SigmaChefSpe

My Package was sent just this morning, I know my insurance company has 15 business days to review and make a decision, I am super super nervous. This is by far the most stressing part of this journey so far..... AND IT JUST WAS SENT TODAY!!!!!! lol, how am I going to hold up over the next 3 weeks.... ugh.....

Thanks Guys, I just heard back from my surgeon, they did submit the package today, but during the endocopy he found a little white speck.... he wants me to have a chest xray so they can determine what it is. He siad it is not something that will prevent me from having the surgery but if it is anything he can remove it while it while he is down there. I feel so blessed to have a surgeon who is going above and beyond like this. It means the world to me that he is looking "outside the box" to make sure there isn't anything else going on. I'm also a little nervous as to what this speck could be, but now feel like i'm in the best hands possible, just want the cat scan done so i can rest in piece........

Ok, so I had my endoscopy today, which means my file will be submitted to the insurance for approval tomorrow.... I hope that goes well. The Endoscopy was neat, I have never been under any type of sedation before. I feel good overall, except for this headache I've had all day but I think its because my body wants to go back to sleep and I haven't let it. I left the hospital at 12:30 and have been up ever since, everyone says I should be sleep, so I guess I'm going to turn in shortly as its 607 in the evening. Well I just wanted to say, I had the endoscopy yesterday and the 15 day count down begin tomorrow. Wish me luck everyone!!!!!

Ok, so let me tell you how I was SUPER nervous this weekend. So if you dont know anything about me (and i dont think you do) I love rollercoasters, love, love, love them, and it has been a very depressing past couple of years for me becuase I have been too big to ride them.... which mind you is the worse feeling in the world. I mean standing in line for an hour laughing and joking with your frineds to finally get to the coaster and not be able to close the harness.... its deflating, then whats even worse is to have to get off the coaster turn around and look at not only the 40 people on the coaster waiting to take off but the hundreds that are in line looking at you looking at them.... oh man its terrible. anyway this weekend we went to six flags and while bobbing around in the lazy river.... super cool if you dont have one, its this 1/2 mile long river that runs around the water park, but its got jets and sprinklers and all kind of stuff in it... amazing, but anyway in bobbing around in the river my girl and I are talking and she tells me that she has been avioding going to six flags because she wants to ride the rides with me and a lot of them i cant fit on..... i'm not sure what hurt worse getting off the ride in front of all of those people, or knowing that I am the reason that someone else I love is not doing something that they want to do. Anyway I try to shake off any bad feelings becuase i dont want to ruin the day anymore. So internally i'm having a fight with myself, do i run the risk of the embarrassment of getting asked to leave the ride or do i just deal with the hurt of knowing that i am keeping my love from doing what she love because of my size? What would you do? I end up saying to myself my embarrassment is nothing compared to the hurt and shame i feel because i how i'ver held her back and decided i am going to try and get on the coaster. Well, we head over to the theme park and find a ride, get in line for about 15 minutes and don't you know it started to rain and thunder really bad, so of course they shut the coasters down, we found a bench and waited 45 mintues to see if it would pass, when it didnt we decided we needed to go home and would try again another day. I would love to say that this story ended in a happy ending plummeting 200 feet to the earth at 60 MPH but the truth is it didn't. It didnt end the way we wanted it to, but what it did do was inspire, motivate, bring to light the darkness that was hiding within. what it did do was make me realize how this weight that i have been carrying is not only affecting me, but affecting the people i love, I promise you this, once this suregery comes I will NEVER see this weight again. Thanks for listening have a great day. #SuperHighlyMotivated

I can tell you that i have been in process for about 2 or 3 months and its been a roller coaster. Ups and down, but well worth it. I have two things left to do, the endoscopy on the 9th, and to submit the paperwork to the insurance. I have to tell you, one of the best feelings through out this process was setting the tenative date.... october 9th is what i am looking at and i cant wait... add me as a friend and we can go through this experience together!

