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I feel your pain Newbie - I'm 2 weeks out and have been fighting a horrific fungal skin infection and allergic skin reaction to the adhesives, so compliance has been the last thing on my mind. I'm not terribly moody, but I keep sneaking an extra Protein shake here and there. I'm so uncomfortable with my skin constantly itching and burning that it's almost too much to bear if I get hungry as well. I hope I don't slip my band before my first fill! The other part of my mental dilemna is that I am a band over bypass patient and I was kinda expecting to have a quick 10-20 just melt off like it did after my RNY. NOT the case thus far, which I know I need to get over it right away. I'm hoping that once all of the skin meds start working that I can really focus on my Phase 2 (soft foods) compliance and start exercising and just move forward from all of the pre-conceived notions I had what having a LapBand really means.

Hey all. I am in the process of getting the lap band surgery. I starting everything on 12/10/09 with the seminar, saw the surgeon 12/17/09. I have to do an upper GI scan and an x-ray on 1/4. I do the psych eval and the nutrition counseling on 1/6. Aetna won't cover it unless I do a 3 month program, so I am hoping it will be approved in March to do the surgery in April. I am 28 years old and have been obese/overweight my whole life. Thank you genes. lol. I have teetered back and forth about doing the surgery and am finally doing it. I have gained a significant amount of weight in the last 2 years, now being 255. I am definitely not happy with myself about that. It's time for a change. I am glad I found this site. It seems to have a lot of great information. :biggrin:

I have pcos and take a thyroid pill. I was worried about this too. But better slow than nothing at all. I gwt sleeved 10/25

Hi everyone, I'm new here and have a few questions. I have spent the past few months, almost a year on lapbandtalk.com forum because that was the surgery I wanted, and at the time the only one my Surgeon would perform on me. My surgeon was admit that because I have Crohns Disease the only true safe WLS surgery would be the band, or maybe an outside chance at the sleeve, but he felt best about band. Obviously at that appointment he gave me a list of stuff to get done before he would see me again, lose 18 lbs, see the food shrink, see the nutritionist, see the Diabeties dr, and all the normal WLS stuff. The Dr had told me it normally takes 6 moths to a year to complete the list, and get the ok from all the different doctors, Nutritionist and so on. I lost the 18 lbs in 10 days, and had all the doctors signed off on this within 3 weeks. When I went back to see my surgeon nobody at his office could believe I completed the check list that fast, and they put in my approval request for Band surgery. My insurance, which is good insurance, and the dr office says approves damn near everyone denied me, stating they needed more information. I gathered up all the info my surgeon told me to, it was resubmitted, and denied stating not medically necessary at this time. The surgeon then resubmitted the request, and it came back denied, Due to Crohns disease, and requested my surgeon call the med director at Blue Choice. Turns out the insurance company is worried about corrosion from the band, and with Crohns this could be really bad. My surgeons stance was that the band is really the safest way to go because if the crohns flares up they can drain the band, or even remove it if really needed. Long story longer, I got denied again, I called Blue choice Insurance myself, and asked to speak to the med director and was told they only talk to doctors, not policy holders. I have called Blue choice three and four times a week for months now, they still wont give in and let me speak to a med director. I would think as a paying policy holder I should be able to speak to the person who is making med decisions regarding my health, right? My surgeon keeps pushing too, without much luck. Last week my surgeon calls me and says come in tomorrow I need to talk to you. I go in to the office, and the girl behind the desk tells me, no charge for today, doctors orders, ok great, a free bee. Instead of taking me to a exam room they walk me to the surgeons office, and he says have a seat, at this point I'm thinking oh crap, he is gonna tell its all over and no surgery at all for me. I was amazed at what did actually say, and confused by it at the same time. The surgeon proceeds to tell me that if I agree to switch procedures he has been lead to believe that the insurance company will cover me for the sleeve. This really blows my mind! I have crohns, which is a mouth to anus disease, meaning it can show up anywhere between those two places. While my Crohns has been restricted to my Intestine, and has not been active, it is always a concern, which is why I can't have the full bypass. My Surgeon says we can most likely move forward very quickly avoiding the 6 moth wait for the sleeve due to the fact that I have been in a holding pattern for almost a year now. I want to get this done ASAP, but I also want to know what I'm walking into, so I'm going to continue to read every damn thread on this board that I can right up until surgery. I have spent the past six days reading online about the sleeve, and trying to research the sleeve with Crohns patients, but I can not find any info regarding the two of them together. Does anyone on this forum have crohns? If so how is the sleeve working for you? Has anyone heard of someone with crohns having the sleeve? Has anyone here had the band and switched to the sleeve? Would you get sleeved again if given the choice? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hi Kiwi, Rolesville... about 10 miles north of Raleigh. I am sooo ready. Started researching this about 2 years ago but only did something about it in January.

Hi Christina! Good luck with your journey. I'm just starting out as well, attended the seminar two weeks ago. May I ask how come you are expected to lose 10% of your body weight before surgery? Is this an insurance requirement?

