Hello Junbies ......

I haven't seen a June Band Crew thread yet so thought I would start it .

I'll be banded on June 9th in Texas. I'm getting very excited about it. I know that the band is just a "tool" to aid in my weight loss journey and it will take a lot of hard work on my part to make it successful. I've been overweight my whole life with the earliest memories being around age 4. Although no one else in my family is overweight, I am extremely fortunate to have full family support in my decision. I know that there are many people who's family doesn't offer the support they need. I would love to meet other pre-bandsters being banded in June to walk with me to the banded side of life and offer each other support.

I wish you all the best.

Melissa Lea :hippie:

Pre-bandster 240 lbs

June 9, 2006

Spivak

self-pay

In this bunch of pictures are:

1- Andrew my son at the reception where he took off the tux sayin it was itchy!

2- My Mom's family taken in the church: Her sister is the one witf the short black hair in the back and her husband is athe bald man with the glasses. The rest of the young people are my first Cousins and their kids.

3- My Cousins Mary and Peter, My Brother in Tux and of Course me in the Sexy Silver Dress!( taken after I danced my butt off!) Don't you just love when people take pictures of you after your have danced and have sweated!

Lisa

Pinky and Lisa -- You both look great!!! Thanks for sharing the photos.

Pinky I hope your pb's stop soon.

Melissa Lea

Pb's are a combination of allergies and stress. If I eat slowly and choose wisely, I'm ok and my energy level is ok.

If this continues, I'll go for a partial unfill Cathy.

Lisa, you look happy and beautiful. Congrats on attending an important family function much slimmer.

Thanks Pinky and Melissa for the compliments on the photos from my brother's Wedding. it felt so great to finally go to a family occasion and not have to wear a tight"piece" under my dress. I had on only SPANX under my dress! It felt great to have all the compliments from my family members. I do not count SPANX as wearing any "piece" since it is more like wearing support hose.

Iam finally closing in on onderland and it feels great. I hope to be uder 200 be the end of this month.

I have not been there since 1990 when I weighted 170 and that was my lowest as an adult, I was 20 at the time.

It would be great to enter my 40's at my ideal weight for my height of 5 feet tall and to stay there.

I have spent all my childhood, teens, 20's and now 30's as an overweight person.

My 40's are approaching and Iam looking foward to spending them and the rest of my life as a healthy adult.

I hope everyone else in the June Crew is doing well, there are so many who have not posted in while and I really miss them alot!

Pinky my seasonal allergies are causing me to have some problems with throwing up ( I do not PB) a few times this week also.

I have been trying to watch what I eat and stay away from dairy which I find makes my allergy problems worse.

Also we are having Indian summer here in New York this week - It has been in the 80's all week and today it was 85 degrees here and its October 6th!

We took my son to the park and they had the sprinklers on for the kids it was so hot! I wore shorts and a tank shirt and my sandals. I will miss putting them away since this will be the last time I will be wearing myh size 18! Next summer its GOAL AND HOPEFULLY MY DREAM SIZE 8!

Have a great 3 day weekend!

To all my fellow Italians- Happy Columbus Day!

Love,

Lisa (Iazzetti) Hall aka LeeceLove70

Hi all,

I've taken a break from the board and all the lapband stuff. I've been busy working and getting ready for our trip to California on Wednesday. Looking forward to a few days of something different.

I went to PS last week. It will cost me $6700 for my arms and a stay at the new 5 star hospital. I was really impressed with this PS. She is a very caring woman who was very helpful. She wants me to go get the fill issue resolved and have whatever tests I need to do to determine that. She thought if they had to replace the band or if I needed to convert, etc. I should do that first. I just think I neeed a new lapband doctor to help guide me and advise me. I'm hesitant to do anything right now since we have so many trips planned. I want to do the arm surgery in the Spring so I think I'll get my act together so I can get that done.

