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I'm with Kaiser too but my BMI was over 40 with no co-morbs. I would try the quarter thing and wear your heaviest clothes and layer them too. Why put on more weight when you'll just have to lose it to get your 10% off before surgery? Good luck with your orientation!

I have Kaiser and went to orientation 11/25. Met with surgeon 12/10, had psych eval 12/11 and then had to finish losing the 10%. Did that and had final case manager appt 2/23 and surgery was scheduled for 4/6...a week from TODAY! For Kaiser, this was a pretty quick process. From orientation to surgery it will be about 4 1/2 months and they tell us to expect 6-18 months. I'm excited!

YAYAYAY!!! I can't wait to hear all about it, I'm sure you're gonna do great. The next 3 weeks are gonna be busy on this board--you tomorrow, me next Monday and Tina the Monday after that! GO US! I'll definitely be praying for you. <3

Yay everyone! I'm a week from today, getting closer! Good luck to you all this week, I hope all your surgeries are smooth and you're all feeling great and shrinking SOON. Can't wait to read all of your surgery day stories! I'll be thinking good thoughts for all of you this week!

Hi everyone! My name is Christine and I'm 32 years old. I've been married for 14 years and have a daughter that will be 5 in May. I've been overweight since about 1996 (got married, fat and happy!) and have tried so many weight loss programs it's not even funny! I lost 50 lbs in 2003 before getting pregnant with my daughter but then gained it all back and then some from 2004 to now. I found out in November that I have hypothyroidism and am fortunate that that's the ONLY health problem I have. My highest weight was at my Lapband orientation 11/25 and I was 297.5 UGH. I've been following the Kaiser 1200 calorie meal plan and have been exercising 5 days a week and am now 260.2. I've lost almost 40 pounds and my surgery is week from tomorrow--April 6th!!! I'm so ready for this--not nervous, just excited and SO ready. I can't wait to get to know you all and share this journey with you.

I tell anyone! I know it'll have people paying more attention and that might be frustrating if the weight isn't falling off of me, but I think it'll also keep me more accountable and on track. I have a really supportive group of family and friends and wouldn't be able to be on this journey without them!

I've gotten almost everything except for the food/liquids. I'll do that this week. Some things that I have on my list to do/buy that you didn't have(it's so helpful to compare!) are: baby spoons (to remember to take small bites) ear plugs/eye mask for resting in hospital hot Water bottle stool softener pillow for ride home (to cushion between tummy/seatbelt move things you need in fridge to top shelf take BEFORE pics! BIG mug for ice chips on ride home What a great thread!

Hi girls! I'll be there on Saturday too. Looking forward to it, they'll have an author there. She wrote "Fat No More" and she has had wls surgery too. She'll be selling her books and signing them. They're also doing a clothing exchange so if you have clothes that are now too big that you want to get rid of, bring them on Sat! TINA--the bloodwork is not biggie. They check a bunch of stuff and it was 4 vials of blood that she took. Did you hear i got moved up to the 6th of April instead of the 14th? Glad your trip went well and you're back safely! Hope to see you on Saturday.

I'm having surgery 2 weeks from tomorrow and I can say I don't have any health problems...YET. But I know if I continue the rest of my life being 250+ that it's just a matter of time. I'm only 32 and have only been overweight for about 12 years. I was pretty average growing up and gained weight after getting married, fat and happy. :crying: I must admit that I can't wait to feel truly pretty and feel good about the body I'm in. I want to feel like I can shake my booty and have it look cute. I wanna have the body I deserve and I want to live a long time in it!

I did get one, but haven't gotten around to listening to it yet. I'll try to do that this weekend. Maybe I'm nuts but I'm really not nervous, just really really excited! I don't have any worries (maybe I should!) and I'm just ready to do this and start the next chapter of this weight loss journey. I'm sure the nerves will kick in soon, maybe when I've only got one week to go. How are you doing?

Hi everyone! I had my appt with Tom today and really liked him a lot. He was such a nice guy and seemed genuinely proud of my weight loss so far and said some really nice things. My weight (with clothes on) was 261.1 AND I'm on my period, so yay for the good number! Per their records I'm down 37 lbs since orientation 11/25 and he was very pleased with my progress. So now I'm all good to go for surgery in 17 days! The next time I drive to Richmond will be when I'm on the way to surgery...CRAZY. Have a great weekend everyone!

I have my last appt tomorrow with Tom Greenwood. Kinda sucks that I'm driving 1 hour each way for a 10 minute appt but...oh well, I'll have to get used to doing that for fills too since they're pretty quick appts also. I'm SO not gonna complain! This is all totally worth it. I'm excited to be officially done with appts and just to be ONLY waiting for my surgery day. It's almost here!

