Henriikka W.

Hi everybody, First, please forgive me if you have already seen my post in one of the other forums. I posted under three different forums because I am an idiot and did not carefully read the TOS. Now I don't know how to delete any of my posts. Anyway, I promise I will not post anywhere else! My name is Henriikka W. I am a 35-year old mom from Keller, TX. Like so many others, I have unsuccessfully tried diet and exercise to win my weight battle for several years now. I finally made the difficult decision to seek for a surgery to help me with this fight. I understand that the surgery alone will not resolve the core issue of why I over eat in the first place but it would certainly help me to adapt a whole new way of eating while I would address the emotional side of this complicated condition. Unfortunately, I recently discovered that our insurance does not cover the weight loss surgery. My husband is a police officer, I am a student and we also have two small children. Therefore, I do not foresee us being able to afford this surgery anytime in the near future. However, I was randomly selected to be one of the nine final contestants in a free weight loss surgery give-away from Dr. David Kim of Colleyville, TX. All of us contestants had to post a video on his web site and now the audience gets to vote one of us to receive this life-changing and life-saving procedure. Would you please take a moment to view my video at www.drdkim.net/contest/ and vote for me if you think that I deserve this opportunity. I would be forever grateful! Henriikka W. P.S. You can vote once per every 24-hour period per computer. The voting will end on June 1st. Thank you already!

Mandy J. & my other awesome supporters- It was a close competition but I did not win. However, I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason, so this was simply not meant to be. I am very optimistic about the future and firmly committed to changing my eating habits slowly, one step at the time. I have not closed the door for a possibility of having a lap band in the future if the circumstances will permit but meanwhile, I will try learn how to listen to my body and know what it truly wants. Thank you from the bottom of my heart you wonderful ladies! I am so very grateful for your time and support. I hope to "see" you all around here! My best to you all!

Thank you so much for your very encouraging and wonderful comments Mandy J & Peacequeen. You guys, as well as Sandy 1, have been a wonderful support system and a cheerleader group for me. I, also, do firmly believe that what is meant to happen will happen. One way or other, this will be my turning point. I truly hope to keep up with our cyber friendship. I will let you know IMMEDIATELY when I will hear the results. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart!!!

Hi everybody, First, please forgive me if you have already seen my post in one of the other forums. I posted under three different forums because I am an idiot and did not carefully read the TOS. Now I don't know how to delete any of my posts. Anyway, I promise I will not post anywhere else! My name is Henriikka W. I am a 35-year old mom from Keller, TX. Like so many others, I have unsuccessfully tried diet and exercise to win my weight battle for several years now. I finally made the difficult decision to seek for a surgery to help me with this fight. I understand that the surgery alone will not resolve the core issue of why I over eat in the first place but it would certainly help me to adapt a whole new way of eating while I would address the emotional side of this complicated condition. Unfortunately, I recently discovered that our insurance does not cover the weight loss surgery. My husband is a police officer, I am a student and we also have two small children. Therefore, I do not foresee us being able to afford this surgery anytime in the near future. However, I was randomly selected to be one of the nine final contestants in a free weight loss surgery give-away from Dr. David Kim of Colleyville, TX. All of us contestants had to post a video on his web site and now the audience gets to vote one of us to receive this life-changing and life-saving procedure. Would you please take a moment to view my video at www.drdkim.net/contest/ and vote for me if you think that I deserve this opportunity. I would be forever grateful! Henriikka W. P.S. You can vote once per every 24-hour period per computer. The voting will end on June 1st. Thank you already!

You ladies are awesome!!! Thank you so much!!!! The contest will end at 5p CT today. I will let you all know what happens when I will find out.

Mandy J. & Peacequeen- thank you again!!! I can't tell you how much I have appreciated your help, support, and kindness that you have shown to me. In fact, I have told my family about this forum and you ladies here and they also have been equally amazed. Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday (voting ends at 5pm CT) left... I am sooooo nervous. I naturally really want to win for myself and for my health but I will feel probably even more terrible for all my family, friends, and you guys if I will not. You all have put a lot of time and effort into supporting me. I am very grateful.

