Ok July Bandsters was a great success and I was so thrilled to watch everyone's progress and immediate results that I thought we should start a thread for September Bandsters to share

I'm excited and yet apprehensive at the same time as I'm sure eveyrone has been. I start my presurgery diet next week (high Protein, low carb). I was only 37 BMI so they told me to hold off until I got approval! On September 7 is my preop. I also think that's the day I start the preop liquid diet?

Feel free to add yourself and we'll keep track together!

Winifred Sept 17

I am absolutely LIVID right now. My surgery is scheduled for Monday and the surgeon's office just called to tell me they haven't received a pre-determination from the ins. company and that they asked to have my filed expedited. I call the ins. company and they tell me they don't require a pre-determination for me to have surgery and that as long as I meet all the requirements in the medical policy...which I do, the procedure should be covered. I told the surgeon's office I don't care about none of it....this surgery is happening on Monday and if I have to fight with the ins. company afterward then so be it. I have taken off of work, my mother has taken off of work and I spent $315 dollars on the damn Optifast stuff and have been on a liquid diet for TWO WEEKS......oh, this surgery is happening on Monday come hell or high water. And the surgeons office tells me they sent my file to the ins. company on 8/30....WHY.....when my final medical clearance was on 7/25.......I am beyond LIVID right now. Besides the fact that not only am I scheduled to have the lap band I am getting my tubes tied at the same time so there has been coordination with both the surgeons and multiple visits to get all this set up. I have not gone through six months of these classes and bloodwork, visits to this doc and that doc for them to call me the Friday before with this ish......I AM FUMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi, just curious what my psych is suppose to report to my surgeon. Is there some standard format?

When I had my psych eval they said they do it so they can make sure there is no underlying reason that made you gain weight, i.e. sexual abuse, something like that.

Congratulations, Texas Bandit. I have been following your posts and it is good to see you are out of bandster hell. 6 days and counting. I have done fairly well on the preop diet losing 8 pounds so far. It can be hard and the head hunger rears its ugly head at the strangest times. Sept 14th cannot get here soon enough for me to get on with it. Please keep us posted on your successes, Texas.

I am so glad to hear I am not the only one that thinks it is hard and having 'head hunger' issues! So annoying! I am being banded on Monday and I can't wait to get this process on so I can eat real food again. I am over the pre-op diet, I need to fast forward about a month, lol.

Vanilla, they will get everything together, by the end of the business day. 13 more days to go for my surgery, I can not wait. Sept. 22 can not get here quick enough. How about my friend wanted to go to Vegas on her birthday, right. I decided not to go, because I knew that my surgery was going to be close. I did not want to spoil the trip. Well, her birthday is Sept. 22. I told her that, I have a lot of things that are going on in my life right now. I wanted to tell her about the surgery, but she would have said something negative. I feel really bad, since the days are winding down. Which means I am thinking about my surgery and my friend's birthday as well.

I am absolutely LIVID right now. My surgery is scheduled for Monday and the surgeon's office just called to tell me they haven't received a pre-determination from the ins. company and that they asked to have my filed expedited. I call the ins. company and they tell me they don't require a pre-determination for me to have surgery and that as long as I meet all the requirements in the medical policy...which I do, the procedure should be covered. I told the surgeon's office I don't care about none of it....this surgery is happening on Monday and if I have to fight with the ins. company afterward then so be it. I have taken off of work, my mother has taken off of work and I spent $315 dollars on the damn Optifast stuff and have been on a liquid diet for TWO WEEKS......oh, this surgery is happening on Monday come hell or high water. And the surgeons office tells me they sent my file to the ins. company on 8/30....WHY.....when my final medical clearance was on 7/25.......I am beyond LIVID right now. Besides the fact that not only am I scheduled to have the lap band I am getting my tubes tied at the same time so there has been coordination with both the surgeons and multiple visits to get all this set up. I have not gone through six months of these classes and bloodwork, visits to this doc and that doc for them to call me the Friday before with this ish......I AM FUMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so sorry, that sucks bad! Mine is Monday too and I am so over all this pre-op diet and stuff so I can imagine how you feel with the prospect of it being pushed back. I am in San Diego and we had that crazy power outage yesterday so I was worried mine would be postponed. I hope you get some answers today! Good luck.

Vanilla I'm sorry about what your going thru. It sounds like someone dropped the ball or the INS company is jerking u around. I would call them and get your surgeons office on 3 way.

I am so glad to hear I am not the only one that thinks it is hard and having 'head hunger' issues! So annoying! I am being banded on Monday and I can't wait to get this process on so I can eat real food again. I am over the pre-op diet, I need to fast forward about a month, lol.

