New guy, due up 9-28-10

[Erick 0]

Hello All-

I have checked out this site before, on the run up to getting my wife's bypass last year. That was the choice for her, she was done last December and is 70+ pounds down now. It has been slower than she would like, but she is now settled enough to add exercise and complete the picture.

Now for me, I am 41 and I was a poor, skinny kid, right up to my late teens, early twenties. But in the 20 years I have been married, I have gained 5 pounds a year like clockwork. I look back through weigh ins for check ups and other than a 1 or 2 pound dip (that is made up by the next weigh in) you could lay a straight line from 21 to 41. From 195# to 295#.

When I was in my early 20's I considered myself just a big guy, that I could reverse it. I mean, whats an extra 20#? I had many people around me much bigger. I was 220, but my co worker was 280 and I would never let myself go like that! Every weight plateau, 230, 235, 240, I would think this is it, I won't hit the next. I would do the gym for awhile, try whatever diet my wife was on for awhile. Something always caused us to drop it, usually some stress related family, job or finance issue. Of course, there will always be something.

When my son came along, when I was 30, I thought I needed to set a better example. Now he is 10 and overweight, I am 50# heavier than when he was born. That worked out great, didn't it.

Now, I am one waist size away from shopping only in specialty stores. I wear 40 loose (which is really 44) and I can't pull them up to where the need to be, they just slide back under. Most shirts are not long enough to keep me covered if I raise my arms. I wear the same thing most every day, un-tucked. I don't have nice clothes to dress up in any more. I take 3 meds for hypertension and run a CPAP for my sleep apnea.

The final straw was a couple of months ago at the Boardwalk, when I got on a ride with my son, a glider type affair you lay face down in. The precocious teenage girl running the ride couldn't close the safety bar down, I asked if I needed to scoot up, she quietly told me, "it's not even close, you are going to have to get off, Sir". She was polite about it, but I still had to climb down and leave my son in it, and walk past the crowd waiting in line. I can no longer deny it.

My loving wife and I talked and felt now was the time, I am not getting any younger and perhaps our son can see the struggles we have gone through and we can all get thinner together.

I am going in the 28th of this month. We are not waiting for approval (we did the same for my wife's operation and her approval came in days after it was submitted). Even if I end up paying full ticket, we think it is an investment in ourselves.

I hope a few months from now I am one of the success stories. When ever I look at online forums, I seem to mostly find the two extremes. It was the best thing EVAR!!, or it was horrible. I guess if it just went as expected, we are not moved to write about it.

So wish me luck, as I wish all of you luck in your goals, I know the smaller me is in here somewhere!

Cheers, Erick

[JillianRN 0]

Best of luck to you Erick! You have completed the first step and you will be surrounded by a loving supportive "Band Family." We are in this together. Best of luck and I look forward to reading about your successes.

Jill

[GoneFishin 0]

I wish I had done it when I was your age. Dan.

[Marte80 0]

Hello Erick, nice to meet you. My name is Ericka. I too am getting the band, my surgery is Sept. 29th. I can relate to your feelings in your posts. Losing weight is definitely an investment in ourselves and our families. I am excited about changing my life and health; it is the most important thing to me right now. A year from now, return to the amusement park and ride with you son, he will be more proud of you than ever!

[Tsaleen 1]

Erick,

I love your story, thanks for sharing, and good luck! I had that happen to me about 4 years ago, I was so embarassed, I cried and haven't been on a roller coaster since.

When I went to the emergency with kidney stones (my first time, I didn't know what they were) the EMT's had to struggle to get me out of the house on the guerney, and I live on a hill so they were using much energy to keep me from falling off the damn thing!

Best of luck, seriously! I am being banded on the 22nd.

[Erick 0]

Thanks, everyone! I am starting to realize this is going to happen.

Marte80, I don't meet too many who spell their name like you or I. My name, according to my mother, was actually supposed to be the German spelling "Erich" (which would have made it even more unusual here). But when my mother was in delivery back in '69, already hooked up to pain meds, she was asked by the nurse if the name was to be spelled with a "c" or a "k", to which she replied, "Yes".

Tsaleen, I had to rush my wife last year in for emergency gall bladder surgery in the middle of the night. She felt like she was being stabbed with a knife, over and over for hours. After she recovered from that, we decided not to wait any longer for her surgery, which we had looked into three other times over ten years. I guess my own decision threshold was lower.

Cheers, Erick

[LeighaMason 19]

Erick, Congratulations on your decision to get banded. I wanted to share with you a wonderful side effect from my surgery. My son is 15 and has been overweight on the Dr's charts for years. About 2 months ago, when he saw the changes that I have had, he decided, on his own, to stop drinking sodas and to cut back on junk food. He told me this past weekend it has been 2 months since he has had a soda. I am so proud of my success with the band, but I am even prouder of the fact that I have influenced my son to take control of his health at a young age too. I hope the same for you and your family.

