm also on day #2 of liquids... My Dr. does not require a pre-op diet, but I am doing one anyway because I would like to jump-start my weight loss, would like to maximize the shrinkage of my liver, and would like to get accustomed to not eating solid foods for a while. My surgery is on 4/1. Considering my BMI is so high, I figured a 3-week pre-op diet will be great. Good luck to everyone having surgery on 3/24!!!

My surgery is scheduled for 4/1... 2 days before my 26th birthday and 3 days before Easter... I'm getting so excited!!! 23 more days, and counting... Surgery is in Sacramento, CA... I have actually told quite a few people, most of whom have been receptive and supportive.

I'm tentatively scheduled for 4/1, but that might be changed to 4/15. I will know for sure within a day or so.

My surgery was supposed to be in March, but through matters beyond my control, it ended up getting scheduled in April. I am so excited! I can hardly wait! It feels like this process has taken forever, even though it has only been since January... of course, I have very little patience :wink:

Congrats! I got my approval in the mail today as well. I wish my surgery was as soon as yours... my doctor is scheduled 6-8 weeks out, and she only does this surgery on the first and third Thursday of every month.

Awesome! I love it!

Hi Fern. Welcome! You join this thread by clicking on "thread tools" and scrolling down to "subscribe to this thread." Once you have done that, make sure to join the social group Spring into March 2010 Bandsters. I don't have an exact surgery date yet, but I will probably be banded near 3/15.

Hey everyone... Just a reminder that we all should join the "Spring into March 2010 Bandsters" social group so that we have a convenient place to stay in contact and support each other... :-) With Feb starting on Monday, March is just around the corner!!! :biggrin:

Hey NYSparklegirl~ I'm so glad to see that I'm not the only person who originally joined the Feb Bandsters thread who has been booted to March!!! :biggrin: I'm not sure how... but we should start a March 2010 Social Group and come up with a name and logo...

About me... my name is Nicole. I am 25 and live in CA. I'm a therapist. I am 5'5" and my starting weight was 325. According to my surgeon, my goal weight needs to be 175, although I would not mind reaching around 140.

Date of Surgery: Tentatively set for March 5th (but at least I know it will definitely be in March)

Where Surgery will be: Mercy San Juan Hospital in Sacramento, CA

Doctor/Center: Laura Machado/Sacramento Bariatric Medical Associates

Seminar date: Jan 4th, 2010

1st consult date: Jan 18th

Surgeon-required pre-op tests (EKG, chest x-ray, labs) completed: Jan 20th

Insurance-required Nutrition Consult date: Jan 27th

Insurance-required Psych Eval date: Feb 5th

How is surgery funded? Blue Shield of CA Insurance

Concerns? I don't actually have any... possibly the result of extensive research and knowing several people who have undergone the procedure

Reason for banding? Probably the same reasons everyone else decided to have the surgery... I have known for a long time I wanted to have it done, but it was not until Jan 2010 that my insurance covered it to an extent that I could afford it.

You will probably need to check with your doctor, as they all seem to have different requirements... For example, mine does not require me to reduce my caffeine intake at all. I average 4-6 cups of pretty strong black coffee per day.

My timeline is as follows:

Jan 4 - informational session

Jan 18 - initial consultation

• this is where I was informed of the specific requirements of my insurance (such as nutrition consult and psych eval) as well as the specific pre-op tests required by my surgeon
  
• My insurance is Blue Shield of CA... the only requirements I could find regarding bariatric surgery were the minimum BMI of 35... apparently any other requirements are only known by the surgeon (which makes sense, considering they deal with our insurance companies far more than we do)
  
• I was informed that insurance authorization will not be requested until I have completed all my pre-op tests, as those reports are sent to the insurance company in support of the claim that the surgery is medically necessary
  

Today - mandatory Pre-op tests... EKG, chest x-ray, and labs

Jan 27 - nutrition consult

Feb 5 - psych eval

Tentative surgery date - 3/5

Hope this helps. Good luck on your journey!