You might be reading this because you are facing a situation where you’ve tried everything you can, but despite all of your efforts your weight is still out of control. One possibility to keep in mind is a surgery referred to as lap banding. There are however some things you may want to keep in mind. To even get consideration there are a number of factors that will qualify you. The National Institute of Health, or NIH has set up these guidelines for people to be considered for the surgery. One consideration is your Body Mass Index (BMI). You should be somewhere between 40 and 80. Also, you should be at least 18 years of age. Also you may be qualified if you have certain pre-existing medical conditions that affect your situation. Also they may need to know that your doctor has worked with you on a plan to reduce your weight, but that has not been successful. These guidelines are US only though. Because of this, you may be tempted to look elsewhere for treatment. Other countries my have lower up-front costs associated with this procedure, but there may be other costs that you might not initially consider. You do have to shoulder the financial burden of the procedure yourself in this case, which is $8500 and up. You also have to take into consideration the cost to travel there and back, and any lodging and pre and post dietary costs. Another consideration has to do with your checkups. It might be necessary to make another trip back to Mexico (or wherever) to have a follow-up. Otherwise you might consider trying to find a doctor near you that would be willing to do the checkups.It’s advisable to arrange all of that in advance of your trip and make sure it will all work together for you. You can also have the surgery in the United States, but it’ll cost you. Most procedures are $14,000. That’s at a minimum though, you also have to consider other costs like hospitalization, surgery costs, labs, followups, operating room costs, and the costs of any complications. You might find that your insurance company will cover the procedure though. It depends on the company and the plan. You have to contact your insurer to find out though. Insurance companies may be more likely to cover costs if you can show that you have a pre-existing medical condition related to your weight gain. The good news is that there are a lot of options. The bad news is that there are a lot of options. Consider looking into the insurance situation first. Evaluate your options carefully. The Mexico option might at first seem attractive but be sure to vett all of the complications.

For more information on lap banding, please visit http://www.lapbanding-reviews.com/.

I’m sure that I’ve said it before, but, if not, I’ll say it here. I am firmly convinced taht your attitude is a very key component both to your quality of life, and, to your ability to – in balance – effectively manage your Chronic Illness!
And, with this in mind, my advice is to develop hobbies. Within your hobbies, remember to share with others, especially the “guides” within your hobbies, your thanks for their input. For example: perhaps you decide that you want to become a great cook, and use Martha Stewart as a model. After you dook something, using one of her recipies and receive rave reviews from your “eaters”, write Martha a thank you email or letter! It’ll make both of you feel so much better.
For me, I love reading. And, when I finish a book that I really love, I go to the Author’s website and let him/her know, and thank them. Most even write back! I even got an autographed “drink coaster” from one, and am going to be a “reader reviewer” of one of my favorite author’s upcoming book, while it is in draft.
I’ve copied below the thank-you email that I just sent to an author so that you can see what one looks like. Hope you too enjoy a hobby and thank those who inspire you.
Dear Mr. Katzenbach:
Not sure why I just found you, but am soooo glad that I did! The Madman’s Tale is the third book of yours that I have read, and just finished it. (Started with State of Mind, followed by The Analyst). Loved State of Mind; liked the technical structure of The Analyst, but thought it was too sad – he was soooo isolated – but REALLY LOVED THE MADMAN’S TALE!!
I am a voracious reader (I’ve been “managing” Multiple Sclerosis for over 45 years, and now find myself on full time Disability) particularly of books of intrigue. I find, however, that increasingly I need novels that keep me invested within the book. If the story is too predictable, it just doesn’t “hook me”.
You, sir, have a marvelous mastery of phraseology; your lyrical prose paints pictures so accurately that I found myself in the Hospital along with Lucy, Peter and Francis!! I have obtained, and will read next, Hart’s War – the book, and not the movie. I want to view my OWN mental movie through your words!
Couldn’t help but document, and share back with you, some of my favorite phrases from The Madman’s Tale. These specific phrases were so eloquent; they so accurately depicted an emption, or a feeling, or, in the case of Francis, so clearly defined, in my humble opinion, (IMHO) SPECIFICALLY WHAT IT MEANS TO BE “HUMAN”, that I couldn’t help but let you know just how your words affected me! Your prose kept me reading EVERY WORD, and not just skimming to catch the thread of the story, hurrying to “who done it”!
