I have an information meeting Scheduled March 11
 

my first REAL step.

DH and I have discussed this over and over.

He's interested in GB and I in LB...

Johns Hopkins is our hospital of choice.
insurance covers 85%

that's all I know at this point... but i'll bet I'll be around again....

so just dipping my toes in... (yet again)

Hey Nessa :)
You've come to the right place these ladies are Brilliant!
:hug:
Kierie

oh boy, NEssa!!! progress towards a decision [no matter which way it goes!]. keep us posted.

what a lovely bonding moment!!! will you two get to share a hospital room???

BTW, Kier - WE'RE all brilliant - and some of us dye our hair funny colors, too [ahem - ya'll dont' know what i've been up to!!!!!]

well I think we will have have it done at separate times.... no one else to take care of each other....

Hey Nessa, You know darn well that a man will be less hardy!!! LOL! Maybe you better hire an aide for him while he is recouping!!! I'm teasing of course, just going by personal experience!!!! Sorry all you fellows! I wanted to tell you that my DD just made your breakfast bars from the South Beach thread and was thrilled to death by them. She is tired of eating eggs and this was a nice change for her. I kind of like them myself.

hi Nancy,

thanks. they are easy and yummy and I did them for a while. I guess if I have LB I'll be off of stuff like that...

I'm nervous, excited and scared all at once.

I know IF he decides to do it I'll have DH go first. His condition is way more life threatening than mine at this point.

My concern is that he won't like all the restrictions. He lives for his snacks and his coffee....

Nessa, I'm having my surgery at Johns Hopkins next month! I feel like I have sooo much to tell you! For starters, I feel their information session is pretty horrible, so take what is said with a grain of salt and do your own research. When I went to their info session, the surgeon who spoke actually said some things that directly contradicted published clinical studies, and she couldn't really talk about all the surgeries because she doesn't perform them all. I have some beef with Dr. Magnuson as well as Dr. Steele. I highly recommend Dr. Schweitzer.I know nothing of Dr. Lidor (I think that's the other surgeon there).

I know you said you are interested in the band, but, if memory serves, are you type 2? If so, please please please research the Duodenal Switch as well. You may end up still feeling the band is your best option, but I do hope you know and research all your options. The DS has up to a 98.9% cure rate for type 2 diabetes.

EDIT: After thinking back and reading on here, I think I remember you from the South Beach threads, not the diabetes board. Sorry for the confusion. I'll leave the info pertaining to diabetes, though, in case your husband (or anyone else reading) might find it interesting.

Jill,

If you didn't like the doctors or the program why go to them.. there are other options available in the area.

I am not type 2. I have a bit of HBP but not even on meds yet.

my big problem is TOPICAL yeast...

DH also has no issues currently but he's only 38 now... so it will hit him in a few years he's getting more and more disabled daily. over 450 now.

my internist thinks I should have LB and DH have bypass...

I love Dr. Schweitzer. He's my surgeon, so I'm not going to leave just because I don't like the other surgeons that I never have to interact with. I don't worry that their info session wasn't very, well, informative simply because I've done enough of my own research to know what I want. There are other surgeons around, but I am driving 2 hours to see Dr. Schweitzer because there are NOT many surgeons who perform the procedure I am having (the DS). The only surgeon in VA who does perform the DS is out-of-network for insurance, whereas Dr. Schweitzer is in-network.

My internist recommended the band for me as well. After doing my own research, I came back to her with info on the DS. She had never heard of it (even though she had even worked in a bariatrics office for a short time), which isn't surprising because many doctors don't know about it, and many who do have outdated, incorrect information on it. She now has copies of DS information, which she asked for when I told her about it so she could recommend it to other patients :)

The DS has a higher success rate for high BMI patients (such as your husband) and has fewer dietary restrictions than the RNY. Again, feel free to ignore me; I'm just trying to help :^:

well then it may work for DH!

Nessa:
Rule #1 if you don't like the docs at the info session find new ones! hopefully they will be great
I went to a few over a year or so and the doc I have now I love.
Also for Dh's coffee problem Atkins makes a killer cappucino shake soo good
as for snacking he'll be having small meals just needs a reprogram on what a snack is
Also Small plates and Utensils!
and pratice eating slow its hard but important
If you ever read Mrs. Piggle Wiggle as a kid (they are oooold books tho I'm not ooold) There was a story the slow eater tiny bite taker (which considering the age of t he book was presented as a bad thing) BUT
I always think of it when I eat on Salad plates!
I had the RNY if you need anything I'm here for you!
and btw I can eat nessa bars :)

hmmmm. does nessa have a marketable product here?????

about salad plates. due to circumstance pretty much beyond my control, i ended up with 4 new place settings of a brand-new pattern. and i was ASTONISHED at how HUGE the dinner plates are!!!!! even when i have company, i serve dinner on the salad plates, which are about 7-8 inches across. MORE THAN ENOUGH ROOM for even the biggest eaters [at this point, that person would be a 6'2" 17-year-old girl who can't weigh more than about 145!!!!].

i also have a few pretty salad plates with matching dessert plates [most of them have been broken, but a few have survived]. i use them when it's just ME.

OK change up here. I called another hospital (one that is closer to us) I even got pricing AND got to speak to a real person (something I did not do with hopkins) we can go to their info session on March 2. they only do laproscopic so DH will probably have to lose some serious weight before he can do their procedure.

I've downloaded the packages for us but i'm not quite ready to open them and fill them out.

Jiffy, I bought 4 really colorful small summer plastic plates that I use at home. our stoneware plates are huge.

my china set from my mom is about 50 years old and the plates are for sure smaller....

as for the oatmeal bars... easy to make or alter, and they are posted in the southbeach phase 2 breakfast area.

Nessa - Good luck to you and your husband :)

Jill - Good luck next month!

As for smaller plates/bowls, some of the stuff I've been using is kids stuff but I hated that it was all plastic. Although if you go to an asian market, you can often find smaller stuff. Our cost plus is closing up so I went there and bought some small bowls that I really like. I haven't used our big plates in a couple years and don't expect to either but they still clutter up my cabinet.

oh our stonewear set has huge soup/salad/cereal bowls. deep and wide. almost serving bowl size... they also came with 'bonus' dessert bowls.. tiny bowls that are perfect for small servings.