Hi everyone,

I am in St. Louis and I am looking into getting banded at the New Start program with Dr. Van Wagner. I just filled out all the paperwork. Does anyone out there have UHC Choice Plus H? I was turned down after appeal a couple of years ago when I had BCBS because of contract exclusion and no clause for medical necessity. I get so mad when I think about how insurance companies will pay to keep me sick with all of these co-morbidities but they won't pay a relatively small fee to help me stay healthy for life. Somebody tell me something good about insurance. Has anything improved in the last couple of years?

We had dinner with a friend last night who said Dr. Wagner told her that she would do better with the RNY because she told him that she hates to exercise and doesn't plan on doing any ever! I don't know about you... I am ready for this weight to disappear as much as anyone but given the research I have done, I would rather do the lap band. I too, loathe exercise and I hope I am not fooling myself here but I think significant, sustained weight loss will inspire me to exercise. If nothing else I do not want the sagging skin problem. This friend claimed she had done quite a bit of research too and she didn’t think the lap band was the best choice anymore. She didn’t convince me but she did get me thinking. I just can’t wait to hear what the surgeon recommends for me.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Best regards,

Anna in St. Louis

Yep, that is a common side effect of eating too much and too fast. It is a horrible feeling but it serves as a reminder for the next time you are tempted. I hope everything is better now. I went through a long period like that when my band got too tight and it is miserable! I hope to never have that again. Next time I will get to the doctor faster.

so that is the feeling then??? but i am so hungry... i do not feel full... but i guess if i eat too fast i get that feeling then i stop, but if i eat too fast, i am not full just in pain or shortness of breath... so how do i know that i have good restriction? what does it feel like?

by the way... my scales say i have gaiend back 8 pounds since last week........ so now what does that mean?

I know for me, I can still be hungry but if I try to eat too fast or don't chew my food well enough, I experience pain. It's not because you are full but because you are trying to get too much or too large of a piece of food through the band at once. It's a horrible feeling! What I do if I get to eating too fast and have the pain is stop, get up and walk around and then wait a while before I try to eat again. For me if I wait, it will eventually go away and if I'm still hungry, I will eat but you can bet I'm real careful then. Walking really helps me when I'm in pain. I don't know why exactly but it helps. The worst thing for me to do is sit still.

I have heard some bandsters say that they never get hungry or that they don't get hungry between meals but that certainly isn't me. I get hungry, I'm just able to control it now. I have something I have never had and that's willpower. Good restriction is when you don't get real hungry between meals and you are able to eat your small amount and be content. You never want to get full! I have sometimes and I always regret it. Not that it is really painful put I feel full and I always worry about my band and pouch. When you are well restricted, you won't need as much food, a good bandster meal will do you just fine. That could be between 1/2 - 1 1/2 cups. Everyone is different.

I have a built in warning system. When I am to the point that I am content and need to quit eating, my nose runs. I can't explain why but it happens. I know several other bandsters that are the same way. I have been banded long enough to just know how much is enough. I can't say that the old me doesn't rear up and say that the amount I am taking isn't enough but I know that's just my head talking, not my stomach. It will take you a while to get the hang of it and that's completely normal. None of us are perfect btw!

As far as the weight loss, I really don't know. It is probably safe to assume that you haven't found your sweet spot (good restriction) so until then you may fight the hunger issue more. If you don't log your meals, I would recommend doing that. It's amazing sometimes to look over it when I think I have been good and see calories I didn't even account for. Watch your calorie intake. So many foods have a lot of calories that I would have classified as healthy. It is normal for our weight to fluctuate some but I don't know about 8 lbs. It could be Water weight. I know this is personal, but have you had a normal bowel movement lately? That can certainly make the scale high! Also, are you confident that your scale is accurate? Just some things to think about......

as for the weight gain... scale, very confident... bowel have not been moving... tried "correctol" made me very sick to stomache and did nothing else. any suggestions?

eating.....i know i have eating more lately... but i am eating so much less than before and no snacking.... some papers tell me to only eat 2 ounces of food... then others i see say half a cup... everything is different...

thanks for your insight!!!!!!!!

If your bowels aren't moving I would venture to say that's a lot of it. I know when mine aren't, it makes a BIG difference in the scale. I use Benefiber. It works good for me. You can have 2 tsp 3 times a day but I have never needed it that much in one day. Sometimes it may take a day to have any effect but it always ends up working for me. They say it's tasteless but when I mix it with just straight Water, I can tell. I don't like it that way. But I have mixed it with my Protein Shake, sf pudding, orange juice, orange flavored water and even eggs. I will boil an egg and mash it up and put the benefiber on it and a little Miracle Whip and mix it all together. It's really good. Like a deviled egg.

Those guidelines on how much you can and should eat are crazy. I know that I can eat more than they really want me to but that's life. The thing that Sylvia told me to do and use as a guide is to eat really slow. Take small bites and chew it until it's mush. Then only allow yourself to eat for 30 mins. Our nutritionist told us to only eat 3 times a day but somedays it just doesn't work. I'm hungry more than that and I know that if I wait till meal time, I will go overboard. I don't see anything wrong with having a small snack in between meals if needed. I try to keep it to something that's not bad for me and then I don't feel as quilty. Some band doctors tell their patients to eat 5-6 small meals a day. I think we all have to find what works for us and do it. What works for one won't work for another. I know our nutritionist knows her stuff. BUT, she's like what, 100 lbs. soaking wet! She can't TRULY understand what it's like for us. So I take her advice but I have to adapt it to fit my life. It's been working just fine.

