KeeWee

All my life I've been what's called "thick", I've always loved my size, I felt like it made me stand out from all the lil smaller ones...I loved watching men walk right pass them and hit on me all the time, even in front of my husband because they would lock in on me and come straight to me and not even notice him standing next to me....feels good married or not! I am athletic and strong, stacked with muscles along with huge breast and a big healthy butt that give me a nice rounded shape that I love more than anyone else and those assets always made me very desirable. My husband loves my size and he's the only man I NEED looking at me but since I still WANT all eyes on me...my fear is that losing the weight will put me in the ordinary category and I feel I won't stand out as much. I know it sounds weird and quite opposite than most but my size made me more sociable...cuz when I walk in a room, I bring attention and I use to be extremely shy but my husband made me feel so special, I gained great confidence with him over the past 18 years, so I learned to smile and accept all the eyes and made peace and not war and I learned to love me like never before.. I even love my rounded face and can do without the sharp jaw line...I guess I love being fluffy and I love fluffy people, I want my husband to gain weight just so I can rub my face in his stomach...lol...idk, I just love fluffy and soft!! I guess this also means no more making fun of skinny people...lol, FINE! I'm trying to wrap my head around this and I'm hoping to love my new healthy body just as much or more and i pray I keep my boobs...they're awesome, even I love them...LOL! #randomethougths #babblingbrook

Thanks so much and same to you!!

If Dr. Andrew Averbach was your surgeon, what was your experience with the procedure? Where you happy with your aftercare? Can I see your before and after pics or can you give me the details of your loss? Starting weight, Current weight...etc. Please tell all...the good, the bad and the ugly!! Thanks, I'm schedule for 4/23/14!!

lol, yup....GOOO YOUUUUU!!

FYI- Research has shown that people who have had a sleeve gastrectomy on average lose more than half of their excess weight.1 Success is higher for people who are realistic about how much weight will be lost and who keep appointments with the medical team, follow the recommended eating plan, and are physically active.2 Found that statement and wanted to make sure we all read it....Congrats and good luck on your path to a better YOU!!!

Damn! Smh...sorry to hear that...geesh!

This means after u pay ur deductible in full, u will then only pay 20% coinsurance which is just like a copay. So whatever the fee is for the service say it's $100 your coinsurance is $20 and that's up until u pay $2,000 max out of ur own pocket in a policy year, then they will cover all costs at 100%. I'm actually a certified medical insurance specialist which is why I'm concerned that I didn't know u can pay double copays...smh...lol. You learn something every day, I'm still newly certified.

Oh wow, so it sounds more common than I thought. I called member services and they say I pay 1 copay and that's to the facility. But the Dr. Is an outside provider so I guess they can be right too...this is so unfair. I sure hope my Mfa goes into effect by then. They cover all copays and prescriptions... If u have Kaiser, look into it!!

I was just told today that I have to pay the hospital inpatient copay amount of $250...ok, kinda last minute but I knew there would be something.... Then I was told that $250 is for the inpatient at the hospital but my surgeon also expects $250...WTH? Is that possible, I've never heard of having to pay 2 copays for one procedure. I pay my copay for the office visit, I don't then in turn pay the MA who does my blood work or the Dr. that diagnoses me. I honestly wouldn't care what they wanted if my surgery wasn't on 4/23 and they are wanting these amounts paid by 4/16. That's kinda last minute to just hear about this now after the entire 8 months and finally getting approved and getting a date and now I'm in jeopardy...smh. Just hope my husband can handle all this...I spent all my extras preparing for the big day and wouldnt have done such damage if I'd known... Anyone ever seen this?

Good to hear it's not so bad for everyone. I hope you continue to heal well...so what are gonna do to me in there...just make me walk? No painful tests or anything after?

Oh boy this was definitely me. Actually...it's the double whammy, it was stopping the cigarettes and then the food funerals. I gained like 8lbs. and soon I found out, I need to meet my original weigh in or lower to be approved.. I got more time added to my process trying to meet that requirement but here's my secret, I did 2 days of laxatives and 2 days liquid prior to my final appointment and I was below the weight! Worked for me..whew!

Monday surgeries please keep us updated as soon as ur up to it!!! The good and the bad! Well wishes for your speedy recoveries!

