And it was only a seminar! After a slightly stressful drive over there, because GoogleMaps is the worst, thank god for my iPhone.... Ty and I arrived about 10 mintues late. I had this image in my head of them turning us away because we were late and I was so scared that I would have to wait a month to go to the next one, but they let us right in, lol.

It was amazing to see and hear all the facts about obesity in America, I was shocked by some of it. The doctor running the seminar kept calling it a disease, that obesity is the fastest spreading emidemic in America and that we should consider it a disease. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I know that due to genetics, some people are more proned to being overweight then others, but I really feel like it's more of a culture issue. Our portion sizes in America are out of this world. When I first arrived to Japan in January I honestly thought I was going to have to order two of everything when we went out to eat beacuse the portions were so small there, but after about 2 weeks I found that I could "survive" off the portions that they served just fine, that it was indeed, enough food.

We learned about the 4 different types of surgeries that they offer, and all the pros and cons. Then they had three lovely ladies come up who had had the surgery and give their story. That was actually pretty cool, until the audience started focusing more on succes stories, then having important questions answered. That was the frustrating part. I thought that people there would be more prepared like I was, with a list of important questions and ready to just open fire while the surgen was there. And when did raising your hand to ask a question go out of style? My arm got so tired while being raised and having to wait because people were just blurting out questions that I had to rest it on Ty for support. (I don't wan to sound like a b*tch and say that no one should have been asking questions but me, lol, it was just a lot of questions were about clothes and such, and before and after pictures. I just wanted to tell everyone about this site and say "go there! They have awesome b & a pics! but please, I need to know some things first!" but I didn't )

So, as we were walking out, I was eager to set up the next appointments for Ty and me and when I spoke to the lady in charge of that, she asked why we hadn't filled out the insurance sheet (where she calls and checks with our insurance for free) and I told her that I had called about 2 weeks ago and that our insurance didn't cover the band because our employer has decided to exclude it from our coverage. ( I was proud that I could tell her verbatim what was told to me 2 weeks ago) (and I also thought this was something she must hear everyday) She asked if they covered any other WLS and I said yes, gastro bypass and she said she wanted our information, because it's almost illegal for them to cover one but not the other, because the band is FDA approved. So that is what I am doing today, filling out the insurance forms for Ty and myself to fax in. If we can save 30,000 by not self-paying, I'm sure I can find it in my heart to wait a bit longer to have the surgery, plus 30,000 can buy me the new boobs that I've always wanted, or at least some jeans that fit right after I lose weight. lol

Sorry this was so long, I was just so excited about last night, I would have posted last night if the drive home wasn't 2 hours long, but luckily for all you folks, it's time for me to get ready for work and finish my last day of training. Hopefully I passed the test yesterday so that I'm not going to training today for nothing.

Happy Friday!

~Shelley