Pinkylee I am so surprised at the Pearland house selling. I guess I didn't realize you had it up for sale and didn't they tell you it would take a year? Hope you got your price. Now get up here to my neck of the woods!!! I'm waiting for you.

Glad to see so many of you are doing well. I'm 15 lbs away from onederland. I've been as close as 7. I've got to get a handle on this weight and go the extra mile to get this done.

Off to a 90 minute massage. Its a nice way to spend a sunday.

Hang in there everyone. You are all amazing.

Barbara4 - We did get our price, and considering the new construction, our comps seemed pretty good. Must have been meant to be. Can't wait to be in your neck of the woods! We're gonna have fun! Congrats on the PS.

I'm not so tight this afternoon, and I'm going to quit complaining about being too tight. I'm tempted to eat, eat, eat today. And I'm really hungry. Don't want to put back those pounds I lost while tight!

I did my 6 1/2 mile walk around Lake Murray today. I've been really good about my water, vitamins and protein lately, but not that great with exercise and calories. I had an interview for another job and I have a 2nd interview this week. I may be moving too, so the decision is stressing me out a little. Enjoy California Barb! It's a great place to be! I hope everyone has a HEALTHY week!

I have been unfilled for the past few weeks, and I miss it. The band made every bite hurt, but I wasn't hungry. My DH says he is going to knock me in the head.

I have until next weekend to decide if I am going to do the RnY, and I am scared. I don't want to do it. I have heard all kinds of horrible stories about it, and I don't want to die, wear carbon filters in my underwear, or never eat sweets again (in any amount). A coworker had it done a few months ago and she looks great, losing 70lbs in 4 months, but what if it does not work for me? You can't just revise that one, remove the device, or go back.

My hubby says that if the insurance will pay for it, that means I am screwed anyway, so I need to do it. (We have BC/BS, so he is right, they don't pay for anything.) My PCP says the same thing, and she wants me to do it. I emailed Dr. C and he said that he would remove it and convert. If it is in the wrong place it can do damage even unfilled.

I feel like such a failure. Please tell me again, if it were you, what would you do? I know you can't tell me what to do, but I want to know your honest opinions. You have been going thru the same fight the past year as I have, but if you were told what I have been told what would you think/do?

My hubby says that if the insurance will pay for it, that means I am screwed anyway, so I need to do it. (We have BC/BS, so he is right, they don't pay for anything.) My PCP says the same thing, and she wants me to do it. I emailed Dr. C and he said that he would remove it and convert. If it is in the wrong place it can do damage even unfilled.

I feel like such a failure. Please tell me again, if it were you, what would you do? I know you can't tell me what to do, but I want to know your honest opinions. You have been going thru the same fight the past year as I have, but if you were told what I have been told what would you think/do?

Poddles:

What type of BC/BS do you have? I also have BC/BS but PPO of New York and my Lapband surgery was fully covered. The Hospital was in network and so was the doctor. I did pay some co-payments and maybe deductable. I am not sure about the RNY since I never looked into that surgery. I do know that BC/BS does have very tough standards when it comes to Weight Loss Surgery. They make you go through alot of paperwork and alot of testing and if you do not have the right forms or paperwork submitted they will make you wait for a surgery date.

I did not go throught with this nightmare and I was given a surgery date very quickly. I had my consul with my doctor in April of 2006 and my testing in May of 2006. I was approved on June 1, 2006 and given my my surgery on June 13, 2006. That is how fast BC/BS PPO of NY gave me my approval after all my paperwork was handed in !

You really should not be pressured into a decision by anyone, its your body and your decision!

You have to ask yourself how badly do you want this weight off and how much are you willing to risk your life for it?

Its not worth risking your life over !

I know that your have a child, do you want your child without a mother and your husband with out a wife?

These are things I thought over before I decided which surgery to get.

Yes, I wanted to get the weight off quickly, but I did not want to risk losing my life. I lost my best friend from high school due complications from gastric bypass surgery she was only 29 years old! She had the surgery in 1999 when it was new. She developed complications due to her surgery and and died 6 months later when she developed a blood clot and it traveled to her brain.

