skinnyoneday

Jemo - that makes it even more impressive. Enigma - thanks for the info. may i ask what your diet has been like since surgery?

Everything. I used to be an avid exerciser in my teens and early 20's. I want to be like that again. I also hide from the world because I feel unacceptable and can relate to not wanting to see people from my past who knew me when I was in shape. one time i was at a laundry and saw a chick - she was no lady - that lived in my building years ago. she said "man! you got fat!" I was so dumbfounded i didn't know what to say. when i was small i was fairly attractive (not being conceited) and i think some people relish when you're attractive and get fat so they could make these types of comments.

Tomorrow is by band day too!!! like everyone else said i am not going to worry about the hair loss issue too much - it'll grow back. Jemo! Wow 32 pounds is great. Was that after the surgery or did that include the preop diet?

Thanks for sharing your experience Lady! I'm having my surgery on Tuesday. I can't wait. This is the first weekend I have wished would fly by.

Hello everyone! I went to NYU for my consult with Dr. Kurian on Monday. I love her. She is so pleasant and easy to talk to. I got to their office at 9 for my appointment. I saw the nutritionist, christina about 5 minutes after I arrived. Most of what she said I had already known except that we are allowed to eat certain veggies. that was a pleasant surprise because the idea of only ingesting liquids for 2 weeks was a little daunting. After that I had to wait 2 hours and 45 minutes to see the nurse (another christina)and then 15 minutes to see Dr. Kurian after that. Everyone was really pleasant and I couldn't believe my luck - everything seemed to be going too smoothly. then I met the insurance coordinator. all i have to say is thank God i did my research on my insurance's policy re bariatric surgery. (my insurance -empire bcbs - states i would need to have a bmi of 40 or bmi of 35 or greater with co-morbid conditions. there was no specification as to how many conditions. it also stated that i would have to have actively participated in nonsurgical means of weight loss - you know - ww, jc, atkins, etc. this along with the other general prereqs (psych, nutrition). As a side note, when i read about how difficult it was to get approval from bcbs of il i compared their policy to my policy and after i did i was confident i would be approved. back to the insurance coordinator. she initially started out telling me that i would need to do the 6 mth diet. then she went on to tell me that because my bmi was below 38 i would need 2 comorbids. thankfully, i had a copy of my insurance's policy with me which did not specify a timeline for the diet or that i needed 2 comorbids. she called empire bcbs and was told that all i would need is 1 comorbid and i would be able to do the surgery on an outpatient basis...YEAH NO OVERNIGHT STAY.....So she told me i was precertified for the surgery. I asked her if that meant i was approved. she again stated precertified - not approved - because it was an outpatient procedure. Huh????!!! Anyway, she asked me when I want to have surgery and i told her ASAP. Surgery is scheduled for 7/15:biggrin2: I will be having my pre-op assessment today and my esophogram on 7/7. I started my preop diet yesterday and it sucks. I had spinach last night for dinner and let me tell you it has never tasted so good. Can someone please explain to me the difference between the terms precertified and approved? Although everything seems to look great this has me hesitant to get excited.

I somewhat understand what you're seeing Eeyore (cute screenname btw). In my experience since this visit they have been somewhat schizophrenic. You know how it is when they need info from you they are super sweet but when you call for info their impatient and kind of rude. I just let it roll over my shoulder.

Hi Lady! I haven't been banded yet either. But was June 17 the day you got banded? If so, how has it been so far, what was your experience in hospital, is there any advice you can give us prebies? Welcome!!!

Hi Jill, I know how you feel and that's how I was too. I'm on the preop diet right now but surprisingly it hasn't been so bad. The second day was hard because I had to cook for the family for the first time on my diet and I was kinda bitter not being able to eat "real" food. 2 days ago was probably my worst because I hadn't had enough slimfasts during the day and by the time 6 pm rolled around I was weak from hunger *i cheated - and would rather not say what I ate. otherwise it's been tolerable. I'm taking it one day at a time and feel it would be somewhat daunting to focus on the diet limitations in the nearer future. We really will have to relearn everything to do with eating but it's worth it.

Hi ladies, I'm in the same boat. My surgery was scheduled for 7/15 and I'm still waiting. I'll be doing some serious stalking tomorrow because I really don't want to have to postpone the surgery.

responses in pink

what no applause smiley?? I agree with sxevan9. You know i was skeptical to begin with but this was a great idea. and forget about the angus burger - if you havent tried it don't go and get yourself in trouble.

I've only told my mom and my brothers and 2 people from work and have asked all of them to keep it quiet. I haven't told my father because even when i was skinny he would say i was fat so he would probably tell me i am taking the easy way out. i feel like an outsider in life in general so i don't have many friends so i can't wait for people who never have anything to say to me to start getting all friendly and asking me what i have done to lose the weight. my answer? diet and exercise.

I'm on my preop diet so I had my usual slim fast and soup throughout the day. I didn't go anywhere but let me tell you i have been craving the mcdonalds angus burger for the longest and the smell of the burgers on the grill was driving me crazy.

thanx for explaining and i now understand what you're saying. will check it out.

will this be a separate site altogether? I hope so and i wouldnt really mind participating. Personally i dont mind just having a thread for this which would discuss the social issues. otherwise why separate ourselves from everyone else. if it aint broke dont fix it. we all pretty much have the same issues regardless of race. do tell...i have never heard anything about black women specifically and loose skin.

Ohhh, she is new. That explains a lot. Well i am going to be optimistic and patiently wait for my approval to come through. There was a full house on Monday but something tells me everyday is a full house with them. Well only one more step before surgery - the esophogram. i can't wait to have all this out of the way.

Thanks for your response Fenton. I will definitely check out your past posts. Personally i didnt mind the wait too much but i was a little pressed for time because my husband had to go to work. fortunately he got to meet dr. kurian and we were able to speak to her together for a few minutes. I have no qualms about nyu whatsoever. i have only heard positive things about the group and very happy with my decision to have it done there.

I sent you a pm

I can relate to so many of the things already posted. Here are some other things: *Taking up two seat positions on the subway *Having to turn sideways to fit through the subway turnstile *Neck fat (my neck is not fat – it’s actually long – think kimora lee simmons) *Feeling trapped in my current job because no one will hire me at this weight. *Being 1 of 2 fat people in an office of at least 25 very attractive women

Great thread indeed! I've been small and in great shape before but I am knock-kneed so I've always been self conscious about going jogging. If and when I have the surgery I plan to be one of those people you see jogging anytime (whether it's sunny, rainy or cold outside). I've always admired people who could be so disciplined and intend to be one of them.

It would be best to call the insurance company. Each one differs. I have empire BCBS and with the exception of the psych eval and nutritionist they cover everything.

Hi everyone, I am still not sure whether I will be able to get banded (don't know if my insurance will cover me) but I was just wondering if the prep stuff (psych evaluation, nutritionist, consult) required time off from work. I only plan on telling my family about it and plan to use vacation time for the surgery so I don't want to take too much time off from work. TIA

Thanks for your responses everyone. I guess it doesn't sound too bad. Did any of you go to NYU for the procedure? If so what was your experience?

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences. Though I will be taking the first step tomorrow (information seminar) and don't even know if I will be approved for this surgery, your posts have been very helpful in giving us a bird eye's view.

Thanks for sharing - very informative. I agree with Lexy it would great to hear others experiences as well. This should be a sticky.