We're official then! The TENaciousTENS! We will stick together and get this job done! Then we can Celebrate our new lives together! Here is my favorite quote from the yahoo lap band group:

"Band surgery is the easy part. Now finish what you started so you can LIVE the rest of your life. Be brave and be patient. The surgery date is a turning point in you life. Don't turn back."

Together, lets go forward! I'm happy to be a proud member of the TENaciousTENS!:clap2:

My banding date is Oct 8th in TJ. Currently I weigh 235. My goal is 145. I have high hopes.

Hi Holly, I'm a proud member of the Tenacious Tens.. Just look in my signature.. Thank you for the encouraging words and I'm ready to go forward....

Welcome Sierra to the Tenacious Tens.. :clap2: I have the same goal weight as you, but I weigh a little bit more...

We can all do it as long as we keep in mind that the band is just a tool... It is up to us to stick with the plan and keep our eye on the prize.. (an old saying)

Wonder where everybody is... Things for the October bandsters have been quiet for awhile... Maybe they haven't found us yet....

Hey nic, lets start reading the "introductions" threads so we can catch those people who are schedued in October. I did that today and noticed a few popping up. I'm seeing the dietitian today for the pre-op counseling.

That's a good idea about watching the Introductions.. I will keep an eye out over there and see if I can add to our group...

Keep me posted on how things went today at the dietition.. I won't have mine until the end of September...

I went to GNC and bought some banana creme flavored whey Protein powder. It says on the package to mix with Water but I used milk instead and it is really good.. I also bought some Crystal Light To Go to mix with my water and it is good too... (the peach is down right tasty) So I am trying to get a few things here and there to try out to see which ones I like best for the pre-op and post-op liquid diets... I bought one of those bullets and put a banana in the Protein Powder this morning and it was quite tasty..

Hi! I just introduced myself over in the other October '07 thread, but wanted to show my face here, too. :-) My surgery is scheduled for October 3rd, so I'm VERY excited to say the least!

I look forward to getting to know everyone, offering and receiving support, and to make lots of new friends!!!

-Kim

Hi Kim, Welcome to the TENacious TENS.. We are happy to have new people here with us to provide lots of support for each other...

Are you in San Francisco? I am currently just north of SF in Petaluma and will be leaving here October 1st for Denver, Colorado to have Dr Kirshenbaum do my surgery.. I am originally from Colorado but have been spending the summer out here. If I may ask who is your Dr?

Welcome aboard and have a great weekend...

Hi! Thank you for the warm welcome... and yes, I'm in San Francisco. :-)

My health insurance is through Kaiser Permanente, and they have a whole bariatric surgery team right in the South San Francisco facility.

It's been somewhat of a process, but worth it to know that insurance is covering most of it! I chose a deductible plan with a lower monthly payment over the co-pay option. Now I'm regretting it! LOL The whole thing would have been covered through the co-pay plan, but now I have to pay my deductible of $1500, possibly up to my out of pocket maximum of $3000 for the surgery. However, I'm NOT complaining, because surgery is practically guaranteed if you follow their instructions, and I'd rather pay $3000 for the surgery than be totally self-pay. I totally couldn't afford to do it that way, heck, I can hardly afford it now! Thank goodness for credit cards, as evil as they are! haha

Anyway, Kaiser has all of these appointments and classes you must attend, and we have to follow a pre-op meal plan and lose a certain amount of weight depending on the individual, etc.

I've done quite well, and they are satisfied with my progress. Once you go through a series of appointments, you'll meet with one of three surgeons, who then gives you the green light (or red light) to be scheduled for surgery. My surgeon will be Dr. Alami (who is my own personal Dr. McSteamy!) and I'm scheduled for surgery on the 3rd of October.

Quite a long-winded answer for just wanting to know who my doctor is! LOL Sorry about that!

Does your insurance cover any of this for you? What brought you to Petaluma for the summer?

WELCOME to all Oct 07 bandsters! I sent over an invitation to the "Introductions" section for all Oct 07 bandsters to hop on over here to introduce themselves. Lets give everyone a warm bandster welcome!

Hi Kim, I'm unfortunately self pay and it is costing me $9950 for the whole enchilada... lol.. I just hope I don't have any complications, so $3000 isn't too bad but it still isn't pocket change... (yep, ya just gotta love them credit cards, could we live without them?) The way I look at it the cost of the surgery will be a savings to me in my health care... I have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, feet and ankle swelling, etc.. and going to the Dr all the time and buying medications all add up...

I've heard that the Kaiser health plan out here is pretty good.. We have Kaiser back in Colorado, but it wasn't offered in the part of Colorado I lived in... No Dr. McSteamy for me, darn it!!! I could use a good heart palpatator... lol

My DH and I are retired and live full time and travel in our motorhome with our two little dogs. We came out to Petaluma this summer and my DH is working for the Petaluma KOA campground this summer as their maintenance guy... We really enjoy it here and are thinking about coming back next summer... We are still trying to figure out where we will go this winter after I get banded and we spend Thanksgiving In Colorado with kids and grandkids... By then we will be ready to get out of the cold and on to a warmer climate...

Maybe one of these days we could meet in person in SF....

Hi Guys,

I finally made it to the group but how do I get that great ticker and glittery banner. I went to the web site and picked everything out but couldn't figure out how to get it from there to here! I want to be glittery too............Help....................Lori

Hey Lori..... After you select and design your ticker and glitter you will need to cut and paste the code from the web site into your signature in your control panel... If you have any problems trying to figure it out, just give another holler and I will help as much as I can.... Good Luck

THanks, I'll try it. You are great !!!!!

Hi everyone: I am getting banded Oct. 5 in Canada. We are self pay here. Looking forward to it, but a bit nervous. A big life style change but it will be worth it.

Hello,

I'm Dawn from MN. I am being banded on October 8th. I am very scared an excited at the same time. I can't sleep at night because I just don't know what to expect. But my insurance is paying for the procedure, thank goodness, so that is one less thing I have to worry about. I am so glad I found this site, I have family support, but nothing comes close to the support from others who have or will go thru this experience.

Sleepless in MN!:nervous

Hello and WELCOME to our new members nume and colesd. It's great to have you with us.. :wave:

nume, It's nice to have someone from Canada.. :canada:

colesd, I agree with you about the support from someone who has or will go thru this.... The support I have received so far is immeasurable and we are here for each other...... :hug: