Hello everyone!

I have been checking out this site for a few weeks and figured it was time I introduced myself. My name is Melissa (41, 252 lbs, 5'1") and I've been overweight/obese most of my life. You know, it's kind of weird - I remember my 5th grade class picture and I was little and cute. Everything from there on out through middle school I have vague memories of some crap happening then but now I just remember putting on the pounds. I graduated high school at 160 and well, just never really stopped.

My mom passes away out of the blue one day of sudden cardiac death and when then happened it really shook me to my core. After that happened I, in no particular order, divorced my first husband (something that should have been done long before I did), quit my long time job of academic advising, moved to TN, married a new wonderful man who treats me like a queen, started culinary school, graduated, started my own personal chef business and will also be teaching culinary arts at a local culinary school this fall. This has all happened in the last four years!

I've tried Weight Watchers more times that I can remember - was only really successful once and even then it was going from 229 to 187. I've done other diets, Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, went to the gym, saw a nutritionist, tried hypnosis, yeah, I am a diet veteran for sure. But they never worked. And it wore on me because I'd always say to myself "What is your problem - you know what to do - just do it!" But I never could.

Heard a lot of negative stuff about WLS - thought smugly to myself that I'd never take the "easy way out." Everyone knows people just gain the weight back - and don't even get me started about all the complications people have. And besides, I'm a chef - I can't do something where it's going to automatically cause dumping anytime I take a bite of anything.

Another thing keeping me from pursuing surgery was the fact that for most of my life I had relatively few complications. In 2009 I started meds for high cholesterol. This May I started meds for high blood pressure, depression, and was told I was prediabetic. Hmmm....I guess when they say once you hit 40 everything starts going downhill was true But I still wasn't thinking surgery.

But then I saw Graham Elliot had VSG - he's a fab chef from Chicago (you may have seen him on Masterchef). Hmm, here's a fellow chef getting this surgery done - surely he won't do it if it's going to cripple his livelihood. So I did some research. Heck, who am I kidding? I did a ton of research. And I realized it's not the easy way out. Any one who says that just doesn't know what all is involved. But I also realized it may very well be a very viable option for me.

The bad news is my insurance has an exclusion and won't cover it and at first my husband was a bit reluctant to get on board. Every time I'd mention it he'd change the subject. Fortunately, we have a pretty awesome relationship and I finally said hey, what gives - why do you keep changing the subject when I bring this up? Turns out on of his ex's family members had WLS 15 years ago and had a boatload of complications. Once I explained to him that #1 I wasn't looking at having gastric bypass and #2 a whole lot has changed in the past 15 years in WLS he was onboard.

Realizing my health is very much in a perilous spot, I've decided it's time to do something. My husband loves to be active, and well, right now, I don't. He never complains, but I want to do more things with him. And yeah, not going to lie, I would love to be able to shop in a regular size store for the first time in, ohhhh.....probably over 30 years.

While there are a number of surgeons nearby who perform the surgery - the going self-pay rate is about 20K. However, with help from folks here I have found a doc in Texas who has a much more reasonable self pay rate. We will still need to finance some of it, but it seems much more reasonable now and financing under 10K sounds so much better than financing 20K.

I look forward to learning more from all of you and hopefully contributing a lot too!

Melissa

This site has been a huge help to me so thank you all

Thanks for sharing your story --- loved your candor! I'm a little over 9 weeks post op and soooo happy with my decision to have the sleeve - I'm confident you will be happy as well. Love Masterchef and Graham Elliot - didn't know he had the sleeve so thanks for sharing that tidbit. Best wishes to you and keep us updated on your journey.

Welcome!

Hi Melissa, Welcome to the board. Good luck financing your surgery, I'm in that position too.

Hi and welcome. Thanks for sharing your story.

pre-surgery weight 325; surgery date 2/28/2013; surgery weight 307; 8 weeks past-op weight 281.4; 12 weeks post-op 274; 4 month post-op 266.2; 5 month post-op 262.6

Welcome Melissa! I have a friend who is a chef and had sleeve surgery about a year ago. She has now started her own business making pre-op protein shakes and broths, and post-op smoothies and soups. I credit a lot of my success to her excellent cooking. I can put you in touch with her if you want to send me a private message.

Hello everyone!

I have been checking out this site for a few weeks and figured it was time I introduced myself. My name is Melissa (41, 252 lbs, 5'1") and I've been overweight/obese most of my life. You know, it's kind of weird - I remember my 5th grade class picture and I was little and cute. Everything from there on out through middle school I have vague memories of some crap happening then but now I just remember putting on the pounds. I graduated high school at 160 and well, just never really stopped.

My mom passes away out of the blue one day of sudden cardiac death and when then happened it really shook me to my core. After that happened I, in no particular order, divorced my first husband (something that should have been done long before I did), quit my long time job of academic advising, moved to TN, married a new wonderful man who treats me like a queen, started culinary school, graduated, started my own personal chef business and will also be teaching culinary arts at a local culinary school this fall. This has all happened in the last four years!

I've tried Weight Watchers more times that I can remember - was only really successful once and even then it was going from 229 to 187. I've done other diets, Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, went to the gym, saw a nutritionist, tried hypnosis, yeah, I am a diet veteran for sure. But they never worked. And it wore on me because I'd always say to myself "What is your problem - you know what to do - just do it!" But I never could.

Heard a lot of negative stuff about WLS - thought smugly to myself that I'd never take the "easy way out." Everyone knows people just gain the weight back - and don't even get me started about all the complications people have. And besides, I'm a chef - I can't do something where it's going to automatically cause dumping anytime I take a bite of anything.

Another thing keeping me from pursuing surgery was the fact that for most of my life I had relatively few complications. In 2009 I started meds for high cholesterol. This May I started meds for high blood pressure, depression, and was told I was prediabetic. Hmmm....I guess when they say once you hit 40 everything starts going downhill was true But I still wasn't thinking surgery.

But then I saw Graham Elliot had VSG - he's a fab chef from Chicago (you may have seen him on Masterchef). Hmm, here's a fellow chef getting this surgery done - surely he won't do it if it's going to cripple his livelihood. So I did some research. Heck, who am I kidding? I did a ton of research. And I realized it's not the easy way out. Any one who says that just doesn't know what all is involved. But I also realized it may very well be a very viable option for me.

The bad news is my insurance has an exclusion and won't cover it and at first my husband was a bit reluctant to get on board. Every time I'd mention it he'd change the subject. Fortunately, we have a pretty awesome relationship and I finally said hey, what gives - why do you keep changing the subject when I bring this up? Turns out on of his ex's family members had WLS 15 years ago and had a boatload of complications. Once I explained to him that #1 I wasn't looking at having gastric bypass and #2 a whole lot has changed in the past 15 years in WLS he was onboard.

Realizing my health is very much in a perilous spot, I've decided it's time to do something. My husband loves to be active, and well, right now, I don't. He never complains, but I want to do more things with him. And yeah, not going to lie, I would love to be able to shop in a regular size store for the first time in, ohhhh.....probably over 30 years.

While there are a number of surgeons nearby who perform the surgery - the going self-pay rate is about 20K. However, with help from folks here I have found a doc in Texas who has a much more reasonable self pay rate. We will still need to finance some of it, but it seems much more reasonable now and financing under 10K sounds so much better than financing 20K.

I look forward to learning more from all of you and hopefully contributing a lot too!

Melissa

This site has been a huge help to me so thank you all

My doctor is in Louisiana. He is cash only and the total price is $9,600. He is very experienced and has a great track record. He has done so many people that I know. They all have done well and so have I. Good luck on your journey. It is rough but so worth it.