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Way to go! I am having to wait 6mths also, I am currently on my 5th mth and it has gone by so fast. Good luck!

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I can't believe it happened so fast. Paperwork was submitted on Monday (9/21) and Aetna called my doctor to tell them I was approved first thing this morning. I was told it would take 2-6 weeks for approval. I've got a EGD scheduled for Oct. 7th and my surgery is bright and early on Oct. 20th. Just about 3 weeks away. WOW! And as an extra bonus, I've already spent my deductible so everything else is free to me (as long as everyone is in network). This whole experience has been unexpected. I was laid off on April 15th. (I know - perfect day for that!) and then got a job a week later. I knew the benefits were way better than I've had before but I didn't expect WLS to be approved. This company is very pro-employee wellness. The job is 1/10th the stress I had before. I never thought that being laid off would be a good thing, but for once it was.

Welcome to the Loser Bench. :-) After my surgery, I never had another craving for any fast food. Not that I haven't eaten fast food since, but it no longer has the same satisfaction it used to provide. I used to have these overwhelming cravings for certain burgers, fries or Desserts. They all went away. When I realized that, I got the same feeling I did as a kid, when you're let out of school for the Summer. :-)

Im a 26 year old that has stuggled with weight my entire life before getting married and a class 2 ac joint seperation pretty ruff sports injury i was on my way down in weight to 240 from 300 in 12 weeks time then the injurys and 3 kids later the sames things dont work .im scheduled to see my doctor on dec 27,2011 to set up my lap band surgery . im currently around 370 pounds . how fast is weight loss expected after the prcedure . and are contact sports out of the question.

I had my first visit with my surgeon this week and I'm so excited to start my journey! Per my insurance requirements I have to lose 23lbs before they can schedule my surgery. Question is, should I be super restrictive and lose the wt as fast as I can or just slowly. Dr recommends doing it over 3 months. I'm just afraid I won't be able to!

First of all it sucks typing on an iPhone. Second this may be really long. Well after missing my flight I was able to get everything adjusted by one day. So the next morning I was two hours early for the flight lol. Flight was uneventful but it was a cool 63 degrees when I arrived, I am used to 100 or more. Samuel was waiting for me around the corner and pulled up shortly in a very discreet white mini van. He's super friendly and we chatted the whole way. He pointed out a few interesting things and soon we were crossing the border. Not scary at all. A little run down and dirty but not scary. When we pulled up its not a huge hospital. More like a medical annex. Very modern and pretty. As soon as I walked in the lobby even the receptionist was asking about my flight. They were expecting me the day before so everything was ready. I got my allergy bracelet and was taken to my room. Ana the coordinator was so nice, also asking about my flight. I felt bad that they had to run around and change everything to get me in next day surgery, but she said not to worry. I signed far less paperwork than I ever did for a hospital stay. Less than 10 minutes later I was given a gown to change into and taken to blood draw. I am a hard stick so I expected a lot of pain, but she looked all over both arms for a good 15 mins before trying only twice. Because I hadn't drank since midnight on Sunday I was pretty dehydrated. Next was chest X-ray right down the hall. Then back to my room. They tried to look for a vein for the i but no luck. Dr. C said they would inly try twice because they could always do it once i was under, they didn't need to cause pain. but they got it on the second try. vI was given a pill and a sip of liquid to relax. Dr. C came in to tell me about anesthesia and to take a medical history, Dr. V came to discuss nutrition and post op care, then Dr. G came to discuss the surgery. It all seemed so fast and so sudden! I went for my height and weight. I lost 15lbs!! Wow. I went back to my room and was told I would be operated on shortly. Well three hours later and a much needed nap I was woken up and told to get ready. They brought in the gurney and I hopped on, put on my "sexy cap". Rolled down the hallway to the OR. It's very small. Not like the huge US OR. But everything looked modern and clean. I have quite a few tattoos and everyone seemed very impressed and asked me about them and my job. That must have been a distraction because next thing I knew, i was fighting the oxygen mask and I was back in my room lol. Now for the part everyone is waiting for... NO PAIN. I was prepared for so much pain and soreness I kind of freaked myself out. I had a very sore raw throat. I almost thought I didn't have the surgery! But the doctor said everything went smoothly. I slept through the night and the nurses came in with meds every few hours. Again I was shocked at the lack of pain. I even refused meds a few times just to make sure lol. One thing I had severe nausea. Every time I stood up I vomited. So there was no walking for me. But I had no gas. I guess the vomiting pushed it out. I was given a few extra bags of electrolyte because of dehydration and nebulizer treatments every 8 hours. Nausea and pain meds kept up the entire time. The first leak test, hard to describe the taste. Yucky but it goes away fast. Dr. V came in again and scolded me about walking, but since I have no gas pain or overall pain she wasn't too hard on me. I slept most of the day away until they brought the blue dye. It's a huge cup! But I was worried for nothing. It just tasted like... Blue dye. No leaks in my drain. So that's my story. Very simple, very easy. And I leave for the hotel today. Oh every nurse I had spoke English. And I speak a little Spanish so communication was great. If you have any questions about the small details, just ask away.

