NightShiftNurse

Hey everyone - I'm very new to the site and this is my second post. I thought I would place it here. To put it simply, I have been a busy dude in getting this stuff rounded up. I have completed this mammoth packet of paperwork and just faxed it to the doctor's office. I had an appointment with my Primary Care Physician yesterday and he gave me his soapbox rant about weight loss surgery (to which I endured without blinking an eye). In his view, weight loss surgery is something that is too easy to become a candidate for and that everyone can lose the weight if they had strong enough will power, etc. I rebutted that he is right in some regard, but for someone like me who has been grossly overweight since I was 8 years old (I'll be 33 next month), it's a lot more than willpower. In the meantime while I have been yo-yoing away with failed diets and weight loss that plateaus, my general health is deteriorating. In the end, he recommended me for the surgery and appreciated that I didn't shy away from his malingering commentary. I am also going to be having a sleep study. I believe I have mild sleep apnea. We'll see. I should be having that study in a couple weeks. I'll update everyone afterwards on the results. The psych eval is also something I need to complete. I have that scheduled in a couple of weeks, so I hope that is as non-threatening as people on here have suggested. The last part of my insurance approval is being on a physician-supervised diet for 3 months. Weight watchers qualifies for this and so I'll just stick to that. Everything going to plan will result in being qualified by April. I'm hoping for a surgical date by May or June. Jason "The Night Shift Nurse" St. Louis, MO

Hello everyone - My name is Jason and I'm 32 --though soon to be rolling over to the 33 year marker. I've been overweight for 24 years of my life and to this point, it's really all I can remember. My attempts at losing weight have been more than I can count on two hands and two feet and I can always succeed at losing 30-50 pounds. Anything beyond that has been a brick wall and it's been very frustrating. I work as an ICU nurse and I see so many patients that make me think "this really could be me in about 15-20 years" because of diseases that are secondary to chronic morbid obesity. I've looked into the options over the past 10 years. My first wife had a Gastric Bypass and saw massive results. My second wife also had the gastric bypass before we were married. I've decided that the LapBand surgery would be ideal for me. I am so very thankful to have insurance that includes coverage for weight-loss surgery. I have completed the pre-op paperwork to start everything and I am really going forward with it. I will be faxing the paperwork in on January 2nd, following my appointment with my PCP to start the required 3-month medically-supervised diet. I am hopeful that I can have my surgery by July. I am truly blessed to have the support of my wife. She is my rock and I know that with God's support and that of my wife, I will not fail. Though, I am doing this for myself. The comorbidies are starting to reveal themselves to me: I have obstructive sleep apnea, hypertention, knee and lower back pain... it's terrible. Weighing myself this morning, the screen told me I was a whopping 347lbs. Enough is enough. I realize this will be a journey and I am pleased to see an online support group for people like us. I look forward in reaching out to new names, new friends, and share this experience. All the best, Jason "The Night Shift Nurse" St. Louis, MO