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Surgery Date

So I have a date!!! It was for May 3rd, but they just called a little while ago, and moved it to April 25th!!!! I cant even believe it, just three weeks away!!!
Bostongurl

Bostongurl

3
 

March update

So, I called Tony from Dr. Hess' office on Friday to see if they got my MMPI test results yet, and he said no but that they should be there any day. He said if I haven't heard back from him by Tuesday to call him...so that's exactly what I'm going to do.   My diet is slipping a bit, i'm not staying in my ww points as well as I was, and i'm not working out as often. It's just difficult, but I'm trying very hard. i'm trying so hard to stay on track so hard to pick myself back up when I fall.   i'm also just not stable with my personal life, and don't know what to do, J just stays in my head all the time, and wears me out. I can't get over him, and he just uses me up, uses up my emotions. I want to be over him, I want to move on.   anyway, this is about my band, nothin more nothin less, but I know he is effecting all that and I just don't know how to end it, how to stop him from effecting me so much ps i'm PMSing big time   I promise to go to the gym at least 5 times this week. I promise I promise I promise i promise
Bostongurl

Bostongurl

2
 

Most Deff Approved!!

So, it's official, I recieved a letter from Harvard Pilgrim yesterday saying they have approved the surgery!!! I can't believe it, so now I'm thinking I'll problably have the procedure sometime in May. Now I just have to get mysef on track again and make the most of this next month.
Bostongurl

Bostongurl

1
 

February Update

So on 2/15 I had my appointment with the dietician (Dr. Isfan): He and I know eachother well from previous vistis, so there wasn't really any surprises there. The good news is that he backs me getting the surgery totally. Then on 2/21 I had the full abdominal ultrasound, which hurt a bit more than I had expected, but was fine in the end. Then later that morning I had appointment with the Nutritionist (Wendy Anderson). She is a funny woman, but very nice, and very knowledgeable. She was very happy with the things I was already doing and basically said keep up what i'm doing and I'll do great. I called to schedule my MMPI and Felicia said that they don't have the calendar yet, but that they are now booking in MAY... that was a real blow that that test wont be until May, then the results for that don't come back for 2-3 weeks. Then you have a couple more appointments and have to submit insurance, wait to get a response, etc. so we are now basically looking at July, August, or even suptember.... So I emailed Hr. Hess on 2/22 just to ask if it were a possibility to get in sooner, and he said he would look into it. So hopefully he will follow-up on that. As of now, I have to call felicia again Monday and at least get a date on the calendar. So for now, I'm just going to continue with my diet and excersise (i've lost about 10lbs) so that is excelent, but I'm just going to keep on going with that and be in the best possible shape before surgery so that it goes as well as possible. we'll see
Bostongurl

Bostongurl

1
 

Goals for February

1. loose another 10lbs 2. get control of evening snacking 3. edjucate myself to diet and excersise SMARTER - get the best possible workout and diet results from what I'm doing 4. get a new scale 5. short term goal, get under 250 6. get my BMI below 40
Bostongurl

Bostongurl

1
 

December 06 Goals

So my next big goal to achieve is to get to 184. When I reach this, I will have lost a total of 80lbs, and not only that, but at that point, my BMI will be below 30, which means I will no longer be considered "obese." This of course is huge for me, and something to really work towards. I'm currently at 191, and my more immediate goal is to get to 189, which will bring me to a total of 75lbs lost, which is also huge. Goal #1: Get to 189 before I go home for Christmas Goal #2: Get to 184 by Jan 3rd...that might be a bit much considering the holidays...but we'll see goal #3: increase my caloric intake by 200cal or so per day to accommodate for extra exercise Goal #4: drink at least four blue bottles worth of water per day
Bostongurl

Bostongurl

1
 

MMPI Test

So I called after my last appointment to see when I could schedule my MMPI test, and Felicia said that she didn't have the calendar yet, but that they were now booking in May. After you take the MMPI, it takes 2-3 weeks before you get the results, then you have another appointment with Dr. Hess, and another with my PCP. Then when that is all done they submit your paperwork, and THEN you get to schedule your surgery. so at the very least we were looking at July, Aug. maybe even september. So per Liv's recomindation, I emailed Dr. Hess and very nicely asked if I could possbily get a sooner date for my MMPI, he emailed me back and said he was sure he could arrange something. Then this Monday, 2/27 I finally got on the calendar with my MMPI, which was for MAY 3rd!!!!! So crazy, I was feeling really down that day, thinking 2 whole months before the next step, but then I thought, this just means I will have more time to loose some weight, and become more healthy. So after thinking about it for a while I became okay with it. Then, on Tuesday Felicia called and said that she had a couple of cancelations and could I come in on March 8th, I said absolutly so now i'm scheduled for a week from today!! I'm so excited about that. So that's today's update. Other then the surgery updates, I've lost around 12lbs and am doing really well with the eating as well as excersising regulally.
Bostongurl

