shues138

Also, I would call the insurance company to see if WLS surgery was excluded for this year and not last year. You said that the mds office called in September to verify coverage. If they provided CPT codes and ICD-9 codes, they would have advised right then and there that bariatric surgery would not be covered. That could be a possibility that they would pay for it in 2011 and not 2012. Also, the doctor's are usually good about this because if it gets denied the MD doesn't get paid and they don't like that. The same thing happened to me, it happened to be the insurance companies fault. They kept saying the sx would be covered and when the authorization was submitted it was denied for a contract exclusion. I had to pay out of pocket. Hang in there, insurance companies suck, I work with them every darn day.

Yesterday I went to my lapband doctor for a fill. Now, I'm an old timer with a 4 cc band, so when I see you guys getting a whole cc in a fill I'm thinking to myself "lucky" before my fill yesterday I had 2.5 ccs in a 4 cc band. Today I now have 2.75 ccs in a 4 cc band. I asked why such small fills, and was told that it will make me keep coming back gotta love doctors lol. But on a good note, since my last doctor's visit I lost 7 pounds and am at 288 lbs. 8 lbs to where I was when I had my gall bladder taken out in September. I feel so good about that. The APRN asked what I did to lose the weight I told her "not put food in my mouth, excercise, and will power because I'm hungry". So for the rest of the day yesterday I was on liquids, had a protein shake and some soup. Today I'm on liquids (so far just coffee--hey it's a liquid!). Tomorrow and Thursday mushies and Friday back to my normal eating. After the mds appointment I got home, got dressed for the gym and started the c25k program. I'm not going to lie I was out of breath, but from what I hear from other people on this forum that do c25k the next time it gets easier I sure hope so. I told my friend that I wanted to run a 5k next Easter, she told me an inspiring story about how her mom's friend was in a plane crash two years ago; had her legs and one arm amputated; now is being fitted for prosthetics and they want her to do a 5k next year as well. That right there is an inspiring story, mine is so insignificant to that. I will be rooting for her every step of the way. Today I'm going to the gym to do some weight training on the upper body, nothing crazy. Just want to build some muscle and see if that revs up my metabolism. I mean 7 lbs a month is not bad, but I would like to lose about 10 lbs a month. Also when we go to Key West my dad and I are doing some serious fishing so I want to have some upper body strength to reel in a big one! Oh yeah, just checked my calender 25 days until vacation! I saw on the forums this morning about a skinny bucket list. I think I have a few I want to jot down, and maybe one day look back and say "yup did them all". Here goes: 1) Go to Kleinfeld's in NYC to get my wedding dress and not shop from the plus size bridal line 2) Look proportionate to my friends 3) Be one of those people who love to run! 4) When I am a mother, be an active one. 5) Wear a two piece bikini 6) Get some sexy lingere, panties, bras etc (I like my stuff to match Lane Bryant does not lol) 7) Live a long, healthy life 8) Shop in any store in the mall 9) Borrow clothes from my friends Well I guess that's all I can think of today. Hope everyone has a good day and stay positive!

Thank you so much! I hope I accomplish them too, I know I will in due time (esp the wedding dress shopping and kids lol)

I'll be honest, at first I tried to put myself in the mindset of "I love to excercise" but to be honest it sucks! But guess what, I have to do it, right now I'm doing c25k which right now only takes a half hour out of my day three days a week. The other two days I do weights at the gym while watching tv, so how hard is that? In defense of some people who have very busy and unpredictable schedules (I was one of them) you sometimes lose that motivation to go to the gym when you're up and down 20 plus times a day from a desk. The job I have now thankfully is very structured hours, I sit at a desk all day and only get up to make coffee, go to the bathroom or get water lol. But by the end of the day I have pent up energy to get out and going to the gym helps. I hate it, but I do it!

Checking in at 288

We've all been there, many will admit it too. Just make sure your next meal is a good choice! I feel so guilty when I eat something bad that I'm to the point now that I don't eat it because I don't want to get emotional (for example, crying in the bathroom with my cat on my lap in my own home because I had chips and dip I made for my dbf lol). In regards to drinking you're going to tolerate alcohol a lot differently than you were before. I was out on Friday night with two girlfriends (both of who know I have the band) I hardly ate anything for dinner (and was scolded by one friend, but I was full) then after 3 drinks and acting way too drunk for my liking my friends made me eat half a tuna sandwich (I don't recall this but I was told that today lol) so my suggestion to you is go easy on the wine. Or do half wine and half Water. Or have a glass of wine then a glass of water. If this is your first time with alcohol since being banded only try one glass of wine at home or at a safe place. Also be honest with your friends. I didn't tell my friends until I had a possible complication and they are the most supportive people out of everyone. I mean everyone (well with the exception of everyone on here) it's not this bad thing that you have the band, you're not a failure, it's not an easy way out, it's not a quick fix. Be proud that you went through the surgery, most people couldn't handle what we've been through! And if they judge you in a negative way then they aren't your friends.

