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Hi Stephen2 Thank you so much! My only struggle was that, my doctor had me do the pre shrunk liver diet 10 days pre op. When the time came post op and, really needed to drinks strictly liquids, I was already burnt out and didn't really care for the sight of broths or the protein drinks. I pushed through for the remaining days and, now I'm in the puréed phase. Honestly, the only puréed things I've have is: I let oatmeal overboil, to get extremely the, put vanilla protein shake in it. I did the same with cereal(let it sit). Mostly I've just been trying to get my protein in through liquids. I'm still trying to understand what that "full feeling" is. Is it the pressure I feel? If so, I usually don't take anymore than two bites just in case bc I'm unsure. My first 2 wk follow up isn't until week after next so, I plan on asking. Stay strong Stephen! We're all in this together. It can only get better! Thanks for the advice

Yeah thats how it is, or at least was before i started to lose weight. It got to the point where i never wanted to have sex, bc i didnt feel sexy. After I started losing and was able to dress nicer and cuter and gain more self confidence, up went my sex drive..this is of course not including the period of my life where I was constantly having sex to make myself feel wanted and pretty...anyways as the weight goes down, dont be surprised if the sex goes up

Looks like you might be fine with your D/L and BC, but if you ever need to secure a passport or visa urgently you can contact CIBT they can expedite it. Link is provided below. http://cibtvisas.com/passportrequirements.php

Smh..there's one everywhere.... I'm 4mths po but I still attend nutrition & support groups. I love going to the meetings bc I enjoy meeting ppl in all diff phases & we share diff ideas. So i try(notice I said try) to ignore Negative Nattie but it can be quite annoying at times. Lol.. When Negative Nattie opens her mouth everyone has a look like WHAT DOES NEGATIVE NATTIE HAVE TO SAY NOW. I can laugh now but when I'm actually in the meeting IT IS NOT FUNNY AT ALL!!!!!! Sent from my SM-G360T1 using BariatricPal mobile app

Sorry took so long for me to respond but I didn't have any problems with my insurance company. I never had to contact them at all. I just made the first initiate call asking if they cover the surgery. After that my doctor's office made the request. After I completed my six month weight management class the doctor sent in my request and in a week I had a yes, 2 weeks and 1 day later I had my surgery. PS I have Carefirst BC/BS.

Yes, she was traveling in a private vehicle. I think part of why it works for surgery patients is that they're in a transport shuttle of some type (I haven't been yet lol). I would assume they would be more thorough with private vehicles, but I just don't want to risk it if I can help it. There were 3 of them and she was the only one without a passport, but they just decided to all go home. They were just going for the day. (I grew up in San Diego, so its an easy day trip) She has since started her passcard application lol. If my passport doesn't come though on schedule, I'll have to go with a BC and ID and assume I'll be fine like everyone else has reported, but I'd rather pay the extra money to be 100% sure since technically, it's not valid for border crossing.

so i pushed off starting th C25K. i dont know why. i tried it last thursday and i made it through but it was hard. i just didnt want to do it this week. i did however do kickboxing yesterday which was fun. i am just so tired of looking at myself in the mirror. im at another plateau and i cant wait for my fill on monday. money is still an issue here with me and i hate constantly complaining about it but i am tired of losing things i worked so hard for. and to make matter worse, i dropped my google phone in the toilet here at work yesterday and now it is not working at all. oh well they turned off the service right now anyways. tony found out that he can do work for th county which does pay good money but he needs money for insurance, bonding, corporation fee, and tax id numbers which total 1600.00. i dont where we are going to get that kind of money. hell i dont know where we are going to get money for groceries. and as always i make too much to get any help. i think that this stress level is really getting to me and my weightloss. i find myself unable to sleep and wanting to eat in the middle of the night. my 5 year old is driving me nuts bc he continues to get into things that he isnt suppose to and he is soo stubborn. but i love him. he starts kindergarten this august and im so proud of him and his test results. he is 1 point away from being gifted but i know that as long as he is challenged that he will do fine. i am going to try to do a tae bo workout video in the morning before work so if i cant run i still have some sort of workout in the day. well until next time.