It will fly by so fast too that soon you will be wondering where all the time went....good luck and congratulations on becoming a banded friend...Deanna

ok thank you so much for replying i also cannot abre to stomach anymore whey poweder drinks for some reson right now so i have been drinking dr atkins 1gm sugar 17 gm proetein shakes. Also slim fast makes a 1gm sugar and 20 gm protein shake also. thats ok ???? i hope so

I'm only two weeks out and just started the pureed phase, but I feel like I can eat my meals pretty fast. I actually have to take my time and go slow on purpose. Today for Breakfast, I had 1/2 an egg, some soyrizo, and an oz of refried Beans all mixed together. Eating with a baby spoon, I had to force myself to eat slow and it took me about 20 mins. HW: 437 SW: 376 RNY on 5/16/16

Hi there, I am an Occupational Therapist in an acute care hospital. Needless to say, my job is fast paced and requires heavy lifting of patients. I had to be out of work (per MD order) for 2 weeks but I felt physically well enough to go back after 1 week. My recommendation is to take the time off your doctor recommends and take care of yourself. This is a big change in lifestyle and takes some time to get used to. The other thing is to listen to your body...when you go back to work you will be a little on the tired side from not being as active (at least I was). Ease into it and don't overcommit yourself if you can help it! Katie

Hi there! Most people lose weight very very fast during pre op diet and the first week or two following surgery. You should expect that to slow down drastically. For me I lose on average 3 lbs per week. The thing is, some weeks I don't lose anything and then the next I lose 4 or 5 lbs. As long as you are losing overall you are in good shape. Some people weigh every day and some people weigh weekly, monthly or only when they go for check ups. They do this to avoid the frustration of the scale. I weigh once a day religiously but I don't get stressed when the scale doesn't move. Most of the time you are still losing inches. There is also the dreaded 3 week stall, but if you keep following the plan, I promise you will begin to drop those pounds again. You just cannot expect that you will lose as fast as the first couple weeks every week. Good luck!

Water is a problem to me as well an i don't tolerate artificial sweeteners . An don't care for tea too much so don't have options.they say it gets better. I however am having problems getting enough protein. Finding it's expensive for me.I didn't know it was going to be so expensive trying to find things to eat. Can't live on eggs ,cheese an Turkey jerky sticks. Some pea soup an once in awhile plain Hamburg, no bread. In at two months , had a bad hernia repair an just had it checked because I'm sick to stomach all the time an throwing up some. Have to sip water two sips at a time,not fast. Eat slow,sometimes for over 30 minutes. But only one serving of any thing at a sitting. Thats hard cause I want fruit an veggies an there is no protein in them so must get in 60 grams protein first. But it gets better.

Yes I had the sleeve Jan 21st an for the last two weeks I have been throwing up an always sick when I eat or drink water. Usually they say you aren't following the diet exactly, or eating too fast or too much. We can't eat over what is called a serving size even if it says only 1/4 cup. That's what we eat. Nothing different than the diet they gave us. In my case I had extensive hernias surgery an went back in thru, an they said it would probably take another two months. Bummer. Good luck.

I would see what the doctor can offer. Hopefully you do not have a leak or anything like that. Are you drinking too fast? Perhaps it is the temperature of the drink? I know in the beginning I couldn't drink really cold things; had to be a bit more room temp. Keep us informed on what you find out.

Yes, I was wondering what kind of time span is involved. Like how soon have some meds been stopped. I'm sure some time needs to go by and everyone is different on how much they loose and how fast. I hope that I can stop all of my blood pressure pills eventually. I have been able to take all of my other pills ok. But one is chalky and dissolves easy and one is small. The bp pills are different sizes, but I can swallow them.

As the others have said, you just have to live minute-to-minute and hour-to-hour for this first little stretch. It will feel like eternity, but then a couple weeks from now you will look back and think it went so fast! Hang in there.

