diane1

I am with you April. 3a.m seems like my time every night to wake up and think about everything. Is this the right decision? Will I be happy with the way I look after I lose all my weight? What if I am I'm the percentage that things don't go well? Is this being too selfish considering I still have for children home that depend on me? I wish I could just turn my brain off for a while.

Chicago burbs here too. I'm going through UIC in Chicago.

I have a possible 1-2 week pre-op liquid diet. I am sure I will lose weight on that. I am absolutely terrified of that diet. Everyone I know who had to do it said it was the worst experience ever. I don't know if I can handle not chewing anything for a month and a half! I guess where there is a will there is a way.

My surgeon does not allow us to gain not even one pound. I've been struggling with losing, just losing a pound here or there before with ins. I've been having food funerals too. I was just curious if this mind set will have an effect on my results after surgery.

I was wondering for all the people who have made it to their goal, how much did you lose before surgery?

My last appointment with my nut and surgeon are on the February 7th. I am really hoping for a February date! I will have done my psych and 6 months of supervised diet on that day. Which is all my insurance requirements. I wonder if they are sending me for any more testing. Are there any other required tests for surgery?

Thank you both, I feel like I just can't get enough info at this point! I really hope February is my month!

I guess it's time for my first post! I have been on here daily for a while now. I've just been absorbing all the information and getting prepared for my new exciting reality! My name is Diane and I am married with five children and one grand baby (ages 3 grand baby, 11,13,15,16 and 21)! Years of taking care of everyone but me has ended up with me being overweight/ tired/scared/embarrassed/insecure/bad knees/and ready to get myself back! After a few years of watching my husband go through some serious health issues ( unrelated to weight)it has gotten really clear that I need to be at my best so that I can secure the future me and my family deserves! I was never overweight until having 4 of my five children within 5 years and nursing each one for 1 1/2 years. Staying at home my life revolved around cooking and cleaning. So with cooking came eating! That s what I have become,no longer Diane,i became known as my husbands wife, my childrens mother, my grandsons grandmother, and the Feeder Of The Everyone!! My whole family is overweight,i told my nut on my first visit if they havent had surgery already they need it. i have family members who have been sleeved,by-passed and banded. Being at a party last May my sis-in-law posted a pic on facebook and we ended up in a huge fight because I was a picture nut. Didn't want any of my pics up unless I approved it which I rarely did. That was the last straw for me! I needed me back, I wanted to feel comfortable in my own skin so I was willing to put myself out there again. So I started my process at UIC with Dr Enrique Elli. My insurance requires a 6 month medically supervised diet, a BMI of 40 or higher with no co-mobitities ( which so far I have none) psych eval. February 7th I will be done with with my supervised visits,psych eval,and I will meet with the surgeon again. I am hoping that my surgery will be in February 2014! I had surgery for basal cell carcinoma near my eye on December 19th 2013. It was so scary and I ended up with 30 stitches! It was the first time I have ever had anesthesia and I did fine. So that makes me feel a little better about that part of the surgery. So that's my story! Feels good to get it out there, I have never said most of that stuff out loud- but it kinda puts things in perspective!

Did you get your first appointment with the nutritionalist yet? Mine is for September 23rd. Everything seems like it is taking so long. I hope it speeds up at some point.

I just started the process at UIC. I will have my first appointment with Dr. Elli on August 23rd.

Hi, I am new to this site. I have my first appointment with Dr. Elli at UIC on August 23rd. I have the medical card and I'm just wondering how long this process will take? It took me a month to go to the informational class and then another month to see the doctor for the first time. I am hoping not to have to wait another 6 months on top of all of this. Any info would be greatly appreciated. I live in Shorewood about an hour from Chicago.