Bostongurl

1
 

gallbladder

So I have not written a journal entry in forever, but thought I would mention that I had my gallbladder removed on Jan. 23, 2007. I was having pretty regular attacks of terrible upper abdomin pain that would last for up to 6 hours! It was terrible and hard to take, so we decided the best thing to do was to have it taken out. I had the surgery around 5pm on Tuesday, spent the night in the hospital, and returned home on Wed. around 2pm. At around 4:30 I paged Dr. Hess as I wasn't able to even swollow my own spit. He had me come into the office and they removed the 1cc of liquid from my band. I guess there was some swelling from the surgery and that was making it hard for me to get/keep anything down. Mom was with me from Tues. until yesterday am. yesterday was a pretty good day, then last night was bad, throwing up, etc. So i'm done taking the meds as I know that's why i was so sick last night. anyway, planning on going back to work on monday, but I'm going to take it easy and see how I'm feeling on mon. going to get some gatorade now to make sure I stay hydrated.
Bostongurl

Bostongurl

1
 

10 days until surgery

So I'm 10 days away from getting banded, and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. I know it's the right decision for me, but i'm just going through the motions I think. I worry that even this wont work for me, that I will faill this as i've failed so many diets before. I worry about the situations I will be in (dinner with friends, dates, etc) where I'll have to come up for a reason for not drinking during dinner, reasons for eating such small amounts. I know these things are small and in the big scope of things they are really just small sacrifices, but i'm just being honest, these are the things keeping me up at night.
Bostongurl

Bostongurl

1
 

MMPI Test

So I had my MMPI test today. I arrived at the Boston Medical around 7:40AM. Tony checked me in, I payed $160.00 then I filled out a couple page multiple choice. Then Tony brought me and one other women into another room, told us what was in store for us, then we watched a TERRRIBLE video from i kid you not the 70s. Then towards the end of the video the therapist came in and took me to another room to basically interview me. She was really nice, and she asked me TONS of questions about my state of mind, my support system, basically evaluated me mentally. She said she had never given such a glowing report, which felt great!! She said I seem like I will do really really well with the surgrey and that she is not used to seeing people who have lost weight at this point. So then when we were done, I went back into the other room and took the MMPI test, which was close to 600 t/f questions which were very intersting. I finished around 11:15 and was back to work by 12:00. So now I guess the results for this come back in about three weeks. At that point Tony submits the paperwork to my insurance company, which can take another 3-4 weeks. Then from there when I'm approved, then they set a surgery date, which is usually about 3-4 weeks out. So bassically we are looking at Mid May sometime. Next steps: tomorrow, call PCP to make an appointment in a month for a letter of medical clearance from my PCP. Three weeks from today, March 29th, call tony to see if my test results were in. I'm in a great place though, i'm loosing and am happy. So i'm down 12lbs, and if all goes well, I could loose another 18lbs or so for a total of 30lbs before the time of my surgery. So that's my next goal. It's an aggressive one, but I know I can do it.
Bostongurl

Bostongurl

1
 

Reword Ideas

I have setup a jar in the kitchen. I pay myself a dollar for every day i workout, and a dollar i eat right. and i am going to pay myself 5 dollars for every pound lost gold band for my pinky. I'd call it my promise ring, PROMISE not to gain it back for a lifetime.
Bostongurl

