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Wow really lol, that gives me more hope. I m in Sacramento California and do you have Anthem BC through the Medi-Cal program or just Anthem BC it may be different.

I didn't want kids when I was in high school. I was voted the most likely to become President and the most likely to succeed. I wanted college & a career more than anything. After HS grad, I met this amazing blonde boy with blue eyes. He was leaving for the USAF a few months later, but I thought we would would hang out and date till he left. We fell in love, and ran off and eloped 3 days before he left for basic. We were both 18. One year later, we had a little girl, and 19 mo. After that a little boy. I always told people that I didn't have maternal instincts and I had to work twice as hard to be a good mom. Both kids were conceived on BC. My kids were both grown and in college by the time I turned 39! So My husband and i have a lot of great years ahead of us to do whatever we want. I am glad things worked out the way they did, because I am not sure if I would have ever chosen to be a mom in my own. It was an incredible experience and they are the greatest things that ever happened to me. I agree with several other posters...don't let anyone pressure you. Live your life, as there is no road map that leads everyone to a canned life.

just know that it's normal and you just keep trudging along. we never lose as fast as we want and there are times the scale doesn't move. the best thing is to not focus on the number. i'm serious! its a huge mindf**k, and most of us fall into it. it serves no purpose. stay positive, and keep doing what you are doing. don't cut your calories any more. watch the carbs and sugar. make sure everything that goes into your mouth is high in Protein and low in carbs/sugar. how is your bowel program? sometimes you need to increase Fiber to keep things moving through. please dont fall into the 'im a failure, im in a stall' bs you see so often happen. this is a year+/ lifetime process. my other recommendation is to keep track of your weight on a graph. i dont know if mfp has graphs. one good one that does is called libra. it is so cool to see the progress in visual data. i love my graph!!

Hi please bare with me I’ll try to explain my best! so I have Medicare as my primary insurance and state medicaid as my secondary insurance. Typically I don’t get a bill bc the state insurance picks up what Medicare doesn’t pay. Well my surgery is approved by Medicare but the Medicaid is saying they won’t approve it bc they require 1 year free from alcohol/ drugs as I use marijuana for pain management that violates there rules. Typically I follow Medicares rules as they are the primary n the medicaid They would cover the part A Deductible and the leftover copayment 20% etc. I feel like the medicaid denial is based on if they were they primary which they are not. So I basically have no idea of I’ll have a huge bill or not. has anyone been through something similar?

Ah Get the implants! Be happy and proud. I have three kids and the boobs get in the way. I am a 36 c ish , iI have breast fed, had a huge lump removed and I am ready to try the small thing. Then, all shirts fit without an undershirts and i can jump without pain. Porn on Day Dreamer.

My psych appt was in and out probably 10 min and I did this 3 times bc I was scared of surgery so had to redo paperwork multiple times

Now I don’t want to make anyone else jealous, but I just finished my psychiatric evaluation over the phone and it took all of 15 minutes. That’s it. No paperwork. No questionnaires. Done over the phone. No sweat. Granted, this did cost me $400 and it is not covered by my PPO. There was also the option of doing it via skype but since I'd have to do it during work hours and i can't use my company laptop for personal use, so I opted for phone. We arranged for a time for me to call her last week so I called her right on time as planned. She first asked why I was pursuing the surgery. I explained that while my eating has not gotten out of control, my various ailments including a bad back that may require surgery, arthritis in my shoulders and bone spurs in both big toes have made it difficult if not impossible to exercise without pain. I have not been increasing my portion sizes over the last few years as my weight climbed, but without the ability to burn off the excess calories I just kept getting bigger. Next, she asked some medical history questions (I never drink to excess because I’m allergic to alcohol and I’ve never smoked or taken illegal drugs) then asked if I was an emotional eater, a binge eater, a habitual eater or a miscellaneous eater, i.e. problems like portion control, which we’d already covered and I’d already identified myself as being. We went into a little detail about my current eating habits and previous weight loss attempts, which had mostly been successful when I could exercise freely. She asked about the kind of support I’ll have for the surgery and during my recovery at home. I explained that my daughter (who graduates from college this Friday with a BS in psych and a 3.7 GPA, thank you very much) will be taking me to and from the surgery. That’s because when I have it in late May/early June, my wife will still be recovering from knee replacement surgery. So, my kids (my freshman son was nominated by a professor for membership in an honors society that only admits 15 kids from each graduating class at his school, again, thank you very much) will be taking care of both of us. We consider it only a tiny portion of the payback they owe us for putting them through a private college. Finally, she went into a little detail about the required post-surgical changes in habits, such as measuring and logging food and sticking to the prescribed post-surgical plans, and asked if I thought I’d be able to handle. Having read through this board, some FB groups and all the literature I got from the surgeon’s office at my initial consult, I repeated everything back to her chapter and verse to confirm I know exactly what’s expected of me. I also told her that I’m far too cheap to spend all the money on the surgery only to throw it all away with bad habits. She asked if I knew about the types of complications that could arise, so again I referenced this board and the FB groups, explaining I’ve learned a lot about the types of problems that come up most frequently. She asked if I had any fear of the surgery and I said I’ve had many surgeries in my life, so I’m not afraid of it, plus I know that for each person who complains about a post-surgical ailment, there are probably fifty who do not have that problem so the odds are clearly in favor of not having complications. That was pretty much it. She said the approval will be on its way to my surgeon by the end of the day. I gave her my email address so she could send me some literature she likes to send all of her patients and her contact information in case I had any further questions. I am not kidding when I say it took me twice as long to write this as the phone call itself. With this and my endoscopy both out of the way, all I’ve got left before submitting for approval is my final visit with the nutritionist and the pre-op visit with my PCP who’ll also take care of my chest x-ray and EKG. The only real problem between now and the surgery is avoiding the temptation of pigging out at my daughter's graduation party...