YAY KAT!!!! I'm so happy for you! It'll be here before you know it. My ps is the same way with the ftt in the morning only too. That was why I had to wait a little longer then I had wanted to. I guess its bc its a longer surgery and after thinking about it, I really would rather he be "fresh" for me. Well I went out on a limb and told a friend at work that I was having a tt. Shes a member of the club and a real sweetheart, everytime she comes in she gets me to take a break and sit with her. She knew last fall that I had went in for my initial appt so I said just between you and me... and I'm sure she'll keep it that way. I told her I had told my "bosses" that it was female surgery and being the dumb men that they are they never bothered to ask what kind of female surgery. She said good they don't need to know.

I have bcbcs fed also. It was really easy for approval. I had gone to a weight loss clinic last year. That qualified for my 3mo supervised diet. I met with psych and submitted med. records for two year period. They only need proof from any dr that you weighed in with. (gyn, pcp, orthoped, etc) I was approved in 2days after submitting paper work. And they cover a lot!! Hope this helps

That won't hurt you like popcorn or fried chicken... Though I'm two months out and still don't eat popcorn to scared haha.... But anyways it's head hunger and i believe it has to do with hormones bc the other week allllll day I had the munchies of course I ate my Protein n veggie but still. So don't beat yourself over it just get back on the right path Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Don't fall for that crap... the only thing that will fix sagging skin or wrinkles is a face lift or some type of surgery. All the claims are just BS. !!!

Congrats & good luck to both of y'all. I was out patient as well so not much advice on that lol. But like Bandista said, WALK, WALK, & WALK some more. It really does help. I wasn't nervous at all! I guess bc I was so obsessed & ready to get my life back. I will say its not been easy, but everyone is different. Just listen to ur body & doctor. I go tomorrow for my 1st fill & I'm not looking forward to going back on liquids & basically starting over when I finally just starting eating last week. But it'll be ok & I know totally worth it! 2MuchFun, love ur post.

Hi! I also have BCBS FED.... My last NUT appointment is in April. They best advice I could give is to read through your policy and call customer service if you have any questions. My BMI is 40 with no co morb. BCBS doesnt make you lose weight but your surgeon may have you lose some. I had to lose 10% of my excess body weight and that was 8 pounds. It is my understanding that BCBS uses your start weight.

