rosestara

oh no, keep us posted! You can do this!

i am! I have my first visit with my surgeon on tuesday, May 24th.

Well I am just starting the process which is why I wasn't sure what to say to calm you since I haven't been though it yet myself. But based on all the stuff I read here, it should all turn out okay. I just think you will be glad that you are doing this now instead of much later in life.

Good Luck, I'm sure it will all go well. I wish I had surgery when I was younger. I've been morbidly obese since I was 21. Now I am finally getting this done at 44 after 20 years of dieting. Not sure what you need to hear to help your nerves but I think you will be happy you did this.

Hi Guys, I just got home from my dinner. I told my friend and not only was she extremely supportive, I found out that she has had several family members and friends that have had some type of weight loss surgery. Some have had success and some haven't. She is going to put me in touch with 2 friends that live near me that had the surgery within the past 2 years and are doing well. I've only known her for a couple of years so she was kind of a test friend. I've told 2 out of 3 of my really close friends and they have been really supportive. I do tend to be really good at convincing people of things. I've been told more than once that I should have been a lawyer. I am good at stating my case. The other 2 friends that i told were against weight loss surgery in general until I explained why I wanted to have it and talked about the whole process and the procedure. Now they are on my side. I only have 1 other close friend to go. She is one that I am kind of worried about but now that I have so much other support, I actually don't care.

sure I will support you. I went to my seminar a few weeks ago and have my first appointment with my surgeon next tuesday. My insurance requires the 6 month thing so hopefully I will get my surgery in December before the New Year. I have also done an insane amount of research. Right now I am totally addicted to youtube videos and following people's journeys. I'm trying to decide if I have the courage to post on youtube or not. I am 44 and I also don't have any kids but that is because I had to have a hysterectomy at 35 so didn't get a chance. I have two small dogs and their names are Allegra and Lunesta because I am a pharmacist. I am headed out the door right now to go to dinner and tell a good friend about my surgery. I am almost positive she will be supportive. Wish me luck!

I go in for my first visit with my surgeon next tuesday. I was really hoping that would count as my first visit. Now that I have read all this stuff, I know not to get my hopes up. My insurance also requires 6 months and they do specifically say 6 continuous months

Good luck on your journey. I am also just starting out. I went to my initial session at Banner Gateway last week and I have my first appointment with the surgeon on May 24th. It will be interesting to compare our journey. I almost went to Bridges but I picked Banner just because it was much closer to my house. My insurance company requires the 6 month supervised diet thing so my surgery won't be until November or December.

Ecorren: I'm glad your doctor is on board. I used this site to help me pick a place to go to. I looked a what people said about the doctors there and also how well they liked the center. I go to my first informational session tomorrow

How did your appointment go? I had mine today and my new pcp said she would be happy to help me and give referral if I need one. I just told her my story and she said she believes me when I said I tried everything and I am smart to want to take this step. I hope everything went well with your doctor.

All went well. I went to my new pcp today and she listened to my story and said she will do whatever I need to help me get the surgery, She said she has helped about 8 other people have surgery. I can't believe it since I kind of picked her at random. I am so happy that step is done, now I am going to the informational session at banner tomorrow.

I went through a similar thing with one of my closest friends. She is close to me but she has only known me for 4 years so she didn't know me for the 20 years that I have been trying to lose weight. I am 44. Anyway, I just explained to her the reason why I want to have the surgery and then I told her how long I have been researching it and I told her about the long term statistics for people keeping the weight off. I also told her about some of the stories here. I even talked about some of risks and complications and the diet before and after so she would see that it isn't an easy way out. After several weeks of me talking, she said she would never have it herself (she is also very overweight) but now she understands why I am having it done and she will be there to support me. She even offered to go to the informational session with me. She is great friend.

gettingsleeved1: I hope you get approved quickly also! Do you really like your pcp? How does she feel about your surgery?

I have a brand new pcp and I have my first appointment this coming Tuesday. I will bring it up and see how it goes. I am very nervous because I don't already have a relationship with her and this will be part of her first impression with me. I'll let you know how it goes and exactly how I brought it up.