So today I am sitting at my desk enjoying a very good homemade fruit salad, which consisted of Strawberries, grapes, apples, oragnes, watermelon, bananas, and blackberries, then the thought hit me, Will i be able to enjoy this fruit salad after surgey? I have not undergone surgery yet as a matter of fact my date is currently set for October 9th, but just wanted to know from the people post op, can we have these fruits? and if so how long after surgery before we can eat them again? Thanks Guys and Gals

Thanks Guys, I like fruit so once the thought hit i became instantly depressed. I know i wont be able to hold nearly the amount of food that i hold now once i have the surgery, however to not be able to tolerate it at all would probably be heart breaking.

It’s been quite a while since I put a good entry in here and being as I got a few moments I figured now is the time to do it…… So, what’s on my mind…. First off I went to the doctors on Sunday and afterwards she said she didn’t need to see for again until 6 weeks after the surgery??? Normally people would be rejoicing in the fact that they don’t have to go back to the doctors, but I’m thinking…. 6 weeks, isn’t that a little long for someone who went through MAJOR surgery? I’m actually feeling like maybe she is just pushing me off, not rally a good feeling to have about a new doctor….. Maybe it’s just me taking it wrong. I can wait to get this surgery done, I keep looking to see if there is anything I can do to speed the process up but I know at this point it’s just a waiting game. The endoscopy is scheduled for September 9th. Which is over a month away, I now it will fly by but still I want to do it now…. And then to think I have to wait another month due to the insurance needing there time to review/approve the package… and then on top of all of this my job is slowing down to a dangerous level. Now do get me wrong my God is a amazing God and I know that no harm can come of me as long as I continue to serve Him, but just seeing it slow down is worry some. I talked to my girl about this whole thing and while you can see she is trying her best to stay calm on the outside, she is terrified on the inside, you can see it in her eyes whenever we talk about it… and because I see this it makes me not want to talk to her about it because I don’t want to see her worry. Not sure what to do with that. Oh and how about the lottery??? I don’t know if you have the lottery where you are but in this area the Powerball payout is up to $400 million. Yes you read that right 400,000,000.00 dollars. I guess if I hit it alone after taxes I should bring in about 265 or 270 Million… Whew what to do with the money, well being as I always play with the annuity option that would mean that I would make around 8.5 or 9 million dollars a year for the next 30 years… more than enough to set myself up for life. I would buy a house outright, and set up a separate account for property taxes alone, I would $750 thousand aside for each child that they wouldn’t even know about until the turned 25 and completely pay off all of my debt, buy two newer… not new but newer cars and probably take a few trips. Once it was all said and done, I would bank the rest and live off the interest. Man how easy would it be? Well now that I have been brought back to reality by my work phone I guess I can wrap this up for now. While I thank you for reading I pose the question to you, if you ended up making 9 million dollars a year for the next 30 years what would you do with it?

Beach Lover, 4.8 million dollars is a lot of money.... and your uncle is a smart man. I think finding a way to generate additional income is the key to any successful lump some. People think oh I have 5 million dollars and can live off this forever because they currently live off of 60-90K a year.... but what people dont realize is your spending changes with you income, A 4 person family will find means of survival off of a salary of 30K just as they would off of a salary of 100K. Finding a way to generate income is the key..... with that being said I have to agree with Veruca, investing at this point and time just doesnt seem the best way.... at least not in the stock market.... I work in the mortgage industry which is directly related to the stock market and I see first hand the way it is all over the place..... somethime going up and down 10 times in a day.... just not enough stability for me..... I did forget to leave off my donation to the Churchs, My mothers side of the family is super reglious and I would have to make a "large" donation to a couple of churchs in my granmothers honor, I know she would have done the same Veruca...... RVing.... not a bad choice at all.... I have never been in a RV before but a saw a movie about a family that took a RVing trip across country and it was Hilarious.... but yes seeing the counrty by way of RV does tickle my senses too

notime, that is a great point, but i actually like the hustle and bustleof the airport but maybe that is only becuae i've only been on an airplane twice in my life. Lol, I do like the idea of traveling, i hear the Barbados is exceptionally nice right now..... and yeah playing is a key factor in winning HA HA HA

Great Work, I cant wait to go shopping somewhere that isn't a "big and tall" store

Just another update! Sat with the Nutritionist yesterday, She was a very nice lady, we reviewed my three day food diary, what type of protein shakes they thought were best for this type of surgery. All of the food groups and my caloric intake, what I should be watching out for and what I am ok to eat and not eat. We also discussed what to expect for the weeks before surgery and after surgery. I thought it was a great visit. I also had the pleasure of setting a preliminary surgery date 10/9!!!!! Woot Woot! I am very happy to know that we are getting close, I still need to have my endoscopy done but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m getting very excited. Anyway I have to go to a conference call but I’ll write again soon!