And of course someone who had surgery 17 years ago, failed and then a repeat 2 years ago does not even post their statss....your opinion really means a lot. Why don't you tell YOUR story of regain and where your are now. But jump in and run your mouth. pure class. There is no high horse, I am just working hard on making the changes I need to to feel better and be healthier. I don't seek or need the approval of others but I am fed up with the bullying that occurs on this site. I come here for information and friendship only. I do not need to try to denigrate others for their choices or make others feel like they are ignorant. You want to eat a ton of carbs that is your decision. Much easier to jump on that carbage bandwagon and have a muffin with the delusional and very rude queen of crappy carbs. Most people on here do not need to tear others down with their delusional stupidity but clearly you do.

I started walking the night after surgery lol and continued only cardio for about 3mos, then I started doing arms/legs/back/chest.I didnt start doing stomach exercises until 6mos just bc I was being a total worry bug and was afraid I'd flip my port ;-/ you can def.start with weights earlier though I'm sure.looking back I'm not really sure why I waited 3mos to start.

I am doing well. Wednesday was my 3 week mark. My clothes are already feeling better I went to my first support group meeting last night and am still learning how I feel and how this process works for me. Congrats on your loss so far!!from my pre-op start on 10-16 I am down 25 pounds so far. I hit a little stall when I was moving in to week 3 but the NUT and Bariatric Coordinator says that's natural bc your body is adjusting. Thanks for checking in!

I am 4 months out and was going thru the same thing. I talked to my diatician and increased my calories to 1000-1100 because I wasnt eatting enough. I was constantly hungry and found myself snacking a lot. I started working out 5 days a week and my body was in starvation mode. Now I use my fitness pal and track every single thing that goes into my mouth and all of my activities. I have only one protien shake a day by primer protien bc its 30g of protien a day and only 1g of sugar. I love all their flavors. Usually I have it for breakfast with a greek yogurt. I also plan every single meal and snack for the day and put it in my fitness pal the day before. If its not in my lunch box or recorded in my fitness pal it doesn't touch my lips. Someone told me this and it has really been my montra and what keeps me so on track and dedicated to the daily planning: If you fail to plan you plan to fail. And since I have been living by this the last few weeks the scale has been finally moving.

I have the copper IUD. I got it 3 years ago. LOVE IT, I refused to go on any more hormonal BC for the last 15 years, since I gained a lot of weight with all the different pills and Depo Provera that I tried back then. The copper IUD caused more bleeding and cramping for the first few months but by 6 months everything was back to how it was pre-IUD. I love it. And it only has to be replaced every 10 years, which is nice, not that I think I will have it that long, as we want to have a baby in the next couple years. Good luck. Gwen

