MamaAsh

Mo- yes I want to ride with you!

Lee- I meet a guy in the Antioch WLS support group that is getting sleeved by Dr. Im ... Let me know how it goes so I can tell him Mo- are you going on the 6th?

Hi everyone! I just got back from thr Antioch WLS meeting. It was great. Everyone was welcoming and supportive. They had a drawing and gifts at the end, a scrapbook with group members before and after pictures, lots of print outs like receipes and information papers. There where a lot of people there, i would say 75% post op and 25% preop, a handfull of Richmond people and about 6 sleevsters and NO bandsters. I had so much fun meeting people. It was much better then the fremont wls group, although there was no scale. Mo, honey I am draging you next time! John & Lee, I meet a guy there that is getting sleeved in March by Dr. Ihm (sp?) in Richmond :tongue: Ok I have home work to do and a bed that is calling my name! Hope all is doing well, Nicole you have my prayers :smile2:

Reggie, I would love to come. I just need someone to carpool with...Mo are you going? Nicole, I am sorry for your loss :smile2: Lee, congrats on your Surg. Date!!!! Mo, I'm gona text you too but tonight is the Antioch Support Group @ Antioch Kaiser 1st floor Conference Room E @ 6:30.

John- I asked kaiser Fremont about vaitamins for the Sleeve and they said to take the same as bypass... Nicolie- Conragts on the date!!! Pat- Good Luck :smile2: Tamra- Hope baby gets better soon :confused:

Hi girls & John, Just a quick check in after I have read through the last few pages. Yesterday was the hubby's b-day and my FIL (who's a cheff) made a great dinner but not so good for my weigh loss. :biggrin: Today's a new day I had an Atkins shake with 1/2 a banana, 1 c. Ice and my vit.s crushed up. I went on the treadmill for 40. min at 2.5 (walking speed LOL) I will be back on later to tell you all the drama in my life...just got to take one of my biys to school and run erands with the other

Thank you for the birthday wishes It is a good one ... Down 1/2 a # LOL! Candra I crossing my fingers and toes that you will get a fill Nicolie- I am praying that you will get a date soon Tamra- Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy for you! Riley-Facebook doesn't like me! I changed the setting so it would notify people and it never does. Also people can't find me by my email address on there either.... weird! LOL! Mo- we had a small party tonight, but my hubby's b-day is tomorrow so there will be more celebrations to come... I told everyone that I was 25 not 26! I'm gona do that for the next 10 years if I can get away with it lol

Tamra I hope the power comes on and you get this done today :biggrin:

Tamra- I am excited for you! It's a good day cause it's also my b-day!

Mo- Honey that is why i <3 you lol "I was sick and tired of having to go to Lane Bryant and others looking for fluffy people clothes." I could not agree more... Although I will miss Torid if I ever make it to the skinny side lol!!!!! The thing is I question myself more then others: "Can't you just continue losing and exercising, without having to do the surgery?" So what am I supose to tell mysel LOL!!!!! Ok Ok I know, If I could do it on my own then I would have been skinny long ago LOL! Oh on a side note: This weekend was ok, I start my days off with Akins Shakes mixed with crushed viatamins, half a bananna, 1 tbspn peanut butter, and 1/2 cup ice in a blender. I have this new addiction to peanut butter Ok so i have been trying to eliminate most carbs so i eat meat then veggies, some times wheat crakers or 1 slice bread. But on Sunday I could not resist, I shared a slice of cheesse cake from The Carvery with the hubby because our b-days are this week :thumbup: Today was good. I woke up, did 1 mile on the treadmill, my shake, 2 eggs and a hot dog for lunch and lean hamburger with mixed veggies for dinner with some scaloped patatoes from the box.... I know not the best but I'm getting there. I'm not up still at 238, and I am working my way down. I can't go back on the treadmill tonigh cause hubby is asleep, he had to go to the ER for a peice of metal was stuck in his eye.. ouch! I just need more motivation. Since I put the surgery on hold, I feel like I do not have a goal :thumbup: Ideas?

Happy Birthday Jes <3 Pam- happy for you that you are down :thumbup: Sorry I did not either My hubby had to work and I had the two boys... trust me when I say you should be glad I did not bring them to your home LOL! Tamra-I get the scared part. If I did not have the insurance/$ issues I would say that my fears are what is also holding me back. Especialy having my young boys. I am scared of not waking up, complications after, long term effects, you name it I am scared to leave my boys on this earth with out me while they are so young. How did you do it Mo (and other mom's with young ones)? But under the same breath, I know that there are no guarentees in life. I could be hit by a buss the next day (isn't that how the saying is?). I also know that my weight could kill me too. I supose you could say that I am somewhat of a religus person, sometimes I think that I my fears are signs of the person above telling me that I should not do this. I know that I don't have the answers, but I can tell you that i suport you and am sending positive vibes your way!!!!

