Miss Michelle

I know, *sigh*, I was dissapointed too that my next visit was 20+ days away, but I guess w/ a surgeon like Dr. Fielding, I did expect there'd be a wait. The day of my surgical consult I will also be meeting with a surgical coordinator who will schedule a tentative date. Luckily I have great insurance, but I am thinking that will be atleast a six to eight week wait. I will be calling them daily though to check for any cancellations so atleast if I can get my consult scheduled sooner, than I can get the insurance review started sooner. As far as weight loss, if your pre-op diet is anything like mine you definately will begin losing before surgery itself. Don't worry though too much because the days will pass quickly and you'll be preping for surgery before you know it. My only goal is to have the surgery before my 26th birthday in July.

I just had my nurse and nutritionist appt today at NYU. It didn't take long at all. Most of the time spent in the office was filling out paperwork. The nurse listened to my heart, took my blood pressure, felt my tummy and back, weighed me and then went over my medical history w/ me. Pretty standard stuff. She did tell me that my next round of blood work would need to be completed two weeks or so before surgery. The nutritionist mostly went over the pre-op and post-op diet requirements. I set my surgical consult for 4/23 w/ Dr. Fielding. I will also be seeing the surgical coordinator that day. I think they give you the requirements for the 2nd set of pre-op tests to be done on the day of the surgical consult. I guess your medical history will determine what needs to be done (sleep test, simple blood work, etc.)

I am sooo excited to hear all of this...I have Oxford Freedom Plan Access and have my final pre-op appointment, my surgical consult, on 4/23!

I have three tattoos- one on the back of my neck, one on my shoulder and a lower back tattoo too, but I got them all like 10 years ago when I was 16 and a size 11/12. Anyways, since gaining weight the lower back one has changed shape a little but not much. I only hope it doesnt get worse once I am banded and start losing.

I am soo happy that I found this post! While I should have had my 'Ah-Ha' moment a million times over, the one moment that truly made me put this whole thing into motion was because of something my five year old son said. I was in my room, laying on the bed wathcing tv like I usually am, and my pride and joy, comes in and said something that broke my heart. He says, "You know, if you wanna lose weight all ya gotta do is exercise".... I immediately went into defense mode forgetting his age and innocence and screamed at him, "Who told you to tell me that?!?". I truly believed that he could not have just come up with that on his own. He just looked at me shocked with his big blue eyes and replied "Noone, Mommy". It took me weeks of family interrogations to realize that noone had set him up to tell me that. He was just telling me what he believed the solution to be. I thank God everyday for that five years olds honesty and how in that moment he changed everything. I cannot wait to start actually living our lives together. My goal is to be comfortable enough with myself to bring him to the beach to swim in the ocean that he has never even seen, and play in the sand. It took the aftermath of that moment to realize that not only was I NOT living life to it's fullest, but neither was he at no fault of his own.

Welcome! My surgeon is Dr. Fielding, Dr. Ren's hubby, who also works in NYU Medical Center. So far, I have passed the psych eval, had a full physical and blood work doen by my PCP, got a medical neccessity letter, and I am going to NYU for my pre-op nutritional consult and nurses visit on 4/2. Did you have to go through all that too?

1- I want to go into a shoe store (ALDO, preferrably) and buy a really sexy pair of peep toe stillettos and never again have to settle for whatever comes in a wide width. 2- I want to go on a tropical vacation with my husband and son and feel comfortable in an unfamiliar place for the first time instead of worrying about who is staring at me...

My surgeon requires a liquid only two week pre-op diet. Haven't started that since I dont have a surgery date yet but I am NOT looking forward to that. It gonna suck!

I am about 3/4 of the way thru the pre-op steps. I have attended a seminar, chosen a surgeon, completed and passed the psych eval, had a full physical (including blood work) and am meeting with the surgeons nurse and nutritionist on 4/2 (my surgeon requires this). Luckily I have gotten all of this done in only about a month. My insurance is great too and doesnt require much (ok, someone knock on something wood now, hehe... since requirements can change soo quickly) so I am hoping to have my surgical consult by mid month and then send everything for insurance approval. Wish me luck! I am sooo ready to get this whole thing started, but honestly I am not looking forward to the all liquid diet!