Welcome to a day in the life. We all experience what we term as bandster hell when we are first banded and we don’t have that right level of “restriction”. It’s the holy grail that we bandsters search for. It’s that spot between just right and too tight….and some of us walk that line pretty close and even those of us that think we are not walking that line, could be sitting right on it and all it takes is one small thing to push you over it and I'm over it. In July I had a fill that left me in my just right zone. I was feeling good and eating small portions and working out and banded life was just great. Enter my “real” life and all that goes out the window. I have great band mechanics. I take small bites I chew chew chew. I eat within my 20 minute range time, and I have so much stress in my life I don’t know how I have not had several breakdowns. Must be that spine of steel I often joke about and those brass balls that I keep in a nice little box. I could tell you stories my band friends that would probably curl your hair. There is going to be a time when I sit down and write out all these things because you couldn’t make these things up if you tried and who the heck would want to?! I know we all have our ups and downs but these things are extraordinary, it just doesn't lend to that comic genius in my writing just yet but someday I'll work on it. I am not one that doesn’t practice what she preaches. In fact I won’t sit and talk about anything in a support group that I don’t know about. I am one of those avid learners (yes you might say geek) that will go to school, learn it practice it and then speak about it. Recently I went back to school to become a nutritionist, it’s important to me and my friend and my family so I did it! I really don't have an affinity for people that talk out their ass, or people who look down their nose at people like me because we are obese. It's hard to listen to the twiggy nutritionists talk when they have no idea what it's like to be in my skin. Words are great, but experience, understanding and empathy is what reaches me. OK so my BIG problem….I do too much! I don’t know how to slow down until something crashes into me literally and so that brings me to where I find myself today. In the last couple of months I have had a major car accident, that kept me out of work for 3 whole days! To me that’s a long time, and has kept my body in aches and pains, muscle trauma, and a concussion for about a month. I had to stop going to the gym and working out and I really felt like that was a huge set back for me after finishing my first 5K and finally starting to feel like going to the gym wasn’t the heart attack it once was. On top of that I got sick and had swollen glands and this lovely virus on top of my allergies which has me sliming my head off day and night. Over the course of all this and all the medication that Dr.’s shove down your throat for this symptom and that, my band got tighter and tighter and tighter until last night I hiccupped and (TMI gross alert) vomit came shooting out my mouth and across the room from the sip of Water I just drank! I knew I had to get to the baratric Dr. this was just not right. I knew I had been tight, and I knew that stress was not letting up any time soon. 5 kids, who have varying degrees of drama they like to give their mother a heart attack with on a nearly minute to minute basis, one husband, and then we have two new additions to our family. The furry four legged kind two lovely little PinTzu’s. They are the joy to my day in the morning and at night after a rough work day, but you know what it’s just like having new babies. I love it and the hubs is getting used to it he has never had dogs before so much of the pressure to “train” them all husband and pups and family members that live at home is on me to keep consistency. This morning I woke up and I could barely take my morning meds, and swallow my saliva. Add to that some post nasal drip from being sick and allergies and I knew it was time to see the doctor ASAP. So I called and wouldn’t you know I got the whole we don’t open till 9 am thing. Which is BS I know they are there early in the morning but they don’t open the phone lines until 9 and I wasn’t waiting. I drove straight there and of course once I got there and I told them what was going on with me..they took me in right away. I went down for a video esophageal or barium swallow and x-ray. Wouldn't you know it, sure enough that pouch was dilated. They had to remove 5cc of Fluid and I am now on a 3 week liquid diet to see if the dilation goes back to normal. Ugh, but you know what I have to say…nothing bad! I am grateful that I have a great Dr.’s office and good doctors to take care of me. I am glad that I did not wait for longer to get myself in there and have things checked out so my band didn’t slip or prolapse. I’m confident that I can make it through this liquid diet I have done it before and I will do it again! It is a lesson to learn, a BIG BIG one for me. I can’t tell you how many friends of mine have told me time and again to slow down and stop doing so much to just relax and let things flow. I really honestly have an issue with it. I can be lazy sure we all can and I do have days where I do nothing but vege out and watch TV or read. Most of the time though I just cram every second with something. There are things I want to do, and I find I am always battling against the things that I have to do, and my “responsibilities” and commitments. Those things make me feel pressured to be more and do more. It’s exhausting and I always get to the point where something has to knock me down to sit me down. This can’t be a good thing. So here I am in band “reset” mode. What have I learned from this….? Or perhaps the better question is what will I learn from this? So far today I have learned that I need to put up some really strong boundaries. I can’t save the world unless of course the power that be would like to get behind my idea of dropping large portions of Prozac in the water supply of all the middle eastern and certain other countries....happy people just don't decapitate other people. I don’t know quite yet how I am going to corral the issues that I have with my children and my family, those seem to plague me the worst. I have come to realize that work is work and I can give that 100% of effort in relation to the amount of effort extrapolated by those around me which should leave me with plenty of reserve energy to get to the gym and take care of myself. I am going to set some small goals, and keep myself accountable to them. Not just when it comes to my band but when it comes to taking care of myself as a whole person. I am going to keep myself accountable… Today’s goal: Body: Set a pattern for liquid diet protocol and hydrate in between. Mind: Get outside for some fresh air Soul: Practice some deep breathing

hello coneflower! I love your attitude and your patience is something I admire! Congrats on being so close to getting all your ducks in line for surgery! This forum is such a great place to get started! I will spare you my story here...bc I am rather long winded and ramble a lot :tt1:, but the link to my blog is in my signature. The lapband blogs out there are so full of information, laughter, truth...and really great people! Good luck and holler if you have any questions! Amy