Right now, from what you wrote, it sounds like your doctor is pressuring you to have the RNY and it scares me!

Please really think this out and talk to a medical management specialist at BC/BS or go to the site and ask about the Weight Loss Surgery coverage and what is covered. I think you might need to really talk to them more about what is covered and what is not-BUT THERE ARE DIFFERENT TYPES OF BC/ BS SO MINE MIGHT BE DIFFERENET FROM YOURS - SO I WAS COVERED!

GOOD LUCK, AND GOD BLESS!

Love, Hugs and Support,

Lisa

Poodles- I really am so sorry that you have this tough decision before you. Remind us again what your height/weight is/was. Did you go over all of your original reasons for choosing lap-band over GB? Honestly, if it were me, I would try for them to reposition your band. I just don't like the idea of my insides being permanently altered. I do have some friends and cousins who have had GB, so I have no issues with their decision. I do know that a few of them have gained weight back a few years after losing. Not to the degree they were, but they gained. None of them had serious medical problems due to GB. Small issues like hair loss, small bowel obstruction(well that CAN be serious, but luckily theirs wasn't). I know at least for 2 of them, they developed new addictions like smoking/drinking and one got a divorce. I don't want to scare you. It is a successful procedure for MANY people. I just know it wasn't for me. I pray you make the best decision for you and again, all the Junebees stand behind you 100%. With or without a band you are always one of us!!

I was 320, I am 285. Weighed 300 on surgery day. I have BC/BS PPO, and it will cost me about $4000.00 out of pocket for the revision. I don't want it... every time I think about it I want to cry. I just wish this band would work. I keep praying that my unfill will allow the band to somehow magically slip back into position and work. I think I am going to go to get filled back up and see if that will work. If not... I just don't know.

Not to be dense, but by revision for $4000, you mean revising to gastric bypass? From all your posts, I really get the feeling it isn't a good choice for you. You sound really against it. How much will it cost for them to reposition the band, or is that an option? There are some people on here (KarenB for one) who converted to RNY. Maybe you should PM them. Do you have a 4cc band or a 10cc? Maybe a different band would work better for your anatomy. Did your doctor discuss that at all? Have you had any other tests to rule out a medical reason for you having trouble losing weight? Like thyroid, etc.? Sorry if I ask alot of questions. I've just been thinking about you alot and trying my best to put myself in your shoes. Are you still exercising and watching what you eat? I think you need to go get a 90 minute massage like Barb! Then you'll be more relaxed and be better able to make a clear-headed decision. I'm pulling for your success!!

Hello all, i just got back in town from vacation. I went to North Carolina. Let me try to explain briefly. I have a sister that I have not seen since she was 2 yrs old. Half sister on my father's side. I found her a few years ago and we lost touch and still had never seen eachother. After my health issue's earlier this year I had been really wanting to find her again but I couldn't find her contact info. Well out of the blue she contacted me on myspace.... Since then we have talked daily and really started to get to know eachother. My DD and I flew there to meet her, and we had an awesome time. Here is a pic of the 2 of us together.

Now we have spent some time together we have really bonded and I miss her so much. But I thank God for the time we had together. I just thought I would share this with all my support people......

Regina ---that's a beautiful picture. I am glad that time has allowed you both to find each other.

Melissa

I'm glad you enjoyed your trip Regina! That is a great photo of you both, thanks for sharing with us! Welcome back!

I cancelled my 2nd interview that was scheduled for today. I thought long and hard about it, made a list of pros/cons and prayed on it. It just wasn't the right time to move. I have a girl coming to look at my apartment this Friday, so I may have a new roommmate. (My other roommate met a guy and is moving out after only 4 months!). I hate having a roommate but it is a financial necessity for me right now. I also put in 5 applications for part-time jobs and had to take a drug test for one today. One good thing is we hired 2 new people at my main job today which should significantly reduce my workload. I hope everyone is having a good week.