I plan on Crystal light and lots of water. Also looking forward to the sugar free ice pops..thank goodness I only do 2 says. Good Luck!

I gotta do 2 days but that's because I did a six month diet before and had significant loss. Oh and I hear they decide when they see u at the appointment but for some Dr's it could be standard. The quick weight loss is suppose to help aide with reducing the size of the liver and they can look and tell who needs what.

Thanks for all the well wishes...I have officially locked in my date 4-23-14...thru all the struggle with Kaiser insurance it's now official. I'm above and beyond elated right now.

Ok so this is it...tmrw, I go see the surgeon. His staff has helped me prepare to have everything done so I can be sleeved on either 4/23 or 4/28. So here's the deal...My insurance changes May 1st and I will no longer have the Kaiser Select plan, I will now have the Kaiser Signature plan, which means, I cannot go the hospital 7 minutes from my house and have the surgeon that I've researched, I would instead have to go almost 3 hours from my house to a hospital affiliated with Kaiser only and then only have limited surgeons to chose from but that would also take more time because that hospital requires 2 information session which they only offer once a month. I have everything my surgeon needs but my surgery would have happened back in feb/march if my nutritionist didn't go into early labor with no backup in place and cause me to reschedule all my final appointments to Capital Hill in DC and that's for a non driver that lives in Baltimore(1 1/2 hours away)...no Bueno!! So I did it all, got all the approved appointments, finally met the weight requirement AND THEN my job lets me know the changes coming to the insurance plan. Luckily I'm still covered just with major inconveniences. So, not knowing I should be rushing things, my surgeon appt was 4/11, luckily, im so anxious, I asked the nurses to call me if there's a closer appointment and she did...very luckily...4/7 was available and now from my knowledge of bugging the surgery scheduler to know all the days available, I know that there are 5 more days available in April....so now, I'm scrambling and find out that I need to see my surgeon's nutritionist for 4 additional classes and that would be 4/15, 4/19 and 4/24, which takes away from the 5 days(the final class being a transition class after surgery) and now with 4 days, the scheduler and front desk person began to push for me and show me ways to get around the system and told me what to say to the surgeon because now, he has not performing surgeries on 4/29 and 4/30 now leaving me with only 2 possible days. Then she called me to say that he has 2 surgeries on 4/28 and maybe if I cant get the 4/23 date, then maybe he will squeeze me in on the 4/28 appt. So I go tomorrow, I am soooo super ready and I am praying that I get to stick with my plans that I've been working on for the past 8 months and they don't go all downhill in the last 3 weeks. Please pray for me and wish me luck, I need this to happen in April or May will be a cumbersome month for me but either way, I'm on this train...lol!! Thanks for listening..this was a venting session as well....tomorrow's the day of reckoning!!

Lol...the sucker....that's hilarious! Sounds like I may be a potential for that category...

So glad you switched too...that was horrible how they treated you. Did anyone ever call you back after going to the joint commission?

Did u end up with a stent also? Are u eating/drinking ok now? Sorry for your pain...get better sooner! i had a stent for 4 weeks, it wasn't in long enough to close up the hole, they just placed a clip on the hole this last friday, i am on a j tube feed. and ice chips. I'm so sorry to hear this. I know this has to be hard to deal with and all you wanna do is get ready to live you new and improved life...what a set back...but not a failure so don't be discouraged. Praying for your healing...

Did u end up with a stent also? Are u eating/drinking ok now? Sorry for your pain...get better sooner!

Good luck with everything and keep us posted!

Go girlie! How u feeling?

Hey Tangy boo....yup...I can't wait for u to go n get this thing done...we been thru the ringer and both still coming out on top...imma see u in the hospital! Go girl!!

Well nice to meet u. That's really messed up not to have support at a time that makes u so happy and will change ur life so dramatically. I don't anticipate a great response either from family as their judgements are usually most harsh but I just have my husband/best friend of 18 years and our 16 year old one and only. There all I need but with 8 sisters and 5 brothers u would hope I could feel comfort somewhere there. Either way I started my journey in Aug at 277 with my highest weight of 290. After 8 long months of meeting requirements, I finally got approved 3-25. I have my first appointment with the surgeon 4-11 and hoping to get my preferred date of 4-24! I've researched my poor brain to death...now I just wan.a go and get it done already!!!! I'm beyond ready...

Update- for me 1 week and 1 day!!