New In Idaho - Help!

Just had my initial weigh-in on Tuesday 2/5/08. Since then I've had my psych eval, nutrition consultaion and lab work w/ my family doctor. Have colonoscopy and mammogram scheduled for next week which only leaves sleep study - - - AND LOSING 25 POUNDS ON MY OWN!

I was blown away! When I went to the initial seminar on Lap Band las summer I was certain they said you had to lose 10% of the amount you want to lose before the surgery - not 10% of my total body weight! They want it off right now so I'm on a starvation diet and it's so frustrating!

I haven't read a lot on this web-site to see what other doctors are requiring, but I'm curious to know if this is common. The diet is protein powder in 8 oz milk, cottage cheese, low-fat meat (preferably canned chicken breast or tuna) and vegetables. The first 2-3 days were ok, but boredom is already setting in and I'm trying to figure out some way to mix it up a bit.

Any encouragement is appreciated!

Wow! That is a lot to lose! How long do they expect you to take to do this?

Can you mix any veggies or fruit into this?

I had a simple low carb, no fat, high protein pre op for 2 weeks prior is all. Others have an entire month of liquids only---it varies greatly.

This does seem extreme with the amount of weight they want you to lose. Are they trying to get you to a certain BMI prior to surgery?
Was it a medical assistant who give you the amount to lose? Could they have it wrong? I think I would ask a few questions! I mean losing weight is not easy or none of us would be here!

Keep us posted, I am curious!
Welcome to LBT---we can sure try to come up with ways to help you through this!!
Kat

I was banded here in good ol Boise Idaho and yes they require 10% of body weight lost before surgery. My husbands surgery got rescheduled as he had not met the goal. I lost 20 of the 25 he wanted me to lose by day of surgery. (15 the day of pre op visit) he went ahead and did the surgery.
the diet I was on was 8oz ff milk with 2 scoops protein powder, 3 slim fasts a day, and all the veggies I wanted, no sauces. my surgeon used to use the cottage cheese and tuna diet but moved to the one I had a while back. three weeks of that is horrid but I did it. my husband did 6 weeks.
good luck and where are you located and who is doing the surgery?

the reason why is to shrink the liver for surgery

Dear Slainte,
My surgeon requires me to lose 40 pounds before he will schedule surgery. That's because my BMI was 58+ and he wants it to be closer to 50. Then I also have to do a liquid diet (4 protein drinks a day) for two weeks. He says that this is to shrink the liver so it won't be in the way of surgery. I've lost 23 pounds since December 12th by going to Weight Watchers. I eat lots of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. I grill, bake, or broil my meat and eat mostly fish, chicken, and shrimp. My family eats the same foods, and once a week we have beef. We also have Mexican food once a week. How much time do you have to lose the weight? My doctor wanted me to lose it at a rate of about 2 pounds per week.

Also, it depends on your insurance requirements. My company requires a three-month diet before surgery along with the dietician's and psychologist's evaluations.

My doctor also requires that I do a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise each day.

Good luck! I know you can do it!

Where to start? I'm having Dr. Anderson in Boise do the surgery and they didn't give me a time-frame for losing the 25 lbs. I've only had 2 stumbles since I started on 2/6 (a glass of wine on Valentine's Day and a Power Bar one day when I was feeling really down. Bad habit.) Depending on the time of day & which scales I use I've lost between 4 - 9 lbs. I'll have an "official weigh-in" on Wednesday which will give me a better idea of how I'm doing. I guess that's ok for 2 weeks, but I'm surprised by how little information I got at my initial weigh-in. It was "You have to lose 25 pounds. Here's your diet."

I also wish I'd knows how many other requirements I have to complete before I'll ever see the Dr. Mammogram & colonoscopy? That wasn't mentioned at the information seminar I went to last summer. Thankfully my insurance will cover them, but I had to meet my $1000 deductible so there's another $1000 I wasn't ready for.

I was told that the diet I received at my weigh-in was "pretty restrictive" but that when I saw the Nutrionist she would have a different diet with more choices. The Nutritionist laughed - she said the one I got at my weigh-in IS the one with more choices! The really restrictive one is veggies and Slim-Fast!

I did join Curves today so I'll have an exercise regimine that requires accountability to someone. I haven't been exercising the past 2 weeks and hope that by working out the weight will come off faster.

Thankfully I have a VERY supportive husband who is sort of following the same diet and rides his exercise bike for an hour every day. He's lost 12 pounds! But I know men lose faster and also realize his committment to exercise makes all the difference. He wants to take off 40 lbs and will probably reach that goal before I lose my 25!

Anyway... I'm glad there's a place I can vent a little and also see how other people handle the obsticles that come up.

I live in NY and my surgeon required me to lose 10 pounds. It seems kind of extreme to have to lose so much before the surgery. I think you should check around with other surgeons in your area and see what they have to say. It doesn't seem healthy to lose it that way.

I wonder if your age has to do with the mammogram and colonoscopy. I did not have them and know others that went to Anderson that did not have them.
with Cahn we had to have all required procedures done before we saw him. went to initial weigh in appointment, was given to diet that he follows the slim fast protein shake and veggies. given the amount of weight to lose and to start the diet 3weeks before surgery. on the way out we scheduled surgery tentatively, until insurance approval.
no mention of extra tests.
that shows how each surgeon is different

good luck you will do fine

the 2 main surgeons require it, they require 10% of weight to be lost. I was required to lose 25 and my husband 40. there is another surgeon that has started doing the surgery but know little about him he is not connected with the other 2.

Dying of boredom w/ the food, had to be fitted w/ a CPAP, injured my knee and can't exercise. I feel like I'm at the bottom of a VERY deep hole and can't see out. After consistently losing 4 lbs a week I actually gained a pound this week. Now I'm freaked out and my natural response is to want to turn to a nice, big, fatty hamburger or pizza.

I haven't jumped off that bridge, yet, but I'm right on the edge.

Tried to go ahead and get a surgery date and they won't even talk about it until EVERYTHING is completed. And the surgeon is booked all the way through April so the soonest I can hope for is sometime around the end of May.

Please, somebody, say something encouraging and give me a pat on the head and a "there, there" and convince me I can do this. I'm already so invested financially and emotionally that I know I can't quit, but have zero enthusiasm right now.

Has anyone else hit the wall like this?

Yes, I was alll ready to have surgery, and then my insurance denied me as they dont cover it at the clinic I was going through. Now, I have to start the whole process over, which is very irritating, and the new clinic wont take the records from the old one. They tell me that it has been more then 6 months since I started with the old clinic. ( I started the process June 2007). However, I am starting over, and I dont like it it, but I know that it will be worth it in the end. Keep a positive attitude, and I know that you can do this!!!

Thanks, Mikey. Sometimes it helps just knowing I'm not the only one struggling!

There are SO MANY positive and sunny posts that I was starting to think there must be something seiously wrong w/ my head! But it sounds like you've been thru much worse than I have.

I promise I'll keep my head up for one more day. Then tomorrow I'll make that promise again.

I appreciate your response!

It does get hard to stay positive, especially since my new clinic is 4 hours away, and so for every appt I will have to make that drive. My Dr recently told me to lose weight... as if I didnt know I had to do that. I just wonder how smart they really are sometimes!!!