I'll give this another go! The only thing is that I'll be out of town for the last weigh in but I'll check in for the other ones! Name, real or screen~ Andrea (shues138) Goal weight for March 30th~ 280 Weight on March 1st~ 288 Age~ 31 Dietary goal for March~ Keep my calories between 1000-1100 don't obsess too much though Exercise goal for March~ Keep up with c25k Personal goal for March~ Lay off on the xanax when I fly on vacation (yeah right, this is a lie! I can't fly without it!) Date banded~ Jan 2007 Total weight loss since banding/pre op diet~ 34 lbs What is your favorite outdoor excercise/activity~ camping, gardening, being a beach bum, walking, riding my bike, fishing

Just wanted to check in, went in for a fill yesterday and down 7 lbs from the last drs appt! Started c25k yesterday so far so good! Have a good day everyone!

I agree with you. Every year we go to Mexico to an all inclusive resort, and for some reason last year I was REALLY tight and could not enjoy any food (drinks on the other hand lol) and here's my dbf eating everything in sight. I was only able to have 1 or 2 bites of anything. But I realized in the end this is how the band is supp to do the work. Unfortunately I haven't felt that much restriction since, but we're (the md and I) are working on it Keep up the good work!

Yeah going back to work was tough for me since my job was a lot of getting up and down I was exhausted but after a week I was back to normal!

Also, if it ends up being too tight, the doctor will take you in right away for an unfill. Good luck

This morning I went on a rant in the forums about my Friday night. Now I'm over it, and I don't care. I finally broke down and called my mom and told her what happened. My mother, who grew up in the 1960's and was what the kids call today "straight edge" probably gave the best advice: "get over it, clubs have been doing this for years, they want a certain 'look' and if you don't fit that look either pay or go home" whoa mom! How do you even know about clubs in the first place? Actually she does my dad took my mom to a disco on their first date and proposed to her on the dance floor of a disco (picture John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever doing the hustle and saying "marry me Bonnie" lol) But I guess she was right, oh well it's their loss because I probably would have spent a lot of money there. The rest of the weekend was alright. I slept most of Saturday made dinner for the dbf, which was a test for me, since I haven't eaten pasta since my last fill and guess what I can eat??? Pasta!!! What the heck?!?!?! My lapband doctor has me fill out a questionnaire before I fill to determine if I'm in the green zone. Here are some of the questions, and if you're a newbie or an old timer (like me) then maybe it could be questions you ask yourself time to time: Are you throwing up? Nope If so how often? Can you eat meat? Yes Can you eat chicken? I hate chicken! Can you eat pasta? Yup Can you eat rice? Yup Can you eat bread? Yup Are you feeling hungry between meals? Yup Are you drinking at least 64 ounces of water a day? Yup Are you excercising? Yup Then they ask what I ate the day before. Sundays for me are usually hit or miss. Yesterday I had a couple of tablespoons of leftover dip with some baked tostitos and a frozen dinner that's it. IDK what it is about Sundays but I don't eat that much. Well that's all I'll let everyone know how it goes tomorrow with my fill