OK, so I am in the begining stages of this whole thing. I am currently 3/4 of the way through the first steps and am getting ready to meet with my surgeons nutritionist and nurse on 4/2. This is the last appointment before my actual surgical consult. Anyways I have to bring a current full body photo along with my medical records. Well, I reluctantly took that picture this week. I almost died when I saw that pic! I mean, obviously I know I am a big girl, but wholly s**t! I cannot believe I look like that! :thumbup: I have not taken a full body photo(or many other types of pictures either for that matter) since my wedding in 02 when I was about 3 sizes smaller! For goodness sake I only display pictures of me in my home that are about 10 years old and god knows my old myspace page had a six year old picture of me. I mean, I have never seen myself like that before, not even when I look in the mirror! I guess that is why I am always bumping into things? The only good thing about me not being able to live in denile of what I look like anymore is that I am soooo glad I did not wait any longer to get back in control of my life and start this whole process.

Well, I am not crazy! Atleast not enough to be denied for surgery, LOL. Psych eval went well - On to my next step....

Thanks to all for the feedback. I attended a seminar and met with Dr Fielding last night and everyone was right, he was WONDERFUL! I am meeting with his psychiatrist tomorrow for my 1st step, the required psych eval. SOOOOO EXCITED!!! :thumbdown:

I cant wait to see mine without a mirror! Congrats!

OK, So I can give up soda after I am banded, but I heard that caffeine is also a no-no. Is this only for the pre-op diet or will I have to give up coffee too?

I personally cant wait to see the faces of some of the guys I dated in the past once my transformation is complete! I always said 'dont make fun of the fat girl in school, cuz you never know who she'll turn out to be'! Thankfully I am happily married now though. And hello! I cannot wait to buy trashy lingerie!

Thank you for your feedback. The more I look into Dr. Fielding, the more I am excited to have him as my doctor! I am scheduled to attend his seminar March 4th! I can't wait!

YES! I can't wait to be able to wear sexy heels! Torrid.com has wide width heels but even some of those don't fit me well. As far as learning how to walk in them (CHELLE B.) I'd reccomend starting off wearing them around the house to start. While you are doing household chores maybe? This way, if you happen to stumble and fall, noone ever will know, unless you live on the second floor apartment like me! I once slipped and fell on a wet kitchen floor, and I know my neighbors had to know what happened. What else would make such a loud bang? LOL!

WOW! We have soo much in common. I am 25, going on 26 this year and am married with a five year old son. I Always had a weight problem. The only time I was near normal in size was when I was 16 and on prescription weight loss med.'s. Those pills worked miricales as far as weight loss, but almost killed me! At my smallest in the last 10 years I wore a size 11-12. In highschool, I was still the bigger girl of my group of friends. Now that I look back, I wish I was a 12 again! Anyway, around age 18, I started gaining weight very rapidly and by the time I had my son at 20, it only got worse. Two years ago my mother began pushing me into Bypass surgery. I was totally against it. Finally she backed off, and I began realizing that I had to do something! Recently, on my own I found out about the lap band and am excited about getting the whole process going. My new insurance which covers the band surgery kicked in on Jan 1st and I am in the very begining stages of the process. I think I found a doctor I really like, and am excited about begining the journey to leading a healthier life. I wish you the best of luck on your journey too!

Hi, I am a 25 year old female from NY who is in the begining stages of making a decision between lap band surgery and gastric bypass. I am open to both at the moment, just ready to make a choice and get things started. Hoping anyone out there has some advice for me!

Thanx to all who responded! I have researched a few doc.'s but so far really like Dr. Fielding at NYU. He is also banded! I was scheduled to attend a seminar last week, but it was cancelled due to inclimate weather. Right now, just awating the next one in my area. I am sooo excited to get this whole process started! :wub:

kiki: i love torrid! i have not tried the shoes though! i am gonna check them out online! thanx!

Apple, Thank God you said it cuz I thought I might be the only one who DOESN'T want to be a size 2. I am 5'6 and I would love to be a size 8 or 10! People think that because I want to have surgery that I cant wait to be super skinny! I do not mind having curves, I am just tired of being round! LOL! I just want to be healthy and my goal is to be able to buy clothes from any store rather than having to find a plus size store! Oh, and I can not wait to wear hot shoes! Needing to wear a wide width now, I can never find cute, fashionable, sexy heels, sandals or boots that fit!