[maxi2010 0]

Hi Erick.

You had a very moving story. We all have similar stories and all ended up here - being banded or getting ready. I think you made the right decision. My surgery date to be banded is September 17th, just 3 days from now.

Best of luck. Join the "Looking for September 2010 Bandsters" in the Pre-op forum. There's a lot of people having surgery in September!

Good luck to you! Maxi:thumbup:

[Erick 0]

Well, I was going in on the 28th. But, due to a work conflict on my wife's part, we had to bump it a couple of weeks to October 12th. Not a big deal, but I still spent the better part of a couple of hours seeing if I could work out a plan to keep the 28th (drive myself, wait around the lobby for my wife to pick me up a few hours, etc).

I did, however, get word from my insurance that I was approved! We were ready to go self pay if need be, but this is better. Last time, when my wife had her bypass, the hospital billed $125K for just it's part (a pre planned procedure with a two day stay and no complications. 800 (x 2) dollar morphine!!!), of which Anthem disallowed 80% or so. I wasn't looking forward to dealing with the hospital on my own without the insurance company to back me up. I know it is all a shell game between providers and insurers, but geez. My wife had an emergency gall bladder removal with an ER visit and a two day stay at a different hospital earlier last year was $35K total.

I went to my one insurance required support group meeting last week. Interesting, that of 30+ people in the group, only myself and one other pre-op were going LAP-BAND®®®®. All the others , including all the post op, were sleeve or bypass. One other pre op explained she was fighting with insurance for the sleeve, though she had been approved for LAP-BAND®®®® or bypass. She was very against a foreign object in her body. She felt they all suffer from rejection and infection, no offense to the two of us going LAP-BAND®®®®.

Different strokes.

Cheers, Erick

[maxi2010 0]

Well, I was going in on the 28th. But, due to a work conflict on my wife's part, we had to bump it a couple of weeks to October 12th. Not a big deal, but I still spent the better part of a couple of hours seeing if I could work out a plan to keep the 28th (drive myself, wait around the lobby for my wife to pick me up a few hours, etc).

I did, however, get word from my insurance that I was approved! We were ready to go self pay if need be, but this is better. Last time, when my wife had her bypass, the hospital billed $125K for just it's part (a pre planned procedure with a two day stay and no complications. 800 (x 2) dollar morphine!!!), of which Anthem disallowed 80% or so. I wasn't looking forward to dealing with the hospital on my own without the insurance company to back me up. I know it is all a shell game between providers and insurers, but geez. My wife had an emergency gall bladder removal with an ER visit and a two day stay at a different hospital earlier last year was $35K total.

I went to my one insurance required support group meeting last week. Interesting, that of 30+ people in the group, only myself and one other pre-op were going LAP-BAND®®®®®®. All the others , including all the post op, were sleeve or bypass. One other pre op explained she was fighting with insurance for the sleeve, though she had been approved for LAP-BAND®®®®®® or bypass. She was very against a foreign object in her body. She felt they all suffer from rejection and infection, no offense to the two of us going LAP-BAND®®®®®®.

Different strokes.

Cheers, Erick

Good luck to you, Erick, whether your surgery is on 9/28 or 10/12. I think LAP-BAND® makes so much more sense than a bypass or sleeve. It is the LEAST invasive, can be reversible (but who would want that!), and gets as good results without nutrient and Vitamin malabsorption issues. I just had my surgery 5 days ago on 9/17. I should have made this decision years ago. I have not lost the weight yet, but I feel this will be my answer.

Best of luck with your band surgery. Keep your spirits up.

Maxi

[Erick 0]

Well, I go in tomorrow to get banded at noon. So far it has been a non-event waiting for this. Anthem BCBS has been just great this whole time, they assigned me a case worker nurse on a voluntary followup deal. I didn't see any harm to it and she seems very nice, knowledgeable and supportive. I really thought I was going to have to justify this to someone there, but they really stick to the defined pre requisites. Even with my doc being out of network, approval was less than two weeks.

Wish me luck!

Cheers, Erick

[Rsilversea 2]

Good luck and happy journey!

[maxi2010 0]

Best of luck, Erick, with your banding. I hope it gives you everything that your want.

Maxi

[Dave_NW 92]

Good Luck, Erick. You're already an inspiration! I should be only a month or so behind you.

Dave

[Erick 0]

Thanks for the encouragement!

Well I am ten hours on the banded side of the fence! Everything went very smoothly, I am dealing with the sore shoulders and I can only lay on my back. But, knock on wood, it has been very manageable, especially with the help of my lovely wife. I wish everyone has such an experience!

I am on my way!

Cheers, Erick