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About this blog

I am an overseas military wife stationed in schweinfurt germany who is in the process of trying to get the lap band approved, and this is my story.:thumbup:

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My Process so far

Well, i had been thinking about WLS for a long time. I started looking into different types about 8 mths ago. About 4 mths ago i stumbled onto this website and decided that yes the lapband was for me. I am overseas right now. My journey is a lil more complicated then most. I have tricare overseas, which my reps say is very hard to get approved for WLS. But i still needed to try. On March 28 2008 I went to my PCM to see about getting a referrel to see a WLS surgeon. My PCM was seriously not supportive but even though i was embarassed and nervous, i did not let him intimidate me and by the time the appt. was done he agreed to give me the referrel. I got my blood work done on the 7th of April. Much to my surprise my cholesterol is sky rocket high, along with a bunch of other things. I had a Psych eval done on the 22nd of April and much to my surprise, was deemed sane. I put my packet together and submitted it to tricare. I am 100lbs overweight and have several co-morbs like high cholesterol, chronic knee pain. Well the tricare lady said it could take about a week to see if they would approve me to see the surgeon, amazingly it took 2 hrs. And they said go ahead. Now they have not approved me for surgery. I go see my surgeon (Dr. Weiner) in Frankfurt, Ge on Memorial day. I know strange cause its a holiday but Germans do not celebrate all of the same ones we do, and this works out good because i do not have to take time off work. Frankfurt is about 2-2 1/2 hour drive from where we are stationed. Now i have only told a few people about my decision. My hubby is one, one friend here, and 2 friends back in the states and one family member.. I figure i should try to blog some, since i can openly put down everything here without fear of someone being negative to my choice. I am so glad i found this site. it is the best, the people i have met here are soo freakin inspiriational. So heres hopin i can get banded overseas.:thumbdown:
armywife4life

armywife4life

2
 

My Consult APPT

Okay i went on monday up to Frankfurt to see Dr. Weiner. I spent an hour in his waiting room. When it was my turn my appt. was like seriously 10 min. He just asked me which WLS i wanted. I told him the lapband, he said that he liked to do them on higher BMI then mine(what 40 isn't good enough:smile:) But i told him i was sure that this was the right choice for me and so no more was said. He just asked me when i wanted to do it. We settled on June 27th 2008. So it looks like ill be a jazzy june. He also had me lay down and looked at my gallbladder for stones, and checked my kidneys and liver and told me all was good. I check into the hospital on the 26th I will do the rest of the pre op tests like Upper GI,EKG etc. and then stay the night and have the surgery in the morning on the 27th. I will have to stay that night also(*sigh*) But he said as long as everything looked good i could go home Sat. morning. I really did not want to stay so long but its a long drive and the tests take most of the day so i understand, less stress to. My husband is going to drive me up and drop me off, he cannot stay as we have a lil boy and he has to work. But he will come pick me up Sat. morning :thumbup: Well im excited and nervous all at the same time. Its different doing it here in then in the states. They do not speak alot of english in the hospital but im hoping they will do their best to assign me the best english speaking nurses LOL.. Tri care can still deny me, but im thinking in the positive and feel they won't. Well everyone wish me luck, cause im on my way to a new me.:cursing:
armywife4life

armywife4life

1
 

a lil over a month with the Band

well its been lil over a month since banding date and i can honestly say i feel great. I was very lucky i did not suffer much the first few days afterwards. no gas pains, weird sounds, etc. easy peasy and i am so grateful for that. I had the surgery done on a friday and went back to work the following tues. Probably could of went back on monday but i had already scheduled it off so i just took it. I have lost 21 lbs when i went to the doc office they said they would not put a fill in their for me until my weight stalls or gains. But thats okay cause i do feel some restriction and im not usually to hungry. Im paranoid about doing something bad to it though. I did not see my doc for my check up but one of the fellow intern surgeons he checked my port and gall bladder to make sure all was okay. Im kinda unhappy about not seeing my doc but he was still in surgery so i understand. I have his email address so im gonna email him some questions i have. Ive been told he responds promptly so here's hoping. People are commenting already on my weight loss. Wow it feels good. im just under 220lbs right now and im hoping to lose another 10 or 15 by the time my husband comes back from field training sept 4th.(my b-day) I want to see how he likes the slightly thinner me LOL.. oh yea and collect my present:biggrin: My next doc appt is in 2 mths which will be my 3 mth check up but if i think i need a fill before then i am soooooo going to call them. All and all so far so good, im very happy with my decision. Each day is brighter for me because i know each day i am getting healthier.:redface:
armywife4life

armywife4life

2
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