kathystrick

Geccos give me the creeps

LOL I've always been told that any was good because it was better than not getting one! Maybe I was being lied to and I am really bad too!!:omg:

Oh April! A SPA??? I am truly envious!! Have a wonderful and relaxing time.

I have been experiencing discrimination for the 4 months we have been living in Atlanta. I have been looking for a job and unable to find one. I have been to dozens of interviews, some of them follow-ups to phone interviews. On the phone, I am "an excellent candidate, very qualified, good references, blah blah blah". Then I walk in for the face to face. Everyone in the office looks like they just stepped out of a fashion magazine. Still, I put on my happy face and go in to do the interview like I really believe I will get the job. It usually takes 15 minutes or less for them to show me the door. It breaks my heart. As a result, we are moving back to South Carolina and I can get a job at the school I left when we moved here. They know what a good employee I am because they gave me the chance to prove myself with no regard for my weight.

I am going to get a red heart with purple wings anda halo in memory of my cousin who died of cancer in March. Will probably be my reward once I am banded.

***bumping to the top***

OMG!!! Congratulations on your adoption and good luck with the tiny one. Just remember, more is not put on you than it is felt you can handle. Take care of yourself and keep us updated.

I have BCBS PPO and I am also covered. But I remember reading somewhere on LBT that it depends on what coverage is negotiated by your employer, which would make it a companies individual choice whether or not to offer the surgery. Don't quote me on that, but thought I would mention it since I know I read it here somewhere.

Well, it was really funny how it all happened really. I emailed a former co-worker and mentioned I have been unable to find a job and that DH and I were discussing moving back there. She emailed back and said there were 2 openings at the school, then the principal emailed and offered to rehire me. When DH asked his boss about a transfer, he was really expecting to have to take a demotion to be able to stay with the company. He called the Columbia office and they have a lateral position coming open in January they are offering him. Then, to top it off, his band was booked to play all weekend the weekend we planned to move, so DS and I were going to have to do most of the work ourselves. Last night, the club owner called and cancelled those dates. So all in all, it's kinda hard for me to think it's not meant to be, but the discrimination here still stings. Thanks for your kind words and I ma doing my best to find a bright side.

It looks like due in large part to my inability to find a job in Atlanta, we will be moving back to SC in the next couple of weeks. I am going to take a job at the school I was working at before we moved, so I will immediately go back to work without having to suffer any more of the prejudice I have been subjected to in the big city. I knew fat prejudice existed, but had never experienced it before moving here, but that was just what I needed to convince me I really do need to go ahead and plan for surgery. One good thing is that DH will be able to transfer within his company to that area and keep the same insurance, which is how we are paying for the surgery. But I am going to have to start over with the whole process once we get settled, so that part sucks. The nearest bariatric surgery center to where we are moving is over an hour away, but I know there are people on here who travel much further than that for this, so I'm not complaining. Just hurts to have to admit failing in our big move due to my being fat.:cry

Hmm...I think I missed something...LOL But sounds like that could be a good thing!!

Hi Trina! This is a good place to start for information. There are a lot of Georgians here that will be happy to help you. Maybe some of us can help you out a little more once we know where you live. Good luck!!

Me too!! I will watch anything to do with ghosts and hauntings.

Just because YOU were uncomfortable at 225 doesn't mean that is an unacceptable weight for someone else. Considering you started out weighing almost 100 pounds less than me, I can see where you would feel the way you did after losing only 15 pounds. But to say just because your hip and collar bones weren't showing at 225 so mine couldn't be is mighty judgemental. Do you know me? Did you see me at that weight? Have you seen me now? The answer to all those questions is NO and I really resent being called a liar by someone who doesn't even know me. At 225, I will have lost just over 100 pounds, a pretty admirable achievement in anyones book I would think. I am fully aware that at 225 I would still be considered OBESE according to the scales, but if I am comfortable at that weight, I'm not going to struggle to reach and maintain a lower weight just because some chart says I should. If I lose any weight, I will be healthier than I am now. My decision regarding how much that will be has nothing to do with "body image issues". That has to do with what I want my life and relationship with food to be once the weight is gone (how ever much that may be) and what I want to see when I look in the mirror. If you are happy with what you see, GOOD FOR YOU!!! Give me the same chance for achievement without passing judgement. The decision each of us makes about our goal weight is a very individual one, often accomplished through numerous, smaller goals. In my original post, I never said I want my goal to be 225. I just said I have been at that weight in my adult life and that was the smallest I could remember being. I actually said I have my goal set at 165. In reality, it will probably be somewhere between those 2 numbers and I thought that was the message I originally conveyed. Obviously, I am mistaken. I am sorry you misunderstood what I was saying. I still take great issue with your audacity to call me a liar. Not only was that rude, it was very discouraging to someone like myself who is fairly new to the site and spends most of their time lurking. I do not post frequently and that comment from you will probably keep me from posting in the future. I feel you personally attacked me openly on the board and have discredited me with anyone who happens to read the thread. If we cannot openly share our stories and opinions here without fear of judgement or attack, then what is the point of being here??? Just because your height is the same as mine doesn't make our stories the same and just because you have achieved your weight doesn't make you everyone's authority. If you want to pass judgement, take the time to get to know the person you are judging first. Now returning to lurkerdom...

