I was banded on 5/18/07 and have lost 50 pounds. My starting weight
was 283 and the last time I stepped on the scale about a week ago I
was 233. I would still like to reach a weight between 185 and 195.

I too lost the majority of the weight in the first few months. I
lost about 15 pounds doing the pre-op diet, and then the remaining
35 in the first four months. I have hit a plateau as of late, but I
am not too worried about it since I feel GREAT. No more sleep apnea,
no more CPAP machine, no more reflux, and no more blood pressure
problems. I haven't had a blood panel done recently, but I assume my
previous problem with my triglycerides being very high is probably
back closer to normal. That means my PCP won't be worried that I am
about to slide into Type-2 diabetes anymore.

Plus, I don't get winded just walking up the stairs of my house
anymore, and my joints (especially my ankles) don't hurt anymore.

I didn't have much problem getting my insurance to pay for the
surgery at all, but I am told that United Healthcare is one of
insurance companies that approves the surgery most often. I had
several co-morbidities as you see from above, and Dr. Snow's office
took care of all of the documentation submission to the insurance
company and I was approved within 5 business days. Yea!

If it helps your decision making process, I will share with you that
I would not change a thing about my procedure except that I wish I
could have done it years earlier so that I would not have had to
carry that weight around for all of those extra years. Dr. Snow is a
great surgeon and the surgery and recovery were not any big deal at
all. Limited side effects are just that I can't eat certain things
anymore: carbonated beverages (goodbye my beloved beer), bread, most
pasta, etc.

Michael



--- In lapbandrapband@yahoogroups.com, "pkshort38134"
<pkshort38134@...> wrote:
>
> --- In lapbandrapband@yahoogroups.com, "Donna Leslie" <dleslie@>
> wrote:
> >
> > I was banded 5/31/06 and have lost 65 pounds. I would like to
lose
> 20-30 pounds more.
> > I lost the first 50 pounds in 5 months...much too fast, have
only
> lost 15 more since, slower loss is much better. My doctor has
taken me
> off of ALL medications as they are no longer needed.
> >
> > Donna Leslie
> >
> I'm just starting to investigate this procedure. Currently I
weight
> 260, am 5' 6", and am 52. Have elevated blood pressure, reflux,
hip
> pain, and family history of diabetes. What problems did you have
> getting your insurance to pay for the surgery, problems after
surgery,
> and so on.
>