lawrenceda

Hello Everyone!

My name is DeWayne, I'm 50 yrs old. I live in WV. I grew up in a small town in northern Missouri until I joined the US Navy in 1980.
I retired from active duty in 2004 and now work for the Gov as a civilian employee. Before I retired, I injured my lower back. The military would not send me to an ortopidic surgeon so I had no option but to retire and see one on my own. Long story short, this is when my weight started to came back. Oh and at the same time I also was going through a divorce. I was very heavy as a child until my high school years when I started to grow taller then I slimmed down. Being in the military you are required to stay fit and after my back went out it was impossible for me to exercise and then the depression set in. 9 years later I have high blood pressure, sleep apnea and battle depression. Since leaving the military, I have gained 108 lbs.

I blame no one but myself and make no excuses. I let myself get to this point and now I have to take responsibility for my bad choices. I have
tried Weight Watchers and Diet-to-go, both very good programs and I have seen many people have success however for me they did not work.

Three months ago I asked my Primary Care Physician about weight loss surgery and she referred me to Dr Salameh at Surgical Associate at Virgina Hospital Center. My husband and I attended a seminar and had a private session to go over all the options and to see if I was a candidate. My BMI is 38, I have HP and SA and had been on Weight Watches for several months with no progress which made me a candidate.

I have done a lot of research and I have decide that the Lap Band is right for me. My procedure is schedule for Jan 21st 2013.

Since I am a military retiree, I have TRICARE standard. I have read allot of horror stories about the insurance approved process. I was approved 2 days after submitting authorization request the first time. Here's why I believe I was. I had ALL my paper work and documentation! Here is the list of items that were submitted.........

Monthly (4 months ) of Physician notes reviewing my Weight Watchers tracking plan. (Go to the meetings and get the official weigh-in stamp), a recent stress test with results, a recent EKG, a resent Thyroid blood test, a Test for H Pylori Bacteria, Physiological testing and recommendation from a Psychologist and notes from 2 sessions with a licensed Nutritionist. I have the TRICARE manual if anyone wants it I would be happy to email it.

So that's it in a nut shell. I look forward in chatting with a lot of you. I am excited but very nervous at the sometime. Will also be posting video updates on Youtube just search for Mylapbandjourney2013 [url="https://www.youtube.com/user/Mylapbandjourney2013?feature=mhee"]https://www.youtube....13?feature=mhee[/url]