Bostongurl

1
 

Brief summery of my experience thus far

November 15, 2005 – I make some phone calls and do a lot of research about WLS, particularly the Lap-Band procedure. My research shows that Boston Medical does not do the Lap-Band, so I look into BWH November 17, 2005 – Had my appointment with my PCP to get referral to BWH November 22, 2005 – Attend aFree Info Session @BWH, Dr. Luatz is there, who I like very much. November 23, 2005 – Call and schedule an appointment with Dr. Luatz @ BWH. Appointment set for Jan. 26th December 9, 2005 –My sister tells me that she spoke with the doctor from her hospital and that he does not recommend Dr. Lautz, so I call and cancel my appointment with him and call to make one with Dr. Ashley Vernon, which is set for Feb. 10. Long story short, I have to call my PCP again to change my referral, and when I do, they say that I need a special referral to see a doctor outside of Boston Medical, as there are doctors there who perform the Lap-Band…now that would have been helpful to know BEFORE… Anyway so things change, I called to set-up an appointment with Dr. Hess from Boston Medical, and canceled my appointment with Dr. Vernon. January 12, 2006 - Met with Dr. Hess for the First time. Went over the different WLS options and he confirmed what I was thinking which is that Lap-Band is the surgery for me. Dr. Hess gave me a packet of info and said that his assistant would contact me to set up my necessary appointments. January 17, 2006 – Got call from Dr. Hess’ office to set-up my next four appointments! I was so happy to hear from her, I was afraid I would be waiting for her call for a while. Also, All my appointments are pretty soon, so that’s great news. 1. PFT (Pulminary Function Tests): is scheduled for Friday, January 27th at 8:00AM 2. Appointment with dietician (Dr. Isfan): is scheduled for Wednesday, February 15th, at 4:00PM 3. Ultrasound: Scheduled for February 21st at 8:00AM 4. Appointment with the Nutritionist (Wendy Anderson): Scheduled for February 21st at 9:00AM 5. MMPI test ($160): Cant be scheduled until the other four are complete January 19, 2006 – Attended my first support group meeting at Boston Medical Center, run by Wendy Anderson. It was good, although the majority of people were waiting for surgery, and there was only one other Lap-Band person. Everyone else was doing the bypass surgery. Everyone was talking about the weight they were told they had to loose, and I asked when they were told this, and they said during their first meeting with Dr. Hess, but he said nothing to me about loosing any weight. Wendy did say that sometimes they don’t ask people to loose any weight, but that I have to be careful not to gain any before the surgery. November 15, 2005 - I made some calls and do a lot of research about WLS, particularly the Lap-Band procedure. My research shows that Boston MEdical does not do the lap-band, so i look into BWH. November 17, 2005 – Had my appointment with my PCP to get referral to BWH November 22, 2005 – Attend aFree Info Session @BWH, Dr. Luatz is there, who I like very much. November 23, 2005 – Call and schedule an appointment with Dr. Luatz @ BWH. Appointment set for Jan. 26th November 24, 2005 - Went home for Thanksgiving and told my parents about the surgery and what I was thinking. THey were both very supportive and backed me up 100% to go through with it. December 9, 2005 –My sister tells me that she spoke with the doctor from her hospital and that he does not recommend Dr. Lautz, so I call and cancel my appointment with him and call to make one with Dr. Ashley Vernon, which is set for Feb. 10. Long story short, I have to call my PCP again to change my referral, and when I do, they say that I need a special referral to see a doctor outside of Boston Medical, as there are doctors there who perform the Lap-Band…now that would have been helpful to know BEFORE… Anyway so things change, I called to set-up an appointment with Dr. Hess from Boston Medical, and canceled my appointment with Dr. Vernon. January 12, 2006 - Met with Dr. Hess for the First time. Went over the different WLS options and he confirmed what I was thinking which is that Lap-Band is the surgery for me. Dr. Hess gave me a packet of info and said that his assistant would contact me to set up my necessary appointments. January 17, 2006 – Got call from Dr. Hess’ office to set-up my next four appointments! I was so happy to hear from her, I was afraid I would be waiting for her call for a while. Also, All my appointments are pretty soon, so that’s great news. 1. PFT (Pulminary Function Tests): is scheduled for Friday, January 27th at 8:00AM 2. Appointment with dietician (Dr. Isfan): is scheduled for Wednesday, February 15th, at 4:00PM 3. Ultrasound: Scheduled for February 21st at 8:00AM 4. Appointment with the Nutritionist (Wendy Anderson): Scheduled for February 21st at 9:00AM 5. MMPI test ($160): Cant be scheduled until the other four are complete January 19, 2006 – Attended my first support group meeting at Boston Medical Center, run by Wendy Anderson. It was good, although the majority of people were waiting for surgery, and there was only one other Lap-Band person. Everyone else was doing the bypass surgery. Everyone was talking about the weight they were told they had to loose, and I asked when they were told this, and they said during their first meeting with Dr. Hess, but he said nothing to me about loosing any weight. Wendy did say that sometimes they don’t ask people to loose any weight, but that I have to be careful not to gain any before the surgery. January 27, 2006 - Had my PFT's which consisted of blood being takin from my wrist...which KILLED. He warned me that it was apianful, but damn. Plus he had to stick me twice. The second test was the breathing test, which was very interesting. He said my numbers were really good, and that he wasn't used to seeing such good numbers. So that's good news. Now I have to wait three weeks for my next appointment, which seems like forever, but I know it will be here sooner than I realize.
Bostongurl

Bostongurl

1
 

Joined the gym!!

