Hello all. I'm Juli. I am 5'9, my current weight is 245 and my BMI is 36.2. As an elementary music teacher, I am looking forward to having more energy and less injury with my students.

It's been three years since I first attended a weight-loss seminar and the "beginning" is finally in sight. Originally, I went through all the lab-work, psych consult, supervised diet for 3 months, and was ready to submit everything to insurance for approval. Then, one roadblock after another found its way in front of me... 3 surgeries followed by my mother's diagnoses and death from cancer. Now, finally after redoing psych visit, lab work, nutritional consult, and sleep study, I was approved by BCBS of Texas on the first try! (TRS Active Care).

My Surgeon is Dr. Todd Wilson of MIST Houston. The pre-op is August 24th and my surgery will be on August 29th, 2012. The surgery will be at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston.

Hi Juli, my name is Tori. I am due to be banded on August 30th. I am a bit worried too about recovery. I am an elementary Math/Science Teacher in Sugar Land. My doctor is Dr. Reilly thru True Results. Good Luck to you!

Hi Tori, my name is Lucie, I was banded by Dr. Reilly on 8/01/12... he's awesome! Your gonna do great!! I had mine done at West Houston Medical. They were great! The nurses are all really nice and the surgery went well. I took about 9 days off of work. Now I am just excited about getting my first fill on Sept. 4th. I want to feel that restriction again! The swelling from surgery is gone and now the hunger is more intense. But I'm holding on... just being really strict about my intake of food. Good Luck!

Thank you Lucie. I got to meet Dr. Reilly when he did my EGD and he seemed very nice. The whole staff seemed very nice. I am just worried that I do not have enough recovery time. As a teacher I went ahead and took the first Thursday and Friday of school off. Luckily, I have Labor Day off the Monday, but I have to back to work on Tuesday. Did you feel any pain or weakness?

Written Test! I'm at my Pre-op appt. and I just had a 30 question written test. That was a surprise. Hope I passed :-/

I had to do a psych test that was like 400 questions.. they asked me the same 40 questions 10 different ways... "Do you ever do drugs", "Do you turn to drugs when your unhappy?" Do you take recreational drugs?" GEESH.... NO NO and um... NO.. heheh (just kidding)!!!

I have my appt for my psych test 9/12 and that will also be my 3/4 appts so I'm getting very close to becoming a bander ;-}

wow a written test that one i had not heard of before.

wow a written test that one i had not heard of before.

Yeah, there were 30 questions about risks, rules for eating, etc. I only missed two, so I made an "A", lol. I missed the percentage of people that don't lose their desired weight. I put 30-40 and the answer was 40-60. I also missed the 4 rules for eating after surgery. I put eat and drink separately, chew few to mushy consistency, Protein first, and eat until you're satisfied, not full. The correct answers were: no liquid calories, eat protein first, 3 meals daily with no grazing, and 48-64 ounces of calorie free Fluid a day.

I was surprised I got the mortality rate of WLS correct (0.3%). I had just read that percentage somewhere on this site the night before the test and guessed, to be honest.

The test my Dr. gave me was for all procedures, so he said that some of the numbers were different for lap-band surgery.

I still don't like pop-quizzes!

Good luck! It is not a bad recovery at all. Take it easy and have your liquids and mushies ready. Have a variety of options-salty, sweet, creamy, liquid...it helps get the calories in. Believe it or not that is the hardest part the first few days!

Hi Juli' date=' my name is Tori. I am due to be banded on August 30th. I am a bit worried too about recovery. I am an elementary Math/Science Teacher in Sugar Land. My doctor is Dr. Reilly thru True Results. Good Luck to you![/quote']

How did your surgery go yesterday? My husband teaches near you in Sugarland.

How did your surgery go yesterday? My husband teaches near you in Sugarland.

I feel pretty good I was very sore but I just put a heating pad over my stomach and I feel much better.

I feel pretty good I was very sore but I just put a heating pad over my stomach and I feel much better.

That's how I found relief as well, a heating pad. At what school do you teach? My husband is at Garcia Middle. My nephews go to Scanlan Oaks El. I teach in Angleton.

The psych evaluation was the hardest part for me. I was so nervous. I've never been to a psychologist before I didn't know what would be the right answer. I also had to answer a million questions and I agree with others they are basically the same question just worded differently. I made sure I read them carefully to avoid mistakes.

The psych evaluation was the hardest part for me. I was so nervous. I've never been to a psychologist before I didn't know what would be the right answer. I also had to answer a million questions and I agree with others they are basically the same question just worded differently. I made sure I read them carefully to avoid mistakes.