debbiek1

my doctor made me beg for it last year. but at that point i was willing to beg. my knees were killing me and so were my feet. i could barely walk--it felt like i was walking in pudding. when i would come into work everyone would ask me "whats the matter" my only reply used to be "this is what happens when you weigh 300 pounds and have to walk" i am so happy to have the old debbie back!!! I didnt think i would ever get her back!!! Dorothy--you can reverse it, too!!!

dorothy--my handicapped sticker expires at the end of this month--and guess what? i am not renewing it!!!

that is awful. try to remain positive. you have nothing to lose if you appeal, so go ahead and fight the good fight. but by all means, dont let this effect your health. after all you are 62 and you are in good shape. so even if you have to lose weight the old fashioned way, you still have your health!! your fate is still in your hands--you havent gone over the brink yet into diabetes land or heart attack ville!!!

I wont be able to afford any plastic surgery. i have decided it will just be better to look good with my clothes on and not worry about what i look like with them off. when i get to my goal i will need a Tummy Tuck, but will probably have to settle for some kind of girdle! the other day i was at a picnic. there was a really pretty girl there. she had on shorts but her legs looked awful. the skin literally just hung there in layers. i wanted to ask her if she had bariatric surgery, but just could not get up the nerve. now if my legs looked like that i would get the money somehow. but i dont think i will look that bad Sue---one one hand, you are so lucky to only have one co-morbitity. no arthritis? no foot problems? no diabetes? on the other hand, i hope dr choban can convince the insurance company to pay.

i met with my online acquaitence. he was okay. but not a keeper. my search goes on. yesterday at the health club there was a very nicely built woman. she was about my height. i got up the nerve to ask her how much she weighed because i wanted to know how much i had to lose before i looked like that. she said 160. whoa! i was aiming for 175, is 160 an attainable goal. we will see. i probably havent been 160 since i was 16!!

Wow, everyone has such changes in their lives! Sue--i am sorry to hear that. but you may just have to resubmit. maybe they always refuse the first time. sometimes they are like that. dont just drop the ball. remember the squeaky wheel gets the grease. the insurance company is just hoping you will go away, they dont want to pay if they can get out of it. Lady--after working there 20 years and they just let you go? do you get any kind of retirement? it is a blessing that you are financially able to take a hit like that. You were able to make lemonade out of lemons. It would be great to stay home especially when you still have kids at home. They will love it. nothing much new with me. i am on some of the online dating services. i am meeting a guy tomorrow for coffee. we will see how it goes. his picture is nothing to write home about but his profile is nice. i dont really need a man, i am just doing this to keep my mind off Ken. If i dont have something to keep me occupied then i will just be sitting around mopping about him. and i dont want to do that. it was a great 10 years and now i have to move on. and dont worry i will be careful--we are just meeting for coffee.

hi, everyone. the octoberfest was fun. i used to say that i liked "to eat my way from one end to the other" at the fairs and festivals. but i only ate a bratwurst and threw away the bun. with the money i saved on food, i was able to buy some new earrings and a necklace. this saturday i am thinking of going to the Gallery Hop in the short north. i love the autumn.

that is what this website is all about: sharing our hopes, dreams and disappointments. the band will work for you guys--i am positive of that. any one going to Octoberfest today? a girlfriend and i are going this evening. havent been there for a few years and am hoping to have a good time.

dont you have have bc/bs? do you have your booklet? in mine there is a chapter about their so called "Centers of Excellance" and Mt carmel is one of those. and supposedly if you go to one of the centers of excellence they will pay more. everyone's plan is different but i would think their centers of excellence would stay pretty much the same. dont lose faith!!!

once my insurance finally got the paperwork, it only took 10 days for them to approve. so your wait is getting shorter and shorter!!

sue--you mean like a 6 month diet? no, i wasnt. that is usually a requirement put down by one's insurance company. dr choban doesnt require that. dr choban wants you to lose 10 pounds before the surgery to shrink your liver. i tried but with all the "last meals" it just didnt happen. but she didnt say anything about my liver being big. I was rereading some of these posts and saw that you said your 83 year old sister got lasik surgery!! was that something she just elected to do or was it a necessity? that was brave of her!! they must put the tube down your throat after you are out, because i cant remember it. in fact,i cant remember much about that day at all.

