stormy

What type of plastic surgery are you getting?

So I sent the receipt in to get OUR money out of the medical flex account. They said all I needed was a receipt. They DENIED it. ( Now they are saying I need a prescription and then it will have to go to a medical review team to determine if it was medically necessary before they will give us OUR money back. I am so mad. HOW DARE THEY!! I am going to talk to my dr but how stupid. the whole thing is stupid, they are making it impossible and completely stupid to get our own money back. What is the deal? There is almost $3,000 in there. I can't tell you how bad we need the money right now. I just can't believe they basically lied to us. I sure hope my dr will work with me on this, he was all for this once I told him we were doing it but I have never asked him for prescription because he said here it takes to long to get it approved. Anyway, just needed to vent. thanks

I was banded with my husband on the 19th and we have not had a call yet about how we are doing. I would think someone would call to check on us. Very strange. They didnt tell us to check in either. So I dont understand that. I guess maybe they think no news is good news. Even my dr here at home checks on me after an appt. The only concern I have had is what I call dry stomach. I wake up in the AM and I feel all dry. I drink my gaterade and it goes away but it does not feel good when it happens. It would be nice just to have someone call to see if I am still alive..

So Jenny Craig called me today. My consultant, who I must say cracks me up. She called to see when we were coming back. I told her we were not coming back, that we went down to TJ and got the lap band. She said she was very happy for us, but to not tell anyone at the center. She wants us to come in and see her. She said she wants to see us, she misses us and that she wants to see how we are doing. I told her we have lost weight. She said that is great, when we come in just dont tell anyone about the band. My husband thinks she wants to keep track of our weight so she can put us down on her stats. Claiming that she and Jenny Craig helped us lose the weight. That cracks me up. I think our contract ends in January with them and I dont mind buying their food, once we can eat again but I am not sure we should go along with her. Maybe it is in the contact that we not do anything like this. Not sure. Although I do like her. She did try to help us but the program was just not for us. We lost on it but gained it all back once we went off. The whole thing is so strange.

WOW, that gives me a lot to think about. Although, hubby and I had already decided that we can not afford to go back there for our first fill. I do however want flouro but I am concerned that they didnt call you back. I want to be able to recommend this place to my friends as they are watching my progress. I am very concerned about the fact that they did not call or even have someone call to say they were unavailable. That is very scarry. Thank goodness you found the place in Salem. Before we went down to OCC, I checked on my options because of my fear of this happening. But I never in my mind thought that there would not be a call back. I hope that someone from OCC calls you to at least tell you why they could not call you back. That is frightening to be left out there hanging.

How much did they end up charging you? It sounds like they are very good cause they got you in right away. If the Olympia one dont work out, I may use that one.

thank goodness you got through to Salem. Please let us know how it goes. I have considered going there for my fill. Let me know what you think of them. Good luck and thank goodness!!

Better to call them and hear that then to have the band slip. I know you dont want to hear it but you have to take care of yourself. Call me, let me know what happens.

Thanks how are you doing over there?

Thank you everyone for your support. One of my friends has been my friend for 20 years, she will just have to deal with the idea that this is what I have done and if she can't move along with me then she will stay, on the back burner in my life. I love her she is my friend and I hope that she chooses eventually to get a hold on her weight problem, whatever way she chooses to do that. This is the way I chose mine. My huband kinda had the same reaction and this is part of why he did it with me. He told me he thought I would change and get skinny and leave him. He told me today that he is so happy that he did it too, he can already feel that he is changing and he is glad we will be changing together. Little does he understand, I would not have left him. I know that I will be changing. I hope my self esteem gets better. I hope that I feel better walking into a store. I hope I get to buy new clothes. So far. I have lost 21 pounds since the beginning of this whole thing. I am so excited. I feel it and it is wonderful

My friend is 280 pounds. She is 5'4. She is refusing to get the band and that is fine. But I share with her my experience. I can't help it, she is my friend. She told me the other night, that she was envyious and alittle angry about the whole thing because she is on a diet and is not losing. I told her that I dont know what to say. I can't help that I am taking a different approach to this, than she is. She told me that she has struggled her whole life and that it is unfair that this is going to be easy for me. I explained to her this is not easy. She now has stopped calling so much and is telling me that she will be very busy now. I know she will be with work but we have always made time. I hate to see this get in the way of our friendship. It has also affected people at my work. They tell me that they will never give up eating and that they hate being fat. They wish me lucky and then I hear them talk behind my back, that I was crazy to do this and that they will be mad if it works. I really dont know what to say. Am I going to lose friends over this. People should be happy for me. I am excited. My life is going to change. I hope to be able to play with my son. Run beside him, while he rides his bike. They dont understand. They should quit being like that and go get the band themselves. They are just chicken.

