Hi everyone!

As the header says, I'm a graduating undergrad, soon to be graduate student, in New Orleans. I'm exactly a week away from going to the required informational session at Oschner, where hopefully, I'll have my surgery performed at the end of summer. I'm interested in talking to new people, especially college students, and getting some insight into how you're dealing with school, a social life, and the band.

I'm so glad I found this forum. Can't wait to hear from you!

--C182:smile2:

One thing I'm gonna add - It's winter here at the moment and personally I think it's the best time to get the band because when your on the liquids and the mushies you tend to have soup alot and soup in summer is just wrong lol. Good luck with everything.

Thanks. I hope the surgery goes well. How long did it take for you to get approved and obtain a surgery date?

For me it was really fast. I went to a seminar that told you all about the surgeries in April 08, decided the band was what i wanted in May 08 during which that time I got the approval from my doctor, the psych eval, bloodwork and all that. Then in June I started the pre-op classes my surgeons required and completed those at the end of july. after that I was able to talk my surgeons into setting my surgery date for middle of August that way I could heal before classes started, if I wasnt able to do that i woulda had to wait till winter break! lol so for me it all went pretty quick.

Thanks. I hope the surgery goes well. How long did it take for you to get approved and obtain a surgery date?

It took a while for me to get approved because my insurance wanted me to do a 6 month diet before they approved me. and when I first decided I wanted to do this I was going to school in california but still wanted to do the surgery back home in washington. but once I got approved it only took 2 months until I had surgery. I got approved in october sometime and had surgery december 12th. my doctors set my date as soon as I got approved and let me do the testing until 10 days before surgery.

Hey guys, Alex here, I'm a 20yr old undergrad from Florida. I went to the doctor as soon as summer break began and together we began knocking out some of the pre-op test to help me speed things up (heart test, blood work, thyroid etc). My goal is to get the procedure done before I return to school 8/30 (not too sure if thats possible now). I discovered that I am pre-diabetic as well as mid-high blood pressure as a result of my weight which the doctor said increases the odds I will get approved for surgery. I have very good insurance under my mother, but there is always room for doubt with our current health care system if you know what I mean. I'm excited to say that I will be seeing a Gastroenterologist for upper GI screening and then hopefully, finally, a surgery consult and then surgery date.

I say we make this the official College Student Lap Band thread. haha. I haven't noticed any others.

Good luck to you, Odjii!

:thumbup:

yeah they have the twenties thread but nothing thats specifically for college students

Odjii ... good luck! I started my process about a month before the semester ended. I had surgery 6/08. I have my post-op tomorrow and am wondering if I lost anything. I know between the pre-surgery Protein shake diet and 5 days post op, I's lost about 20 pounds. It's a great feeling.

Welcome to the beginning of your journey :thumbup:

I like the college student thread idea :thumbup:

Thanks Kristine, and good luck with your post-op. Hearing how fast you managed to pull that off has given me some hope. It would really irk me if I had to wait till winter break for my procedure. If you don't mind telling me what steps you took, I would really appreciate that.

I guess time from beginning to surgery depends on whether you're self-pay or not. If you have ins, it depends on their guidelines.

For me I went to my PCM armed with the info that my ins co requires. He put in a referral using the key words my ins 'likes' to see "To diagnose and treat obesity." I got the referral to the surgeon. I met w/his nurse practitioner. She evaluated me and liked that I had done my research on the band. She spoke w/the surgeon and the next day put in a request for the surgery with my ins o. I was approved w/in 48 hours. The surgeon ordered blood tests and I needed something from my PCM saying I was 'fit for surgery.' My PCM gave my a physical and ordered an EKG. All came back fine. I then met with the surgeon and signed all the paperwork. They called me a couple of days later with my pre-op date and my surgery date. Pre-op was more paperwork, another EKG and an urine test.

I was told I should do the Protein shakes 2 weeks prior to surgery as everyone that is obese has a fatty liver. The more fat we get out of our liver the better the surgery will go and the faster we will reover. So I started the shakes 4 weeks prior to surgery. Every thing went great.

Make sure you do your research, ask questions and follow the diet guidelines. The quicker you go to a low-fat diet, though, the better it will be for you. And DON'T think about doing what my surgon calls the 'farewell tour:' visiting all your favorite buffets and resteraunts in couple of weeks prior to surgery.

Good luck

So I have my first appointment with the surgeon on Monday 7/13. I'm so excited!

On a side note, I had an endoscopy today because I knew they were going to ask for one and it was the best sleep I ever had lol.

woo hoo! you have to let us know how it goes!

woo hoo! you have to let us know how it goes!

Oh, I definitely will. I think my mom is more nervous about the whole thing than I am and she is an RN. I'm just ready to have this tool in place so I can get to work.

hahaha that's what moms are for I guess.