Hey There,

Just looking for any July 2011 banders. I just started my process, but as that I am "self-pay", I am on a fast track to surgery. Although, not terribly obese (bmi 34), I am using lap band surgery as a tool for continued success after loosing weight. I have always been able to join a program(diet or exercise or prescription) and loose weight.....I've done it several times with several different programs (not a good thing), but I always gain the weight back and more. Now that I am in my 40s, it is harder to loose and faster to come back. No more, I say! I want to be heathy in my future - family history/genetics dictates that I will/can be using a walker or wheel chair from degenerative bones and joints, heart disease, diabetes. I am trying to steer clear of that but still keep seeing myself heading in that direction, so now is the time for further action. Although apprehensive about going under, I am reading all the good things about the lap band procedure and am hoping that it is just a little more than the tubiligation and endemetrial ablasion that I had done last year. At least, I am thinking of it that way, so as to not scare myself too badly!

Lisa B - Northern Virginia

Shauna - thanks for the list. It will be especially helpful for me once I start the pre-op diet because that's what is making me most nervous (or maybe because it comes before the surgery). So, yes, I'm nervous but want to get moving onto my new life. ((( July Bandsters )))

April, you are so lucky! I'm told NO caffeine before and 6 months post surgery! So I gave up my Diet Pepsi addiction a few days ago and it's been hard. I am surprised they are letting you drink diet coke afterwards, most docs tell their patients not to drink any carbonated beverages because it can stretch out the pouch. Although I must admit that sounds like BS to me, I'm going to follow their instructions to a T if I can. You are lucky you have such a lenient surgeon!

Shauna

I start mine next week....I am REALLY worried about it.

I'm Kate, I live in Northern Virginia too (Hi Lisa). I'm 30 years old, married, 2 kids, and work in public safety. I'm using Bluepoint Surgical Group. My insurance is covering the procedure. My starting BMI at insurance submission (although they don't do pre-approvals for outpatient procedures) was 36.87 with a weight of 205. My current weight (OM Goodness!) is 179, BMI of roughly 32. I have Type 2 Diabetes that is a little better now that I've been losing weight but my fasting sugars are still too high. I've been living the past 4 weeks of my life like I already have the band, but it sucks big time without the help! I am starving all the time but have become accustomed to the smaller portions. I still drink with my meals - probably the biggest hurdle I will have to overcome.

I don't have to do the pre-op diet because I have lost more than the 5-10 pounds recommended by my surgeon. I do have an all-clear liquid diet for the day before surgery.

July 5, 12:15 PM is the start of a new phase of my life. I'm so excited. Like many of you, I have lost and gained back (more!) the same 10-20-30-40-50 pounds over the past 13 years. I have some beautiful, yes, sexy, sophisticated clothes I can't wait to model for my beloved husband. His birthday is September 27 and I intend to be in my size 14 cocktail dress and strappy heels. And I don't want to lay down on the bed to get it zipped.

Good luck to all and thanks for being here. It is comforting to read your posts and know I'm not alone.

Kate

Hey everyone,

When I posted my original statement, I checked back a couple of times, but didn't have any responses, so I haven't been on here for a couple of days. Boy, what a couple of days can do! I am now so excited about the banding and seeing you all so close to me in time and stories of concern and excitement.

I had my Pre-Op consultation with my primary care physician today, so I had 5 vials of blood taken, had an EKG & chest X-ray, scheduled for a upper GI &Abdominal sonogram next week. Will have my Nutrition class next Tuesday. Already have my cashiers check for the hospital and will pay for surgeon and anesthesioligist (sp) next week. I am set for this new journey. Now if I could only bring myself to telling other people in my family!!!! Only my husband, daughter, and Aunt know. I am not sure why I have a hard time telling my dad, I don't want him to worry. But I will in due time.

This seems to be flowing rather easy for me, as that I am a self pay, I don't have the insurance/wait time to worry about. With that, however, my doctor's support team is holding my hand the whole way, I love it.

All right, July Banders - Good luck to us and congratulations on utilizing this important tool in our future health.

Lisa B

Please add Kate to July 5.

