Pixie Dust

It's friggen ridiculous what they charge! My psych eval cost $495, but luckily my co-pay was only $25. I had a student do the eval (so should have been charged less ~ lol), & then the "Doc" came in for 10 mins & told me I should seek counseling for something that happened to me over 20 years ago. Stupid me, I did list the trauma I suffered back then (nearly being kidnapped but got away & the other 8 victims that were kidnapped by this monster were all murdered) but I don't carry that around. I'm just very aware of my surroundings & while it was traumatic back then, I gained a lot of wisdom from it. I'm over it. I survived & know it wasn't my time to go. I just listed it because it asked for any traumatic experiences & I wanted to be truthful. In the meantime, I had such a bad experience at the hospital I was going to go thru for my surgery that I decided to go thru another hospital afterall & I had to get a copy of my psych eval. I called her office EVERYDAY for one week to NO response. I left voice mail messages (all nice but thankfully she couldn't read my mind) as to why & what I needed. No return calls. Had to go thru the bariatric program director to get a copy of my eval. What a joke! Anyway, I'm not impressed with these psychologists! I'm glad you at least didn't have to pay way more than you should have but if you're not satisfied with your meeting, you might want to consider seeking another psychologist. Of course, if you are sure you're ready for this surgery, just let it be. We'll all give you our opinions on things anyway! LOL! We'll be your psych support group! I think being able to go thru all these hoops is proof enough we're ready for this life changing surgery! Good luck to you!

Oh that's so awful & unprofessional in my opinion! As with any surgery, I'm sure anything can go wrong but if you read all the posts here, everyone seems to be okay & very happy they had the surgery. I'm so glad my PCP was very positive about it & he was very encouraging & very excited for me. He knew me "when" so he knows how much I suffer now being so overweight that I don't move around like I used to. Besides dropping weight, you may want to consider dropping your current PCP & finding another one!

A friend of mine (from this forum in fact) told me about these & I rushed out & bought myself 3 of them last week. You know the Dollar section at Target? Well, they have these really cute "adult" sippy cups! They are for hot (or cold) beverages & they have a tiny slit on top to sip on. I got myself one with a pic of grass on it since I love GREEN & the other 2 I had to buy the same of since they were all sold out of any other kind...but they have one with a pic of lemon & lime slices & my friend got herself one with orange slices on it. Looks nice & summery too! I heard there is one that has a pic of herbs on it too. They were $3 each (cause you know, that dollar section has things more expensive than $1). They even had matching towels you can buy for $1. I did buy 2 green towels, same green shade as what's on the cup lids. I need to go buy a baby spoon now! I can't find any here! I must have saved it in my son's memory box.

Oh honey, I'm so worried about my arthritis too! I take 400 to 800 mg's of motrin every single day but I will have to stop taking it 10 days prior to surgery & I just don't know how I'll survive the pain. I can barely walk or even use my fingers without the ibuprofen meds. I have arthritis in my feet, back & hands. No fun. I hope it goes by quickly for you!

So happy to hear you started on your journey to a healthier you! You already sound happy!!! Please keep us posted on your journey! Smooches right back atcha!

There you go....I like sweets but gimme real food & beef always fits the bill! This thread has had me cracking up! Thanks for the laughs everyone!

EEK! You mean you'd eat all the rest of the people I'd lock up in the donut shop with you??? Personally, I'd go for the donuts first because you'll fill up fast!

I think the last time I wore a size 4, I WAS 4 y/o! I can't even imagine how tiny that is??!! That's awesome!! Congratulations! What was your biggest size?

You guys should all be locked up in a donut shop over night for all the food you've been discussing & the cronut pic (OMG, I'm dying here!!!) ! Shame on you!! To the donut shop! All of you! I'm locking the door & leaving you all in there over night!

My insurance company waived my 6 month documented diet because my BMI is over 50. So from initial Seminar to Surgery is about 3 months. I want summer surgery so it didn't matter how quickly everything moved along. I guess it could depend too on how busy your surgeon is, if it's a high volume bariatric facility.

Can you cut it in half?

You look fabulous! You are the perfect example of what my doctor said about excess skin. It depends on your age & how long you have been overweight. I passed 23 more than 23 years ago (haha) & I've been overweight for almost 23 years in fact so I'm basically screwed. But I'll be healthier once I lose the weight & I'll be just as happy to shove my excess skin in a wheelbarrow & push it ahead of me! I can't imagine how delighted you must be with your new body! Enjoy it darling! You deserve it!

I'm thinking Kristy meant post-op.

Aww.....she's as cute as anything too!!! You have a beautiful family! Enjoy & God Bless!

I'm deficient in Vitamin D too & I'm not sleeved yet. Most people are deficient in Vit D, unless you are living in tropical weather & you are a son worshiper. My doc told me to take 3000mg's of Vit D daily & they are tiny pills, so easy to swallow I would imagine after being sleeved.