So this past Friday was my best friend's birthday (it's a trio of us, my friend the bday girl, and another friend of mine and me). She wanted to go to the local casino's night club for her birthday and her boyfriend paid for a room for her to stay there. I was all pumped up for it until that night and I don't know why or what happened, but I feel like I need to vent to you guys here because you're the only people who would understand. When I got out of work I met my friend (non bday girl) at her office (we all work for the same organization three different departments and three different offices lol) we were going to go to her house and get ready and then head out to the casino. We were running so far behind, we had to go to the mall so my friend could get a dress for the club, then we had to get something to eat. We had to wait in this LONG line in the food court because it's lent and she can't eat meat. So we finally get shrimp from the hibachi and she's like chowing it down in 3 minutes (mind you she knows I had the sx, her aunt had it too, so she knows I can't eat fast) so I literally had three shrimp and had the throw the rest out. We get back to her house by the time we leave for the casino it's like 9:30 pm, we didn't get up there until 10:30 or so, and we had to get ready in the room. That's when it started with me, I don't know if it was from the lack of food or the fact that I was the only one there who wasn't young, skinny and gorgeous, or the fact that my bf couldn't go bc he had to work and everyone had their bfs or husbands with them, but I put on my dress, put on my make up and jewlery and I just thought to myself "I look like s*&%" and you got to understand my friends are GORGEOUS just beautiful women inside and out and so are their husbands/bfs whatever. I'm not putting any blame on them, because they could tell something was wrong and they are like "you look great, you're fine" but I couldn't put that in my head. We head down to the club and the deal is free cover until 11pm. So we have our IDs checked then head over to get our wrist bands. Well my two friends get in free, and I get up to the register and the girl goes "10 dollars" for what? She's like "it's 11pm" my watch said 10:58 so I just paid and shut up I knew it was because of how I looked but I didn't care, until we get into the club and swear on my life I was the only "obese" person there. It totally sucked it was like model h$*& where do these people come from? And trust me this isn't Vegas or Monte Carlo this is Connecticut not anything fancy trust me! So then a tiff happened between the couples, and the birthday girl left me and my other friend went with her. The boys I guess went back to the room to drink. Once we left that club I felt SO much better! IDK maybe because I felt like I was discrimanated against because of my weight which to be honest I never thought happened to me or I put blinders on idk. The bday girl found another bar for us to go to and the atmosphere was so much better! The guys at the door got a table for us because of my friend's birthday we got a comp bottle of champagne and the patrons were so friendly and down to earth. It's crazy how a change of venue can make a person feel. We talked to some guys and they bought us all drinks. I literally had three drinks the whole night and woke up the next morning with the WORSE hangover! What is with that? We ended up staying the night at the casino. So my question is: why did I feel the way I did? Is this normal? What should I do the next time? Why was I so hungover (this one is a joke lol) I just don't know why this happened and it sucks because it's my friend's birthday and I didn't want to screw things up but I def didn't. Sorry about rambling I had to get this off my chest.

When I go for a fill I usually have to fill out a questionnaire that helps determine if I need a fill and how much of a fill for example: can you eat bread or Pasta? chicken? meat? Are you feeling full between meals? Also, it helps discussing with your surgeon if you feel like you're in the green zone or not. Let them know what you're eating including the Cookies and chips, if they give you a fill your stomach is going to be swollen, usually it's liquids for the rest of the day and the day after then soft foods for two days and then solids. Your doctor may have different instructions. But if you're honest and put it all out there, they may give you a fill. I'm going in for a third fill today and I already have the answers in my head "yes I can eat pasta/bread/rice yes I'm hungry, give me my darn fill!" Good luck

Thank you so much, I really appreciate your input. It's so weird but when I go out with my bf or friends for drinks or whatever, I don't have a problem. I think it was just the whole club aspect of it and also at 31 I'm a little too old to be shaking my @$$ at a club anyway

I had my GB taken out in September, hope you're feeling better! Did they give you a stool softener to take? Sometimes that helps if you're having that problem. Also, just an fyi sometimes your body adjusts to not having a gall bladder, and it happened to me. We always hear about roux en y pts getting "dumping syndrome" that's what it felt like I was going to the bathroom 5X a day. Anything I ate that had a little bit of fat sent me to the bathroom! I'm fine now, actually I recovered so well I gained 30 pounds in three months! I always thought I had heartburn so I could never eat salsa, gravy (sauce, whatever), margaritas and now I could have them all, and it showed! Back on the wagon, pretty much lost all that weight that I gained (13 lbs to go) but what a wake up call! Get well soon!