OMG. I am now 12 weeks prego and starting at 4 weeks all the way to 8 weeks I was puking my guts up. Probably like 20-30 times a day. At the end point, I was just eating to be able to actually throw up food instead of stomach acid. Durring this time, I had 1.2cc in a 4cc band and could not make it out to my local fill center to get an unfill because I was so sick. My OB gave me Zofran (witch is I believe the strongest antinausia med you can take,not positive though) I also got phenergan suppositories since anything going in my mouth was comming right back out. Eventually, I had lost 15lbs and was so dehydrated (and had not peed it 3 days) and fed up I went to the ER and was given 4 bags of IV fluid. Even with all that fluid I still didn't urinate that day or the next morning so I went to my OB and they immediately admitted me and I was in the hospital for 4days on IV's. Upon arrival at the hospital I was immediately seen by a GI doc (due to throwing up blood) and a Bariatric surgeon (due to the band still being filled) They ordered an xray of the band and immediately unfilled the band. Luckily the band had not slipped (THANK GOD!!!!) and after the unfill and 4days and 10lbs of fluid put back into my body I have not thrown up since. It was really rough. So if there is anything I can advise people that are acutally throwing up constantly, make it your first priority to get your band unfilled. I personally think that if my band was unfilled I probably would not have gotten into such bad shape as I was in. I was hoping to actually leave my fill in through out the pregnancy because it was not that tight, but I'd rather be healthy and pregnant than skinny and pregnant. This time baby is priority and not me. Even though this was an accidental pregnancy!!!

My FIL says I should just back away from the table. What BS!

The mortality stats I have consistently heard from the Centers of Excellence I considered was 0.2-0.3%.....or 2-3 people per 1000. And they said their rates where that high BC they are the go-to people in my region, and they try and fix other doctor's mistakes. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Well SHOOT!! I typed all of my stuff and lost it!! I have heard people say that my WLS didn't work. I don't totally agree with this. But like was said it is the choices that we make. Now the Lap Band failing I have 1st hand in knowing about. As you see my hubby had his for 13 years. He lost 100#'s with it but never met his goal. Yes, he did eat around it but it also was damaged during a fill, more surgery. Then in 2013 he went in for a revision to a RNY. It had eroded into his liver. Failed surgery. Then he got abscesses. Was deathly sick for 9 months 3 of which he doesn't remember. His Surgeon dropped him in the middle of his treatment, told him to go to his PCP or the ER. But hubby was so desperate he went back to this Dr again. Then he told him that he was a PROBLEM CHILD and he wouldn't do the surgery. He referred him to Portland, Oregon OHSU one of the best Bariatric Centers. They said they would try to do the RNY but he needed to lose 25#'s and get his A1C down to a 7 or 8. Which doesn't sound to hard right. He couldn't do both, if his Blood Sugar was good his weight went up and the same for his weight down BS up. In the mean time we find out he has Kidney Cancer but there is nothing they can do until he loses 150#. So down to Mexico self paid surgery. When they get in there he couldn't do the Rny because his whole right side is solid scar tissue so he gets the SLEEVE. This was June 3, 2016 to this day he has lost 60#'s. So pardon me when I say it isn't always easy to get another WLS. It makes me so mad when I hear someone say well, I'll jus ge a revision if it doesn't work out. We don't always get what we want. Now I'm not saying he did everything he could to lose his weight but darn the problems his weight has caused us!!! So I guess I'm saying in some cases yes a revsion is in order but if it is just because THE WLS didn't work, then they do need to go thru more counseling to make sure that their mind is on what needs to be done!!

Isopure Jello shooters!! :lol0: LOLOL!! now THAT is going to be something i try for sure if i go thru with this surgery! this is absolutely where i need to be!! you guys are some seriously creative Protein people!! :lol0: sounds like they might not be TOO bad if u use ur favorite jello flavor! :lol0: :thumbup: ron - ps - ur not failing! Hey! ur still in the game bc you're still TRYING! for sure try the grazing method - and i don't know much about the DO'S AND DON'TS here - but how bout some miso Soup with some SUPER puree soy peices in it?? soy in the pre-cut small cube form from health food stores is really soft and u can puree it to make it smaller and make it even mushier with miso soup or even chicken broth!

5'4" | 56yo Female | 133.4lbs | 17mos po | WLM (weight loss mode) | 60+ walking ***************************** Wow great choices from your meal out! It sounds lovely! And way better than what my day ended up being. I'm thinking I'll try today, but I may start entering my day retroactively. So today I'd post yesterday's menu. But we'll see. Today I may actually be able to stay on plan--yesterday needed to wing it. Am having some tummy issues from the surgeon having to manhandle my guts a couple of weeks ago and I'm kinda being forced into a Pouch Reset diet to try to see if I can wait it out til my gut wakes back up. So it's a full liquid diet today and I'm gonna see how it goes. Boring, but should be filling. B=protein latte x 3 MS=1 sf jello L=cocomo joe iced protein coffee AS=bone broth D=cocomo joe frappacino BS=2 sf popsicles