My God! 10 inches in 4 months, that is AMAZING! i hope i have that same success once i get mine done! CoNgRaTs!!!!!! live it well!

Ok, If you read my last entry you will know that on the 11th I was crazy Mad because the surgeons office called and wanted to reschedule my appointment from 7/19 to 7/16 becuase the surgeon was doing a conference on the 19th and the person doing the schedule made a mistake. I was mad not becuase they wanted to move it up but because they wanted me to have 6 sets of test done prior to sitting with the surgeon and they still hadnt given me the scripts to get them done. Needless to say i thought it was impossible and ended up setting a tenative appointment for 8/2. Well i decided that on Saturday the 13th i was going to get whatever work done i could get done being as i didnt have anything else to do. I went to LabCorp to get the bllod drawn and come to find out the needed to take 8 vials of blood. after that i decided to go to the hospital and have the xrays done. Once i got there the lady who registered me decided she was going to make a call and see if i could make an appointment to come back next week and have the other test done. Well when she came back in the room she said everyone was able to do the test saturday. So I got ALL of my work done on a Saturday and was able to sit with my surgeon yesterday!!!!!!!! So, yesterday i'm with the surgeon and we are going over all of the test results and i find out there is 1 thing i need to get corrected before scheduling the surgery, apperently i tested positive for H. Palri, or how ever you spell it lol. So i have to take antibaotics prior to surgery. I also found out I need to have an endoscopy completed, so i sit down to schedule my endoscopy and the next open date is 9/9, yup, 9/9. My surgeon only does endoscopys on the 1st and 2nd monday of the month and he is off on vacation the first two weeks of august, oh and the first monday in september is Labor day, so after all the back breaking and blessings and all that other stuff i still have to wait until september. Now, I can laugh at it seeing how silly i was to try and rush things along, now i'm just trying to get myself together mentally for the life long journey that comes. I probable wont be back here until there is another update but just know that it is coming as soon.

Hi Guys, Thank you for all the support. It's really nice to know that you guys are out there. I'm going to be posting a new blog but jyust incase you dont want to read everything I got all my testing completed saturday the 13th at another facility close to home, and was still able to sit with the surgeon this past tuesday. It is great how God moves when we least expect it. Sometimes i just have to remember that even when things turn upside down he is still in control!

Nothing make me madder then when i am busting my hump to get stuff done in a timely manner and one issue throws the whole thing out of wack. So i talked to the registar on the 3rd of July, she ask me, do you think you can get the testing done by 7/19, im like heck yeah, well here it is now 7/11 and still no scripts, so i start calling around looking to see where they are, come to find out she never sent them? REALLY????? REALLY????? then i also find out on my call that the docter is scheduled for a conference the day of my appointment, he has been scheduled for that conference for three months..... WHAT WAS THIS LADY DOING???? So the new nurse says to me, we will let you meet with the doctor 7/16 instead of waiting until 7/19, well that would be great if the stupid lady would have sent out my scripts for the test back on the third when she was suppose to. I have spent the last three hours trying to see if i could find a place to get the test done prior to 7/16 to no avail. so i call the hospital back and the lady is like well the next appointment we have the the doctor is 8/2. August 2nd? are you f***ing kidding me? 8/2???? i am so mad right now. Here i am thinking that im moving along at a great pace and this one lady throws everything into a tail spin. So now not only am i back to waiting but i need to take an additional day away from work to get this satisfied. Well as it currently stands 7/16 i go in to get all 6 test done 7/30 i have the meeting with the nutritionist 8/2 i meet with the surgeon. Oh and to beat the doctor goes on vacation for three weeks on 8/4 so i wont be looking for a date until september, this is really starting to boil my blood. and i wanted to have it done by mid august, oh well, there that idea goes..... still kinda PO All of this could have been avoided, the the original lady would have just looked at the schedule correct.........GRRRRRRRR.........

