Anticipation Nation

For all of us who are anticipating everything from our sleeve surgery date to becoming our goal weight, let us join forces and stand together!

I have been researching this option since early 2011 and never made the move to activily pursue it .... till recently. I had my consultation with the surgeon this week and have more appointments in a couple weeks. I have my mandatory appointments set up with the nutritionist, psychologist and support group meetings, and believe it or not, my surgery date is scheduled for September 4th 2012! It's completely set up, all I need to do is stay determined and follow all the necessary things (medical tests, appointments, meetings etc) and I will be 100% ready to start my new life! Yes, I have some anxiety, but its the good kind. I feel excited and happy to come to a solid decision and know I will be physically and emotionally ready for a healthier new me.

Who is with me? Who wants to gain control of their weight and go down this path together with me? We can help each other, and it will be great!

:-)

The more support we have, the better. I too am taking the journey along side you in combating my weight. I started looking at weight loss surgery last year, but thought that was the easy way out. Sound familiar? At my last visit to my primary care physician, she added Glipizide to my list of medications (Metformin & now Glipizide for Type-II diabetes). I said to myself, "That's it"! I'm not going to continue on like this.

I've had several friends of mine who had diabetes and the disease got to the point of amputation (foot then leg) and soon thereafter, they passed away. Now if death doesn't scare you, what will?

I started researching weight loss surgery in earnest. After hours, days, weeks & months searching the web, reading library material, etc., I've come to the conclusion that the best type of surgery for weight loss is the vertical sleeve, where about 80-90% or your stomach is actually removed. I've yet to see very many horror stories (on YouTube, email, blogs, etc.) about this type of surgery. Seems to be about the simplest, easiest & it works.

Go on YouTube if you want to see bad post-op videos about the Lap-Band. On top of that, there are so many stories about esophagus ruptures & polyps & the band itself moving out of position. The RNY surgery moves a lot of things around inside your system and you're doomed to continually take Vitamin & nutritional supplements for the rest of your life. That's almost as bad as having to take my other medications.

The latest news from Medicare is that vertical band surgery is NOT covered (at this time). At least that's how it is here in the state of Washington. But, I plan on pushing the issue when I go in for my initial consultation on May 17th. Perhaps I can volunteer to participate in a select study group so Medicare can garner the statistics it wants/needs.