*YAY* Finally we have our own forum! I was thinking that a bio thread would be a great first start to this forum. I know a lot of us already introduced ourselves under the August thread in the July forum, but now that we have our own space lets start over!

So a little about me, I am 24 years old and from Peabody MA. I am scheduled for surgery @ Lahey Clinic in Burlington on August 14th. Currently I am 5ft 1 and 249 lbs, giving me a BMI of 47, ekkk! I have always been overweight and don't remember the last time I was in the 100's. As of right now, I am still waiting for approval from Aetna, lets hope that comes soon! Well as for me I'm an open book so feel free to ask me anything, I can't wait to talk with everyone. We are going to really need eachother in the upcoming weeks/months!

Hello! I'm Tammy from Anchorage, Alaska. After appealing the denial with Triwest (and winning!), my surgery date is 8-25-09 & can't wait!

Hi all, my name is Erica , I live in a little town called Lynnville in central IL. it is 30 or so miles west of Springfield. I am married or a wonderful man named Eric,and have 2 kids a 12 yo boy Colton and a 8 yo girl Darby. I am getting banded on Aug.7th at Provena in Campaign. My surgeon is Sydney Rohrschrieb.I am 4 ft 11 in. yes I am a shorty so the weight has no where to go.LOL. I weight 235 and would like to be at 135.A few years ago I did WW and was very successful, but like with any diet it did not work and i gained all i lost and then some. I have wanted this surgery for some time but just in the last year got insurance that covers it. I have working on this for a year now, I got denied a few times in April, so in May i sent it for appeal and on June 23, got news i was approved. Due to a vacation that was already scheduled i am doing surgery in August. I started my pre op diet today. it is not to bad. I was actually under calories set for me. I ordered these protein shakes called Chike nutriton. I am trying the choc. now made it a shake with ice. NOT SO GOOD:crying:. Had the kiwi strawberry Nectar for breakfast and I liked it . I got 10 other flavors of nectar to try:confused:.Will let you know what I think of them. I am looking forward to this whole journey we are about to take.

Howdy everyone!

I am from Oklahoma. I will be have the surgery done in Denton Tx. by Dr. Provost. I am 31 yrs old. Have one child, two step children, and a husband. Add him to the child list. :mad: I weigh 273 right at this moment. Surgery is being done on Aug 10th. :tongue2: I am so ready. I start the pre-op diet tomorrow. It is high protein, no carb diet. but at least I get to eat. I am so excited to get to know all of you, while we start this beautiful journey. I have been reading all of your post. So I am trying to get to know all of you. Good luck to everyone.

Allison

0o0o0o my turn.Hi my name is Elisha and I am 21Originally from California but living in Connecticut.I am married and have a little girl gabby.I am 5''6 and 238lbs.I have been overweight for a while.I have type 2 diabetes.I will be banded on August 4th by Dr.T.Ehrlich of fairfield CT.My favorite protein shake is the Atkins Advantage vanilla flavor.Best of luck to you all.

august bandsters, me too but will be 2 years ago on Aug 7th. Everything went well with me and I hope the same for you. I'm 11 lbs from my goal weight, lost 109 lbs (as of this morning).

OK here I go. My name is ebony and i am 47 years old. I am married with 3 grown children. I am 5'3" tall and weigh 250 lbs. I too have joint pain, diabetes, and high B/P. I will be banded on August 4th. I am excited,nervous and scared. My doc do not push the pre-op diet, but he said it would be ok if I wanted to do that. I know that doing the pre-op diet helps you to heal and helps the surgeon by reducing the liver. The optifast shakes is what I will start on Tuesday. even 1 week can be helpful. Good luck to all!!!

Edited July 27, 200917 yr by blackonynx

Hi everyone!! My name is Joanna and I'm from California. I am 5'1 and 235 pounds....my highest weight :skep:. My surgery is set for August 20th by Dr. Dahiya in Lakewood. I am soooooo excited/nervous! One thing that I noticed was different from everyone else, is that my doctor didn't tell me to do any kind of pre-op diet other than the liquid diet 2 days before. Is this bad??

