hope2bthinr

Thank you. I still have to see if my Ins will approve so still holding my breath on that part. I didn't have obstructive sleep apnea, (I have the other kind) yet was falling asleep several times a day at work SITTING AT MY DESK (good impression on people walking by, I'm sure!) and never felt rested. I got up in the morning, had coffee and breakfast and then a 15-30 minute nap because I couldn't keep my eyes open. The sleep study said my oxygen levels dropped because I would stop breathing frequently. I never really expected that sleep apnea was the problem, but there ya have it.

Yes, I love that crazy looking cat. Its facial expression is a great representation of my state of mind sometimes. It makes me laugh. I suppose I should find a picture I can stand to look at one of these days and exchange it for the crazy cat!! Just kidding about the warning.... I was surprised I got that shiver!!

Hope you get the delayed restriction. But if not, you are still one fill closer to that sweet spot! You go girl!

BG, you should have a "graphic content" warning before that big fat picture of the needle and syringe!! It gave me the willies. Seriously, shivers up my spine and arm hair on end!! LOL!! I'm not afraid of needles, just don't ask me to look at it, especially while it's in use!! Hide that puppy till it's stuck, out and gone, I say!!

Yay for your first fill!!! Patience, patience. (Remind me I said that later after I'm banded and I'm whining about no restriction...)

:thumbup: I had my consultation with the surgeon today and it went very well. I'm a good candidate, have the qualifying stats & co morbid conditions, I shrunk an inch oops! and came out with the weight required to qualify under my insurance (thank you lord, I can quit trying to keep my weight up). Of course I have to wait for the insurance approval, but each step matters.

Must get couple addt'l tests by my PCP, then all that's left is the psych and dietician. I feel so focused on this process.....but I'm absolutely sure I need to do this and don't want anything to get in the way. Good thing I have this blog to write in or I'd drive my hubby crazy with the details and my building excitement.

I'm very happy with how the appointment went today, I like the surgeon, she was very patient and informative, spent an hour with me and I feel confident she will do a good job.

WOOHOO!!! one more step closer. YESSSSS!!

I do have a copy of the requirements for my insurance and I'm going to have to apply the same strategic eating/drinking regimen to get right to the edge of qualifying weight, with a BIG BREAKFAST in the morning, lots to drink too. But it's 100 flippin degrees here so I don't think I can get away with heavily layered clothes without being sent for a psych eval for being nuts!!

Yes, Tricare goes by 100lbs over ideal wt, + comorbs or 200% of ideal wt with no comorbs. They use actual wt instead of BMI. Like any ins., make the hoops confusing enough and people and their doctors might flub up so they can deny. I read it very carefully so that I could make sure to jump through the right hoop. I've been eating, some out of stress and most because I need to make the wt requirment and I'm just plain tired of eating so much.

This surgeon's office said they hadn't had a lot of Tricare patients so weren't totally familiar. So I also provided them with the info list of requirements.

Thanks for the good wishes and suggestions. Must go consume mass quantities.... heh, heh, heh! for now.

I love your pictures, AND your story!! My son is 27 and I still feel like I don't want to let him go every time he leaves town....and I miss him...sniff... Those years he was at home went by in the blink of an eye. All those milestones and memories that get stockpiled in our heads. It's understandable to me now when my mom forgets and occasionally tries to "mommy" me like I'm still 12. It's so hard to wrap your head around the fact that they grew up so soon.

I'm SOOO excited! Tomorrow is my conultation day!!! I think I'm on the edge of the 100lb overweight mark req. by Tricare, with a couple co-morbs, also required. I'm keeping fingers crossed, toes and everything else crossed. I'm determined this is the tool I need.

Two things I'm worried about is whether they will approve the surgeon I was referred to and then, will the office staff submit everything just the way it must be to meet approval by Tricare quickly.

If anyone has the magic formula for submitting to Tricare nowadays for smooth approval, please, please, reveal what it is!!?

I've sent in all my releases, medical history, weight history for 5 yrs, weight loss attempts history for last 12 years, and I have documented asthma, stress incontinence, sleep apnea, high cholesterol, back/hip pain treated ongoing for 10 years, GERD, family history of heart problems and diabetes, BMI 42. My prelim blood labs are done, sleep test and Md referral. Attended an info session, attended a support session (req. by surgeon). Can anyone tell me if I'm missing anything??

Thanks!!

Today was better. Not eating everything not nailed down. I guess it helped to unload yesterday... In considering this huge step, and wanting to be successful at it, I'm thinking I need to see someone to help me with assertiveness. The emotional eating usually happens as my auto response to feeling taken advantage of and manipulated. I must do something about that aspect of the reason I gained so much weight in order to really kick a** on this journey.