I have an appointment with a new pcp this coming tuesday. I have no idea what she thinks about weight loss surgery. I asked the office staff and they said that all their doctors believe in working with patients to help them achieve what they want. They said that can't imagine one of their doctors just saying no, I can't have it. So I went ahead and made an appointment. The doctor I picked has a special interest in exercise and nutrition. I don't know if that is a good thing or not. She might try to convince me that I can do it without surgery. But I know I can't because I have 20 years worth of dieting that proves that. So I have an appointment with pcp on tuesday and I go to an information session at the bariatric office I picked on wednesday. I am going with Banner Gateway. I will let you guys know what happens with my new pcp!

You can make friends after 38. I am 45 and I made a great friend 2 years ago and now she is my closest friend, even closer than friends I've had for 20 years. She is in her 50's so she made a close friend and she is older than both of us. I am sorry you are feeling lonely. How did your friends react when you told them about the surgery? Did they say they would support you?

I have to say that I am a big fan of the show. I have watched every season from the very first year that it aired. What I love about the show is how it showed me that I could do things that I thought I couldn't do. Watching overweight people exercise at the level they exercise and run was a great motivation to me. I am almost 300 pounds and several times I have lost a lot of weight using the biggest loser as my motivation. I did regain the weight which was my fault. I would always go back to my old habits. I don't pay attention to their fast weight loss, I focus on the overall mental transformation that they make. Although a lot of them regain the weight, I think on average they are more successful than the average American is at keeping off the weight. I keep track of a lot of them on facebook and I have attended some of the biggest loser mud runs and 5k's so I have also met some of them in person so I know quite a lot of them kept the weight off. Just from watching the show, I have worked out with a personal trainer many times and I trained to be able to run a mile at 250 pounds when I never thought I could run for even 1 minute. A few years ago I walked a half marathon and my other overweight friends thought it was impossible. I did all those things because I saw fat people on tv do the same things and more. The show has been one of the reasons that I even tried to lose weight in the past instead of just giving up. It is tv so I know it is unrealistic for real people to work out 6 to 8 hours a day but they did motivate me to get off the couch and just workout for even 15 minutes a day. I just wanted to say something positive about the show. We are all trying our best.

Thanks for the responses. I know my insurance requires the 6 month supervised diet thing so I know I won't be having the surgery anytime soon. I'm only about 85% sure that I am going to do this at all. I just told my father and a good friend that I was seriously thinking about it. They are both being very supportive. Nearperfectmess: Congrats on your loss so far. I didn't look into Mayo because I have anthem ppo and from what I read here I think I have to go to a bariatric center of excellence for blue cross blue shield and mayo isn't on the list. I figured I would just start out with one of their recommended centers right from the beginning and also Banner Gateway is really close to me and they are on the list along with Bridges. Susan: I plan to ask the bariatric center I go to for a recommendation for a pcp but I am not planning on going to one yet for a few more weeks so I just thought I would throw the question out there to see what responses I got. Hmm that is an interesting idea to call offices and ask around. It just seems like they would think I was weird and doctor shopping by just calling up and asking that question. But I guess I am doctor shopping. I do have 2 doctors in mind based on recommendations from friends who are not overweight, but I didn't want to waste the time making an appointment and showing up to find that they don't believe in weight loss surgery or won't refer me since I'm a new patient. I will call one of the offices tomorrow and see how they react. Thanks for that advice. I'm just really glad that my post is no longer listed under topics with no reply!

Hello, I have been researching this topic for a while. I am almost ready to start the process. I have decided on gastric sleeve and I will soon be going to my first information session at either Banner Gilbert or Bridges. I am leaning more towards using Banner based on what I've read here and their website and they are closer to my house. However first I am looking for a pcp who approves of weight loss surgery. I am never sick and so I haven't been to a doctor in years except for a chiropractor and ob- gyn. Instead of picking a doctor at random, I would prefer to start with a doctor who approves of weight loss surgery. Does anyone have any suggestions near Gilbert, Arizona?