Just don't get discouraged. It is aggrivating, but the doctors do have your best interest and health in mind.

I chose my goal weight based on the weight charts and healthy BMI. I have my goal posted as 165, but at 5'10, I do believe that is going to be smaller than I am comfortable with on my body. I have been down to 225 as an adult and wore a 16/18 and felt quite skinny-collar bones and hip bones poking out, sunken cheeks, sculpted jaw. I just can't imagine my body 60 pounds smaller than that. I will keep my goal weight posted as 165, but as I get closer to that, it is likely to change. As a side note, I think goal weight is a very personal thing. We all have very different reasons for wanting to weigh what we feel is "ideal" for us. Everyone might not agree with those reasons, but no one has to live with them but the person who set them...and sometimes a spouse or significant other. hehe So just do whatever it is that is going to make YOU happy...and the heck with everyone else!!

<p> </p> <p> </p> <p>Me too, Edie! I've only been sober about 8 years though. I quit because my now DH doesn't do drugs.I am a very good photographer and love taking pictures of my family. (I think I started taking pictures originally to keep form being in them.lol) I also scrapbook my pictures. I am a natural redhead. I LOVE to read and will read almost anything. I have lots of books, but try to keep my collection to a minimum. They are heavy to move and that makes DH very mad after lifting a couple of those boxes. I am still trying to decide what I want to be when I grow up (besides rich and skinny I mean) There are 3 generations of police officers in my family. I enjoy writing letters. Not emails. REAL letters - on paper, in envelopes, with stamps. lol

Wow, that stinks! Did they give you any idea why you have to go back? Sorry for your disappointment, but don't give up!!

Thanks Ashley. You are really doing great. Over half way to your goal...Woo Hoo!! You go girl! Hopefully that will be me by this time next year.

I am from Sumter, SC but moved to Atlanta in July. We get back home at least once a month. I am still in the starting stages of the banding process.

Thanks for understanding. I guess we've all been there at one time or another. I just wish we could have realize when we were young how ignorant those boys were before they had such a negative impact on our self esteem. I know mine surely suffered. I shrank a little more everytime he said it. And now, over 20 years later, I am still suffering because of his ignorance. I have been to my seminar, but that's as far as I've gone. I haven't been able to find a job since moving to Georgia, which I am also blaming at least in part on my size, so we just don't have the money for all of the pre-testing and co-pays and stuff right now. Looks like I am going to have to wait a bit, but I'm not giving up!! Good luck with your surgery and keep me posted on how it goes. I will be thinking about you!!! Kathy

We have a fitness center at our apartment complex, so I checked at home, but technically, not IN my home.

DH and I had issues with his ex because of her clothing choices for their daughter when she was younger. She is almost 15 now and it seems to have gotten better since she started making her own clothing choices. When she was younger, I finally told her mother not to bother sending clothes with her when she came to stay with us because we were ashamed to take her on public dressed in what she brought form home! We bought more conservative clothes and kept them for her at our house. DD never seemed to mind, but boy her mother sure did, let me tell ya!! But we stuck to our guns and eventually she found something else to complain about and wearing non-provocative clothing while at our house didn't kill DD. Go figure... Kathy

BJean - You didn't sound preachy! You are saying the things I have been thinking and in a way fearing I guess. I have been to my seminar and all I need to do to get the ball rolling is call my insurance and verify coverage, then make my first appointment. But you know what? I am scared to death to do that. :help: I keep finding reason after reason not to. I am so afraid I will once again not have the willpower to succeed, after putting myself through surgery and all that entails, to still look in the mirror and see this fat person. I want to lose the weight, I really do. But how does one go about dealing with the head issues that got you where you are in the first place? Personally, I know a lot of mine is self esteem issues. Growing up being bigger than most of the boys in my class. There was one who even called me "Big Momma" who lived in my neighborhood, so I heard it all the time from him and his friends, who would always laugh it up when he said it. :cry I see him around town sometimes now and I still remember him saying that and wonder if he recognizes me and thinks that name still. Getting the weight off always takes care of the self esteem part of the problem, at least until it starts creeping back on. :faint:I read and read these forums and the success stories are awesome and very motivational, especially the pictures. I just have to decide that the fear of what might happen isn't as strong as my deisre to make it not happen, if that makes any sense. The skinny woman in me is ready to be set free!!!! :clap2:

Wow Vikki...thanks for being so honest. You hear so many people only saying in a lot of the threads how great the band is but not talking about their continued struggles with and because of it. Thank you for opening up. Kathy