Ok, I just have to vent for a while because I'm eating like there's no tomorrow, and although I KNOW exactly why, that doesn't help. So I'm getting it off my chest. I had a family reunion over the Memorial Day weekend. I loved seeing all of my relatives I haven't seen in years. But here's the kicker...I have a sister who is the drama queen and charity case of the fam off and on for the last 30 years. Because right now she's out of work and didn't have the money, I made sure she had a plane ticket to get to the reunion, for my mom's sake. You would think that would be a good thing...my mom got all of her kids in one place for her 80th birthday wish, great! Well, this sister seems to think everyone is responsible for all the drama in her life but herself. It seemed as if the whole thing was in her mind "the drama queen episode" instead of mom's birthday/reunion.

So the drama was ramped up, and long story made short, I got to be the referee and psychologist for the week we visited my mother and family. It got to the point that the ranting, threats, raving and fit throwing hit a peak one of the days we were on this vacation and on the way to visit a cousin, I finally stopped the car and left her off at a Starbucks just so I could go on and have a visit with my cousin without the manipulating drama. ....that day went better from that point on!!

I have a lot of siblings and half grew up in one corner of the country and half in another corner. The older ones have this thing they do when they see each other (which I don't get, but whatever) they say, "IT'S ABOUT TIME!!" That's not even funny in my book but I don't let it bother me. Not so with the drama queen. It takes such a small comment to just turn a fine time into a big hairy confrontation. I'm not even kidding. Picture a 50 year old that stomps around, slamming doors, smoking doubletime (because nicotine is so calming dontcha know), ranting and raving, and generally acting like a 5 year old because one little comment set them off.

I just have to say, I was never so happy to drop someone off at their house when we got back to our hometown. I imagine I left skid marks!!!

I've decided that after all this time of helping financially, listening to all the "woe is me, why does all this crap always happen to me??" for thirty years, I'm done. Unless there is strong medication and a whole bunch of therapy, I will not be going on vacation with my sister again. I realized that there is absolutely nothing that will make her happy. I'm tired of being tromped on when the only thing I've done is try to help.

I'm going to try to be a little bit selfish and take care of me going forward. I'm going to try to get my stress eating under control. I guess I've gotten to the weight I'm at by emotional eating. I'm sure I'll be learning some new coping skills....and I still have my fingers crossed that my insurance will approve me for the biggest part of taking care of me!! My surgeon consult is on Tuesday!! It's finally near. So I'm putting the stress behind me. And I'm looking forward to my new beginning.

Thank you, thank you!! I have one regret...that I didn't get this done sooner, but then...I may not have qualified sooner. So maybe this is just meant to be, NOW! BG, yes I saw we had some similar stats, and it's so hard for me to believe when I write "I have 100 lbs to lose". I was a state champion gymnast weighing 105 of nothing but muscle at 18, and after giving birth only weighed 10lbs more than that. I always said when i was young that I wasn't going to follow the genetic pattern of my family because I made it to 30+ without being overweight. But I had one of those "years from hell" come along in my life where so many things happened that drilled through me that maybe I'm not perpetually lucky (like I really believed I was) and I nearly cracked and had to go on anti-depressants for several years and have never been the same since. The weight just kept coming despite all my successful attempts to lose. Even after getting off the antidepressants. Finding out about this LapBand solution has probably been the biggest uplifting thing I have found in years and this site is the very best for finding encouragement, information, ideas, etc. I never would have considered gastric bypass as it seemed too radical to me and so permanent if there's complications.

And by the way, my sleep study wasnt scheduled till 5/18 but they had a cancellation so I got a call that I could do it the 5th if I wanted to...?...uh, I wanted to say "I'll be there in 5 minutes!! and believe me, I'm tired. I just fell asleep at my desk!!" so that night I did the study. Glad to have gotten it done early because now I'm making some headway on this. And I'm going on vacation for a week which will help keep my mind occupied until my appt. Trouble is...it's a family reunion, and people I haven't seen since I was a little skinny kid will see me this big. Oh well, it will be the last time they see me this way!! I have a 30th class reunion in Oct. If I'm able to get a surgery date that's soon, and make significant progress before then (which I will because I've been having to try hard to stay above qualifying weight and really tired of eating) I may actually go to it! My spirits are high. Hopefully, I'm not on the emotional rollercoaster I suspect I'm on, I just want to stay up here. But I am SO looking forward to gittin er done!!!

Well, yesterday was a good day, I think!! In terms of getting to insurance approval at least... My dr. office called and said my sleep study results show I stop breathing or slow down enough that my oxygen level drops at night but it's not obstructive sleep apnea. But when I look at my ins requirements, it looks like if the Dr diagnosis is some kind of sleep apnea, it will qualify me. The Dr prescribed oxygen for night time, which seems drastic but it's better than having a CPAP machine from what I've heard. And maybe it will prevent me from falling asleep at my desk a couple times a day. :smile: SO, since it looked like I may have a good chance for preauthorization, I faxed all of my releases, health history, family history, weightloss history, insurance cards, everything I could think of over to my surgeon. Now, mind you, my appointment isn't until 6/2/09, so I'm thinking the surgeon is either going to think I'm very thorough or obsessive!!!!

