Anyone from Jacksonville, Florida??? I have not seen anyone yet. Anyone want to share there progress together? :clap2::biggrin1::whoo::):ranger: We all need friends with this in common...

Hi KB, No I'm self pay here.I wish i had insurance to cover it but I took out a loan w/ my bank.This is my new car! lol.I didn't have a group meeting .Tomarrow a 9am I have an appt. not sure if it is that or not.I got to skip some steps since i didn't have to jump through insurance hoops.from my 1st appt. to my surgery date is about 2 mo.My pre-op appt is Apr 9th. I am starting the low carb thing today,boy is that one gonna be tough for a while ,but i can do it (fingers crossed)..

Most of the pre-op meetings are done in groups. They are so busy they have to do it that way. It's kind of cool though because many times other people have asked questions that I had meant to ask or hadn't even thought about. Don't be embarrassed having your appt with others. All of you are in the same boat. If you have very personal questions you need to ask, Dr. Cywes or any of his staff will be happy to talk to you privately after the group meeting.

Tina,

You can make no better investment than making it in yourself... That makes it the best investment ever!

uhhhh I just got the actual approval letter from Aetna & it says I am approved for the coverage date 4/11/08, and my surgery is scheduled for 4/24/08.... does that mean they need to change my surgery date to the 11th???

I am hoping you guys say yes..LOL

Katie, I would call Dr. Cywes's office and ask them. I'm not sure this is something any of us can answer.

Lookie lookie what I found!

Low Carb Luxury: Recipes

Hey everyone,I had my appt. w/ Dr.C and it was a group meeting. It was pretty cool ,but he wasn't happy w/ us though.He said we could do better.Soooo here I am today gonna take off and start walking and I got outside my drive and stepped in a hole and twisted my ankle,what a bummer.Its starting to bruise a little but should be good in a couple days .Dr C's speech really got to me and made me want this even more.I like how he gets inside of u're head and makes u think different, as for me anyways. hope all has a good weekend and enjoy the sun!

I also find that Dr. Cywes is very motivating. His group session with us was very motivating. There were three of us and he said he couldn't find anyone to pick on! LOL You probably got to see the liver pictures today too right? That is motivational in itself! There was a girl in our group that had a small notebook with several pages worth of questions. He took the time to answer every one of them and I am glad she asked them as her questions made me think of my own. I go back a week from today for my second fill. I can't wait!

I haven't seen the liver pics yet .they said he'll show them at post op appt. So that will be on the 9th.Pretty eye opening huh? I am so ready for the 17th to get here.oh, and Katie, I like the low carb site that u posted.I saved it in faves.

Hi Tina, sorry to hear about your ankle, is it feeling better? The 17th will be here before you know it.

I am so excited guys, after a year of ups and downs, I have finally slowly worked my way back up to restriction. I had a fill on Monday and feel like I am finally back at my sweet spot, I lost 4 pounds this week!! Yay me!

So, where are we at with getting together? I haven't heard anything in a bit and would sure love to get together with all of you.

I am glad you like the link... now, if I could just get myself to follow it! ughhhh Been doing alot of stress eating... not good

which doctor did you use in Mexico...I leave on Sunday for Monterrey for surgery with Dr. Zapata. I am planning on going to Orlando area to see Dr. Beltre - he will work with Mexico banded patients and his prices are reasonable.

Thanks Karen and Sue for all that great advice to my posts...you gals are AWESOME!!! I haven't been to the site in a bit, since posting those cries for help, so thanks for responding so quickly! I've actually been doing alot better and have learned how to manage the "getting stuck" issue as well as the falling back to my old habits, your advice really helped. I go tomorrow for my 4th fill but not sure if I'll really need one cos' I'm doing pretty good right now. I've lost more weight and have broken the 300 mark - this morning I was at 298 - so I'm really happy cos' this was my first goal. Now I want to lose another 50 and then try to get pregnant cos' that is my 1st main goal! Oh also had a great NSV last week - got to get off my hbp meds and my cholesterol meds as well! So I'm super excited about all this, can't wait to share it with Cywes tomorrow! Anyway, hope we can all get together soon cos' I'd love to meet this awesome support group! Much love and success to all! KKG

Hi Tina, sorry to hear about your ankle, is it feeling better? The 17th will be here before you know it.

I am so excited guys, after a year of ups and downs, I have finally slowly worked my way back up to restriction. I had a fill on Monday and feel like I am finally back at my sweet spot, I lost 4 pounds this week!! Yay me!

So, where are we at with getting together? I haven't heard anything in a bit and would sure love to get together with all of you.

Congrats on your restriction Susan! I know you must be thrilled! I sent you a post on Facebook but wasn't sure if you got it. Your updated pics show how skinny your face has gotten! Keep up the great work! Be well. KKG

Katie, I love the Atkins shakes, I drink the vanilla (althought Karen's suggestions sound great will have to try that), Strawberry (my least fav), and two different Chocolate ones (both good)...these are great instead of breakfast which I've found I don't need or want or if you are out running around and know that lunch will be difficult you just grab one on the go. Very convenient and good that I haven't bothered to try anything else. I'm sure one day I'll get sick of them and will venture into others like the powder mixes etc. but for now they do me good. And just fyi I've been able to drink one whole in 15 minutes from the time I was allowed through all 3 fills I've had so the volume has not been an issue for me at all. Hope this helps. Take care. KKG