Lap Band Success Story

Some of the things that excite us the most are hearing the success stories from our Lap Band patients. You may hear these referred to as an "NSV" or "Non Scale Victory."

These are things that people have been able to achieve in their life, that without weight loss they would have never been able to do. Things that they couldn't do in a long time, despite multiple diets and other weight loss attempts. They have nothing to do with a number on a scale, but everything to do with your success as a Lap Band patient.

Here are some recent NSVs told to us by our patients

1) "Thrilled at being able to buy clothes off the rack at Walmart"

2) "I can run out to my car in the parking lot when it rains without getting short of breath"

3) "When I chase after my small children I don't get tired."

4) "I can ride horses again which I haven't done in years."

5) "I am wearing the same size jeans as my teenage daughter."

6) "I wore my wedding ring for the first time in 5 years"

7) "I walked in a Christmas parade with my daughter which I could not have done without the weight loss"

8) "Being able to fit in the roller coaster at Six Flags was something I wanted to do for years"

9) "Feeling comfortable enough to wear a bathing suit on a cruise"

10) "I got pregnant after years of irregular cycles and infertility!"

Add your NSVs by adding comments. Or add your goals for NSVs you want to achieve!

10 Rules for weight loss with the Lap Band

Here they are, Betty's world famous 'Stay in the box' rules with a few extra editorial notes in parentheses by Dr. Ron Hekier.


COMMIT TO THE RULES IN THE BOX
Lap Band
10 IMPORTANT RULES


1. Eat only 3 small meals a day, breakfast within 1 hr of getting up and your last meal 3 hrs before you go to bed. (Skipping breakfast is a bad idea; your body needs to have sufficient protein. If you are tight in the mornings, try a shake, or yogurt.)

2. Eat slow & chew thoroughly, 15 – 20 times a bite.

3. Stop eating as soon as you feel full do not challenge the lapband, see how little you can eat and be satisfied. (It's even better if you eat until you're not hungry, don't eat until you get a full feeling. That might be too much.)

4. DO NOT drink while eating. (30 min before and 1 hr after) No carbonated drinks. Avoid gulping, sip.

5. Do not eat between meals. (Only rarely should you have healthy snacks if you are getting hungry between meals. Or try a healthy liquid shake of some sort.)

6. Make good choices. Eat only good quality food. Solid food is more important than liquid food. The lap band will have no effectt if you only consume liquids as it will pass right through. (Protein is especially important. If you don't consume enough protein, your body will actually store calories as fat. You need to eat to lose weight!)

7. Drink at least 6 – 8 glasses of water a day.

8. Drink low calorie or zero calorie liquids.

9. Exercise daily You eat daily so you need to exercise daily.

10. Avoid doughy or sticky foods like white bread, pop corn, coconut, dried fruits as they can obstruct your band.

Which secret works best for you? Click on the comment link below to share your experiences.

Weight loss surgery insurance woes

Why is it that so many insurance companies seem to put up roadblocks to cover weight loss surgery, and specifically the Lap Band surgery?
My personal opinion:

1) You can get away with discriminating against people with obesity.

Can you imagine an insurance provider denying care to someone in a car accident tellling them "You should have been a more careful driver", or to someone with skin cancer "It's your fault for getting sunburned as a child" or to someone with advanced breast cancer "It's your fault for not getting mammograms"? Of course not. But despite being recognized by the medical establishment as a disease, obesity is still viewed by many people in society as something other than a disease.

2) Living in the past by looking at experience with gastric bypass instead of Lap Band.

It's human nature to be more mindful of negative experiences than positive ones. Many people know of someone who has had horrible complications of gastric bypass surgery, even death. So they equate bariatric surgery with gastric bypass. The reality is that weight loss surgery is much safer now than it has ever been, in large part due to the introduction of the Lap Band procedure.

3) The insurance company doesn't view you as a long term investment.

Statsitics show that many, if not most people, will switch insurance companies every 2 - 3 years. Therefore from a financial standpoint, many insurance companies have no incentive to spend money on something now that will improve your health in the future, when you might be insured by their competitors. In fact, that would save their competitors money, because you would be healthier and less of an economic burden on your new insurance company.

We all look forward to the day when all insurance providers place the Lap Band surgery on equal footing with other procedures that improve your health.

For general info, view our main page Lap Band Surgery Texas