January 29, 2006 - So today I joined Healthworks gym in Copley Square. I signed up, and then I worked out. I did 35 minutes on the Elliptical machine, then 20 or so minutes lifting. I'm going to plan to take as many classes as I can, b/c I know classes keep me more motivated, and make me work out longer and harder. I'm feeling very motivated to work out as much as possible, which helps me to eat better too, as I feel like the work-outs are a waste if I just come home and eat crap. It's also good to keep me busy, instead of sittin on my ass all the time...as much as I like doing exactly that.
Bostongurl

Bostongurl

1
 

July Update/ New Goals

So today is July 13th, and I had another appointment with Dr. Hess and with Wendy as well. I had lost another 14 lbs since I was last there on June 1st, a total of 34 since surgery and 50lbs since my first appointment with Dr. H back on January 10th. The appointment went well, I've lost around 31% of my excess body weight since surgery and the average person looses %40 one year post-op, so I'm way above that. Dr. Hess was very happy with me and thrilled with my loss - I'm such a "teachers pet" at times. We got my blood drawn today so they will make sure everything is all set, that I'm getting all the nutrients that I need etc. So that's good. My next appointment is in two months on Sept. 7th, but he said that if at anytime before then I feel as though I need a fill, that I can come in anytime, but that there really is no need to get one at this point. I'm still loosing at a good rate, and I don't want to mess with a good thing. So I found out Dr. Hess lives on St. Botolph Street - 195 I think he said, which is really close to my old apartment, which is so funny. He said he's lived there about 4 years so we were neighbors for a couple of years, which cracks me up. Then when I was leaving, Tony stopped me and said that he had said to Dr. H that I was looking so great, that he was going to have to ask me to marry him…and Dr. H replied, “Oh Tony, she’s out of your league”. So cute, that cracked me up. Okay so new goals: Get below 200 by my next appointment with Dr. Hess in 8 weeks Make a commitment to go to the gym AT LEAST 3 times per week Only give in to ONE sweet craving per week Stop eating when I start to feel full – no matter what Okay, that’s good for now
Bostongurl

Bostongurl

1
 

June Goals

Okay, so I managed to achieve all of my goals from last month except for the cooking one. But that's okay, as I looked through the reciepies, I found they were a bit more complicated then I had thought. So, goals this month: Current weight: 223 218 (6/10/06)   1. Get to 209 by my next appointment with Dr. H on July 13 2. Go to the gym at least 4/week and do at least 30 min per time 3. keep up water consumption 4. continue to track my food on sparkpeople.com
Bostongurl

Bostongurl

1
 

March Goals

Last months goals: 1. loose another 10lbs 2. get control of evening snacking 3. edjucate myself to diet and excersise SMARTER - get the best possible workout and diet results from what I'm doing 4. get a new scale 5. short term goal, get under 250 6. get my BMI below 40 First off, I actually did really well on last months goals. In fact, I can pretty much say i accomplished all of the goals above. Although #2 is an ongoing badle, and #3 is never ending, I completely accomplished the rest and it feels great. March Goals: 1. Get weight to the 230's 2. Stop eating in front of the television 3. Only weight myself in the mornings 4. When I get one of my crazy cravings at home, I vow to nit at least 5 rows on my scarf before giving into the craving. 5. Continue to go to my Power Strenght class twice a week 6. Burn a minimum of 2000 calaries a week 7. Track my calerie intake on Sparkpeople.com 8. Keep calerie intake below 1200 9. Tan once a week - makes me feel more beautiful
Bostongurl

Bostongurl

1
 

Date Changed

I think I may have forgotten to post this, but due to some scheduleing issues with Dr. Hess' assistant, my surgery date was moved from 4/25/06 to 4/26/06 - all in all, not a big deal. So here I am, last day at work, and two days away from the surgery. It's crazy that it's almost here, unbelieble really. Liv is flying in first thing tomorrow am, then Mom and Dad will be driving in around 2pm. We'll all be together tomorrow and then off to the hospital early early on Wed. AM.
Bostongurl

Bostongurl

1
 

Post-op Update

Well, I'm 19 days post-op which is so hard to believe. Surgery went well, no complications and I've lost 15lbs since surgery, 35 total!! I'm not going to go into details right now but wanted to post an update.
Bostongurl

Bostongurl

1
 

Approved!!!!??????!!!