I've never had regular periods. In fact, AF went missing pretty much between 1995 and 2005. (then I had babies and they sorta kinda came back every 5-6 weeks) And I have PCOS. I don't want to get pregnant right now because I'm on this weight loss journey so first I was put on Yaz. But my periods started happening EVERY 3 FREAKING WEEKS! I complained to my doc and he said Yaz shouldn't be perscribed to overweight women bc it doesn't have enough hormones for the weight. So he put me on Microgestin, which is supposed to be stronger. So finally the first month, I got 4 weeks between periods. And now, 2 weeks after my last AF, she's here AGAIN! What gives???? I've had AF FIVE times in 2.5 months! (which happens to coincide with when I started the whole lap band thing...) Someone please tell me you've been through this...

I have multiple pairs of Old Navy St Johns Bay and Lane Bryant shorts for sale in sizes 22. I bought them bigger bc I have a larger hip/butt area....email me Simms148@gmail.com if interested. I will send pics and will pay for shipping.

I was not told to stop the pill...? hmm weird, he actually said you might want to double up on bc because you will become more fertile!

So I am looking to have this surgery and going through all my glasses required by my surgeon and so forth it's a total of a 6 month program I'm on my 4 th month but my main concern is I'm 270 lbs and so afraid of having loose skin and my insurance not covering skin surgery I'm interested in hearing from people who have had this surgery around my weight and if they had a bunch of loose skin at my classes they say bc I'm young yet 36( not that young lol) that it will still have a lot of elasticity I have had three kids and just don't wanna have a bunch of loose skin and stretch marks already have the stretch marks. Anyone's stories or ways to prevent loose skin ect would be greatly appreciated Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

So I'm looking to do the powder mix for Protein shake bc it seems cheaper then the pre made. Does anyone have a good affordable suggestion for two week pre op diet ???? I see the surgeon tomorrow to find out when my surgery will be!!! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

You did good-- ate and didnt feel left out... I have a friend who had the band last year and I'm amazed by how much (and what) she eats. She hasn't lost much and has been stalled for months. She's so discouraged. My heart feels so badly for her bc I know she isn't happy.

I followed up with my NUT and gave her the example of what I am eating she said any Calcium (yogurt, 1-2oz soft cheese, milk ect) does not count as a meal and I can add Protein powder to it for my daily goal but I should have 3 servings of calcium a day and as for my meals - it is normal that I can "hold" 4-5oz right now but she wants me to aim for 1-3oz instead bc my pouch is still healing. I have stopped eating as I was before & started doing only 1-3oz 1x a day and just protein shakes the rest of the time. Sent from my Z970 using the BariatricPal App

ok. yay so im sooo excited. yesterday was my pre op appt where i met the surgeon and did the rest of my tests. so im all good to go. im on optifast for the rest of the week. its day 1 today and its not too bad, i feel im can do it, hey i been doing it, but everyone around me thinks i cant. great encouragement guys!! i mean come on!! i wish i had some more support around me physically. oh well i can do it no matter what. so yea, my surgery is next thursday the 13th at 10am..sooo happy. its gonna be such a long week.lol the time is not going to wana pass bc im so excited. well gotta go have another optifast. yay. lol:thumbup:

. I have Aetna Health Maintenance Organization..Im currently 270 with a BMI of 41....I know i qualify with a BMI >40..I'm hearing that Aetna requires a 2 year weight history. Will they deny bc I havent been 270 for the last 2 years. My weight fluctated from 225 to 270...

I have B&BS and I am with true results. So you should be fine.