Thank you so very much "SkinnyInside" & "NFaith". I am very grateful!!!

Mandy J & Sandy1, you guys are AWESOME cheerleaders for reminding everybody to vote and keeping my post on top of the forum. I am struggling with time as I have two kids (one very demanding toddler), am teaching a 5-week undergraduate on-line class, and studying for my comprehensive doctoral examinations. So thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! I am so relieved that there is only 4 more days left in voting after today. I can't wait to let you guys know what happens. Thank you also Peacequeen for your continuing support! Thank you SDteagirl and all other wonderful people out there who are voting for me!

Sorry "WatchN.." & "Bluekerry", I did not see your replies first. Thank you sooooo much! Good luck for June 9th Bluekerry. You must be so excited!

Thank you so much Aalea and others! I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help! Only few more days left! :-)

Thank you sooooo much Sandy1, Mandy J. & Peacequeen! You guys are awesome. Yes, that's right... Only one week left to vote. I wish it would be over already! I can't wait to hear the results and hopefully tell you the good news. You have been a wonderful support and no matter what happens, I am looking forward keeping up our new cyber friendship!

I am taking part of this free weight loss surgery give-away competition and every few days I remind people on my FB to vote for me. I have repeatedly told people to let me know if they do not want to receive messages from me. Pretty much everybody in my FB is a personal friend or a family member anyway. I only had this one friend (a female who used to be a police officer with me) that used a name of her gym as her username. Nonetheless, I did not know that anybody else had access to her FB account but it turns out her boyfriend, who apparently co-owns the gym with my former co-worker, did... I have never met the guy and he knows absolutely nothing about me! Yet, he sent me the below message as a response to my group reminder asking my friends to vote for me (I took out their names, just in case): "TAKE US OFF YOUR LIST FOR THIS!!! THANK YOU WE DONT BELIEVE IN EASY WAY OUTS SURGERY!! THAT END UP BEING UNHEALTHEIR FOR YOU IN THE END! BOTTOM LINE JUST QUIT BEING LAZY AND DIET AND EXERCISE MAKE IT A LIFESTYLE NOT A JOB!!!!!! HOPE THIS GET'S THRU TO YOU!! THIS IS R NOT C!!! JUST DO IT!! ...And below is my reply to him... Deserved? "Dear R, Thank you for letting me know that you would not like to be on the list anymore. I had no idea that somebody else but C, who is my former co-worker from the police department, reads this account. If you had just asked me to take you off the list, I would have respectfully done so without any further reply except "done, thanks". However, since you decided to offer your "expert" opinion on weight loss, I felt inclined to respond to you... Clearly you have not read my other e-mails or you would know that I very much believe in making diet and exercise a lifestyle. That is the very reason I want this surgery. It is not an easy way out as one has to commit to a rigorous pre-op and post-op diet lasting multiple weeks and then permanently change one's eating habits. Otherwise there is a serious risk of complications. It is simply a life-changing way to help (or force, if you like) people like me to make those permanent changes in eating habits. And as far as exercising... I love it and have no problems in that area. I have not always been obese and there are multiple reasons why I have become one during the recent years. One of them, without a question, is probably emotional eating. You, as a gym owner who gives out weight loss challenges that claim to be wholistic in their approach, should probably educate yourself on the complex nature of obesity if you truly want to help your clients. It is not as simple as "quit being lazy" (and there is NOTHING lazy about me by the way- what a stereotypical approach to someone with a weight problem) but you clearly are clueless about this. Rendy, do all of us a favor and take some time to educate yourself about the topic you claim to be an expert on! My best to you & C! Henriikka"

Thank you ladies! Great suggestions! I love the support I am getting from all wonderful people here.

