hotpink_bubbles

Hey all, just thought id come on and share my little story with you all. So my aunt and uncle won a free night at the Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City, Michigan. They have this hotel all over the US, but im not sure where. Dont know if any of you have heard of it or not, but it is a big fancy hotel, with a Water park inside of it. So my aunt and uncle invited me and my mom and dad to come stay with em overnight since the room slept 8. So we did. We got there, went into the bar had some stuff to drive, I had a virgin pina colda smoothie with strawberry added since im not 21 yet, was awesome by the way. They arrived we checked in, went to the room went and ate dinner at the bar and grille in the hotel, then we went back to the room and changed into our bathing suits to go into the water park. Passes to the water park are usually 15 bucks but if you stay overnight it is included in the room price so you get these wrist bands to put on to go to the water park. So i get on a one piece swim suit, i put shorts and a t-shirt on overtop, since obviously im self concious about myself or else i wouldnt be getting WLS. We go down to the water park, go in the hot tub, everything is fine, go into the pool, back into the hot tub. They have like 4 huge slides there, 2 of em you use tubes in and they go outside of the building and back in and wind in and out and what not. The other 2 come off of this huge wooden water house like thing, that you can race people in, of course thank god, they are completely open at the top not closed in completely. Anyways my cousin asks me if i want to race her, im like ehhhhh uhhhh uhhhh sure i guess so. So we head up to the slides and get to the top after getting drenched with water on the way there, and getting racoon eyes (i hate that). There is a life guard at the top making sure n one gets hurt. So her and I step up to the top and get ready to go into the slides. I ask him JOKINGLY, so do you think i will fit in that slide, cause the slide was pretty small, and he gave me the DIRTIEST look, looked at me up and down my body like i was disgusting, looked at the slide, looked back at me and was like, dunno go ahead. Im like what was that look for, and he goes sorry go ahead. Im like no im not going now, that was just plain rude. so i go back down the stairs and i go to the snack bar that is in the waterpark, and im like i want to talk to the person in charge of the life guards NOW, cause that fucking little punk just did that shit to me. I FLIPPED OUT. I was swearing up and down a storm, and so i talked to the manager of the water park and she apologized, and couldnt do anything more, then "talk to him" about it. What the hell? When will it stop? Why why why on earth do people have to do that shit just because im not some skinny little bimbo with blonde hair and big freaking boobs huh? It hurt my feelings and it hurt them pretty bad. I bawled nearly all night long because of it. He did it, infront of a bunch of other people, and i was not the biggest person in the waterpark, so why me? Why do i get singled out and get dirty looks and what not. Im just wondering when this will stop. The only reason i flipped out is because ive been dealing with rude looks and dirty comments my whole life, thats why i dropped out of school because people were so rude, and i hardly go out in public because people are rude, i stepped out of my little bubble that i try to live in once, and that is what happens. Now i know why i choose not to go out in public, let alone go in the water with a bathing suit on. I was scared so scared about having this surgery that i was almost ready to say no i dont want to do it. Now i want it more then ever. I just want to be normal. Not get dirty looks, not get snikcers and comments. Why cant we just be treated like everyone else? Incase people didnt notice, we have feelings too. Just thought id share this with everyone. I will never NEVER be going back to the Great Wolf Lodge ever again, and i do not recommend anyone else go. It is a joke, the biggest joke in the world. Thanks for listening guys. Just had to get that out. Any comments or thoughts are welcome! Hope you all have a good day!!!!! ~Hotpink~

Hey, the endo is just so they can check and make sure you have no tumors or ulcers in your stomach or in your esophagus or anything like that. Yeah everyone has to do it. I had to show 12 months of continous doctor supervised diets which i had, that was required by my insurance, so yours might be different depending on your insurance. I didnt check any other program besides Dr.Cudjoe cause he came highly recommended by some of his patients. I have been overweight all of my life except when i was born i weight 5 pound 2 ounces, wouldnt believe it now by the way i look lol. And no, your deff not being too nosey. It is great to get all the information you can get, and i am extremely happy to help you in any way that i can. Anything else you want to know just ask and i will be happy to share what i can. I gots to go eat dinner now, but i will for sure keep you posted on how things are going. Nervous and extremely excited on my end lol. Well have a good night and good luck to ya!!!! ~Hotpink~