Starting my 1 week liquid diet .. Day #1 Omg i feel im going to pass out this first day was horrible because i didnt organize myself so i suffer with hunger all day long tomorrow will be a new day .. Im buying my meal replacement shakes.. Water and chicken broth to survive.. Good thing im very busy at work so the day went fast[emoji1]

Hey guys! I am new to this forum. First let me say that it is so inspiring to see how supportive y'all are with each other. I am so excited to get this surgery and feel some support from other people going through the same thing. I'm 23. I got the lap band 3 years ago. At this point the sleeve hadnt been approved yet. And before surgery I was 250. After surgery I really got on the bandwagon, but I just couldn't lose the weight. I struggled with trying to eat constantly. I threw up constantly. Even Protein that I was supposed to eat, I couldn't get down. It was depressing. It was enbarassing. I couldn't go out to eat without staying in the bathroom throwing up all my food. It was awful. I got down to 230 and that's where I stayed. After 2 years my stomach started growing over my band and I had to get all the Fluid taken outta my band and I've gained all my weight back and more. I am now today July 4th at 265 and these past few months have been the most depressing of my life. One night last month I laid awake at night and couldn't stop thinking about getting weight loss surgery again. I considered bypass but that's just too major for me and idk about having children after that. The sleeve sounds perfect! I really hate the band. I hate throwing up constantly and being on the bathroom at all social occasions cause I can't get food down. Are there any quirks I need to know about? Foods that make you sick or what happens if you eat too fast? I'm waiting to hear back on my insurance but Im pretty sure they're going to approve it. I've already called and asked. So I'm very excited!! And I can't wait! I just hope I don't have to do the 6 month criteria. I look forward to the support from y'all and I'm excited to start this journey!

My weight was basically flat from the beginning of the 6-month supervised weight loss to the end. My surgeon asked me to lose 5% of my weight (for me, that was 15 pounds) to make surgery that much easier on both him and me. I didn't lose any of it until the last 2 weeks on the pre-op diet. I fought like crazy for that 15 pounds, and then they didn't even weigh me before surgery - lol. I believe some insurance companies may have specific weight loss targets for the 6-month cycle, but most do not. You should be able to call and check, but calling one's insurance company with a simple question never seems to be as easy as it ought to be. Mostly, they want you to go through the process and jump through the hoops so they can check all the boxes on their checklist. My surgeon said he'd had patients denied by their insurance for not losing enough weight ("she isn't serious about this") and others denied for losing too much ("she clearly doesn't need surgery if she can lose so much on her own"). In both cases he makes the appeal and he wins even if it means he needs to call and yell at them personally. I think getting yelled at by my surgeon would be a scary thing. He's rather fierce. Anyway, it wasn't an issue with me either way. My insurance was very fast with the approval the first time through. Hope this helps.

I also had a some second guessing about wether this was the right surgery for me , I thought about it all the way to right before they put me to sleep..And yes even though I'm only a month and a half out I am SOOOOOOOOO glad that I went with the band...for all the reasons you listed and more. And further more I also agree that at our age and weight (we are very close in age and starting weight) that RNY would be waaay to drastic....But that isn't to say I hadn't thought of it..the lure of super fast weight loss was very appealling....In your heart you know what's best for YOU!

Whataburger has grilled chicken. Otherwise keep a protein bar in your purse and avoid fast food entirely (a huge adjustment I've had to make for myself). Good luck, I know it's not easy.

Here is what I have gotten out of the whole thing. The reason to shrink the liver is in order to get to the place the band goes, the liver has to be moved. They dont like to move it a lot, so shrinking it is safer. The pre-op diets vary with each dr. Mine was protein shakes 2 times a day and a small meat/veg meal. It wasnt real strict on what I could et. My dr never mentioned Optifast. I started my pre-op early just to get used to eating a new way. No sodas, snack foods, fast foods. I think it made the changeover to healthy post-op eating easier. Hope this helps....Dave

Losing two pounds a week is the healthiest most natural pace there is for a human body. Remember the slower it comes off the easier it is to maintain. My WII yelled at me today for losing too fast!! Lol

Thank you! It definitely does suck. I guess their viewpoint is that they want to make sure I have everything so I can get approved and not denied. Which I understand. I'm just impatient because they made it seem like it would go super fast after I finished everything. It's been a month and theh still haven't submitted to my insurance. Sent from my SM-A205U using BariatricPal mobile app