Oh AND.... does anyone else feel like they're eating more the closer the surgery date gets???!!!! OMG....this is so annoying....I hate it! I feel like I'm eating more and feel the fatest I've ever felt. I don't know what's going on with me :thumbup:

to Miss J

Some don't have a pre op liquid diet if their BMI is not too high. My dr. wants to make sure my liver is shunk so it stays out of the way for the banding. I'll have 2 weeks of pre op dieting! Also, the phenomenon of eating everything in sight prior to the surgery (or start of the pre op) is quite common, but unnecessary (according to most). It's that last supper syndrome where we visit with all the foods we love most because we don't think we'll ever see or taste them again. Fortunately, as I've read, we'll be able to eat anything we want, eventually, keeping good choices in mind and becoming satisfied with much smaller portions.

Hello all.. My name is Karena and I'm from DFW Texas. I am 5'11 310lbs and have a bmi of 43.23 . I have lurked in the forums for years before finally deciding to do something about my weight. Well I just got the call this morning that Aetna approved my surgery!! I was shocked that it was only submitted to them last Thursday and here I got approved already. I was so excited to finally have something to post about lol. I was told the nurse would call me tomorrow with my surgery date. I have read most of your posts and will finish reading them shortly. I pray for all of us to be successful.

Until next time..

Karena

Hi. I just got my date- August 26th. I'm 44 and live in western MD. I am mom to 6 and 7 year old daughters and stepmom to a 16 year old daughter. I have struggled with weight issues since 4th grade. I have had success with diet/exercise and have maintained a healthy weight for as long as 7 years (age 29-36), but that's when I was single and had the luxury of making fitness a primary focus in my life. As a working mom/wife, I can't keep every temptation out of the house and time to exercise is tough to find.

I am crossing my fingers that this surgery will help me when my willpower fails. I know that it is just a tool and I have been discouraged by some of the stories of people who have lost their motivation, but I already KNOW that I can do this. I just need some help.

I weigh 220 lbs and am 5'4" tall. I've had 2 back surgeries and still have trouble sleeping because of back pain. My cholesterol is 240. I have sleep apnea. 44 should feel better than this! I look forward to opportunities to support each other. I am married to a man who has never struggled with weight issues. He is as understanding and supportive as most people in his position would be. I've told my mom, my sister, my husband and my 2 best friends about this surgery. I'm reluctant to share it with anyone else.

Edited July 29, 200917 yr by should_be_working

Don't share with everyone if it isn't your nature. You can do this. I've lost 109 lbs, well, 107 as I thought I lost 4 lbs this weekend but only ended up being 2 lbs. I am almost at my goal weight.

KayVee....thnx for your reply. I don't know about the whole "eating everything in sight prior to surgery is unnecessary" thing cuz it seems pretty NECESSARY for me right now lol. But really, I think I'm going to start drinking Protein shakes in the mornings and I'm gonna try to stay away from sodas too. Hopefully this will help a little.

On another note, I don't really plan on telling many people either. I don't even want to tell my job exactly what's going on. The nurse at my surgeon's office said that I can just say I'm having my gallbladder out or something. But what if I really need my gllbladder out one day???!!! Then what would I say?? LOL

Hello! I'm Tammy from Anchorage, Alaska. After appealing the denial with Triwest (and winning!), my surgery date is 8-25-09 & can't wait!

Hi Tammy,

Just wanted to say that I recently came back from Alaska and I sooooo fell in love with it :sad:, that I'm trying to convince the dh to move there !! So really how BAD are the winters ?? :biggrin:

feel free to PM me.

Congrats!! I just got my surgery date... September 8th.. so close yet so far away :biggrin: So, I am off to find the september bandsters thread. Blessings for all of you :sad:

Hola!

I'm Jailin, I'm 25 and from NYC. My surgery is scheduled for next week August 5th. It took me about 2+ years to get approved by my insurance but finally the time has come.

I have been overweight since I about first grade and I don't remember what it's like to be under 200lbs. I currently weigh in at about 279 with 303 being my highest when I first started pre-op testing.

Currently I am on my pre-op diet, low cal Clear liquids for ten days. I am not doing so well, as there is about 0 Protein in this diet and I feel so lethargic and useless. I just got off the phone with my surgeons office but he is in OR all day. I need them to allow me protein or such because I can not function, I just lay in bed all day when I don't have to be out running errands. Running errands is a lot of work feeling like this. I'm all for the diet if it's to help me, but I don't think feeling weak and exhausted is what I need in order to get through surgery and heal well.

I wanted to go get some Isopure today but I haven't been able to drag myself out of bed, and the closest GNC is a half hour to 40 minutes away :biggrin: We'll see what happens.

Glad to be a part of this awesome August group! Best wishes to all and I look fwd. to reading more from you all :sad:

Edited July 29, 200917 yr by jailin
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