Hey, no problem, I will keep you posted as much as I can. First of alli should tell you i have Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO of Michigan, and thats how im paying for my Lap-Band. I had my consult today with Dr. Cudjoe. It went extremely well. He is very very veeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrry Nice, and i HIGHLY recommend him. I have a tenative surgery date, which means that it is subject to change, but if all my tests come back ok, then that is my date. It is March 13th, 2007. I started this process in December, that is when i went to my seminar. Of course it took me from december until about 2 weeks ago, to finish the packet you get, which includes a letter of reference from my family doctor. Other then that, everything has went very very quickly. I have all my appointments scheduled so i am well on my way. Hopefully everything goes as planned. Also dont be afraid of going to sleep, everything will be fine. Im afraid of that as also, but once i talked to Dr.Cudjoe i feel much more comfortable that he wouldnt let anything happen to me. Anyways, next step is cardiac appointment on the 30th, then endoscopy on the 5th of Feb. Excited yet scared at the same time. Just keep doing your research (I researched weight loss surgery for over a year before deciding, this is what i gotta do) and keep reading and reading and reading here on LBT, and also head over to www.obesityhelp.com, the forum section for lap bands. That is also a very very good forum. Good luck to you and I will be sure to keep you posted!!!! ~Hotpink~

Hey hows it going. I havent had lap banding done by them yet, But I am going through the process right now. Infact, My first consult with Dr.Cudjoe is tomorrow. Very nervous. I already had my psych eval, and i must warn you if you havent done it yet. You have to answer about 549 questions i believe, true and false. It takes about 2 hours to do so, and they ask you some WEIRD stuff. Also i had to pay 61 dollars that day, and I have insurance that covers the Lap-Band so just to warn you. However, My dad's boss has been banded by Dr.Cudjoe, and ive asked her quite a lot of stuff. From what she's told me so far, he is an awesome doctor. Not to mention extremely extremely nice incase you hadnt met him yet. He is a little hard to understand since he isnt from the US, but he is over all very very nice and friendly. Straight forward, and completely honest, no matter if its something you dont want to hear. I recommend that you choose Dr.Cudjoe. Let me know how things go, and I will be sure to let you know how my first consult goes tomorrow. Good Luck. ~Hotpink~

Hey there, just think, at least you still have a roof over your head. Same thing happened to my mom a few years ago. Unfortunetly, it didnt end good for us, we lost our house in foreclosure due to not being able to pay house payments, and my parents eventually had to file bankruptcy. Its not the worst thing in the world that could happen to you. There are people in the world, living near sewer Water, having no clothes, and no roof over their head. Im sure you are sitting in a nice house, with nice clothes, and you surely arent living near raw sewerage. Just dont sweat the small stuff, you could be living in a box on the street corner ya know. Not trying to be mean, just saying, there are people worse off then you, so what if you cant get adjustments on your band, at least your still alive right? ~Hotpink~

Hey, Im 20 years old, and am currently going throug the pre - op stuff right now, I get my very own surgery date on Friday. I have my psych eval on Tuesday, and surgeon consultation on Friday. Im excited, nervous, and deff very very very very scared. So yes there is at least one person out there, your age. Good luck to you, let me know what happens, if you need to talk about anything my email is hotpink_bubbles0786@yahoo.com, Yahoo messenger is hotpink_bubbles0786 and msn messenger is bubbles_563@hotmail.com Good luck! ~HotPink~

Hey Bandida, Im glad i could help. It tastes soooooooo much better then just a plain chalky chocolate Protein drink. I hope to try the strawberries and chocolate soon. Till then bananas and chocolte it is! Have fun! Good luck and Hope your surgery goes well as i see you get it on the 26th!!!!! Let me know what you think of the "shakes" once you try them with strawberries and bananas!!!!! Bye. ~Hotpink~

