I'm 29, the mother of 4, the wife of a great man, and ready for a new chapter in my life. Standing at a gracious 5'7" and weighing in at 289 (which has not been my heaviest weight), my weight has been an issue for the past 10 years. As most stories go my weight issues started with pregnancy, I gained a lot and wasn't able to lose much. With each pregnancy came more weight, diabetes, food tracking, and let's not forget the needles.... Giving yourself shots in the stomach multiple times a day gets old but luckily enough after the births of my children I was able to stop with the shots but put back on the pills. I have seen the effects of full blown diabetes from a sister who has lost part of her vision to an aunt who lost her leg and that's a road I desperately wanted off of.

Coming to the decision to have the procedure was not easily made. I had signed up for 3 seminars before finally attending one. It took me 2 years to overcome my fears but I am finally putting my health first and taking this leap of faith. I want to be better for my husband, better for my children, but most of all I have to be better for myself.

I am now 8 days away from surgery, leg shaking nervous, and completely excited to start this new chapter in my life.

8 Days! Oh my goodness I bet you can't wait! Congratulations.How long did it take from the time you signed up for an information session to the til your surgery date?

Good luck we will be having surgery on the same day

My information seminar was in September and the next day I was on the phone with my insurance company. I tend not to waste a lot of time once I have made my mind up. I had already basically completed all the necessary steps; I’ve been trying to lose weight for years. I would lose weight but once I would get between 260 – 280 I would just stop regardless of how many hours I spent at the gym or calories I counted.

My doctor and nutritionist both backed me; they have been going through my weight ups and downs for years. We met and had a serious conversation about my health, with the end result being that surgery would have its benefits.

From start to finish I had to go to the initial seminar, contact my insurance company to ask a bunch of questions, have a physiological exam, meet with the hospitals nutritionist, go to 4 mandatory classes, and my pre op appointment where we scheduled my surgery date. Once I had everything completed and turned in it only took 10 days to be approved from my insurance company. That was an honest surprise given that when I initially called them they said it would take at least 30 days.

I know it hasn’t been a very long time period; I have heard people waiting up to a year. I’ve had an easier rout because of everything I’ve already put into losing weight. I had a letter from my doctor, a letter from my nutritionist, my last 6 months of gym records to show when I checked in, and the past 5 years of weigh in’s with my doctors. I actually came with more paper work then what my insurance company required, I was just worried about being unprepared.

With looking through this site and the different posts I've noticed a lot of people having surgery on the 9th. Must be a lucky day!