Are we required to have a fill? What if the band itself makes you eat less and you are happy with that? I am new at this and I am just wondering.

Today we are having a wonder display of yummy num nums. For breakfast, we had a wonderful slimfast, ah so wonderful for the tongue, melts in the mouth, HA! for lunch, we are having the wonderful chicken broth with only the thought of crackers. Oh ya lets not forget the chocolate milk shake. For Dinner, maybe a wonderful display of beef broth, with a hint of salt. Oh and of course, the gatorade to wash it all down. In between for a little flair, I think we may have a liquid yogart to settle the stomach, my favorite, the strawberry banana. Meanwhile, my son is having chicken strips and french fries and I will even enjoy watching him dip them in ketchup. HA HA HA! The wonderful joy of liquid diet. But I have lost 5 pounds, that is nice. Charlie is doing well and Devin is playing video games. He is bored today.

I would call OCC if you can't keep even liquids down. Hubby and I are checking into a place in Olympia WA, I guess we are afraid to go that far and have something happen. But I know from what I seen at OCC, they would help you if you called them. I worry about you... Are you keeping any liquid down at all? Have you had some gatorade? Dont get dehydrated, trust me that does not feel good.

You are going to have so much fun on your surgery trip. We had a great time!!

So far we are doing well, I think anyhow. I nibbled on a piece of chocolate. It melted in my mouth. Not sure that counted. I sucked on a carrot but did not eat it. Just wanted to dressing off of it. It has been milkshakes, gartorade, slimfast, soup and liquid vitamins. I am not sure that is enough. I need to find more protein for my diet. Hubby too said that he feels tired but he states that his back doesnt hurt anymore and when I thought about it, either does mine. That is pretty good. My stomach by the port is still sore but that is getting better. There is no pain other than that. I think we are doing pretty good. We are checking on our options for our first fill but we have plenty of time. I need to work on sitting up straight, I think that is going to affect the band, that may be what is causing me some pain in my stomach. Not sure. But I will talk to the dr about that when we get our fill. I think I will call Dr Miranda to get more ideas on what to eat for protein, because I know we are not getting enough. I sent away for the medical reembursement on hubbys flex account, I sure hope they dont deny it. That is going to pay for our fills. I will find out in about two weeks, right around the time we start eating. Maybe I will use that to take us to dinner. Somewhere that hardly gives you any food, or better yet we will buy one meal for all three of us. My son would like that, he loves to share. He keeps trying to feed us. He doesnt understand. We just keep telling him, we can't right now, maybe later.

That sounds terrible. I hope you are going to be ok. From what I understand each fill you have to go back on liquids for a while. That is what I hate about it but I only feel that way because I am on liquids right now but, I am sure it can't be for that long. I would go back to full liquids and remember that gatorade, that saved me. You dont want to get low and dehydrated. You'll get sick. I know exactly what you mean about your pills. I have had to risk PB taking mine. I have to have mine. I hope your going to be ok, call me if you need to talk.

So far this weekend hubby and I are just laying around. I am tried. My sore throat, I think is getting better. I get weird pains once in a while, like muscle aches in my stomach, lower left side. Kinda by the port but not real close to it. I have been taking my pills whole, I hope that is not hurting my stomach but it is necessary for my medication, they are not large pills so I think it is ok. I take 4 of them at night. They probably sit there a while. I can hear my lower stomach growling, it is strange. I think all these aches and pains will go away and my cycle I think is ending. The scale says I have lost 5 pounds, I wonder it is is right. That is pretty good so far. I am happy. I wonder when I will be under 200, I will celebrate big time for that!

Thank you so much, I am getting old. For my birthday I am doing nothing but recovering. Maybe next time I can party.

I wish I was down there with you, we could shop shop. I love it there. Dr Ortiz must have done our surgery and then ran for the hills, HA! Guy needs a vacation. Anyhow, have a great time. Talk to you when you get back.