What kind of cream soups? Regular cream soups or do they have fat free ones? I don't eat soup so not sure what's out there. I guess I'll be eating soups if it's one of just a handful of things I can have eventually...

Wow! What a change! You look very sexy! Now with your new body, will you give pregnancy a try again? Just wondering cause you said you gained weight on all the meds trying to get pregnant? Of course, maybe now it will happen for you without meds due to the weight loss? Whatever the case, I'm so happy for you & can't wait to post pics of me before & after!

That's what makes me crazy about our country. We're always sticking our nose & our money into helping other countries instead of taking care of our own. I totally understand Anna not being able to just go see a doc or a psych or to get meds. How does one do that when there's no insurance? My psych eval cost $495 for this upcoming surgery. My portion was $25. Without insurance, I would have NEVER been able to pay that. We need to help our own. Period. I don't want anything bad to happen to our Anna. Is there some mental health dept through your own county you can go to for free help? If you're not working, surely you must qualify for some assistance program which could help you pay for your meds? I don't know...just tossing it out there. As others have said "pretty girl!" That's actually an understatement! You're just gorgeous! Please, please, make some phone calls to your county's health services department. Maybe you can find some help there with no or very little monetary responsibility. (((Hugs))) Oh & thank you for your response to my post Anna. Life moves on no matter what. I still have set backs on special days like on my Mom's birthday or Christmas & I really hate Mother's Day ever since but I have to keep marching forward! Just like you, sweetie!

Hi Annag, I don't know if this would be the same depression or if generally depression is depression but I lost my Mom to Bone Marrow Cancer. We were best friends. It had been only she & I since I was 8 y/o because that's when my Dad died. I moved to CA & she moved out with me. Then after 10 years, we moved back to MI (I grabbed a husband along the way ~ ). My husband & I had a house built & she moved in with us..so we had been together for most of my life. She passed away when I was 42 & it was the darkest time of my life. My husband & kids lost me for the year I was my Mom's caregiver & then they lost me for yet another year as I went thru my depression. Thankfully my OB/GYN picked up on it & he put me on (I believe) Zoloft (?) & strongly encouraged me to seek counseling, as well as joining a gym. He wanted proof of me joining a gym & wanted the name of my counselor! I never did provide proof of joining a gym but I did join Curves & I did go see someone he recommended & within months, I came back to my old self. The combination of all 3 treatments, really helped. I don't know if the same would work for you but what do you have to lose? You're wasting precious days on earth away feeling this way. My heart bleeds for you Each day is a gift, ask any cancer patient! Please do something good for yourself & follow the suggestions you're getting here. Go seek another doctor or counselor, & who knows, maybe the very next one you seek out will be the perfect match to heal you! God bless!

How wonderful for you! I hope I'll be as lucky as you with not having any problems, complications & hope I can eat with no problems, as long as I follow directions!

Wow...all of your appointments?? You're going to be verrrrrrrrry busy next week! LOL! Good luck on your sleep study too!

Your transformation is just magical! How very beautiful you are, altho you were pretty too in your before pic but after....well, lets say I'm sure some men will have their eyeballs pop out now when they see you! Congratulations!!

Okay, I'm a pre-sleever going thru all the hoops right now (twice since I changed hospitals after being disappointed with the first one.) They (thankfully) will accept my psych eval tho from the the first hospital. Anyway, I also passed my psych eval but I don't think it's an eval to see if you're able to cope with the sleeve, I think it's just an eval to make sure you're really not "out there" mentally. I could be wrong but in theory, you won't know if you're ready for the sleeve before hand since you're not living the "sleeved" life. They also don't want you to think that after being sleeved you're going to become a super model or be beating men/women off (altho that could happen ~ haha!) I think they just want to know if you're in a "stable" place mentally & if you are, they get to check off that part of the insurance or program requirement. Will people have regrets? Of course! food is a HUGE part of our lives...or we wouldn't be here. I'm guessing it will feel like a death in the family, there will be mourning to go thru until you finally start seeing changes in your body & I'm assuming that eating healthier will give you more energy & feel better, exercise & then the endorphines kick in. It's a win win once you get to that other side, but I'm guessing that the "getting there" part is really sucky. Oh Lordy...please remind me that I'm going to mourn food & it will be yucky for me the first part of this journey. I know in my head right now that it's not going to be a picnic. I'll have to work hard & I'll miss certain foods at first, & at the very least I'll miss chewing food the first few weeks, but am I ready? Maybe. Will I have regrets? Maybe. Will I be healthier & live longer? Maybe. Will I like the new me when I'm 100+ lbs down? DEFINITELY! (Even if I have to toss my excess stomach skin in a wheel barrow & push it ahead of me & toss my loosey skin boobs over my shoulders!) Will this all be worth it? Most likely. Is it time for me to shut my trap now since I really don't know what I'm talking about? Absolutely!

Where are you? What state? I just looked on your profile to see who your doc was but you don't have that info entered yet. Just wondering if it was the doc I was going to have before I switched program facilities.

That sounds delicious & I love crock pot cooking!