Count me in for the 'head hunger' club. I don't watch much tv, and what I do watch is recorded so I fast forward through commercials. Even then - I swear the food shots are on the tv for an eternity, and I want everything I see, even if I don't like it! Let's not even talk about how many restaurants and fast food places I have to drive by - I never realized how many there are. I've got to get through Wednesday, then surgery on Thursday, then two weeks after that. I can't believe I'm craving tuna fish salad, but the surgeon said that will be the first thing I can eat, so I am craving tuna!

I am also counting down my days on the pre-op diet. My first day was day 21, I'm now on day 6... It just sounds better to think of having 6 days left, as opposed to thinking I've been doing this for 15 days now. It's psychological I know, but it does help.

Vanilla, i'm so sorry to hear that. I don't know why the surgeon's offices give surgery dates before getting final approval from the ins. I was surprised at this. Got my surgery date yesterday but then when i went to the support group, she told me that all my clearances are in and the whole package was sent out to the ins. It didn't occur to me at the time, but when i got home i was thinking "why on earth did she give me a date when she only now sent out the info to the insurance??" Getting a surgery date should be the ultimate definate that you are going to have the surgery and everything is in place. To make people have to go on the 2 week liquid diet and preop testing only to have the ins come back in the negative, is crazy!!

Thy actually have to have a surgery date in order for the insurance to process it. With no date the insurance can't prioritize and it goes to the bottom of the pile. My husband is an insurance specialist for a bariatric center and they also use that as leverage when they call in

Good luck!!

Stay calm and BREATHE! You don't want high blood pressure stopping you from having the surgery! Go to your happy place in your mind and relax. The fight can be after once you have healed up a little.

I am absolutely LIVID right now. My surgery is scheduled for Monday and the surgeon's office just called to tell me they haven't received a pre-determination from the ins. company and that they asked to have my filed expedited. I call the ins. company and they tell me they don't require a pre-determination for me to have surgery and that as long as I meet all the requirements in the medical policy...which I do, the procedure should be covered. I told the surgeon's office I don't care about none of it....this surgery is happening on Monday and if I have to fight with the ins. company afterward then so be it. I have taken off of work, my mother has taken off of work and I spent $315 dollars on the damn Optifast stuff and have been on a liquid diet for TWO WEEKS......oh, this surgery is happening on Monday come hell or high water. And the surgeons office tells me they sent my file to the ins. company on 8/30....WHY.....when my final medical clearance was on 7/25.......I am beyond LIVID right now. Besides the fact that not only am I scheduled to have the lap band I am getting my tubes tied at the same time so there has been coordination with both the surgeons and multiple visits to get all this set up. I have not gone through six months of these classes and bloodwork, visits to this doc and that doc for them to call me the Friday before with this ish......I AM FUMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thy actually have to have a surgery date in order for the insurance to process it. With no date the insurance can't prioritize and it goes to the bottom of the pile. My husband is an insurance specialist for a bariatric center and they also use that as leverage when they call in

Good luck!!

Thank you very much for clarifying that. It now makes sense.

So my preop was Wednesday and the dr went over the Preop diet I was so worried about. From the 7th to the 16th low carb everything. He said have proteing all you want, the normal really low carb vegetables and only 30 carbs from incidentals (mayo, ketchup, etc.) Then on Sept 17 and 18 only clear liquids on the list, sugar free freezer pops, sugar free jello, boullon cubes etc.

Plenty of water, propel but no gatorade.

I was completely shocked. He said that what he has found is that what he wants to limit is what causes the liver to get bigger - which is converting carbohydrates into sugar so by going low carb people don't have to deprive themselves except for the two days before and they have a very successful surgery.

He also wants me walking 10 to 15 minutes a day before.

All in all, much easier than I thought.

Also hurrah! He worked out a deal with the surgery center and the plication part that was an extra $800 is now only $500. (He thinks by the beginning of the year that might be covered by insurance too but I'm not waiting.)

I've been on the low carb since I got approval on August 28. I'm only down 5 lbs so far, but not really craving carbs at all.

Keep counting down!

Good luck to everyone who is banded today!

My surgery is set for 9/21 and doctor is waiting on insurance approval. If I have to do this three week liquid diet again I don't know what I will do. Good luck to everyone

Im getting banded on Sep 29, I want to know what are some really good puree recipes that are good for my diet.

Any suggestions

So I decided I need to have some fun with my 2 week liquid diet... I mean all liquids I am gonna drop some pounds doing that one right!? So I made me my own little "weigh in" room. It is in a pantry (thats basically empty) with a scale and a calander. I wrote my all time high weight at the top, starred my surgery date, and each and every morning I weigh in. It definately provides the motivation to face another day of nothing but liquid. I started on Labor day with a weight only 2 pounds shy of my all time high. I am now down a total of 9 pounds and it is only Friday! At my current rate I will loose about 20 by the time I have surgery... I find it crazy!!!! So in my head it is like a numbers game. My office partner today asked if I had lost weight... I had to just laugh! (They dont know I am getting surgery). Anyways. Just wanted to share... Yea 9 pounds! Come on Sept 22!