Oh I completely understand. I thought I was being yelled at for wanting a milk shake. Which I did have by the way and my stomach feels so much better. My sore throat is better too but I think it will come back. I dont plan on eating anything real for 13 more days. Then I plan to eat a chicken breast and mashed potatos and I hope I can keep it down. I did take a drink of the milk shake at first and I think I had to much because it felt like an air bubble and I burped and it came back up. Not good. So at that point I took a spoon and spoon fed it to myself. That was much better. So that has taught me to take things very slow. When I do get something to eat, I am going to eat so slow, it will take us forever to finish. My husband is being very good. He hasn't had anything that he was not suppose to, I am very proud of him. He is losing weight like crazy. He said he had to put a new hole in his belt. I think he is excited about all this. My son even tried to give him a french fry and he said no. I told him to blend it up and then we laughed about it. No way GROSS! I think the hard part is remembering to sit up straight, when I slouch it makes the port hurt. I have never sat up straight, so I dont know how that is going to work out. I think once I lose weight it will be ok. So feel free to yell if you want but if I ask a question, I am asking because I just dont know, not because I am going to run out and do it. I definately am not stupid. I have waited a long time for this. I am determined to make it work. Thanks

I'm sorry, I dont mean to be harsh. I just dont feel well. I haven't for the last couple of days. I am drinking as much water as I can, but I am concerned that it is not enough. I feel gross. My stomach feels gross. I was only looking for a remedy for this. Milk sometimes helps. I take this very seriously. I dont want to hurt my stomach or the progress that I have made. I can tell already that I have lost weight and I am liking what I see. I seem to be having a sore throat. Not sure why. It is very dry. My body is achey. I may be getting sick, I am not sure. I already have photos all over the house of what I used to look like before I got FAT, so I dont need that. What I need is to make sure I am getting enough nutiential/vitiams for my body so I dont get ill. Which I am afraid is happening. I went on that site where you track what you eat and I am only getting 600 calories and only 14 % is protein. This is very alarming to me. It also said I am not getting enough fat intake. I can't get sick. I have a very serious job that is demanding and I need to be there. I found someone on this forum that is willing to help me. She said I can call her and she will give me a list of what I can drink that the OCC did not have on theirs. There are a lot of people on here who came up with their own ideas and that is why I was asking. A milkshake, would meet the fat content that I need on the list, plus I would think the cold would help swelling. But by everyones reaction, they did not understand. My stomach seems to be upset. I think it is the pills I have to take. Not sure. I am doing this right, but I am not getting enough stuff and I am on the verge of getting ill. I call this person on the forum and then call OCC Monday and compare notes. It's not just me I have to take care of over here, it is my husband too. He is having some real emotional issues because of this and I am dealing with his anger. He can no longer stuff his feeling, so here they come. It is very hard. He has already lost another 10 pounds. Meanwhile I am on my cycle and have lost nothing. It is frustrating but I know something is changing because I feel different. I really am looking for support here, not people yelling at me.

I am taking is seriously, I paid alot of money for this, plus put in a lot of time and effort to go through this, left my child behind and put all my personal feelings and fears aside to go to a strange place with people I dont know, to have this done. I was wondering if I could have a milk shake because it seems like my stomach is upset. Excuse me for not knowing what I can and can not have. I thought that is what this forum is for!!! This is very important to me, or I wouldnt of done it. It was so important that I asked instead of just doing it. Some people just dont have any consideration for others, a simple answer would have been nice. If you dont want to help me, then just plain DONT!

Can I have a milk shake??? I want a chocolate Milk shake. I could blend it real thin. Is that a bad thing right now?

Kidding, trust me. I have not touched any REAL food. ok, I have once. But has anyone noticed that every commercial is FOOD. COME ON, KILL ME!!! How unfair. My mind says I am starving to death, I even get pains that feel like hunger but then again, I am not hungry. I dont know what this is. My port hurts a little. I get these strange pains in my chest that I am not sure what they are. I bet I am not getting enough calories and protein. I think I need to get back on that counter thing, to make sure. I want to pick this glue off the incisions. Maybe that means they are healing. It is a very confusing time for me. 14 days left and I have already decided I want a grilled chicken breast and either french fries or mashed potatoes. This is crazy.