Ok, well yesterday was a good day but when I ate, I ate a LOT. So want to work on quantities per meal today. It's a constant dance, isn't it? And as you'd know it, my gut is still acting up. I've gone from one extreme to the other now. So am gonna have to look into TNT or dynomite or something soon. LOL. 5"4" 👵 17m PO (WLM) 135.4lbs (pre-poopy) Thursday August 1 Menu: 6am B1 - black decaff coffee x 3 10:45 B2 - egg foldover with .5oz turkey sausage crumbles + .5slice Kraft 2% DD American cheese + 38g raw sauerkraut 2:00 L - tuna salad (1/2 recipe: can tuna in water--drained, 1 lg egg, 45g lf cultured cottage cheese, dijon, 1 Claussen pickle spear, 1tbsp WF chipotle mayonnaise (zero cal), parsley, .5oz purple onion) + 58g sliced radish 4:30 AS - protein mocha frappacino + 10g psyllium + ground cinnamon 7:00 D - lo Grk salad with 2oz grilled chicken + 1oz shrimp + 2 tbsp grk dressing 9:30 BS - 1tbsp almond butter (big mistake--got sick from it within 20 minutes--had to lay down. Nut Butters 1 billion, Fluffy--zero. Wah, wah, wahhhhhhhhh. Thanks for playin! Serves me right for being "snacky".)

Hey everyone! Im suprised too that there are not more people! Esp since stl is such a big city! So I have a thought and I wanted to see what kind of response I get to it. I am currently in school to be a Dr. of Chiropractic. I work in a clinic is South County. WELL..... I was thinking I would like to start a support group. That met like once a week or every two weeks. I mentioned about the clinic bc I think they would be happy to host us there in the evenings. And we would have a doctor on staff to answer any questions. He is not to familar with band surgery but he could be there for any other questions about the body and fitness and the way our bodies respond (I would be able to do the same). I think this would be a great way for us to get together share works and dont works stories and keep eachother motivated! I am already a part of a core excercise swiss ball class that happens there every other Wed. if anyone would be intrested in that maybe we could attach it to that class or something. Just brainstorming right now and looking for everyones feedback! Talk to yall soon!

i have heard (could be a myth though) that if someone loose weight very very slowly the skin will shrink back. it makes sence somehow,the skin has time to adjust.......but i don't know if there is any truth in it or just bs.

My hiccups are violent...theyre awful. If I take too big a bite or if I eat bread and it hurts to go down then the hiccups come...I hate the hiccups worse than throwing up bc these hiccups wont go away....never in my life have I hiccuped so much!

I def under stand. I didn't cry.after surgery just before...BC I realized I was addicted.to food. I was sitting in a pushing r lot of.a resturant debating if I should.go in or go home....BC I wasn't physically hungry just mentally during my pre liq dust Sent from my SGH-T989 using LapBandTalk

So to all on here. After your honeymoon period ends. Youll look back at this time longingly. When you hit maintenance or just further along and the weight loss stops and its time to incorporate more food and yet keep your weight down, you will understand a little better what im trying to say here folks. If you think its this easy further down the road you dont understand why a large percentage of bariatric patients fail.. If you think im being mean or sarcastic, then I have succeeded, because this isnt a joke. this isnt weight watchers where you can just stop and start up again anytime. This is for your life ladies and gentlemen and if you dont want to use this to beat obesity., then You're right you shouldn't listen, dont throw out your fat clothes, you may just need them again. You want BS hand holding and coddling? sorry, not when it comes to stupid calories. You want help, use this to beat the bastard that is obesity.

Essentials: - Water intake (48 fl oz minimum goal) - Protein gram & percent of goal (goal needs to be set by user) - Saturated fat & total fat & percent of each (goals set by user) - Calories & percent of goal (set by user) - All the main vitamins & minerals (Bs, D, Calcium, Sodium, etc) - # servings of vegetables & fruits and percent of daily goal - Exercise - Ability to add foods not in database and share that info with others (grows the database) - Ability to add nutrient data for recipes & frequent food combos - Track weight, percent body fat, waist & other key measurements. - Track labs (all the common labs Done for both bariatric and "regular" checkups) - Ability to see percent of goals reached on daily basis as well as averaged over a week and over a month - All goals CEM set at a default value, but customizable if user desires - Ability to add comments (e.g. Dumping events etc) so users can see patterns Not Essential but Desirable: - Link to Fitbit type devices - Share recipes w nutrients - Photos of self - Track pants, shirt, & dress size