diane1

April 22nd here. Lots if emotions, trying to keep my mind on all the reasons I chose this in the first place!

It's so exciting! I'm feeling really bad that I will be in the hospital for my son's 17th Birthday. I've got to figure out a way to feel better about it.

Got my date, April 22nd!

Well it looks like my day will be April 22nd. I'm so scared and excited! I will be starting my pre-op liquid diet in the 8th. I hope this all goes smoothly.

I have already been aporoved and I will be having my surgery at UIC with Dr.Elli. My next appointment with him is on March 19th and I will find out my surgery date then. I'm hoping for early April!

I'm still pre-op but have a lot of the same fears. But what I do know is that I am surrounded by people that have had a lot of success with WLS and they seem to just have a better relationship with food in general. We still have girls days together where we all cook and they are still able to enjoy these days it seems. It almost seems a little easier for them for some reason. My sister who was a serious dieter her whole life started watching food network only after she had the surgery because she no longer worried about her relationship with food. She said it felt freeing to her. I'm glad to have so many successful wls friends and family around me because I have been able to make a very informed decision and I am not so scared that this is the end of everything normal.

Congratulations!!! I'm so happy for you! We will probably be getting sleeved around the same time. It will be nice to have someone going through the same experience at the same time. Congrats again!

Welcome gettinbacktome, hope you hear from the insurance soon. I just got my approval letter so my next appointment with the surgeon is on March 19th. I will get my surgery date then. So exciting!

Hi Cathy, welcome! Good luck! I can't wait till I actually have a date, you must be so excited!

Great article, puts things into perspective!

Ready-no weight gain since I started this process, UIC has been very serious about making sure you don't gain any weight! Amanda the nut said she wouldn't approve anyone that did, I don't know how serious they are but I really didn't want to find out.

Almosthome-I received an approval letter in the mail yesterday! My heart almost jumped out of my chest! This is getting real now. I am going to call Janneth today to see what my next step is. Hope you hear something soon.

Almostime, I haven't heard something yet. I'm gonna call tomorrow and see if they have heard anything. I am really having a hard time with all this waiting, hopefully it will be over soon!

Hey Ready, had my last appointment today. It went really well. They are submitting everything to the insurance either today or early next week. After I am approved I will have to schedule my surgery, go for blood work, ekg, x-rays and meet the anthesiologist. My fingers are crossed! I'm hoping it will not take long!

I have a six month medically supervised diet because of my insurance. My first one was in September and last will be tomorrow. The first and last will be with dr.berger the four in between were with Amanda the dietician. My psych eval was in October and there were two of them. The dietician is really strict about not having any weight gain during those six months! So be careful around your weigh ins with her. Other than that it has all been a bunch of waiting, not much else to do until I guess the pre-op testing.

Thank you Linda, I decided to start taking care of myself and put myself first in June of 2013. My family has been handling my small changes so far like champs. I'm trying to get the kids more responsible in the kitchen. I'm assuming I will be missed there for a while. My husband has been great too. I think he will have the hardest time out of everyone!. Can't wait till I'm on the losing bench with you!

I guess it's time for my first post! I have been on here daily for a while now. I've just been absorbing all the information and getting prepared for my new exciting reality! My name is Diane and I am married with five children and one grand baby (ages 3 grand baby, 11,13,15,16 and 21)! Years of taking care of everyone but me has ended up with me being overweight/ tired/scared/embarrassed/insecure/bad knees/and ready to get myself back! After a few years of watching my husband go through some serious health issues ( unrelated to weight)it has gotten really clear that I need to be at my best so that I can secure the future me and my family deserves! I was never overweight until having 4 of my five children within 5 years and nursing each one for 1 1/2 years. Staying at home my life revolved around cooking and cleaning. So with cooking came eating! That s what I have become,no longer Diane,i became known as my husbands wife, my childrens mother, my grandsons grandmother, and the Feeder Of The Everyone!! My whole family is overweight,i told my nut on my first visit if they havent had surgery already they need it. i have family members who have been sleeved,by-passed and banded. Being at a party last May my sis-in-law posted a pic on facebook and we ended up in a huge fight because I was a picture nut. Didn't want any of my pics up unless I approved it which I rarely did. That was the last straw for me! I needed me back, I wanted to feel comfortable in my own skin so I was willing to put myself out there again. So I started my process at UIC with Dr Enrique Elli. My insurance requires a 6 month medically supervised diet, a BMI of 40 or higher with no co-mobitities ( which so far I have none) psych eval. February 7th I will be done with with my supervised visits,psych eval,and I will meet with the surgeon again. I am hoping that my surgery will be in February 2014! I had surgery for basal cell carcinoma near my eye on December 19th 2013. It was so scary and I ended up with 30 stitches! It was the first time I have ever had anesthesia and I did fine. So that makes me feel a little better about that part of the surgery. So that's my story! Feels good to get it out there, I have never said most of that stuff out loud- but it kinda puts things in perspective!

April, you must be getting so excited! I can't wait to get a date.

Omg! Dr. Ellie is going to be my surgeon. After your appt with Berger can you let me know how it went? In a excited to know someone who is seeing the same folks I amHi readyanxiousscared, how far have you gotten into the program so far? Tomorrow is my last visit with Dr. Berger. She was so nice the first time i met her. I'm so excited it seems like its taking forever. I did the original bariatric class back in July. I'm done with my psych eval too. I wonder what else I will have to do. Hopefully I will get some answers tomorrow and I will let you know how it goes.

Hi vonvon, have you gotten a reply from your insurance yet? You must be so excited! Hopefully they will be sending in my paperwork soon after tomorrow. I set up an appointment with Dr elli also so hopefully he will be able to use it as my pre-op visit so I don't have to come all the back to the city! I'm about an hour away in Joliet. Did you have to do any more testing after your last visit with the nutritionist?

Congratulations! You look great!

Congratulations! You look wonderful!

Congratulations! I am so happy for you! It's posts like this that make me so excited about this decision especially when I start having pre-surgery doubts. Thank you!

Love it, I think I will do the same!

Hi vonvon, I'm hoping mine is either February or March. My last appointment with Dr. Berger and Dr. Elli is February 7th. Is Dr Elli your surgeon also? What have you finished so far?