Many authors can describe events, action, places and things, and some can capture the superficial quality of the characters. What I find unique about you, Mr. K., is your ability to capture the essence of each character’s “ghestalt”; raison d’etre (sp?); unique personality; and, how each both taps into the collective humanity, yet stands uniquely apart from it.
1) pg 168: “When I think back, I can see so many little things that should have meant something….I was young, and I didn’t understand that crime is like all the mechanical parts of a transmission. Bolts and nuts, screws and pins, all meshing together to create a self-contained momentum that travels forward, controlled by forces that are a little like the wind; invisible, yet leaving signs in a piece of scrap paper that suddenly takes flight and dashes down the sidewalk, or a tree branch being tugged frist one way, then the next, or merely the distant dark storm clouds scudding across an ominous sky.”
2) pg 200: “We are all defined by the dark, I thought. Anyone can portray anything in the daylight. But it is only at night, after the world had closed in, that our true selves come out.”
3) pgs 218 & 219: “Sometime later that day, or maybe after the next, but certainly at some point during the steady procession of mad folks being escorted into Lucy Jones’s office, it occurred to me that I had never really been a part of something before…..As a child, not being able to join in is a terrible thing. Maybe the worst…..In all those years, I was never once invited to a birthday party. Never asked to a sleepover. Not once shoved into the back of a station wagon for an off-the-cuff trip to Friendly’s for an ice-cream sundae. I never got a phone call at night to gossip about school or sports or who had kissed whom after the seventh grade dance…..My life was unique because of the absence of all those little things that make up everyone else’s normalcy.”
4) pg 269: “But that wasn’t the real terrain of each housing unit. The contours and topography were really defined by all the variety of madnesses contained within.” (Note: this one REALLY resonated with me, as I was a Human Resources Executive for over 30 years before I went on Disability. Whenever I walked into a room, I took deliberate “stock” of the temperature of the room; of the currents and eddies swirling around; of who was bouncing off of whom, etc. I’ve just never seen it articulated as you have done!)
5) page 326: IMHO, this is the depiction that separates someone like Francis who may be “crazy”, yet is still humane, from a sociopath! I loved how you phrased it!! “All my life, all I wanted was to be normal. Even tortured, like Peter and Lucy were, but normal. Able to modestly function in the outside world, enjoy the simplest of things…..But I couldn’t, because I knew, right in that moment, that I would forever be doomed to be closer in spirit and action to the man I hated and the man that scared me. The Angel was giving in and luxuriating in all the murderous evil thoughts that lurked within me. He was a fun house mirror version of myself. I had the same rage. The same desire. The same evil. I had just concealed it, shunted it away, thrown it into the deepest hole within me that I could find and cover it up with every mad thought, like boulders and dirt, so that it was buried where I hoped it could never burst forth.”
In these few words, you clearly articulated the essence of “free will”. AND, IMHO, just why God gave us humans free will. He wants us to control our baser, evil urges, and do what is “right” through choice, not through coersion.
You have succeeded in depicting the essence of being “acceptable”; of being acknowledged as a human being, with “rights” to exist. And, after all, that’s what all humans live their existence for; simply to be acknowledged as existing.
Well, I’ve taken up too much of your time. If you want to use my words as a review of your book anywhere, please feel free to do so.
Also, if you ever need to a reader to read an ARC of your new book(s), I’d be delighted to do so.
THANKS, again, for many enjoyable hours! I’ll probably be writing you again after I finish Hart’s War!
About DisabilityKey.com
The Disability Key Website ( http://www.disabilitykey.com ) is designed to assist each person in his/her own unique quest to navigate through the difficult and often conflicting and misleading information about coping with a disability.
Carolyn Magura, noted disability expert, has written an e-Book documenting the process that allowed her to:
a) continue to work and receive her “full salary” while on Long Term Disability; and
b) become the first person in her State to qualify for Social Security Disability the FIRST TIME, in UNDER 30 DAYS.
To download Carolyn’s e-book, click on the following link: http://www.disabilitykey.com/products.htm