i was looking at some of those before and after pictures on this website. they are so inspiring. some of those women become beautiful after shedding their weight. just like butterflies!! i cant wait to put mine up there. but there is still way to go. Lady--the few times something has gotten stuck on me--it has been chicken, too. but i have never slimed yet. congratulations to your DH. He must have worked hard to get to this point and you must be a very supportive and loving wife. yes, i agree this is the best message board. i am surprised more people dont chime in. when you go to those meetings at mt carmel there are over a hundred people in the audience. you would think some of them would find us. i enjoy reading about everyones progress and stuff.

LadyQT---afraid i cant help with that TOM question. i am 57 and still have all my parts but they quit working a few years ago. Thank goodness! Sue--one thing about message boards-the people who write fall into two categories. 1--having problems and looking for help. 2--extremely happy and want to share it. remember there are thousands out there who dont write and are going about the business of living their improved lives. that thought helped me because i worried about some of those horror stories too. Dorothy--welcome back. hope you are feeling better TM--i am not sure what size band i have but i think it is the 10cc.

i added a small picture of myself. just want to see how it looks

i could hardly believe the scale this morning. i lost another 2 pounds. now all i have to do is not blow it over the weekend. Sue---i know exactly what you are feeling. you feel so stymied and stalled. i went to see dr choban in march and didnt get my surgery till june. and that was all because of delays in paperwork. they need to hire more people. it is probably too much work for just one person. from the time i began investigating the surgery last oct till the time i had it in june, i gained 15 pounds. if i hadnt had the surgery i would probably be at 325 by now!!!! i look so good right now. i am tall (5'10') so even at 247.5, i look pretty darn good. once before i got down to 200 and people were telling me to stop losing and that i was getting too skinny. of course, i listened and didnt stop till i topped out at 300+ But this time that wont happen. i am starting to look for a new man to help me forget the old one. I made an appointment to get contact lenses. afterall guys dont make passes at girls who wear glasses!!! i am too chicken to get that lasik surgery.

i went to see dr choban this afternoon. i told her i didnt need a fill. i told her that if the scale started to go in the opposite direction i would be in. she said not to wait that long and to get one as soon as i started to feel hungry all the time. she said that as you lose weight your stomach also loses fat and that the hole will get bigger. i thought that was interesting.

thanks i needed that, i am a little down in the dumps. My BF and I have called it quits. actually he called it quits and i am recovering. We were together for 10 years. Now i have to find out who I am again. I wont say more about it because i could just go on and on and on about it. and i am trying real hard to just "stay in the moment" and not think about the past or the future. enough!!! but anyway i went out the the Just Plus store on brice road. I love it. I got a brand new black coat with leopard lining for $38. it is sexy!! another black belted coat for 20. a cute sweater with a jaunty, little matching cap--how cute is that!! and a sharp shirt jacket in my favorite rust color. and another top. all in all i spent 101 dollars. i would have paid that much for just one new coat. i love that they have shoes, too. because i have big, gargantuan feet and usually have to get shoes on the internet. the owner is a real friendly guy and he asked where i heard about the store. i told him where and he was delighted. oh well, it is time for me to go to work now. see ya

TM---Thanks for the mention of Just Plus out on Brice Rd. I didnt know it existed. i am going to check it out. and maybe even take some clothes over their to sell. i already have a ton of clothes that i wont wear anymore. check out my ticker---it moved!!! i finally reached the 50 pound mark. and if the next 75 go just as fast I should be incredibily HOT by Christmas!!!

it hasnt been a struggle for me. in fact, it has been liberating. before my apetite ruled my life and food was constantly on my mind. most of my eating was caused by my head. i would wake up thinking about what i wanted to eat that day. on the way from work, i would think about what i would eat when i got home. once i got home i would attack the refrigerator and the kitchen cabinets like some starving refugee. now when i get home i am content with a sugar free pudding or yogurt. they are my best friends--because they are thick and take longer to pass thru. Sue--dont worry, you can do it. i was the same way before i had it done. i thought i might be miserable because i would miss food or still want to eat even if i felt full. i still have some issues. i still eat too fast. and i eat too much on the weekends. but the weight still keeps coming off-so i am not worried.