You can put me on there with no date yet. My real name is JeVona

IM AM LOOKIN AT JULY 7TH OR 14TH , I AM 32 Y/O AND I DONT FEEL BAD , I AM EXCITED AND SCARED AT THE SAME TIME BUT I AM A TYPE 2 DIABETIC......

IM AM LOOKIN AT JULY 7TH OR 14TH , I AM 32 Y/O AND I DONT FEEL BAD , I AM EXCITED AND SCARED AT THE SAME TIME BUT I AM A TYPE 2 DIABETIC......

Hi to the new people in the group!

I'm pretty much done with the crying phase of the surgery falling through. I've decided to contact the doctor via email to tell him about my experience yesterday, but no matter what his response, if any, I'm not having the surgery there. I just can't get over the fact that they added a thousand bucks a week before surgery.

Anyhow...moving on. Today I'm meeting with another company (True Results) to see what I think. I'm a pretty hard critic, so we'll see if they pass my test. My dad is still in town, so he'll go with me. I'm 33, but I still want my daddy around for important stuff

Holding my breath....

Amy

Amy, I'm so glad you're moving forward and going to True Results like I recommended! All they do is lapbands, so they really know their stuff! I hope you'll find the good experience I've had with them so far. I went to the doc today for my EKG and nutrition visit and they've always been so friendly and not left me sitting around in the waiting room for hours. They'll assign you a patient advocate you will be by your side the whole time. Mine is Paul and he has a lapband too, so it's nice having someone there who is doing exactly what you're doing. Let me know how the visit goes!

April

Hi to the new people in the group!

I'm pretty much done with the crying phase of the surgery falling through. I've decided to contact the doctor via email to tell him about my experience yesterday, but no matter what his response, if any, I'm not having the surgery there. I just can't get over the fact that they added a thousand bucks a week before surgery.

Anyhow...moving on. Today I'm meeting with another company (True Results) to see what I think. I'm a pretty hard critic, so we'll see if they pass my test. My dad is still in town, so he'll go with me. I'm 33, but I still want my daddy around for important stuff

Holding my breath....

Amy

Hi, all! I started my pre-op diet today (daily: 2 Protein shakes, 1 bowl of Soup, 1 yogurt, 1/2 cup cottage cheese and unlimited sugar-free jello) and I am STARVING. And cranky, too!

I'm glad that my dr. doesn't require me to give up caffeine, though--I don't think I could take that on top of how I'm feeling right now.

Those of you who have already started the pre-op diet: this does get better, right?

Couple of things from finally reading more of the threads:

1) I got my psych clearance 4 weeks ago and I am continuing to see him weekly and plan to continue after the surgery. I have found it very helpful in dealing with my unhealthy relationship with food. I am also dealing with the self-esteem issues that stem from before I ever was heavy. I got his name from an attorney who said he was reputable.

2) I have a ton of skinny clothes. My #1 goal is my size 10 abercrombie and fitch jeans - no stretch, no muffin top allowed. They are in my dresser drawer, next to my size 18 and 20 pants with the elastic waist bands.

Hi, all! I started my pre-op diet today (daily: 2 Protein shakes, 1 bowl of soup, 1 yogurt, 1/2 cup cottage cheese and unlimited sugar-free jello) and I am STARVING. And cranky, too!

I'm glad that my dr. doesn't require me to give up caffeine, though--I don't think I could take that on top of how I'm feeling right now.

Those of you who have already started the pre-op diet: this does get better, right?

Hi Kate,

I'm also going to see a psychologist on a regular basis for my food problems. He specializes in it so hopefully he will be good! The only doctor I found that specifically handles bariatric issues was not on my insurance

My goal is to be in size 8. That may or may not happen at my goal weight of 131...so if that doesn't get me there I may lose a few more lbs. I felt my best at 117 but I was a freshman in college then and I don't know if that's realistic at age 39. Plus, with all the working out, I should be in a smaller size since muscle is denser than fat.

How did everyone pick their goal weight? Mine was just the number the surgeon threw out...I think it puts me at like a 22.5 BMI, which sounds about right, but there's still a part of me that wants to go even lower if I can.

Shauna

Couple of things from finally reading more of the threads:

1) I got my psych clearance 4 weeks ago and I am continuing to see him weekly and plan to continue after the surgery. I have found it very helpful in dealing with my unhealthy relationship with food. I am also dealing with the self-esteem issues that stem from before I ever was heavy. I got his name from an attorney who said he was reputable.