Haven't actually posted yet, and figured I should because I want to strangle a pillow or something ._. I went to two seminars over the past couple of years and officially met with my surgeon in like... May I think. He got me started on the 6 month nutritional visits and resigned after the first month so I started meeting with his partner. I was supposed to have my last visit before everything goes to insurance to be approved 2 weeks ago, but they canceled and scheduled me for this coming Friday. Just got a call that he resigned now. He's the last one in that building so now I have to find another one. So been crying and kind of freaking out a bit. Trying to calm down and convince myself that this wasn't the bad thing I've been dreading after letting myself be positive and happy for once. I just have to keep reminding myself that it doesn't change how far I've come so far, and my biggest fear is having to start all over and be disappointed again. I started at 321 lbs, and that surprised me. I hadn't used a scale in years and I never thought I got over 300. Right now I'm at 271 and I guess I still don't see a difference. I know I haven't been at this weight since early in high school at least, so I feel like I've done something at least. The other problem I have is my father and sisters hate that I want to get the lap band and they try to talk me out of it at every opportunity. This forum helps, even if I haven't posted before. Just reading so many perspectives and hardships and successes reminds me that I can do this. So yeah... I basically used this post just to get everything off my shoulders. Also, if anyone has read this far I have a question. Do I need to lose another 10% after the 6 month nutrition class things, or do they count from when I had my first meeting? Maybe it's a dumb question.

Hey banders! I just happened on this site by chance and I am so happy that I did! What a great support group you have here! I am getting my band on January 19 ( a very popular day! ) seems like it has been a very long road already! Seeing all the docs, nutritionist ( like I don't know what I SHOULD be eating! ), crazy doc (if you are overweight you must be crazy! ), the cardio doc ( now this one I was happy to see ). Finally I am here! yeah! I would like some ideas on shakes if anyone has any. I am happy to be here with all of you! Cara in KC:lol:

10 pounds 10 days winner, it came on over a long tine give it time.

Was sleeved yesterday and was already home last night.. Slept ok. I'm a stomach sleeper so I couldn't get comfortable. Today I have had very little pain on a scale 1-10 it's a 2. I'm having a hard time getting water and protein drink in...

So I got denied for the vertical sleeve from BCBS of Tenn because it's investigation. If I want to resubmit my claim for lap band or the roux en y there would still be problems since in 2007 I had lost 10% of my body weight, etc etc... I am so piss... I Will be going to Mexico.

Hey guys zoe here. I've just turned 21 an I'm from Mansfield, notts which is in the uk. I'm new to this rny talk but finding it really interesting. So I had my pre op on 20/8/13 and had my bypass on 25/8/13, I was discharged on 27/8/13, I was so glad because my 21st birthday was on the 29/8/13 lol I had my surgery at royal derby hospital which is in derby. The op went well. I did have some trouble the first night though because my pulse was between 130+160 instead of the normal rate so I had an emergency ECG, blood tests, urine tests. They all came back fine. The only thing that would bring my pulse down was my CPAP. I have obstructive sleep apnea. I was diagnosed with in in feb 2013, but they think I've had it years. My weight at my first seminar in sept 2012, I was 352lbs, pre op I was 326lbs and my last weigh in was Wednesday and I was. 302lbs, so I may pop on the scales later and check to see if I'm below 300lbs I'm still on the liquid diet, in that for 2weeks so that ends Sunday, then blended food for 1week then soft textured foods for another 1week then normal foods. I can start the gym after 6 weeks so I can't wait for that I've gone from a size 26 to a 22/24 so far. I've been to the shops with sales on a found a couple if items that's are size 16/18 to get into next, overall I would like to be a 10/12. All in all I'm getting on great I have Facebook if anybody would like to add me on there it's : zoe4queencity2921@live.com, just type that in the search bar and it will come up or just reply trough thread or send me a private message

Just weighed and I still cannot get over seeing the scale go continually DOWN! I keep checking just waiting for it to go up. It is just so counter to what I have experienced for the past 25 years and makes me a little teary eyed. Okay, so maybe I am a little emotional and potentially hormonal. Stats: Weight : 4/3/13 268.0 Surgery 4/7/13 253.2 -14.8 4/8/13 251.0 -17.0 4/10/13 249.4 -18.6 4/12/13 247.9 - 20.1 4/15/13 245.5 - 22.5 Heading out for a 2-3 mile walk.

The reason you find more people with RNY is because more people still get RNY. My guess is you will see that tide turning in the next 5-10 years. I agree with this statement. I believe that insurance companies are more likely to pay for RNY, but I see that changing too. I know medicare pays for RNY, but last I heard, didn't cover VSG.

Good luck, Allison! I was sleeved on Friday and am having a pretty good recovery. Went in at 10 a.m. on Friday, home by 3 on Sat. I wish you a quick recovery, and as good of nurses as I had during your stay in the hospital.