Hey all, sooooo my frist consultation with the surgeon is next Friday. So yesterday i thought that i better buy some Protein drinks to try and food like lean cuisines and smart ones to try before i did the whole surgery thing. So yesterday i bought some Atkins Advantage chocolate Delight Protein Drinks, was 7.99 for 4 11 oz cans i believe. They have 160 calories per can, 1g of sugar per can, and 15g of protein per can. Anyways point is....Today i decided to try one after letting them sit in the fridge and get cold over night. I took it out and poured it in a glass, and i started drinking it. It didnt taste too bad, kinda like strong chocolate milk or cold hot chocolate, though to me it did taste....."powdery" or...."chalky" kind of. So i was standing in the kitchen looking around thinking what can i put in this to make it better. Then it hit me, at the mall i saw that they had chocolate covered banana and chocolate covered strawberry smoothies. So i thought hmmmmm maybe i should try that so i did. I took 1 can of the Atkins Advantage Chocolate Delight Protein Drink and pourd it into my blender. To that i added 1/2 a banana, you can use 1/2 or the whole banana. In addition to that i added about 20 ice cubes. Use 10 - 20 depending how think or thin you want it. I wanted mine a little thicker, shake like thick. Then i just blended it until smooth and poured it in a glass. It tasted amazing, and i mean AMAZING!!!!! Much much better then just the plain ole shake in a can. I havent tried adding strawberries and ice, but im sure it would taste just as amazing. I highly recommend it if you get bored, or simply dont like the taste of chocolate Protein shakes. Warning that it does increase the volume a bit, so you may end up with twice as much then if you were to just drink the shake alone, but it is still very very healthy, and you get in part of your Water with the ice, and fruit with the banana, whats not to love? Soooooooo do me a favor, and give it a try and let me know what you all think. Genius huh? Nooooo not genius im just smart! LOL. :) Bye all. ~Hotpink~

Hey all, Im from Michigan too. Im just waiting for a consult call from my surgeons office so i can get the ball rolling finally. How are you all doing on your banding journey, and what surgeon have you all used? I am using Dr. Cudjoe, in alma, Michigan, and i have had a few recommendations for him. Write back when ya'll can. Thanks! ~Hotpink~

Hey, I know exactly how you feel. I just made the decision to go in for the LAP band surgery, I just sent my paperwork in a week ago and am waiting for a call to get a consult appt with the surgeon. My boyfriend tells me all the time that he thinks im beautiful and he loves me the way i am. He has asked me to marry him several times, over and over and over again, even though i always say yes lol. I have this crazy idea in my head though, that once i am "skinny" that he will love me more, or want me more, or think i am prettier, or anything. Though i know he says he does now, i cant help but wonder what it will be like, once i do lose the weight. He too likes the bigger girls, though im sure he thinks smaller girls are pretty too. What will happen though? That is one thing i am concerned about too. I guess if he doesnt like the new me once the new me is reborn then he isnt the one for me right? Just like if your boyfriend doesnt like the new you, or has a problem with you losing weight, for health, or vanity reasons, then he isnt the one for you. Just becaues you lose weight, doesnt mean the person you are will change. Looks arent everything, though sometimes i wonder if they are. I guess you, and I both will just have to wait and see what happens. Who cares what guys think anyways right? Most of the time, they are thinking with the wrong head anyways! :clap2: Good luck with your banding journey, and keep me updated! ~Hotpink~

Hey all, thank you SO much for the replies. I have checked out the Michigan section, not too many post in there. I have recently had a reccommendation for a surgeon. My fathers boss has had the LAP band procedure done, and she highly recommended her surgeon, so i am going to call and check that out. I also do have insurance, and i do have high blood pressure, so i think things look good. Though i am terrified about the risks with the surgery and slippage and eroding, i am extremely excited to talk to someone and get the ball rolling. Thank you again so so so so so much for all your responses. If i am able to get this done, i will be coming to this site A LOT for support, and from the posts ive read i know you all will be great. I look forward to hopefully *crosses fingers* jumping on the bandwagon with all of you! Thanks guys, and anything else you can tell me would be greatly appreciated. Talk to you all later, and happy banding! ~hotpink~

Hey everyone, I am new here, I just wanted to say hi. I have been looking into some type of bariatric surgery for awhile now about 2 years or so, but i have only been looking into the lap band for a few months. I am only 20 years old, but i weigh about 306 im 5'7 and my BMI is 48 i believe. Im not sure where to go, what to do, or what exactly the first step is. I am absolutely terrified to do the surgery, but i think its what i need to do. I think i will feel better and look better. I live in Michigan, so if anyone could recommend someone in michigan i would greatly appreciate it. Thanks all, and Happy Banding! ~hotpink~