Hi everyone!

Ive been lurking for awhile, as well as reading tons of blogs, watching youtube videos, etc, etc.

Ive struggled with my weight since high school and Im sick of it! I dont like being the fat wife, the fat mom, the fat person walking down the street, the fat chick struggling to get up off the floor and even off the couch. I was advised not to use the word fat from the skinny bariatric nurse I had to see, I couldnt help but laugh. The truth hurts, thats where I am right now. Very upfront about being the fat girl and Im just tired of it.

Soooo after going in to see my doctor about my ongoing back issues (had chronic back pain even while skinny) I finally decided to ask about weight loss surgery and sure enough I qualified WOOHOO! She put in my consult and a week or so later I got the call to go in for the bariatric surgery orientation. I was set on having the lap band until the doctor mentioned the sleeve and then I was sold He later suggested it would be the best fit for me so then I was wait-listed for the surgery.

After a month or two I couldnt stand it any longer and called to check to see where I was on the wait list. Imagine my surprise to find out I was only a few people away from starting the program that leads to surgery! A few days later I got the call that it was officially my turn to start.

I went in for my appt with the nurse last week, she handed me a huge list of appts I have to go to. One of the appts was a required support group appt and luckily the group was meeting an hour later so I went and met some fellow WLS folks in person I also found out about another WLS support group that is much more active so I will attend that this week. So now I start my list of appts, 4 NUT appts, occupational therapy, a physical, then the pysch (sp?) eval, then surgery clearance and finally the surgeons appt, all hopefully will be done by the end of December and surgery is expected to be in February YAY!

Well thats it for now, just wanted to finally introduce myself and thank all the people that post on this site! Im so glad I found you all

Welcome to the best WLS forum in the WORLD. You will learn tons of info here. If you have any questions someone here is bound to know the answer. So sit back and enjoy the ride. Good luck to you!!!!

Deb

Welcome! I came out of lurking yesterday. I just finished all my appts and am just waiting for the surgeon to get all the reports back and the insurance approval so I can schedule my 2nd consult and surgery! I am so excited and nervous all at the same time.

Thanks! So I had my physical, doctor wasnt sure what to really do as I had to take my kids so part of the physical was not going to happen. She did the basics of looking in my ears, throat and listening to my heart and lungs. All was good. She looked over my last set of labs and didnt see a reason to repeat anything. I told her about the surgery (I see a group of doctors so she was not the one to put in my referal). So thats one thing off my to-do list

Today I checked out another support group and I LOVED it! These women were amazing, we mostly goofed around, it was so much fun to have others to joke with that have gone through bariatric surgery, I was the only person who had not had my surgery yet. Lots of good advice and support. So Im thrilled to be a part of the group there too

Well thats all the update for now. My next update will be my occupational therapy appt.

Hope you all are having a blessed week!

Welcome to the forum! It sounds like you have found some great contacts with the support group. That is awesome and will be such a big help, I wish I had a group close to me for sure. Keep us posted on your journey through the insurance hoops.

Welcome to the forum! You'll not be disappointed, it is amazing!

I tried to lose weight earlier this year, working out for up to 2 hours a day, eating reasonably (but slipping up every now and then), and I made it down 18 pounds in 4 months. Admitted, I was a little firmer than now, but I also gained it all back once I stopped the workouts due to time issues.

Now, I had surgery pretty much a month ago and lost 28.4 pounds. It seemed like life was not fair all my life and all of a sudden the tables have turned!

Good luck on your journey!

Susanne

Welcome to the forum. You will find tons of people here who have all been exactly in your shoes!!! I am very thankful for this forum and all the information I have learned here!

Congratulations on starting your journey! I hope it all goes as easily for you as it has for me, I began the process in September and have my surgery date set for December 28th! It has actually been quite painless and the information on the boards has been wonderful

Good luck to you!

Welcome! So glad you are here and that you are having the sleeve! Congrats!!!

Thanks everyone! I am super excited about getting the surgery, just trying to not spaz out too much waiting for my turn

My friend had surgery today and while I was sitting in the waiting room I overheard a man talking about his wife having WLS. I asked what she was having and it was the sleeve as well. Shes also using the same doctor I want so that was cool. I was able to get a little more info on what the doctor expectations are. Apparently I dont even have to go on a liquid diet til 5 days before surgery, so thats exciting. The guy spoke highly of the doctor, so defintely good to know.

Welcome and congrats

Thanks!

So I had my occupational therapy class and talk about a WASTE of time. UGH! The class was so boring and no new information on bariatric surgery, all very basic, common sense kind of information. Of course there is always the one annoying person that either thinks they know everything and has a comment every 2 seconds or the person who asks a million not-really-relevant questions. That person happened to do both *sigh* THe class just dragged on. But at least the class is over with. Now I get a break til next week when I get to hear the same information again by someone else Hoping this next class isnt nearly as long as todays. Oh well, one step closer to surgery

Thought I would give an update of my appts. Everything but the mental health and appt with the surgeon will be completed this week! Well Im kind of hoping I can get the mental health one done this week too but no idea when I will get scheduled for that one.

So far the classes have been just as boring as I expected. Stress management was the least helpful of all the classes and beyond boring. But its over with and Im flying through my classes!

I am so loving the support group I found. The ladies are awesome! Not many sleevers, mostly RnY folks but still the info is helpful. This week some people are bringing in protien shakes to let us check that out, so awesome!

Im going to have my PCM put in for lab work too, some folks have discussed having all the Vitamins checked out before hand and I would much rather start to fix any deficiencies now than to wait after surgery.

My hubby and I have decided to switch to a high Protein, low carb diet as of the 1st. I can lose probably 15 lbs or so and still qualify for surgery since I have sleep apnea, as much as I would like to eat whatever I want up until surgery I need to get in the habit of it now, so might as well start wtih the new year

Hello Sasi, thanks for the update! It sounds like you have been really busy in the last weeks

I remember having to go through many boring classes and sessions when I went through insurance with my band. However in the long run and once you are on the other side, you will find that you are thankful to have gone through them. They can be super helpful when you're first starting out, and even longer down the road.

I'm even thankful now that I had a band even. I learned SO MUCH with it!! It is helping me now to have the utmost success with my sleeve.

All the best in the upcoming weeks!!