Laurel W

Thanks!! you look great! i love your little photo progression! I love to see how people change!! I'm excited to see how I change!!

<p>I just got banded the 25th of this month. so needless to say I am still a bit sore. The liquid diet isn't as hard as I thought it might be, the hardest part is that I can't lift anything over 10 lbs and I have a 21 month old son. He likes to be independent most of the time, walking to the car, climbing into his carseat, but when he doesn't feel like asserting his independence, it's kinda hard to force that, but I have to since I can't lift him. But I guess this 6 weeks will pass quickly and in the end it will all be worth it. Oh well, nap time for the kiddos (and me):notagree. So Now that I am actually banded, I will be on here more often I assume, now that I really have something to talk about. Before I either had questions or I was just reading about everyone else's experiences, now I have my own to talk about!! YAY!!:whoo:

I finally got a surgery date- Sept. 25. I am so excited. When I think about it, I get a little scared, but then I think about how awesome life will be when I am finally un-fat!! I've always been chubby/overweight/fat (depending who ya ask), but I am so ready for that to change!! So maybe us September bandsters can help each other out, calm each others' nerves. Well, that's all for now. Good luck to the rest of you!!

I got my approval today!! I haven't been this excited about something in a while!! :whoo: I go in for one last mtg. w/ my surgeon on friday at 12:30. And this week the scheduling girl is going to call me to set up my pre-admission testing and surgery dates!! I cannot wait!! Just thought I'd share!! i just wanna hug everybody I see!!!

one simple reason- that's where my insurance says i have to go. :faint:i asked them where in the cleveland area they would pay for me to have this done and st vincent is the only place they cover. so that made my decision pretty easy! LOL when are you getting banded? i dont have a date yet. still jumping through all the hoops!!

thank you for your help gmccon, but do you have medical mutual supermed plus? i think the problem i am having is with my particular insurance... i'm not sure. i understand what you are saying about losing hte wt. then they will say that you dont need the surgery- but my ins is saying that i have to lose "some weight" in the 6 months. august is my 8th month b/c at month 4 i had lost weight, but by month 6 i had gained it back. so i had to do 2 additional months to lose we, and they want me to be "a couple lbs" lower than my starting weight in january. in month 7 i was 1 pound under my starting weight, so i am trying to lose a few more before my appt in aug. but i just want to know if anyone knows exactly how much i have to lose to get approved, no one at the ins co will give me a straight answer. all the say is "some" or "a few pounds". thanks for any info anyone can give.

any one gone to dr. ben-meir from st. vincent charity hosp in cleveland ohio?

I haven't been on here in a while... funny how life takes control of you sometimes instead of the other way around!!:faint: But really here's my question- is there anyone out there that has MMO supermed plus and got approved for surgery? i feel that i may be getting the run-around about how my weight i need to lose in my 6 month documented weight loss attempt required for approval. so i guess i was just hoping for some feedback from people that got approved with them and how much weight did you lose in the 6 month thing? thanks a lot!! Laurel

Well my insurance covers BMI of 40 or 35+ 2 co-morbidities i.e. high blood pressure, sleep apnea, heart problems... but I will tell you what they told me, regarding your finding 2 different BMIs for yourself. They told me that insurance companies will always use the chart that gives you the lowest BMI. So if your co. is like mine (medical mutual of ohio) they will use the lower BMI for you, which would be a bummer!! But I would suggest you call them and ask them to calculate it for you, they should be able to do that on the phone for you. But you could always just find a BMI calc. online and see what that one says. I hope your search leads you down the path you hope for. Believe me, there are hoops to jump through, and more red tape than you care to think about, but in the end, it will all be worth it. Have a great week!!

thanks for the info. I always wondered about that. Now I don't have to wonder anymore! I would have see where that is offered around where I am. I don't know of anywhere that does that. I will have to start asking around. Is it expensive?

Thanks! I am getting really excited. I haven't told anyone except my immediate family and my 2 closest friends. I am waiting until I have a date set. But I am getting really anxious to tell people! I am like I am going to skinny (ok, maybe not skinny, but not fat) :high5: I just want to shout it from the rooftops, but I am trying to keep myself calm and be patient. When I do finally have a date set, then I will tell people. I am so glad that I am doing this now because just today I had an eye-opening experience. My 4 year old daughter who doesn't have a mean bone in her body said that she was glad that she was eating healthy at lunch today because she didn't want to be fat like me. I guess she could tell by the look on my face (though I tried to hide it) that I was hurt by her comment. I guess I was also a little shocked, I guess I never realized that she saw her mommy as fat. Out of the mouths of babes, right? She was immediately all apologies, and I assured her that though it is not nice to call someone fat, that I was getting help to get healthy. My biggest concern? She is made just like I was a little girl. Not fat, but she is just a big and tall solid kid. It scares me to death that she may be headed down this same path of self-destruction. So my plan and my prayer through all of this is that in my getting healthy, I will in turn keep my family healthier, and possibly prevent her from leading the heavy life that I have lead until now. I want to be thinner before she goes to Kindergarten, I don't want her to be embarrassed of her mommy because she's fat. Kids are cruel, even in Kindergarten. And it will be nice to actually want to get dressed up to go out with my husband. So needless to say, I am so ready for this. More than ready! Ok, thanks for listening! Have a great week! btw- has anyone seen that Lifetime movie "To Be Fat Like Me"? That's what scares me!!

I was wondering the same thing but never had the guts to ask. When you find out, will you let me know? Thanks! Laurel

I hope I can be like you! I can't wait to be able to just say "I don't want anymore". Right now (as I am not banded yet), I don't have to be hungry to eat, I just do, even when I know I will feel horribly guilty afterward, I just sit there and keep eating whatever it is I am eating. One day soon I too will stand up and throw away the Big Mac, because I will be in charge.

Hi everyone! My name is Laurel and I am 26. I have a wonderful husband of 6 years and 2 beautiful children. I am a stay at home mom and I love it. I am getting close to being able to set a date- I have done all the things that are required so far (the psych eval., Upper GI, surgeon consult, etc.) The only other thing my insurance requires is the 6 month weight loss documentation by my family dr. I have done 4 months and will be done with that on June 17th. Then I will be approved (per my ins co.) and I can then set my surgery date. Yay!! I can't wait! My surgeon is Dr. Ben-Meir at St. Vincent Charity Hospital in Cleveland, OH. He is so nice, I just love him, and I haven't even had my surgery yet! I am currently about 310 and my goal weight is 160! Oh my gosh- do you know how long it has been since I have seen 160?! 160 and I are long lost friends and I can't wait to be reunited! :clap2: Well I guess that's about it for now. I am really looking forward to talking to people on this site. I am so glad I found it! Have a wonderful week!