Dr Choban says everyone is different. and after reading the other boards, you can see some people need 7 or 8 fills to get that "sweet spot" it looks like you have lost 3 pounds since your fill, so things are still going in the right direction. but it shouldnt be a struggle. my appt is at 2:15 on thursday, so we may run into each other!! i had my first uncomfortable incident over the weekend. i overate. and it felt like it was gonna come up, but it didnt. then it passed. and then after awhile i drank a glass of water and i must have drank it too fast because i got a bad stomach ache after that. so lesson learned--no more overeating while out. i am not breaking any records with my weight loss but i lose approx 2 pounds a week. i still had a lot of clothes that i couldnt fit in any more but once i get too small for them then i have to start buying a bunch of stuff. and i cant afford to do that! I dragged out all the jeans i had stored away and couldnt fit it--12 pairs! and i know i have given away twice that many. wish i had them now.

LadyQT--did you get a fill scheduled? they better strap you to the table or you might just roll off!!! I am scheduled for my second fill on thursday. i am not sure if i will get it or not. i am steadily losing a couple pounds a week and i like the fact that i can still eat most anything. sometimes meat is a problem. but if i eat it mixed up with other stuff it goes down more easy.

hi, everyone. i am being lazy today and not doing any exercise. maybe i will walk later on at work. about the time off from work. i practically begged dr choban to give me a month off and she would only give me two weeks and said that was probably too long!! i have almost 10 months of accumulated sick leave and i really wanted some time off. but after two weeks i felt fine and didnt have any problems. although i probably did kind of glide thru mushy to pureed to soft too fast. i work at the post office, but thankfully i have an office job. if i had been out there on the floor and only had the two breaks and a half hour lunch it might have been different. because out there you arent even supposed to have a bottle of water. how i could have gotten in enough water, i dont know. i am on a little plateau right now and havent lost any weight. but i am not worried. it will start coming off again. we had cake at work yesterday and of course, i just had to have a piece. i still cant pass up the goodies. i just dont eat as much. before i would have gone back for a second piece and then if it sat there long enough, i would have polished off the whole thing just so it wouldnt go to waste!!!

hi, everyone. hope everyone had a nice weekend--even with the rain. Angie--your story was so touching. you are so young and have so much life ahead of you. and once you get the band, the quality of that life will be so much improved and lengthened. it sounds like you have a great life now--a DH, grandkids to play with and a pool in your future!!! but like the rest of us, you have that one big problem--being overweight. once you get control of that you will be so happy. at least i know i am. right now i am happier than i have been in 10 years. i am losing weight and i am not in a constant battle with my apetite. i used to think about food constantly. now i feel liberated Lady QT--i never thought i would be anyone's good example. i used to always think of myself as a WARNING to all those skinny girls who think they will never get fat or old!! Sue---good luck with that class. let us know how it went. DorothyB--not all recumbants are close to the ground. my favorite is the SunEZ trike. the seat is so comfy and since it is a tricycle there is no balancing problems. i hadnt ridden in 30 years and i got right on and rode it. but i opted to buy a two wheeler, it is the Giant Revive DX. It has a nice back support and a comfortable seat. you can google them and take a look. Biking is the first exercise i have ever enjoyed.

hi, dorothy--welcome. that is a neat story about your neighbor. if you had to guess, how much would you say she has lost in the past year? before my surgery i could barely walk. i belong to lifetime up at easton and do water walking and aerobics on my own there. i also bought a recumbant bike. my knee doctor recommended bike riding. i regular bike would hurt your back but a recumbant has a nice comfy seat. i love going out on my bike, although it has been so hot lately i havent gotten out much there are so many little things i can do that i just could not do before--like take a bath instead of a shower. i couldnt get in or out before. last night i got on the floor to rearrange all those wires under my computer desk.

dorothyb--welcome!! i wont bore you with how wonderful i have felt since i had my surgery. i tried to lose some weight before the surgery, maybe i lost 3 pounds. dr choban didnt say anything about my liver. but that is the reason they want you to lose some weight before--losing a few pounds shrinks your liver. see ya