Thanks on the congrats, Crimson! I'm super happy about it too. I had my pre-op classes today from 8-12 and then met with my surgeon for my final appt before surgery. It all seems SO real now! WOW! Only 10 lbs!? That would've been nice...I would've had surgery a couple months ago if that was my situation. Kaiser has us lost 10% so I had to lose about 30 lbs and am now down to about 37 and am feeling SO much better already, I can't imagine what another 80-90 down will feel like. :w00t:

So Nicole and I had our pre-op classes with Liz and Robin today and they went really well. Afterward Liz had me come back to her office with her and she was able to sneak me in for an impromptu pre-op appt with Dr. Baggs (since they switched days/surgeon on me they needed to reschedule me with my new surgeon). It went GREAT!!! I really really like Dr. Baggs. He's closer to my age and not as much of a "dad" figure, even though Dr. Fisher is really nice too. We had a great meeting, he was very encouraging and said many nice things and made me feel good about myself and my decision to have surgery. My last appt is with Tom next Friday for my physical and then on to surgery 4/6! YAY! I can't believe that of ALL the appts I've had since November that I only have one left before surgery. What a great feeling. I'm so glad to hear that you're doing okay with hunger Riley. I'm glad we both have the same surgeon!

I'm also having surgery April 6th! I was scheduled for April 14th but got a call this afternoon and they bumped me up to April 6th. WOOHOO! Yay for us! Only 27 days left...that sounds like nothin'. :thumbup:

I'm an April gal too! I was scheduled for April 14th but my case manager called me THIS afternoon and said my surgeon had something come up and had to cancel his surgeries for that day. She wanted to know if I could bump my date up to April 6th!?! HECK YES I CAN! I have my pre-op classes this Thursday (Post-op nutrition and Lifestyles) and pre-op surgeon appt next Friday. Only 27 days left!

Riley you're doing awesome and I'm so inspired by you. I hope my experience goes as well as yours! (aside from the infection, obviously, lol). OMG OMG OMG OMG!!! Liz called me today and moved my surgery up to April 6th instead of the 14th. I know it's only 8 days but it makes a huge diff for me. It's over a week earlier and it makes my wait LESS than a month away instead of MORE than a month away! I'm so excited! Also, I'll have a different surgeon. I'll have Dr. Baggs instead of Dr. Fisher. I'm sure they're all great so I don't really care. Kinda freaking out with excitement now! WOOHOO! Apparently something came up and Dr. Fisher had to move all his surgeries for the 14th. I'm okay with it since it moved me CLOSER and not farther. Anyways, had to tell you all the good news. I'm THRILLED!

Diana, My orientation was Tues Nov 25th, just a couple days before Thanksgiving...I wonder if we were in the same class!? I also have Dr. Fisher and really like him a lot. I'm scheduled for surgery 4/14. It's good to meet you! Where abouts do you live?

You're right Riley, they do get nicer as you get further in the process. Just be patient and kind when you call them and don't sound pushy and make sure to say thank you. Geez, I sound like I'm talking to a 5 year old! But really, respect and kindness will get anyone pretty far.

Hi again. :confused: I would recommend calling the Bariatric dept in richmond and pushing #7 to talk to a real person and ask if you can get scheduled for orientation. I did that and was able to go to an orientation about a week after getting my referral. Also, WAIT to start losing lots of weight until you get weighed at orientation. That weight that you are that day will be your official starting weight and will be the number that your surgeon refers to when giving you your pre-surgery weight. If you lose before then, yay for you, lol...but you'll still have to lose a certain amount (usually 10%) from orientation to surgery. Having the time to take off will be a good thing when having all the appts. I have gone to Richmond 4 times for appts now: orientation 11/25, surgeon consult 12/10, psych eval 12/11 and case manager appt 2/23. I will still be going 3/12 for pre-op classes and 3/20 for my pre-op physical and surgeon meeting and then surgery on 4/14. So, it is a lot of driving but every appointment gets more exciting than the last one, in my opinion! Good luck with everything! Keep me posted and let me know when your orientation is. WOOHOO!

Yay Stephanie! Congratulations on taking this great step towards better health. I'm so excited for my surgery (April 14th) and I'm sure you are too! So, what's your next step? Do you have an orientation date yet? This is a super group of people and you'll get lots of good info and support. I know it's helped me TONS! Nice to meet you!

She had surgery a week ago today!

Hi everyone! I'm being banded 4/14 but was told that if there was a cancellation it could be earlier. I'm just going with 4/14 for now though! YAY! I can't wait til April. :wink:

Infection is definitely something I worry about too, but I'm not about to cancel either! I'm glad that we know what to look for (but not glad that Riley had to go through it!) and it makes me wonder what would we do if this happened on a weekend? Are the surgeons on call for these kinds of situations? Tina, I'm glad your appts are still intact! I got mine rescheduled for the same day and time with Tom so that was lucky! The support group was great! I'm definitely going to continue going every month. There were some people that are 4 years out and are still attending monthly, it makes sense to me though since I'm going to be fighting a food addiction for the rest of my life...I might as well establish a wonderful support group now to motivate me and keep me accountable!

Wow Riley, thank god you're okay. I'm so glad that you weren't stubborn about it and you called and went in. That could've been such a scary situation! Please rest up and get better and spoil, spoil spoil yourself! That's crazy how quickly you're able to get full. I can't imagine that! I hope your port is okay and doesn't need to be replaced. Take care!