Thank you so much Sandy, Krystina & Jonna! OMG Jonna- are you having surgery in two days? Wishing you best of luck!!! Sandy- thank you so very much for asking others to vote for me. So very sweet of you!!!! 7 more days left! I am so nervous. :-)

Thank you again you wonderful ladies for supporting me! I can't tell you how much I appreciate it and I can't wait to let you know what happens! Thanks for the insurance advise too. This contest allows the winner to choose which ever surgery. I was very afraid of the bypass and vertical sleeve due to more invasive nature of these surgeries. I am thinking "what if I will end up getting a cancer of stomach etc. later in life and then the doctors will have less to stomach tissue to work with"...??? Thanks again you all. You guys have made me very happy!

Thank you so much for your reactions. Loved them all! Cocoabean, what a marvelous evil idea indeed! Miniatures- could not agree with you more! Good luck returning to gym. You will do great!

Thank you so much again AWright, project lisa, Mandy J, newday11, Cocoabean, and gingy! Mandy J- Thanks for continuing to be my "cheerleader". I am touched for your caring! Cocoabean- Excellent advise. Thanks! I had totally imagined that the fills would be included but I will be sure to verify that! Unfortunately my hubby does not have a choice for insurance. That has changed during the recent years as the city he works for is getting shorter and shorter on money. Even if WLS was currently covered under our insurance, we would still have to pay $5,000 out of pocket (- what ever we have already paid this year). The city only offers one of those horrible high deductable plans so in essence, we have no insurance unless something MAJOR happens. Yet, we are still paying about $200 a month for a family plan. I am so disgusted with our insurance plan and our medical bills just keep on piling up. Our 6-year old has a chronic and quite severe asthma so the medicines costs a few hundred dollars a month. We also have a toddler who regularly gets some kind of virus from pre-school and has to visit pediatrician several times a year. I wonder if we should look into trying to privately insure ourselves?

Thank you ladies!!!! I was fuming at his ignorance and trust me, did want to say a few selected words to him. He obliviously has NO CLUE. He did get a quick response in before I removed and blocked him from my FB friends. He claimed that the original message was not from him (he supposedly had left his FB account open) but yet, he had to try to convince me how educated he in fact was about obesity / weight loss. I don't believe it for a moment that the first message was not from him as well. The second reply arrived less than 10 minutes after the original (immediately after my reply to him) and was written in all capital letters like the first one, and with the same grammar and spelling errors. Also, some random person would have not gone through the trouble telling me that the message was not from my former co-worker (as not to get me mad at her). He just was not expecting me to "bark" at him and when I did, he backed down. Thanks for letting me vent ladies. I knew you guys would understand my reaction to him! Sending you all love and luck in your personal journeys! Henriikka

Oh, it's there. Titled "aggravated". I just did not see it at first. What do you guys think? I had to vent!

Thank you so much peacequeen! Hey ladies, read my new thread titled "aggravating" under the general discussion forum if it gets approved (I don't see it yet... I guess I am still being moderated because I am so new). It is about this ignorant gym owner who got me all upset! Ha ha ha! Thanks again you all!

Thank you so much Mandy J., Down in the Dumps, Ebony Dawn, and Pinky Lee. You guys are awesome! And Mandy J.- Thank you for reminding everybody else. You are very very sweet! Yes, the voting ends on June 1st at 5pm. They are supposed to notify the winner on June 3rd and the winner will be announced at the doctor's website on June 6th. I am so nervous! I just want this surgery so bad and also do not want my supporters' time and energy gone wasted. I am sending regular e-mails and FB reminder messages to all my family and friends... And now you guys here! :-) I can't tell you how much I appreciate all of your kindness and time!

Thank you so much JonathanNY! Good luck in your effort as well. Looks like you are off to a great start!

MandyJ, Sometimes I am such an airhead! I can only assume that you are getting a lap band since we, afterall, are on lapbandtalk.com. So silly of me!

MandyJ, Sandy1 & Peacequeen- You are wonderful ladies. Thank you so much! It makes me so humbled and touched that you are willing to go through the trouble and vote for a complete stranger. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! MandyJ, I am sooooo excited for you for being able to finally get the surgery! I am sure you are super excited. I will be thinking of you and saying a little prayer for you on the 25th. What type of surgery are you getting?

P.S. I am humbly reminding you that you can vote me (Henriikka W.) once a day until June 1, if your time permits.