Miss Michelle

OK, so I am a 25 year old female from NY and am in the begining stages of this whole process. I am still undecided as to which weight loss surgery I will pursue, gastric or lap-band. I am looking for any advice anyone can offer me! Thanx!:thumbdown:

Wow! You are such an inspiration to me! I can only hope that once I am banded I will do half as great as you. Congrats on your new milestone and keep up the great work!!!:tongue_smilie:

Just wondering if you'd mind sharing what insurance you have, and when you had your surgical consult so I have an idea of what sort of waiting period inbetween I am looking at. I know it depends on insurance approval, but it would be nice to have some sort of idea....

I really believe that the larger the size, the bigger the difference inbetween each next size up. My size 20 jeans (that I bought on sale at Avenue because they were $6.00 a year ago and I am just waiting to fit into) are much much smaller than my 24's. Yes, I know that thats 2 sizes up, but if you look at a pair of 6's and 10's there is no where near a difference in the gap of the waist of the pants as the plus sizes. My friends can lose 7 lbs and go to the next size down while I'd have to lose 20 lbs before going to a smaller size.

Hello World! My name is MIchelle, and I am a 25 year old wife and mother of one (which is quite enough right now, lol) living 1.5 hours north of NYC. I am so excited to be begining this journey, FINALLY! I have been severely overweight almost my entire life, and while I should have realized a million times over, it took an innocent comment made by my five year old son that I had lost control. So this is my story on how I am taking back my life! As a child I was put on my first medically supervised diet at seven years old. Not only was this hard in itself, but my mother told the teacher about this, who in turn told all of the parents of my classmates so that there would not be any cupcakes for me during thier birthday celebrations. Don't get me wrong, I really believe that my mom had only the greatest intentions, but being the fat girl in the class lead to enough merciless taunting that I did not need the extra help she provided. We have always had an odd relationship when it came to weight issues. She is slim, but has always worked to maintain it. I think the mother in her hated to see me want for anything, but then she did not want me being fat either. Our relationship is summed up by this example: She'd say "Here, have a cookie. Then, I'd eat it and she respond with "Don't eat that crap!". She has told me before, "if you really are dieing to eat something,, like chocolate, just put it in your mouth, taste it then spit it out. That is what I do." Okay, I am sorry but if I put anything chocolatey in my mouth you will have to fight me to get me to spit it out.

Hello World! My name is MIchelle, and I am a 25 year old wife and mother of one (which is quite enough right now, lol) living 1.5 hours north of NYC. I am so excited to be begining this journey, FINALLY! I have been severely overweight almost my entire life, and while I should have realized a million times over, it took an innocent comment made by my five year old son that I had lost control. So this is my story on how I am taking back my life! As a child I was put on my first medically supervised diet at seven years old. Not only was this hard in itself, but my mother told the teacher about this, who in turn told all of the parents of my classmates so that there would not be any cupcakes for me during thier birthday celebrations. Don't get me wrong, I really believe that my mom had only the greatest intentions, but being the fat girl in the class lead to enough merciless taunting that I did not need the extra help she provided. We have always had an odd relationship when it came to weight issues. She is slim, but has always worked to maintain it. I think the mother in her hated to see me want for anything, but then she did not want me being fat either. Our relationship is summed up by this example: She'd say "Here, have a cookie. Then, I'd eat it and she respond with "Don't eat that crap!". She has told me before, "if you really are dieing to eat something,, like chocolate, just put it in your mouth, taste it then spit it out. That is what I do." Okay, I am sorry but if I put anything chocolatey in my mouth you will have to fight me to get me to spit it out.

Hello World! I am so excited to be begining this journey, finally! My name is Michelle, and I am a 25 year old wife and mother of one (which at this time is quite enough, lol) living in New York, about a hour and a half north of NYC. My story is pretty standard for most overweight people in many ways. I have been severely overweight nearly my entire life and have fought like hell to just be normal, while always falling just short of success. Everything that I tried has failed in the long term, and after having my son I can say I jsut truly gave up. I focused everything I had on my family and never saw the pounds piling on until it was way too late. As a child, I was on my first medically supervised diet at seven years old, but can remember the doctors comments to my mother well before then about my weight. Unlike many obese people, the one thing I do not have against me is heredity. I am the only fat chick in a family of truly beautiful people. In fifth grade, when a classmate found out I was related to the gorgeous petite blonde with green eyes in the 8th grade, I was asked something I wll never forget. "You are related to her? What happened to you?" By then I had already heard a million comments and nasty remarks but that one cut me deep. I knew I was the odd man out in the family and to have strangers point that out hurt. I have been obese for 3/4 of my enitre life and should have realized a million times over that I had lost control. The truth is, it took an innocent comment by my five year old son for me to look in the mirror. I mean, really look.