Hello All, First let me say, Nice to see this post. I am African American, and its nice to know that i will be going through this Journey with follow brothers and sisters. . I had a question, My surgeon had me do a test for H. Pilory and the test came back positive. The Nurse says that it is common for African Americans to hold this type of bacteria, and that it will be healed with a oral medicine take over two weeks. Has anyone else had this test done and it come back positive? If so have you had success riding yourself of the bacteria using the medicine? I'm a little concerned with the bacteria because they said it can promote stomach alcers, so its important to be rid of it before surgery. Any one out there going thru this? Thanks

I have UHC, unsure if its choice but My coverage works through a company called BRN (bariatic resourse network) and they have been nothing short of GREAT. I have called several time to verify and it has been confrimed each time that it IS covered, and to beat without a diet period. I still have to check with the hospital to see if they are going to get me to cover my part up front because our deductible is really high ($3500) but i do have almost $1200 in my HSA and $400 on my FSA so thats $1600 of my $3500 hopefully they will take that and let me pay down the rest. We will see......

So this past sunday was the first time i've been to the doctors in 16 years, yeah i know, that;s pretty bad, but the truth is besides being fat i'm a pretty healthy dude. I dont take any medicine, i dont have a problem sleeping, no asmah, the only problem i really have is elevated blood pressure.... So as i said i went to the Dr. Office Sunday and had my "check up" she said everything was fine, my blood prossure was high, 151/91, which is right in line with the last few times i was at the P. Center to donate, but she said she wasn't going to put me on meds cause i am in the weight loss process. She said that i would quilify for the procedure on my BMI alone, according to the web is 42.6 (6'1" weight 325) so that made me feel a little better. The Nurse was really nice, she took a few minutes to explain what she was doing and why she was doing it, she looked at the thing on my stomach and confrimed that it came from the belt rubbing the bottom of my stomach from sitting so much and that it would heal as the stoach went down but could confrim that it would ever look the same which was kinda depressing. She told me that i have to continue to have my pressure checked every week and if the bottom goes over 100 or the top goes over 160 i need to come back to her office right away, i guess that is heart attack range, but i didnt ask. I still did not get the information from the the hospital yet to get the blood work and other stuff done, i keep forgetting that there is no mail movement on the 4th of July so that makes everything slower. Well i'm really excited to get this thing moving. and am actually kinda antsy. Well I got to get back to work but just wanted to let you know about the doctors appointment. Ill talk to you soon!

Hi guys, Ok so here is what happened. The telephone interview that was suppose to take 45 minutes to an hour actually only took twenty minutes and here are the tests and dates and times; Psch Eval:Completed 6/20 Face to Face with surgeon: 7/19 Nutritionist: 7/30 Chest Xray:Not set Abdomin Xray:Not Set EKG:Not Set Complete Set Of Blood Work:Not Set Blood Gas Test:Not Set Stool Sample:Not Set So there are 6 test that have dates of not set because I have to wait to get the scripts in the mail before i can call and schedule the test. Now according to my intake interveiw all 6 of those test need to be complete prior to my face to face with the surgeon. I'm sure that you are thinking... geez isnt that kinda close, and the answer is yup.... but i want this surgery, worse than anything i've wanted in a LONG time. so i will find a way to make it happen. I gotta keep this entry short becuase i am at wrok, but I will say this, I feel like i'm right around the corner now and hope that in i can get a date like the first or second week of august. I am a big thrill seeker so this is my goal....... surgery no later than August 15th, healing up and taking real good care of my self from august 16-october 24th. My birthday is October 23rd so maybe i can go to six flags on the weekend of October 25th and ride my first roller coaster in 10 years. that will be 10 weeks post op, i think i should be fine for a good thrill dont you? Alright i really got to go for now, i will be back once i get the dates set for the other appointments; Oh also if anyone is reading this, i noticed a cople people with the dates of there appointments down under there weight loss ticker, How do you do that? Thanks guys!