Good Morning! I researched the idea of double insurance coverage and with the monthly cost of $306, I would still have a co-pay of $200 a night stay, and Dr. Chu said it would be a 2 night stay. SO out of pocket I am looking at $706 minimum. Which is a lot better then $3k. But after all of this carefull research, long talks with my hubby and other support people in my life, a decision has to be made. And for now I am going to wait on the surgery. Yesterday I finaly got my daycare lic. that I was waiting for. It came a whole month sooner then I thought. This alows me to care for more then one other family and make double if not triple the amount I make now without depending on EDD. Additionaly I am a firm believer that if it is ment to be then it will happen. And with every turn in this jurney to weight loss surgery I have been hit with one obsticle after another. It's starting to make me think that maybe now is not the time to do this. So for now I am going to work real hard on my daycare to make the money that my family needs and to have a better cushion if I decide that I still want to do this surgery. Right now I just can't justify these large amounts of co-pay's and deductables if I am second guessing the surgery as it is. Even with that aside, I am still loking at comming up with over $400 for my son to get ear tubes if it is still necessary, which is by-far more important. In the mean time I am going to still continue my weight loss efforts, I owe it to my self if nothing else. I want to continue to support all of you as well. I love to still come on this board to hear all of your accomplishments and to also recive the support from all of you too. I want to set a new goal for my weight loss, and a target date to revisit my desicion to go foward with my surgery or not. I was thinking 30 lbs by June, What do all of you think?

Candra- I'm on top of the garage sale idea. We shall see. This will happen. I just hope that I make the right decisions. I am still fearfull of the surgery, but even fearfull of not getting the surgery.

Thanks John for the info. I talked to Monique today and she gave me a great idea... To pay for an individual plan while I am on my husbands at the same time. If it works then the most out-of pocket for Kaiser's best co-pay plan is $306 a month and $200 per night stay (2-3 nights for the sleeve) so much cheaper then the 3k... I will check into that in the AM.

Yes please spill the beans Tamra!!! I am so happy for you :thumbup: Ali- I am the same as Lee, I'm getting sleeved, but for allergy reasons that prevent me from getting the band or bypass. Also I got stuck with Kaiser Fremont not Richmond.

Yeah Tamra that's my b-day :thumbup:

Today I talked to 6 different people at Kaiser. It is what it is.... $3,000 for my total deductable. I have 12 lbs to go before I make goal and a surgery date is set. If I wnat this done in March I have to figure a way to come up with the full amount by then, as I talked to a lady at admiting and she said $1,000 will be due when I am addmited and the remaining $2,000 at discharge. I supose I should feel lucky that I don't have to pay the full amount like other people with out insurance LOL! And the only other good news is that for the rest of the year I won't have any more out of pocket expenses. Any Idea's on how to generate the $$$$ ? Loans are out of the question. I am hopeing on taxes but I doubt my return will be back in time, sheesh I'm still waiting all my forms... on EDD to send me my 1098-G and My hubby's work to send their W-2's out plus school and 401k roll over stuff LOL!!!

Thanks girls & John! I have been checking and double checking all day as to exactly what my husbands plan covers and what it wont ect. Most things are 30% or up to $2,000 after my $1,000 deductable. So if my surgery estimate is a $9,000 cost, my payment is $3,000. My co-pay is only for regular out patient stuff and Dr. visits. Even my ER is now a deductable - 30% of the cost I have to pay. 3 years ago when my husband started to work for where he was, this was not the case. But since he works for a GM Dealer they are trying to cut cost, so the owner of the company pays nothing into our group rate. Each year for 2 years it has gone up. Her reasoning is "At least you have a job". I can apriciate that, however, at what cost? It seems like everytime I turn around prices go up and the reason people give is the cost of living.... But my income has yet to increase LOL!!!! In the morning I am going to call Fremont Bariatrics and find out if I have to pay the 3k up front in full. Maybe I can get a bill and make payments lol!!!!

