Hi everyone! My name is Laurel and I am 26. I have a wonderful husband of 6 years and 2 beautiful children. I am a stay at home mom and I love it. I am getting close to being able to set a date- I have done all the things that are required so far (the psych eval., Upper GI, surgeon consult, etc.) The only other thing my insurance requires is the 6 month weight loss documentation by my family dr. I have done 4 months and will be done with that on June 17th. Then I will be approved (per my ins co.) and I can then set my surgery date. Yay!! I can't wait!

My surgeon is Dr. Ben-Meir at St. Vincent Charity Hospital in Cleveland, OH. He is so nice, I just love him, and I haven't even had my surgery yet! I am currently about 310 and my goal weight is 160! Oh my gosh- do you know how long it has been since I have seen 160?! 160 and I are long lost friends and I can't wait to be reunited! :clap2:

Well I guess that's about it for now. I am really looking forward to talking to people on this site. I am so glad I found it!

Have a wonderful week!

Welcome and good luck on your journey !!!!

Hi Laurel W and Welcome,It's such an exciting time.. This site is amazing it's helped me with alot of questions there is always someone who can answer you.. And the support here is unreal..

Good luck with your journey matey.. Hope to see you around

Welcome to LBT! Good luck and keep us posted!

Hi and welcome! It must feel good to have just about completed jumping through all the insurance hoops. It sounds like you are doing great and have a fantastic attitude. Let us know if you have any questions.

Thanks! I am getting really excited. I haven't told anyone except my immediate family and my 2 closest friends. I am waiting until I have a date set. But I am getting really anxious to tell people! I am like I am going to skinny (ok, maybe not skinny, but not fat) :high5: I just want to shout it from the rooftops, but I am trying to keep myself calm and be patient. When I do finally have a date set, then I will tell people. I am so glad that I am doing this now because just today I had an eye-opening experience. My 4 year old daughter who doesn't have a mean bone in her body said that she was glad that she was eating healthy at lunch today because she didn't want to be fat like me. I guess she could tell by the look on my face (though I tried to hide it) that I was hurt by her comment. I guess I was also a little shocked, I guess I never realized that she saw her mommy as fat. Out of the mouths of babes, right? She was immediately all apologies, and I assured her that though it is not nice to call someone fat, that I was getting help to get healthy. My biggest concern? She is made just like I was a little girl. Not fat, but she is just a big and tall solid kid. It scares me to death that she may be headed down this same path of self-destruction. So my plan and my prayer through all of this is that in my getting healthy, I will in turn keep my family healthier, and possibly prevent her from leading the heavy life that I have lead until now. I want to be thinner before she goes to Kindergarten, I don't want her to be embarrassed of her mommy because she's fat. Kids are cruel, even in Kindergarten. And it will be nice to actually want to get dressed up to go out with my husband. So needless to say, I am so ready for this. More than ready! Ok, thanks for listening!

Have a great week!

btw- has anyone seen that Lifetime movie "To Be Fat Like Me"? That's what scares me!!