Hey Guys, Thanks for the info. I have no doubt that this is going to be the game changer in my life, i was just trying to get myself mentally prepared for the side effects! but again thanks a million!

Ok, So lets talk about skin sag… First off let me say, I am a guy and the thing I want to do most is walk down the beach shirtless and not be ashamed. Is that realistic? I heard people say if you work out right as a guy; you can not only lose weight, but gain muscle and between the skin tightening and the muscle gaining it won’t look bad at all. Personally I am 28, and about 100lbs over weight. I heal really quickly, if I get cut, with a little medicine its usually completely gone in two days. My doctors are amazed at it… so I’m wondering it this will have any benefit at all. What do you think? PS Pics are coming soon

I work in a small office there is my superviosr and 5 processors, they all know and of cousre have had there questions but are all supportive. My supervisor even asked me if i wanted to work from the hospital. Ha ha, silly lady, but seriously, this surgery is for you and i know that people can bring their drama, but my opinion on the subject is tell everybody, if they have bad feelings about it or want to give you a hard time for bettering your self give them their walking papers. Your life is going to get so much better, and you dont need someone tring to hold you back because they refuse to see the great things coming your way!

My Psych Doc was cool Beans, I was nervous as all stuff when i went in to see him, but we got to talking about Bowling, apperently we are both avid bowlers. and while he threw a few questions in the mix about my family and my thought process about the suregery, we had a good time. Of the 45 mintues i spent with him we talked about bowling 30 minutes. I am way ahead of schedule as i have only completed the seminar, and the psych eval, still have to meet the doc to find out what else is needed that appointment comes 7/3!

June 25th 2013 Surgery Date: Not Set Surgery Type: VSG Ok, I have decided to do this to keep track or to keep a time line of what is going on in my mind. I dont know if anyone will read this or not but if you do hopefully it will help you along the way. Today has been a littlebit of a different one, im not in the same boat as a lot of people on here are, or at least i dont think i am. I have picked my surgeon, there were only two to choose from in my approved hospital, I have completed my Psch Eval 6/19 and completed my seminar 6/20. I have a telelphone appointment with the surgeons office on 7/3 at 1pm, that i am kind of nervous about becuase i dont know what to expect. they said it can take anywhere between an 45 minutes and a hour. I am the kind of person who wants to get this done now, I kinda wish they would tell me ahead of time what kinda test i need to get done so i can be setting them up and knocking them down rather than sitting here waiting. But i guess i just have to wait. I just read another blog and all the person talked about is how they could wait until the no solid food period was over because they just wanted a taco, or they just want this or that. I couldnt help but think to myself, here is someone that most likely will fail. Now, dont get me wrong im not wishing failure on anyone, but once you make up your mind and follow through with something as serious as weight loss surgery i think a taco should be the farthest thing from your mind. Anyway that is the kind of thing that scares me, am i going to be that kind of person, that only thinks about the stuff that i can't or shouldn't eat versus, taking this oppertunity, taking this chance to make a whole new life for myself and run with it. I'm already making palns, for example, i want to get involved in adult sports, ie the coed basketball team, at glory days sports, volleyball doesnt sound to bad either. there is just so much that i want to do that i cant because of how i allowed myself to get. Another thing that is on my mind, i heard a doctor say when giving a seminar that it was not the patients fault that they were overweight, that bothers me, it bothers me because it is taking the response ability of someone actions off of them. Now dont get me wrong i know that there are true medically nessary reasons where a person cant lose weight, however (and i'm including myself in this catagory) some of us where just making bad choices with our life, and that choice got us where we are, now we need help to get back where we want and need to be to live healthy. I dont know what is all going on with me mentally right now but i do know that i am ready to get this show moving. i am ready to be thinner, smaller, healthier, and all in all ready to be around a lot longer. If you found this to be the slightest bit interesting, feel free to follow my blog, there will be more to come. Have a great day and God Bless!