New to the list

Hi, my name is Chris I am a 54 year old woman and I am new to the list. I just sent my paperwork away Saturday to Dr. McEwen in Carmel, IN. to get the Lap Band surgery started. They are supposed to call me with appointments. I have so many questions and don't really know where to start.

1.  Can someone tell me, after surgery, what kind of foods you are allowed to eat/drink?

2.  I have read that you have to drink protein drinks. What are some good tasting ones?

3.  What kinds of vitamins will I have to take?

4.  Do I call my insurance and get approval or does the Dr's office do that? Will they send me some kind of letter approving me or will they just tell me over the phone?

Sorry about the questions but I figure you are the ones to ask these kind of things to.

Thank you all, Chris

Chris, welcome to our board!   You have come to the right place to ask questions!  We are here for you!

I will help you out with what I can.

1.  The diet you will follow after surgery will be very strict in the beginning.  You will be given a list from your doctor's office when you go for a nutrition class.  I had RNY so it may be different than your list.  There are some lap banders on here that will answer this for you.

2.  Protein is a toughy too.  Everyone prefers different ones.  I used the slimfast ones when I first came home from surgery.  Since then, I have tried may different ones.  I am currently using the protein bullets (2 oz. tubes) from GNC mixed with juicy juice grape juice.  It works best for me on taste.  I dont do well with milk.  So this is the best fit for me.  They come in different flavors.  I get the fruit punch flavor.  They have 42 grams of protein per tube.  I split it in half and drink half in the morning and half in the afternoon.

3.  They started me off with Flintstones Complete Chewables.  3 a day for the first 6 months and then I got permission to change over to Centrum for adults and I can swallow them now.  They also have chewable Centrum adult vitamins that they will allow you to take.  The best chewable I found was at ST Vincent's Boutique.  They have some by Bariatric Advantage in different flavors and they didnt taste bad at all.

4.  You should call your insurance and ask them to send you the guidelines and complete requirements for the surgery.  That way you will know what has to be done to qualify.  Once you have done your evaluations with the doctor they will submit to your insurance.  The insurance will send you a letter of approval.  It has to be in writing before most doctors will schedule you for the surgery.  Once you have been submitted to the Insurance company call them to be sure they got the paperwork from your doctor.  Call them often and follow up on it.  Otherwise you will fall between the cracks and it will take longer to get approved.  Bug them daily if you need to!!!  But be sure to check and see that they received all the paperwork from your doctor.  I didn't and mine was lost for over 2 weeks of wasted time. 

We have a couple of lap banders who would be great to answer your questions.  Jodi and LeeAnn both post often and you would get great information from them.  There are others too but I can't seem to think of names this morning.  (sorry girls)

Best wishes to you!  And I look forward to seeing you post!

Huge hugs,
Tracy

Hi Chris, your doc should give you everything you need to begin this weight loss journey. Also, there is a lapband forum that would probably give you more instruction than some of us since a lot of us have had RNY. I am not sure how your diet will be restricted since your having the LAP. The docs office should send everything in to your insurance company. Most likely you will hear from the doc when they call to schedule your procedure. Thats when I knew I was approved, they had called me to schedule my surgery and I said, welp... I must be approved. It will all fall in to place for you. Call the docs office anytime you have questions too, they can answer them for you.

I cant answer nyour questions because I had RNY but welcome to the board!! I am also 54.. I t is NEVER to late to be healthy and happy!!The best to you!! Welcome to the Indiana Board!! We are a group a close great people..

Linda Kay

Welcome Chris,
I had RNy so can't really answer your questions but just wanted to drop a line and say HOLA'! Hope you can join in some of our get togethers. We have one coming up THIS SATURDAY! Don't be a stranger......Welcome
shanna

Tracy, Johnna, Linda Kay and Shanna, 

Thank you all so much for your help. You are all so nice. I thought I had posted to the Lap Band list. I am sorry, but enjoyed you all trying to help me. I will keep your information in mind.

How do I post to the Lap Band list then? I sure thought I was there already LOL. 

Good luck and God bless you all.

    Chris

Welcome to the IN board. I hope someone can come along and answer your questions better. I had RNY so I'm unsure but just wanted to say Welcome.

Thank you so much for the warm welcome, MistyLynn81.

             Chris

Hi Chris!

Welcome to the Indiana board....
the ppl here are GREAT and it is such a good resource for support...
i just love it here...
sit down, take your shoes off, get comfy and stay for a while!!!

Hi Pam,

    Thank you for the warm welcome. It's good to hear from such nice people. I know I'm probably going to need to talk to someone from time to time. Especially when I get closer to having my surgery and afterwards.

I work in an office during the day. I sneek and get on line to check my mail. LOL I just can't wait until I get home. I wanted to see if anyone on this list had responded to my post LOL But I have a GREAT boss. He probably wouldn't care if I get on here. I always get my work done anyway. LOL

       Chris