Do you only weigh once a week? I know they say to not get on the scale too much but for me, it actually helps me. I weigh every single day! It's motivation for me. If it's up, I want to work double time to get it back down and if it's down, it makes me want to work hard to see it down the next morning as well. In fact, mine was up one today so I know that I have to work my butt off today and watch my food intake really close to make sure tomorrow it's back down.

yes i do weigh each day........ the benefiber... i did buy some and like you i could taste it in the water... so i never tried it again. maybe i will put it in something else... the nutritionist... exactly... if even 100 pounds!!! i really don't like her too well... she is snooty.. i listen and take in all she says... but like you i do what i can... she is the one telling me we only eat 3 times a day and only 2 oz max!!! in the beginning... that was fine, but now that does not cut it... does that mean that i will need another fill when i go on the 24th?

I have to admit, I laughed when I read your post. I don't like her either! I thought maybe it was just me; I'm sure glad it's not. My dh doesn't like her either but I assumed it was because I couldn't stand her. That's funny! I don't like her attitude. The way she came across to me was that I obviously didn't know how to conduct my life and since I got myself into such a mess, it was up to her to "fix" me. I don't need fixing thank you very much! UGH! She just rubs me the wrong way. She is the only one of the team that I just can't stand! In fact, I cancelled my last appt. that I was supposed to have with her because of bad weather and I have never rescheduled. I don't intend to either! I had been through all her stages and from then on out she was just going to go over my food journals and discuss it with me. I am not paying her a bunch of money to just look at my food journal. Not happening!

I can't say for sure that you will have another fill on the 24th but I am guessing you probably will. That's how mine went. How he does me is ask if I am having hunger I couldn't deal with and if I feel like I need a fill. That's why I didn't get one this last time because I feel like I am to the point now that I can deal with the hunger but that may not be true when I go back on June 1st and if I can't, I'll get a fill.

I don't know if you are interested in anything like this or not....and I know that the nutritionist would shoot me for it but oh well. Tann, a bandster on here that I am in Spring Bootcamp with told me about her "diet" that her doctor told her to follow. It's like Atkins but it's strict! It's called a meat and egg fast. What you do is eat nothing but lean meat and eggs for a period of time. Some mayo and some sauces are allowed as well as long as they are in moderation. I only do it for 2 or 3 days at a time and then take sometimes up to a week off. It can mess with your bowels too so you gotta watch that. Anyway, you can have nothing fried, nothing breaded and stay away from bacon and sausage. What I do is have hard boiled eggs (with the Miracle Whip and Benefiber ) for Breakfast and then eat a lot of boneless, skinless chicken breast or dear steak grilled (my dh is a big time hunter) or hamburger without bun; stuff like that. It's not an easy eating plan to follow but it does work! I don't do it as often as I did at first because my weightloss is good without it but every once in a while, I like to kick it up a bit. While eating on the m/e, I have been known to drop 5 lbs. in two days. It really takes the weight off. If you want to read some more about it, check out the Getting Ready for Spring Bootcamp Thread on the Lap-Band Support Forum.

Boy! I am talkative today!

cool.... maybe i will try that meat and egg ... that is pretty much what i have tried to eat anyway... one of the dr i work with gave me some samples of something new to try for the bowel situation... hopefully that will work.. i feel bad when the scale starts moving upward..

yeah the nutritionist... i really do not like her at all. she does look down on you for being big.. but you know what i would rather be my size than hers... she looks bad........ and very rude!

everyone else have been wonderful!

she does look down on you for being big.. but you know what i would rather be my size than hers... she looks bad........ and very rude!

LOL!!! So true, so true!! Let me know how the m/e works for you. I am thinking about doing it over the weekend. I need to do something cause I haven't been too good the last few days.

sylvia just called me...she was calling back about my "backed up" problem...she asked how everything else was.... she said i was doing well... should probably get a fill when i go back...

Re: Dr. Van Wagner-CoolBrez84, if you are in the St. Louis area, check out Dr. Wagner with Heart of America Bariatrics. Annapg, in my consultation with Dr. Wagner and from attending the informational seminar I didn't get the impression that he favors RNY (gastric by-pass) over LapBand, but just the opposite. But he is very candid about the need to exercise, and someone who won't will do better with by-pass.

Sharon--Have you tried the meat & egg thing? If so, how's it going? I hope everything is going good now.

I have not tried the meat and eggs yet... I started to, but was hungry and am still hungry......... last night I went through Mcdonalds and ordered a double cheeseburger and fries... ate it all and an hour later ate a hame sandwhich........ i have no restriction.... I am so hungry...!!!! I see Dr. Pitt on Tuesday next week so maybe I will get another fill and maybe this time it will cause some restriciton.