Hello World! I am so excited to be begining this journey, finally! My name is Michelle, and I am a 25 year old wife and mother of one (which at this time is quite enough, lol) living in New York, about a hour and a half north of NYC. My story is pretty standard for most overweight people in many ways. I have been severely overweight nearly my entire life and have fought like hell to just be normal, while always falling just short of success. Everything that I tried has failed in the long term, and after having my son I can say I jsut truly gave up. I focused everything I had on my family and never saw the pounds piling on until it was way too late. As a child, I was on my first medically supervised diet at seven years old, but can remember the doctors comments to my mother well before then about my weight. Unlike many obese people, the one thing I do not have against me is heredity. I am the only fat chick in a family of truly beautiful people. In fifth grade, when a classmate found out I was related to the gorgeous petite blonde with green eyes in the 8th grade, I was asked something I wll never forget. "You are related to her? What happened to you?" By then I had already heard a million comments and nasty remarks but that one cut me deep. I knew I was the odd man out in the family and to have strangers point that out hurt. I have been obese for 3/4 of my enitre life and should have realized a million times over that I had lost control. The truth is, it took an innocent comment by my five year old son for me to look in the mirror. I mean, really look.

Hello World! I am so excited to be begining this journey, finally! My name is Michelle, and I am a 25 year old wife and mother of one (which at this time is quite enough, lol) living in New York, about a hour and a half north of NYC. My story is pretty standard for most overweight people in many ways. I have been severely overweight nearly my entire life and have fought like hell to just be normal, while always falling just short of success. Everything that I tried has failed in the long term, and after having my son I can say I jsut truly gave up. I focused everything I had on my family and never saw the pounds piling on until it was way too late. As a child, I was on my first medically supervised diet at seven years old, but can remember the doctors comments to my mother well before then about my weight. Unlike many obese people, the one thing I do not have against me is heredity. I am the only fat chick in a family of truly beautiful people. In fifth grade, when a classmate found out I was related to the gorgeous petite blonde with green eyes in the 8th grade, I was asked something I wll never forget. "You are related to her? What happened to you?" By then I had already heard a million comments and nasty remarks but that one cut me deep. I knew I was the odd man out in the family and to have strangers point that out hurt. I have been obese for 3/4 of my enitre life and should have realized a million times over that I had lost control. The truth is, it took an innocent comment by my five year old son for me to look in the mirror. I mean, really look.

Hello World! I am so excited to be begining this journey, finally! My name is Michelle, and I am a 25 year old wife and mother of one (which at this time is quite enough, lol) living in New York, about a hour and a half north of NYC. My story is pretty standard for most overweight people in many ways. I have been severely overweight nearly my entire life and have fought like hell to just be normal, while always falling just short of success. Everything that I tried has failed in the long term, and after having my son I can say I jsut truly gave up. I focused everything I had on my family and never saw the pounds piling on until it was way too late. As a child, I was on my first medically supervised diet at seven years old, but can remember the doctors comments to my mother well before then about my weight. As if being on a diet and in the second grade was not enough, apparently, my teacher, classmates and their parents also need to know to avoid any cupcake temptaions during school birthday celebrations. Being the only fat girl in class allowed for plenty of merciless taunting, trust me I did not need the assistance of this little fact. One thing I can say is that unlike many obese people, the one thing I do not have against me is heredity. I am the only fat one in a family of truly beautiful people. In fifth grade, when a classmate found out I was related to the gorgeous petite blonde with green eyes in the 8th grade, I was asked something I wll never forget. "You are related to her? What happened to you?" By then I had already heard a million comments and nasty remarks but that one cut me deep. I had realized I was the black sheep in the family when I was little and had to hide in the closet to eat anything around my aunts who always expressed concerns over my ever growing waist line. But to have a stranger point that out in that way hurt. I have been obese for 3/4 of my enitre life and should have realized a million times over that I had lost control. The truth is, it took an innocent comment by my five year old son for me to look in the mirror. I mean, really look. I was laying across my bed, watching tv like I usually am after work, and my son walks into the room and says "ya know, if ya wanna lose weight, all ya gotta do is exercise!" In that moment, my heart sank. Forgetting his age and innocense, I screamed at him "Who told you to tell me that?" Seeing his big beautiful blue eyes staring back at me with concern and confusion, I realized that noone had put him up to that (well, ok that and I may have harassed a few family members about what they knew regarding that comment). He was only telling me what he believed the solution to be. In that moment, I realized that I was not only not living my life to the fullest, but I was causing my son not too either. We have never had a vacation to the beach, I have never been swimming with him in a pool, and the last time my husband finally got me to give in to taking a family photo, he was one. So this is me. And I am taking back my life.