All I know is, if this thing gets approved, and believe me, I will do everything in my power to make it happen, I want to move ON. I just want to get going. I'm finding myself without a lot of people to talk to about this because I've only told a few very supportive friends who will not spill the beans, so I may be posting a lot!!! I don't want to wear my friends out talking about this or with my excitement. So this is a good place to put it all down. Thanks for all the people that post encouragement here. I may not have pursued this if I hadn't read about 2000 posts worth of it.... So happy there is a place to write and to document my journey.

Congrats on being banded!!!! Hey BG, I failed the sleep test!! WOOHOO!!! I don't know what it's called but I don't breathe enough at night and my oxygen level falls, which is probably why I've slept like crap for years! Anyhoodle, my Dr. prescibed oxygen for night time (I feel so stupid and lame about that). I keep telling myself, it's temporary and probably my Dr trying hard to HELP me, so I will do as I'm told. I know there is something definitely wrong because I can't stay awake during the day even after drinking Monsters/coffee and I'm sure people at work wonder why my head bobs now and then and my eyes are shut when they pass my office. I go through the sleep attacks at least twice a day. Lucky I don't have keyboard indentations!!! But here we are...back to a darn good reason to qualify me for ins coverage for this procedure, eh?? And to think I was afraid to ask my doctor for the recommendation for the LapBand. I've been down the "you just need to eat less" and the "you need to work out more" roads (as recommended by the same doctor), so I didn't think they would understand the struggle. But now I LOVE my Dr!! And doing the happy dance. I don't have approval from my ins yet but this should help make my case.

Thank you for the detailed post. Somehow, reading all of the detail and realizing it isn't so scary compared to some surgeries takes some of the nerves away. I don't have a date yet but I am aiming to go at high velocity through the prelim stuff. I have my surgeon appt in a couple weeks and I already faxed over all my medical info releases, medical history, family history, physical and blood test results, sleep study, and I don't know what else...31 pages worth. Plenty of time for review and getting stuff together for ins. pre-authorization. Yes, that sounds like someone with OCD but dang it all, I've been fighting this battle for 18 years and I'm ready to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Even if I have to drill a hole in the tunnel to get there!!! LOL So glad you shared your experience! Thank you! I've read your other posts and they're informative and entertaining. Hope I can be giving the same type of update VERY, VERY SOON!!!

Thanks for the encouragement! I'm in the process of pushing the train up hill to get everything to work out for this. Still have to get my insurance approval. My doc got my sleep study today but I don't know yet what the result is. If it comes out "right" then I think I should sail through as long as the rest of the team is on the ball. I'm trying not to get too excited before getting my consult and insurance approval. But I'm sure everyone knows the feeling....excitement is building!! I've been researching this for months, went and had a physical, talked to my doctor and got a referral, info sessions (2 different surgeons) more research, sleep study, bloodwork, phone calls, made consult appt, and now it's a waiting game. But I know this part of the process is probably going to be the easy part! But I can't wait to just get on with it already!!!

Looking forward to turning 50 in regular sized clothes, not carrying around 100 extra lbs (my back is going to thank me most :smile:), not wearing out the inner thigh on my gym pants because I walked ALOT and my thighs rubbed together so much, sitting in my office chair and not sliding out constantly because my booty is so big , being comfortable in my skin!!!!!

After turning about 32, I started gaining weight and of course, trying to lose weight. The more I tried to lose and was successful, the more I'd end up gaining back every single time, and failing. It seems like a lifetime ago that I was actually at a reasonable weight or size. Back "then" I was very active, full of energy and felt full of life. I really want that back. It really, really burns me when friends say "well, maybe you just have to accept the way you are and live with it". Sure, all of those people haven't been down this road so it's easy for them to say that and I know they're just trying to be good friends. The trouble with that is, I'M NOT REALLY LIVING, PERIOD!!! There are so many things I just accept that I can't do while carrying around an extra hundred pounds. Even mopping the floor or vacuuming causes my back to be in pain to the point that I take preventative medicine before starting a task and sit down with ice on my back afterward so that in the morning after I can get out of the bed again. How is that living?

But here I am...and this is going to be a new chapter and I'm going to write it different...better... and I know that with this new tool, I can be successful. Maybe not overnight, but what's two or three years when 18 have gone by in a blink and through that 18 years all I did was gain after every attempt and end up here? This time will be different. A year from now I'll read this, I know, and think "who was that depressed person??" So here I go!!! And I can't wait!!

My first post...couldn't resist!! I laughed so hard reading your adventure!! And I am sure I'm desperate enuf to do the same. I'm just beginning the process and not looking forward to the process of trying to qualify. Too healthy. DOH!! Why isn't it based on the potential for the stuff I will develop eventually if I stay this obese?? I had a sleep study and am praying I actually slept enuf that there was time to show sleep apnea. They really should call it a wake test because who can sleep with stuff glued all over their head, wired up from every limb and eye, with a little wired thing conveniently tickling your nose hair all night long? I couldn't wait to get up in the morning and go home and take a nap!!! But girl, after reading all the stuff people go through, I've built my determination up and believe me if there is a way to come up with something to qualify me, I'm going to find it!! Thanks for the hilarious story!!