Hi everyone,

I wanted to introduce myself. I'm very excited to be on this board. You all are so very supportive of each other and I know that will help me as I begin this journey.

I'm Jen, I've been married almost 10 years to a very wonderful and supportive husband. We have one son together. He'll be 6 in a couple of months.

I've been overweight most of my life. It's just in the last 12 years though that I've become extremely overweight. I started at around 400lbs and I'm currently at 350lbs. It's taken alot of ups and downs over the last 5 years to get to this weight.

I have already talked to my insurance company and I'll need 6 months of supervised diet. So I called yesterday and made an appt with Dr. Stiles to start that process. I am not using my regular PCP because he is very old fashioned and will barely give me medicine when I'm sick, much less help me get approved for surgery. So one of the bariatric surgeon's offices recommended Dr. Stiles.

Well, I look forward to sharing in all your journeys.

JenJen, I did the same thing when I needed an appt with my PCP, I called around to find out which Dr's had the same philosophy so that I wouldn't waste my time, I originally started out having to participate in a 6 month program but it turns out that after the new year it was no longer a requirement for my insurance so I was able to get banded sooner which was just lucky.. now I'm just a few days postop and hopeful for my future, good luck in your journey!

Jen....congrats On Your Decision..that Is The First Step...honey, It Is A Wonderful Journey...i Love My Band...i Would Do It Again Tomorrow...

Congratulations on taking the first step. The time passes quickly because you have a list of requirements to fulfill. Read a lot of the posts and ask questions. You'll learn a lot here.

Hi,

I wanted to update on how things are going. I met with my new GP on March 8th. I'm now 2 weeks into my 6 months and I've lost 11lbs so far. My GP referred me for a sleep study which I had a couple of nights ago. I should know the results in a few days.

I'm just trying to take this all one day at a time.

Hi JenJen,

I too got fed up with my PCP. Hes done a sleep study, several blood tests and recommended weight watchers. Still I have not lost weight. Hes had me on thyroid medicine...though my thyroid is perfect, a diaretic, acid reflux medicine, and a pre diabetic diagnosis X medicine all of which have had absolutely no effect. So a woman at my work turned me on to a weight loss clinic at a nearby hospital that fast tracks you to surgery. I go to my orientation on Tues. I feel like Im finally moving forward. Especially since Ive asked my PCP about the surgery only about a hundred times and he always said: " Oh well lets try this and if it doesnt work then well look into surgery..." then when it didnt work hed say it again. Talk about frustrating! Seems liek the only way we girls can get what we want is to do it ourselves right? Glad to hear things are working out for you!

:biggrin: Hi JenJen!

I'm in Arkansas, too! Would love to be support for you if/when you need it. I've had struggles and successes.

I hope you have great luck with the pre-band diet. Just being on a supervised diet helped me to get in the frame of mind that the Lab-band is a committment. My surgeon put me on liquids for 3 weeks prior to my surgery before he would even agree to do it. I lost 15 pounds before surgery. My starting weight was 373 lbs - by far the heaviest I'd ever been in my life. I had my surgery 1/12/07, and have lost 86lbs since then.

Good luck with the insurance company. They can be tough. None of mine was covered, but I still think it was worth it. ~D

Hi all,

Thanks for the support and warm welcomes. I really appreciate it.

Lenore,

Good luck with the weight loss center. I'd love to hear how your appt went.

Newday,

Send me a pm sometime. I'd love to hear more about you and where about in AR you are. WOW!!! Congrats on the 86lbs!!!! That's wonderful!!!! You're certainly an inspiration to me and give me hope that I CAN do this.

Well it's been just over a month now since I started and I'm doing really well. This weekend I started exercising again. My body is changing so much just by doing this 6 month diet. I'm already fitting into clothes that I couldn't wear a few months ago. I don't crave the carbs like I used to and for that I'm SO happy. Those that know I'm doing this to have WLS ask me how I can stick to this so much and I just tell them that I have no choice. I really feel like I HAVE to do this because if I don't, my future doesn't look so bright. However, I already feel a TON better with the little bit I've lost so far so I'm well on my way I think.:biggrin2:

Hi JenJen

My appointment went well. It was scheduled for an hour but they stayed an half hour late to make sure all my questions were answered. They treated me like a person and not a patient. They explained the surgery to me in detail and the risks as well as the benefits. They didnt make up figures they handed me several info packets to peruse at my leisure and gave me a number to reach them if I have any questions about those. They are working with my scheule for all of my appoinments so I dont even have to take days off from work. They were surprised by how much info I already knew about both eating the right foods and amount as well as about the surgery itself. They were impressed that I was asking all the "right" questions and not "so um when will I be a size 2?" They showed my the lapband itself. and my reaction was "WOW thats so much smaller than it was in my head." haha. theyre trying to get ahold of the needle they use and some saline solution so other patients and I can see how it expands when it fills. They put alot of my fears to rest. I had mentioned some of the horror stories that Id read about on the site and they said of all te people theyve banded in the past year (about 300) only one had even mentioned having any issues everyone else was doing great. I even got to talk to a few of them. Their biggest complaint? That they PB (productive burp) if they dont stop eating when full or too fast. Although they dont abreviate it when they talk about it at the clinic so when i asked about if any of them PB-ed they had me clarify. haha. I was also told I needed to attend one support group meeting before and one after my surgery, but Ill probably just make it a habit so I can keep from annoying my friends with my WLS details etc. But all in all after my orientation I felt totally and completely certain tat this was the right decision for me. I even got my friend together over the weekend to let them know what was going on and they were all very supportive. How is your process progressing?

Well I'm back to update again.:frown:

Lenore, I'm SO glad your appt went well and you now are able to know you're doing the right thing. So when will you be able to have the surgery?

I've been doing really good. As of my last appt I am down a full 20lbs!!!! I was so excited to see that number. So I've met my first goal and now am looking forward to meeting my next goal (to be under 300lbs).

My doctor is SO happy with my progress. She told me I needed to lose at least 2lbs a month and I've lost at least 4lbs every month so far. I'm half way through my 6 months of supervised dieting and can't WAIT to finish out the other half so I can get on with my surgery.