So, Tony called me this morning with a couple of questions and then he said that everything was in order and that he was going to submit the paperwork to Harvard Pilgrim today. So I called just now (6pm) to see if I could get my user ID for online, as I read on LBT today that you can check your approval status online!! Anyway when I called, I asked them to check to see if they got all application, figuring they couldnt possibly have recieved it already... and not only had they recieved it, she said I was approved... i'm approved.... I"M APPROVED   I'm a bit in disbalief to be honest, could it be a mistake? How could it have all happend so quickly?   i'm in aww
Bostongurl

Bostongurl

1
 

Weight Tracker

01-17-06: 264 01-24-06: 262 (-2, -2t) 01-31-06: 260 (-2, -4t) 02-07-06: 258 (-2, -6t) 02-14-06:256 (-2, -8t) 02-21-06:254 (-2, -10t) 02-28-06:252 (-2, -12t) 03-07-06:248 (-4, -16t) 03-14-06:247 (-1, -17t) 03-21-06:245 (-2, -19t) 03-28-06:246 (+1, -18t) 04-04-06:245 (-1, -19t) 04-11-06:243 (-2, -21t) 04-18-06:243 (-0, -21t) 04-25-06:244 (+1, -20t) 05-02-06:237 (-7, -27t) 05-09-06:231 (-6, -33t) 05-16-06:229 (-2, -35t) 05-23-06: 227 (-2, -37t) 05-30-06: 224 (-3, -40t) 06-06-06: 221 (-3, -43t) 06-13-06: 218 (-3, -46t) 06-20-06: 217 (-1, -47t) 06-27-06: 214 (-3, -50t) 07-04-06: 213 (-1, -51t) 07-11-06: 212 (-1, -52t) 07-18-06: 210 (-2, -54t) 07-25-06: 208 (-2, -56t) 08-01-06: 208 (-0, -56t) 08-08-06: 208 (-0, -56t) 08-15-06: 208 (-0, -56t) 08-22-06: 206 (-2, -58t) 08-29-06: 205 (-1, -59t) 09-05-06: 203 (-2, -61t) 09-12-06: 203 (-0, -61t) 09-19-06: 202 (-1, -62t) 09-26-06: 201 (-1, -63t) 10-03-06: 200 (-1, -64t) 10-10-06: 199 (-1, -65t) 10-17-06: 197 (-2, -67t) 10-24-06: 195 (-2, -69t) 10-31-06: 195 (-0, -69t) 11-07-06: 195 (-0, -69t) 11-14-06: 194 (-1, -70t) 11-21-06: 193 (-1, -71t) 11-28-06: 193 (-0, -70t) 12-05-06: 192 (-1, -72t) 12-12-06: 191 (-1, -73t) 12-19-06: 191 (-0, -73t) 12-26-06:190 (-1, -74t) 01-02-07: 190 (-0, -74t) 01-09-07: 190 (-0, -74t) 01-16-07: 188 (-2, -76t) 01-23-07: 186 (-2, -78t) 01-30-07: 184 (-2, -80t) 03-30-09: 186 (+2, -78) 04-6-09: 04-13-09: 04-20-09: 04-27-09: 05-04-09: 05-11-09: 05-18-09: 05-25-09: 06-01-09: 06-08-09: 06-15-09: 06-22-09: 06-29-09:
Bostongurl

Bostongurl

1
 

May Goals

Okay, so I'm post-op, still healing, but doing better and better every day. So, now that the post-op "easy" weight is off, it's time to start working for it. So I thought i would get back to my monthly "small" goals list.   1. Get to 225 by my first fill appointment with Dr. H on June 1st. 2. Continue to track my food intake online 3. Start going to the gym at least 3 times a week 4. cook a new meal from my book at least once a week
Bostongurl

Bostongurl

1
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