I know I'm obsessing too much about things when I have dreams about them. The other night I had a dream that my boyfriend's roommate (who is a female, and don't worry her bf lives with them as well) went over to my boyfriend's mother's house to drink and my boyfriend decided he'd rather do that than hang out with me. Now he knows that his roommate bothers me (which she does, that could be a whole blog for another day) and it bothers me that I still haven't met his mother (but yet the roommate has, anyway, moving on, because who is really reading thing?) So, last night I had a dream about getting a fill at my mds office, it was so realistic! It wasn't anything crazy, just a fill lol. But I know what is bothering me. I'm an old timer with a 4cc lap band implanted. Right now there is 2.5 ccs and I have been feeling some restriction until lately (for me, knowing there is no restriction is my stomach growling. I usually tell people that's not real hunger but that's bull$!*t and I'm sorry if anyone believed me). What if she puts in another cc on Monday and I still have no restriction? She is also measuring the saline by taking it out to see if any seeps out every month. What if there's a leak? OMG I need not to obsess about this! Tonight is casino night. My one friend and I aren't staying over. Everyone is bringing their boyfriends or husbands. Mine can't go because he works on Saturdays. Also he is being a little cranky lately because he hasn't been able to sleep much. Saturday I'm going to clean, do laundry, and make dinner for the bf we'll probably just watch a movie. Sunday IDK what I'm going to do, but that's my fabulous weekend. Also I would like to announce that officially on Monday I'm going to start c25k and also some weight training I was going to put if off until March, but what's one week early going to do? Kill me? Well if you don't hear from me Tuesday morning you know the answer lol. Have a good weekend

I can't wait to get stuck on sushi! I love sushi and I could probably eat it 3x a day! DBF and I went out last Saturday for sushi and I was hoping I would get stuck so all I could eat is sashimi and of course it didn't happen Monday I go in for another fill, I'm hoping this one gets me in the green zone. If I don't talk to you all, have a great weekend!

Nothing new to report here from my neck of the woods. Totally unmotivated to go to the gym yesterday, but I did it, brisk walk on the treadmill for a half hour and I was sweating, sore today. Going back to the gym again tonight. This weekend is going to be tough. Tomorrow night is my friend's birthday party at the casino--so nervous about that and what/how I'm going to eat. My two best girlfriends who are going (one is the birthday girl the other is another good friend) know that I have the lapband so they don't think it's odd how I eat, but the tradition is the day after our night of festivites we go to a diner and get food. Usually I get an omlette with cheese, mushroom, and all the fixins'. I think this time it'll be an egg white omlette with veggies a little cheese and fruit. Saturday night the bf wants shrimp scampi think I can handle 4 oz of shrimp and a little pasta, but I still get so worried. Sunday my friend wants us to come to her house for birthday cake, but I think I'm going to pass since Monday I'm going for a fill and with my luck the scale won't move I totally b*$#)!d the other day that I lost only 1.5 lbs in a week, when I looked back at my blog and read about all the crap I ate, 1.5 lb loss is actually pretty darn good. Pat on the back for me! I already planned out my meals for the next couple of weeks. For breakfast I found a Mexican Breakfast Casserole on the Allergan lap-band website. For lunch I'm going to make baked falafels, and make like a half sandwich with a sandwich thin, put a little hummus on there and lettuce and falafels. Dinner I'm going to try a recipe for general tso's tofu. Browsing these forums the other day, a member asked what the deal is the obsession with food post op? For me, it's not "oh my god I can't wait to try that" it's "wow this is healthy, it's high in protein and it's going to taste way better than the crap I used to eat" if that's a bad obsession, then I'm a bad person I used to eat in the cafeteria here at work all the time, and it was always bad things. Now I bring in my breakfast and lunch I save money, calories, and in the long run my health. The only time I go to the cafeteria is on Fridays and I always get my egg white omlette for breakfast and my tuna sandwich on a multi grain bread (which I can only eat half of lol). Anyway enough rambling, work has to be done, thanks so much for reading and the support on these forums, I hope myself and everyone else we can meet our goals one small (or large) pound at a time!

Yeah I do that or I just order an appetizer. I'm so not into food today! Fortunately there has been a plan change, we aren't spending the night there, just the birthday girl and her bf, so my other friend and I are driving back tonight (she's tired from a spinning class, I'm tired bc I'm old!) but we are going out for dinner tonight IDK where yet.

Will it be an out patient procedure? Good luck with everything too and keep us posted!

I bought a pair of control top workout capris from Kohl's they were by Fila, they are really comfortable and keep everything in place!

I've never had a problem either and my md never put a restriction on flight time, etc. But all the advise the op provided was really good. I always pack my own snacks when I fly because the food in the airport terminals to be honest-sucks and it's nice to have a little "comfort food" from home. For me it's usually a string cheese, yeah I know not creative lol.

I need some suggestions for a good scale to weigh myself with. I want one that is pretty accurate, what does everyone here use and do they like it? Right now I'm using my Wii fit board, need I say more??

That's what I don't want in a scale!! I hate the whole weighing yourself three times fun lol