Ok Ladies, I was having a great day so far untill Kaiser called. This is gonna be a long post so hang with me and my bad spelling Kaiser was calling to do early admission for my youngest son who was signed up to get ear tubes. When the lady was done getting my information, she said that I might have to pay $1k to $1.3k out of pocket. My jaw hit the floor. She said that is my deductable... Now the thing is I know what my deductables are, but that is not what I thought I was gona pay for an outpatient proceedure that only takes 1hr. Since I was out with the hubby on a day trip I could do much but tell the chick that I have to postpone the proceedure. So when I got back from my day trip with the hubby I decided to call Kaisers billing and quotes department for more information. My initial deductable for each person is $1k and $6k for the family. After that it is 70% paid by kaiser and 30% by me. This is my husbands insurance. Not to mention we pay $400 for 4 people a month through his paycheck to even have this so called plan. Let alone our co-pays are $30 and Emergancy's are $180. So I called and asked for the quotes for both my son's ears and for my sleeve procedure. Up untill this point, I was told several times that it would be my standard co-pay each time I asked. Apparently the people I would ask never took the time to verify this information, as the real cost for my son is $445. And for me it is $3,000. My son's I can do. Mine I don't think so! No here is where I am at a cross roads. I was recently licensed for my family home daycare last year. I decided to wait to take on clients untill after my surgery so that I don't take any time away from my clients that early in the year. My hope is that I would have the surgery in March, so I could take clients Late April. Like everyone in this economy, I need the $ so this is a long strech but I was willing to handle this. Now that I have to come up with $3k it just can't happen as soon as I thought. Therefore I have to wait till the end of the year, if I'm lucky enough to not have anyother bombshells hit. I already anticipate my rent going up with my lease due in 2 months, as well as other expenses. Now originaly the timeing of this surgery was perfect. I was told by my OBGYN last year that if I want to have anymore babies to lose weight first. You see I had 2 misscairages last year and have had a history of fertility problems. So my surgen said I would be in the clear to get PG 2 years after the surgery if I wanted. That was perfect to me. But now i have to wait till the end of the year to do this :thumbup: so that puts me off track of my life goals for 3 years and it is upsetting I also have other reasons for losing the weight too, like my own health, and happieness. I hope I don't come off as whinning. I'm just analyzing this situation and asking my self if this is a sign. Am I not suposse to do the surgery? Would it be selfish of me to take money that could go to other important family expenses to make sure that I get the timing I want? Also it makes me question my own self will power. If I could lose 12lbs in a 1.5 months on my own, why can't I do the rest with out the sleeve as my tool? What would you do? I'm still gona work on my weight loss, but I almost feel like my motivation is gone and my impatient nature is kicking in.

Congrats Nicolie & Tamra!!!!!!! Tina-When I was at the Kaiser Fremont Orrientation they said that they will still do fill even though you may not have Kaiser anymore.... *Whats going on Saturday?

Lee- I love Myfitnesspal.com!!!!

Lee i think thats the trick. My scale tokk a day or two to move so keep it up gilr, I rooting for you my sleeve sister!!!!! Mo- Yes I am so excited to have someone close to me!!!! I think it is so funny, after both of my babies I was 238 too! Tamra & all my other treadmill buddies... I have this thing that I put around my tummy that makes me sweat more and I can tell that cmm. maybe inchs are moving too. I got it from Walmart for like $5 here is the link: Walmart.com: Gold's Gym Waist Trimmer Belt: Exercise & Fitness

Mo- I live in Oakley near Brentwood. But I don't have a gym membership because I can't pay the $$$ for it right now. Plus I just got a treadmill off craigslist and the hubby would kick my butt if I didn't use it LOL. The Antioch meetings are the 4th Wed. of each month at 6:30-8pm Sand Creek Bldg. 1st floor Room E (thats what my book says!) I'm gona try it this month to see what it's like. I can remind you when it comes close if you want :tt1:

Monique- Yes finaly someone near me!!!! You should come to the Antioch WLS suport group with me lol! Tamra- so excited for you girl!!! If you go back to school you can qualify for living expen. grants you know? Maria & Tamra- I have been on EDD since December 2007 there are PLENTY of extensions.. trust me lol! Nicolie-Happy for you too!!!! Ok so my cheap-o scale lies to me so I jumped on my Wii last night and it sai 238.9 my goal is 225 so I'm getting there. I have moved my treadmill work-out to 20 min. in the am and 20 at night.

Congrats Tamra on the weight loss! I hope your G-ma's ok. Monique- Do you work in Pittsburg? Oh I also want to know like Lee, how do you all do weight checks without making a co-pay? I had such a funky day with my hubby's grandpa's funeral today. He's not back yet but I had to leave early, I couldn't deal with the drama anymore! But things are looking up I got most of my school issues taken care of today, just a few more lose ends to tie up.