nicknac33

I was just wondering if there are any Hoosiers out there... Or anyone for that matter. I feel invisible on here!!!!!!! :confused:

Hi everyone!! Im set for October 12th at 9:30am. I am pumped. I started my liquid diet yesterday. SOOO far so good. I am proud of myself that I havent cheated. It is actually my bday today too, and no cake for me...YUM YUM YUMMY MEDIFAST!!!! LOL. I cant believe it is almost here. I just got back from a cruise, so I ate my heart out. I actually was sick of eating when I got home.. only gained 5lbs too!! I made sure I always took the stairs. I have ran into a health issue though. I had this weird mole removed and had a bad lab result. This was sent in for a second opinion. I went to see a different surgeon this week, and was told it would be a simple procedure..etc... NOT. They actually wanted to put me under. SO the best option was for me to have both things done at once..lapband, and mole thing. Well I have been blessed because my lapband surgeon is a saint and agreed to do both. I am now more nervous about my mole. It was right below my knee, and I now have to have skin grafting and lymph nodes removed from my groin area. I had the right amount of work taken off for the lapband, and now I am gonna have to do short term disability. I know everything happens for a reason, and I am positive I will be okay, but I do ask for prayers that everything will work out!! Peace and love to all!!!! and a little extra to the OCTOBER 2006 BANDSTERS :confused:

omg, it took me a minute to really tell that you were the same person in both photos. at first, i thought who is this crazy chic putting her pic next to aussie's post op tt pic.. then my mouth hit the floor. you should be so proud of yourself. you look great!!!! im proud of you and dont even know you!!! lol. you look so much younger and more vibrant!!!.

I know Ive heard that there are some Dr's around me (chicago and indy)that will give you a big discount if you donate the skin to burn victims. My cousin works in Indy, and her coworker got everything done for free since she donated it all. I think that is what I will do when I finally reach that point. I think that would be so cool to help someone out. I work in the med field. I have had a gastric pt. RN argue with me that you cant reuse the skin blah blah, but I checked with more docs, and RN's and then my cousin, and there seems to be some people out there to do it.

OMG I so know what your talking about. I totally do that. I also work in a hospital, so I am constantly hopping on scales there when no one is watching. Sometimes I like to just see my weight in kg. it makes me fell skinnier!!! I know, I am a dork. I so want to buy one of the scales that measures everything, like my doc has...you know, h20 weight, muscle, fat.. keep me on track after surgery.... It is a total OCD type thing. But if it works, then I think it is okay. Good luck on your surgery.

I know it is hard. I waited almost a year. Now with the new laws, as of 1/1/06 most insurance companies HAVE to follow. You need to have supervised weight loss attempts for 18mos. I started last July, sent in my info in Nov, got denied. Had psych eval, saw nutritionist, exercise consultant, went to seminars, took a friend to learn about my surgery, pretty much everything I needed to for my program. We finally sent it all back in in June. I got approved in July. My surgery was set for Aug 24th, but I have a cruise planned for Sept. So we moved my date to Oct 12th.. Which I was bummed about, but not only do I not want to be on liquids/mushies on a cruise,, Id hate for something bad to happen and me be in the middle of no where,, so Oct 12 sounds like a fantastic new birthday to me!!!! Good Luck, and keep your chin up. It is a hard stressful time to go through. I actually almost gave up. I prayed and prayed for God to show me an answer if I should give up or pursue, and I found LBT. After reading posts, I knew it was for me. Ive been going like a freight train ever since!!!!!

My surgeon recommended that I lose 10% of my body weight. I havent done that though. Two weeks before my surgery I go on medifast though. This is the only part of the surgery that is scaring me. I know everyone at work thinks I am gonna be a crabby beeotch!!

Thats sad. It hits home to me. I had a gma that would do that to me. My dad would brush her off as being 'her" as well. She wouldnt let me up from the table til I finished my plate, and the whole time would sit there with her wine and tell me how fat I was, how it was my fault my parents got divorced, and I had to fix all this. Then when I was like 13, I walked in on her telling one of my friends that I was her ugliest fattest grandchild, and she couldnt understand why I was so fat. I was the only one not crying at her funeral. My other gma was the complete opposite, til this day she says I was never fat, and everyone always told her how pretty I was, and how she wishes she had my lips and eyelashes. LOL. The messed up thing is I let the negative mold and shape my confidence and self worth. Now that I am 30, and no longer able to blame my issues on my parents :eek: I try to think of the positive stuff. I feel for your little girl. I dont have kids yet, so I dont know the best way to deal with it with her personally. But I would definetly tell your dad and her nana to watch themselves if they expected to continue to see your DD.

I can relate to both ways of this. I was more conscious of myself at 260lbs then now. Thats why I think God made me gain all this weight. LOL. I mean I know it is a huge issue. BELIEVE ME. Sometimes I am surprised I still have friends by how dumb I used to be about guys not liking fat chics etc. I worked as a bartender for 9yrs so I know how guys are. If I had a nickle for everytime someone said.."if you lost weight..OMG,blah blah blah." MY NP told me of a great book to read ..."The Velveteen Principle" It has literally helped change my way of thinking. It is an adult book based on the Velveteen Rabbit. It is about being "REAL". Its a small book, and really has touched me. Every time I get worried about MY fat issues. I go back to being REAL. I didnt even remember the Velveteen Rabbit story until I read this book. Just get it, I think it will help. Okay back to my fat thing. I hate it yeah, I never had stretch marks until I had a TT done. I kinda look at them as tattoos. I always was worried about my arms etc. But now I honestly think people see you as you see yourself. It seems to work. If you feel really bad,, go on a cruise,,,youll see plenty of biguns on there running around in bathing suits. Also more hot chics are actually as insecure if not more then we are. It takes too much energy and time to be perfect. Even if you didnt have your scars, youd have something else to be worried about.. like a divet in your armpit, or a fucked up little toe, one nostril bigger then the other. Its just too bad we are more conditioned to be sensitive to are imperfections because we are fat chics (and dudes).

