blondiebabs

Awesome!!!

It takes a special level of ignorance to be that way, which is beyond my control, so I can't take it personally. Just smile and carry yourself professionally, and it will indeed be their loss. Totally agreed! It will be fabulously wonderful! I can't wait myself!

I know your pain very well. It is amazing how you can have a fantastic resume, dress uber professional, and have a great people skills, etc etc then get "that look" when you walk into a job interview. It is sad. It will be a fabulous feeling for you to walk in and rock their world!

I have Aetna, and its like pulling teeth to find the qualifications on the website, it says over and over that they do not cover WLS everywhere, however I knew that was not true. I searched "weight loss surgery" and nothing came up, tried a couple of other things, finally I just typed in "sleeve" in the main search bar of the member's website and it pulled up all the requirements as a PDF file. It looked like something that is sent to providers. Try logging into their website and searching for the information using different key words, if you haven't already. It is a pain that they act like the info is top secret. Also, did the hospital or wherever you are going for this seminar get pre-approval from your insurance that it would be a covered benefit as long as you provided all of the required documentation? If you are not sure I would call and ask them. Mine asked me a series of questions about weight, age, etc and got pre-approval before they booked me.

I started seeing a therapist a few weeks ago before I started the process of exploring WLS. It was one of the best decisions of my life, I've suffered from anxiety and depression for years and I've found the talk therapy very helpful. My x-spouse discouraged me from going to a therapist for years, his fear was that I would leave him if I started seeing a therapist, however I obviously did anway. In reality if it makes you feel better it can make your relationship with him stronger. I only wish I had decided to start going 15 years ago. I think we would all benefit from going a time or two in our lives. The first step is to call your insurance and ask them for a list of approved psychologists and you can also ask if they require a pcp referral and what the copay is. Then contact your pcp and ask if they recommend any of the dr's on the list. I was sooo nervous the first time I went in, and by the end of the hour I wasn't ready to leave.

Good luck!!

Hilarious!

@KBlood to me the "how much have you lost" question is very violating and rude, no matter how you've lost the weight. If you wanted people to know you would volunteer a number, or wear a sign around your neck.

Yay! You will be in my thoughts! Best wishes!!

I haven't gotten the surgery yet, but that is one of the things I do not look forward to. Because now when I do lose a bit of weight people feel the need to comment on it and I don't care for it.

Only 4 people know I am doing this and 1 had a super negative response. I'll admit that I had a bit of a melt down and popped off with some true statements about myself and she hasn't talked to me since. I'm not too worried about it because if she cares about me she will get over it since this does not affect her. I wouldn't have said those things to just anyone though, some people will take the things you say and try to hurt you with them, so I would be selective about how you phrase certain things. I like Bufflehead's suggestion. I'm just being super selective about who I'm going to let into my "circle of trust" now and the people who I've trusted with the information I made it very clear that I didn't want everyone to know right now.

Good luck!! I will have you in my thoughts.

Way to go! You look amazing!

I will definitely find a ride home

@@JanaAZ I am not for being waited on or smothered either, when I had to have surgeries in the past and literally had to have help it made me a bit batty having to ask for stuff, I'd rather do it on my own. So I'm relieved to hear that the post-op isn't so horrible that you absolutely have to have help.

I had to start school a year late too since I'm a November baby, I know your daughter's eventual pain. lol

@@LivingProof congrats! =D

Agreed with SusinMichigan's post. I lived in CA for about 10 years with my xhusband, all of my family is in TX, and then I moved to FL and have been here for 8 years. I haven't seen my family in person in 11 years. However I do feel like I'm home and I would miss it terribly if I moved back to TX where all of my family is. I totally get the social anxiety thing, I'm a bit of a homebody myself for the same reason. If it is hard for you to get out of the house and create a social group there just keep forging friendships online, some of the people I talk to the most and have the longest term friendships live nowhere near me, I have never even met in person and we are basically pen-pals online and text each other and stuff, I find their friendship just as valuable as being able to hang out with someone in person, a lot of times they are able to help me over those lonely humps in the road. Chin up, good things will happen for you!

I received the same kind of kick-back from one of the friends that I told, basically my opinion about it is its not their life so we shouldn't let their fears hold us back. Plus people who do not know the struggle really do not understand. This website and the people here who bravely post their stories have really helped me with a lot of my fears and anxieties about the process.

@@robitodd Awesome!! You are well on your way, it will be here so quick.

@@MT1000 pretty much everyone I know locally is coworkers as well, the only friend friends I have in this state are about an hour away. I totally agree about being discrete about what you share with coworkers, I have a no coworkers on Facebook policy as my personal life isn't their business haha (granted I will add people I liked after I leave a job). The only two that I have told at work are the ones going through it too, since their bravery inspired me. When it comes time, to my bosses I will probably just play it off as a surgery to help my back since they know I have scoliosis, and technically the weight being gone will help my back. One of the women in my office got a gastric bypass several years ago, when I started working there before I even met her I was told about how she had gotten the surgery and lost all this weight and now everyone constantly watches her and talks about it if she looks like she's gained any weight back and quietly criticizes her if she has a small piece of the monthly birthday cake or anything, and are just kind of waiting for her to fail, and I do not want that kind of pressure (work is already enough work HA). Since I live in a college town, depending on what time of year my surgery is, I'm guessing that I can easily get one of the vet school students to come walk my dog for me and help me out with him. There are usually several living in my complex every term. So as I've read everyone's advice and my wheels have been spinning the past couple of days, I think I may put a sign up in the laundry room first just to see if anyone would be willing to take him for a walk every day for the first few days I am home. I LOVE that there are so many other dog lovers here I'm also excited to read about everyone's journeys here, it is very wonderful and indeed inspiring!

@@mommyof3986 Good luck! I hope you have great success this round!

@ LOL NICE!! And I'm undecided about how private I want to be, right now I am being private, I told 2 friends, one was totally suportive and the other had we will just say a very unsuportive reaction. I'm leaning towards letting people assume I'm getting "woman problems surgery" HA!

One of my coworkers, and her adult sons use services like that, I'm not sure if it is that particular company but she's always raving about how much she loves the rotating wardrobes.