It was about 10 months ago when I had the surgery but I do remember a slight sharp pain every now and then but it wasn't an all day throbbing pain around the belly button.

I know many people have had their lives saved by the RNY, so I don't mean to talk it down at all. I just couldn't do it... and here is my partial list: - I was a revision from the band, and the complications revising to the rny were much riskier - I had a pouch when i was banded and it SUCKED. I have no idea if the pouch for the RNY behaves the same way, but I suspect it does. I don't want to vomit up food for unpredictable reasons. I spent 10 years in that hell and decided I just couldn't do it. - Mentally, I could get used to the idea that my stomach was too big and just needed to be reduced but i could never get comfortable with the RNY procedure - gave me the heebie geebies. Irrational, yes, but it was a key factor. -20 years ago the woman who was our daycare provider had the RNY. In those days they were done open, so recovery was a big huge deal. I know it isn't the same now, but i can't quite shake the memories of how ill she was and how long it took her to recover (she looked awesome though, lost all of her excess weight!) - I was convinced by the studies available that my chances of success are nearly as good with the sleeve compared to the RNY, but my risks were considerably lower. That just made sense to me. One piece of advice is to consider a surgeon who has a thriving "sleeve" practice. I did that and feel that their after care and all that was spot on for a sleever.

I was sleeved on the 12th. I lost 10 pounds in the first week. I haven't lost anything since 6/18. It is frustrating! All we do in drink a measly amount of calories each day yet the weight lingers. Very frustrating!

I am new to the forum. I was sleeved on Oct 23rd and as of today 10/26) feel much better. I had to stay in the hospital for two days because I coudn't get my fluids down. I had such bad nausea most of the time in the hopital. By the 3rd day felt better. I didn't have a cathitor or tube but did have the blood thinning shots. My body tried to throw up several times while there but never actually did. That was pretty painful on a newly constructed stomach. My focus has been trying to get 3 protein shakes in a day and the fluid. It's pretty hard work to get everything in on a daily basis but I am doing my best. I am not sure that I quite understand what I am feeling just yet though. When you become full, does that mean that it will cause a small pain in your side? Not sure how to tell if I'm full. I haven't been taking in anything other than what my dietician told me to take but hope I'm not doing anything wrong. Also, I can't really feel my bladder urges either. I have to just go sit and I do usually have to go. Anyone had that issue?

Also from TX - just had my Lap-band done on 9/11 (obviously not superstitious) and doing great. Preparation and information will help more than anything to get ready. Make sure you have your mind completely at peace about the procedure. Make sure you're ready to change everything about how and when you eat. Ask lots of questions and be ready to go on 10/1. We're excited for you and know you'll do great.

Hello again, fellow sleevers. I've been on and off this site since October, 2012. My story is long, and it's available in my blog link, so I won't bore anyone with it again. The latest highlights are that the job I started last July actually covers bariatric surgery. I was submitted in December with my past data, but was denied because the new insurance required 6 months with NUT, as opposed to the 3 months my previous insurer required. 6 consecutive months. After completing an additional three months, January through March, the office got around to resubmitting me around 4/10. I had actually lost so much faith in the front office staff, I continued making my NUT appointments, and actually had my 4th visit with her on Thursday, 4/17. Yesterday, 4/18, I got the call that I have actually been approved. I would have expected to be a little more excited, but I'm not really. I don't know if it's because I've been relatively successful in the dieting since January, or if I'm waiting to have the rug yanked out from under me again, or if it's just nerves. I don't feel like I'm going to back out of it or anything... just not excited. So I'm back. I know I need to brush up on all the knowledge I gained here in the past and have probably just plain forgotten. So my tentative surgery date is 5/19. Here I go!!!

WOW!!! That is some serious inspiration. From a LB size 20 to Levis 10 in 5 months! I can totally relate to the jeans experience. I have NEVER worn Levis. They just weren't cut for my body back in the 80's. I'm so thrilled to hear there is hope for me yet. Not that we should compare rate of loss with others, but if I lose at that rate, I could be a size 10 by Valentines Day. :wow2: I better start saving my money because I've got a lot of shopping to do.

Three years ago this time I was in the operating room and my friendship with Leonida, my band, was starting. During the first year I lost 52 kilos, which is something between 100 and 110 lbs, if I am not wrong.. During the second year I started losing part of my strong motivation and,by the end of the second year and the beginning of the third, I had gained back 10 kilos. Bariatric Pal is helping me come back on track, your approach to weight loss connected to wls is a bit different and many of the suggestions I have read here are becoming part of my life and behaviour. Thanks to all of you!!!

Hello everyone, first post here. I am scheduled to have surgery on Sept. 10, 2008. I am a little nervous but am very excited about starting a new life. A life that will allow me to be a healthier, happier person.:party:

Well got my scope done today everything is a go for tomm 3/21/12 lost 10 pounds pre op and am the first surgery in the morning at 9 est so wish me luck everyone.