2) I have a ton of skinny clothes. My #1 goal is my size 10 abercrombie and fitch jeans - no stretch, no muffin top allowed. They are in my dresser drawer, next to my size 18 and 20 pants with the elastic waist bands.

I'm one week into the Protein diet. Lost 20 pounds in one week! you don't think that starts the head games? "If I can lose weight this easy, why am I getting surgery?" "can I really do another week of this??? Listen to the noise in my stomach!" a little bit of poor me, why me, .. etc.. but then i just look at pictures of me, and the scale, and the tape measure, and the meds, and the entire range of clothes sizes I have,and yea... I can do this for another week, and absolutely I NEED this surgery... Let's not kid ourselves....if I kept track of the 20 - 30 pounds I've lost and gained back and lost and gained back ad infinitum, it would probably total more than what I weigh now... that's insanity. Excited... yep! Scared.. a bit... ashamed of myself for getting to this point? yep, throw that in too...

What it all means is I'm really looking forward to July 1!!!

I'm starting my Protein shake diet tomorrow. I'm in an odd place, emotionally--totally freaking out and completely excited. Anyone else got seriously mixed feelings about this whole thing?

I'm one week into the Protein diet. Lost 20 pounds in one week! you don't think that starts the head games? "If I can lose weight this easy, why am I getting surgery?" "can I really do another week of this??? Listen to the noise in my stomach!" a little bit of poor me, why me, .. etc.. but then i just look at pictures of me, and the scale, and the tape measure, and the meds, and the entire range of clothes sizes I have,and yea... I can do this for another week, and absolutely I NEED this surgery... Let's not kid ourselves....if I kept track of the 20 - 30 pounds I've lost and gained back and lost and gained back ad infinitum, it would probably total more than what I weigh now... that's insanity. Excited... yep! Scared.. a bit... ashamed of myself for getting to this point? yep, throw that in too...

What it all means is I'm really looking forward to July 1!!!

wow, good job on losing 20 lbs...i hope i can lose at least 8-10 in the one week i have to do it! i've been thinking that too though, about the "do i really need to do the surgery? why not just do a liquid diet?" but the truth is that i have tried that and so many others, and they don't keep the weight off. it comes back as soon as you leave those diets for a while and i don't want to do that anymore...i want to be able to set a good example for my daughter now that she is getting older so fast (too fast if you ask me) and i don't want her to grow up with a fat mother and think it's okay to live her life this way. i want to have better self esteem, better relationships, a better body, and that's what i want her to grow up with and remember when she is an adult.

I said 120-125 pounds because I would like to be around a 21-22 bmi (hence the screen name). realistically, I work in public safety where it isn't always necessarily good to be skin and bones. The size 10 jeans are goal #1 because I know that at 163 pounds (bmi of 29) I fit into them. That means I'm no longer obese. I want that by September 1. That's 16 pounds in 7 weeks from surgery. I think I can do that!

Then I have to go shopping for cruise wear for my caribbean cruise (Disney!) this December. I want to be around a 6-8 at that time. I want to get a short dress to wear to the adult club on a night when my parents have the kids and have my hubby wondering how such a hot chick picked him for life.

Mainly, if I can achieve and maintain a weight of no more than 140 pounds, I will be happy. If I go below, that's awesome but I am not going to beat myself up if I don't break 130.

Oh, but if I break 130, guess what? I'm getting a bra line back lift. Yeah, that's right. I'M BRINGING SEXY BACK!

wow, good job on losing 20 lbs...i hope i can lose at least 8-10 in the one week i have to do it! i've been thinking that too though, about the "do i really need to do the surgery? why not just do a liquid diet?" but the truth is that i have tried that and so many others, and they don't keep the weight off. it comes back as soon as you leave those diets for a while and i don't want to do that anymore...i want to be able to set a good example for my daughter now that she is getting older so fast (too fast if you ask me) and i don't want her to grow up with a fat mother and think it's okay to live her life this way. i want to have better self esteem, better relationships, a better body, and that's what i want her to grow up with and remember when she is an adult.