Hello World! I am so excited to be begining this journey, finally! My name is Michelle, and I am a 25 year old wife and mother of one (which at this time is quite enough, lol) living in New York, about a hour and a half north of NYC. My story is pretty standard for most overweight people in many ways. I have been severely overweight nearly my entire life and have fought like hell to just be normal, while always falling just short of success. Everything that I tried has failed in the long term, and after having my son I can say I jsut truly gave up. I focused everything I had on my family and never saw the pounds piling on until it was way too late. As a child, I was on my first medically supervised diet at seven years old, but can remember the doctors comments to my mother well before then about my weight. Unlike many obese people, the one thing I do not have against me is heredity. I am the only fat chick in a family of truly beautiful people. In fifth grade, when a classmate found out I was related to the gorgeous petite blonde with green eyes in the 8th grade, I was asked something I wll never forget. "You are related to her? What happened to you?" By then I had already heard a million comments and nasty remarks but that one cut me deep. I knew I was the odd man out in the family and to have strangers point that out hurt. I have been obese for 3/4 of my enitre life and should have realized a million times over that I had lost control. The truth is, it took an innocent comment by my five year old son for me to look in the mirror. I mean, really look.

This is getting wierder and wierder. I am supposed to use Barbeque Tongs to wipe my butt?!? How bad will it hurt to try and just wipe like normal?

Thats funny, because I live in Newburgh, and they could not have cared less. I am glad that someone had a good experiance with the staff though!

Wait, I have a question....What are the tongs for, exactly????

WOW! I thought I might be the only one who thought the staff was rude! I bet they have tons and tons of phone calls daily from people who ask all kinds of questions and alot of no-shows from people who are not fully commited to getting banded. I mean, for that reason, I understand why they wont schedule any appointments prior to the completion of the prior neccessary step, but I thought it was ridiculous that while I was in the office waiting (and waiting, and waiting...) to be seen by the nurse and nutritionist they would not let me schedule my consultation. I mean, really I was there for my nutritionist and nurse appointments what was going to happen? I guess it will be all worth it in the end to be able to have Dr. Fielding as my surgeon.

Although I have alot of casual stuff, most of my clothing consists of business wear/work apparel. I am not banded yet (hoping to be soon) but I already have decieded to donate my business clothing to 'Dress for Sucess". They are a charity that focuses on providing gently used career apparel to women down on their luck and out of work so that they will have something decent to attend job interviews and go to work in. For the rest of it, is it bad that I want to burn all of the left over stuff that I never want to be able to fit in again???:regular_smile:

Welcome! Keep us posted on how things go for you! :regular_smile:

You are meeting with him this coming Wednesday? Lucky you! I have also chosen Dr. Fielding as my surgeon and my surgical consult with him is 4/23. I have tried calling to see if there were any cancellations but the office staff there who answers the phone is really rude. Never in person but always over the phone.

Just attended a seminar last night, finally after two prior cancellations! I am so excited to get everything rolling! I am meeting with the Psychologist tomorrow for my surgeons required psych. evaluation, and my primary care doc next week for my full physical and blood work. Wish me luck! -Michelle :thumbdown:

Just a quick note to say "Hi" and update everyone on my progress. My last pre-op appointment is set for 4/23! Can't wait!

So I was reading this thread and eveyones comments and thought, "I probably won't get stupid repsonses like these until after surgery (I am still completing all of my pre-op steps). Well, was I wrong! At work today I was talking to my 2 bosses about needing to take time off for surgery and my assistant manager says "I've got a better solution for you, instead of getting a rubberband put on your stomach, just have one put around your tounge?" And as if that wasn't dumb enough, my manager then replies "No really, why don't you just have your jaw wired shut?" I think people really believe that the band is supposed to be removed after weight loss!

I have Oxford and they didn't require a 6 mo diet either, so I didn't have to go through that just for NYU. I did have to have a full physical by my pcp, and blood work after attending the seminar. I also had to meet with a psychologist, the surgeons nurse for a medical history review and physical, and a nutritionist. My next visit is to meet with Dr. Fielding, my surgeon at NYU, for my surgical consultation and the surgical coordinator to set a tentative surgery date.