Nice to see this post, I havent had my LB surgery yet, but have already been thinking about a TT, and Augmentation when I am done. I had a FTT done when I was 18, was very tough, but would do it again. I guess I never thought about sensation loss,,, im not one for liking mine played with anyway. So I guess I dont know if I would mind that much. I just want nice perky ones.. Ya know, ones to poke my eyes out. LOL. I never had perky ones and Im only 30,,Im just worried that my favorite tattoo will be ruined with it. Any comments from those who have had tats that were gone/moved/disfigured after this?? I just know I had a mole on my chest close up towards my breasts, and after my FTT it was next to my "new" belly button. Im hoping I wont need another FTT. Dont know if I can afford that or take the time off work for recovery of that one.. How long is recovery for the breast aug?????

Hey everyone!! I am so pumped, I just got my approval from insurance on Sat. It took me almost a whole year. I am kinda hoping for the 2nd week of August. I am also going on a cruise though. The NP told me it would be best to wait until after my cruise though. She thinks it might be too tough on me to go on a cruise right after I get banded. So now I think It might have to be in Oct. Im not sure when, but I just cant believe it. I mean I could cry thinking about it. Im so excited. Just knowing I have been approved has motivated me. I cant express enough how grateful I am that I found this website. It was truly an answer to my prayers. Even though I dont really know anyone on here, I feel like it is all a new close group of friends. Its nice to have people who understand, who have been thru, or are going thru the same things I am. YEAHHHHH. SKINNY SKINNY SKINNY. Lol. I just cant wait.

:clap2: :becky: :banana thanks!!!!! i know, i cant believe it. it seems like the questions from other people never end. now i am getting hit with questions like..what are you gonna do with all that skin? JEEZ.. can i at least loose the weight first? lol. i dont know when to schedule my surgery. im going on a cruise in sept, and they said that it would be really too tough on me to do that before a cruise. so ill have to wait until oct. i smoked my last cig today just to try to be healthier etc. my life is gonna be changing all over again. but i am excited. a little nervous too. im worried about losing hair. little things that i am trying not to focus on now. but thanks for your support!!!! im so happy i found this site!!!

Hi everyone!!! Im so excited, I just got approved for my surgery!!! Finally after almost 12 mos of trying. Its surreal. :clap2: http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/3;10732;131;0;1/c/387.5/t/220/s/420/k/5123/weight.png

okay now I am just checking to see if my pic uploaded...sorry still new to this..:confused:

Hi there, I am from South Bend area. I am having my surgery at TEAM bariatrics which is part of the Goshen Health Care System. Thanks for replying!!!

LoL that is so funny, I was just doing laundry 2 nights ago thinking the same thing when I did all the sheets. My other rant is that I love about a million pillows on my bed, which is great to sleep, but sucks to change. I feel the burn in my arms and shoulders after about 10 of them!!!!

Hi there, I am new here, its like my second day,, trying to figure things out. Im a 30yo single professional girl. I am a respiratory therapist right now, I have a degree in merchandising management. I know 2 sides of the spectrum, but thats me.. Did I mention I am a Libra?? lol.I have 2 persian cats, a pug, and a neo mastiff. Im an only child. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to cruise. I have always been big my whole life. I look back and think, wow, I wasnt that big. My normal fat self is about 265 which was always a size 22/24.. Im about 5'10 and pretty muscular. In my 20's I did alot of stupid shit to loose weight, and then just said screw it, and wow did it pack on fast. I think in one year (2000-2001) I gained like 80lbs, then I went back to school for a second degree and packed on about 20-30 more, and somehow I ended up over 400lbs. I went into a serious state of depression. I finally got over it, started loving myself for the first time, at the biggest I ever was. Sometimes, I think God made me gain the weight to learn to accept myself. Well I do, and I am ready to get it off. I dont know if the whole getting older thing is true, or all the diet abuse screwed me up, but I just cant drop the 20lbs in a week like I used to. SUCKS. Ive been trying to get the lap band for almost 11 months now. I am in the final stage of approval. My insurance company keeps throwing all these delay tactics at me. I am actually at my wits end. I keep praying for a sign if this will be the thing for me if I am approved. I just hate the waiting. I find myself eating like a pig a few days before I have to go in and get my monthly weigh in... does anyone else feel like this? I was starting to think maybe it is meant to be that I dont have this surgery, and then I found this website, and now I am empowered and motivated again. Thanks to all of you for sharing your stories, It helps.

I had a TT and lipo done at 18.. I am 30 now. There arent any issues in the long run for having kids, except having to probably have it done again. I havent had kids myself yet, but I know that the TT is one of the most painful things to heal from. Most women I know who have had it, said that childbirth was easier. Im sure I will do it again though, especially if my prayers are answered and I am FINALLY approved for my lap band. I wish I had gotten the band when I was younger instead of the TT, but back then there wasnt the option. Hope this helps

I just wanted to say Hi, I am new here, and trying to see if I set everything up right. I dont know how to get that ticker thing downloaded right. Anyway, I sooo relate to what you have said. My struggle right now is that I am at the end of my ropes with the insurance. I have been going to the Dr for about 11 mos now and my insurance has used so many delay tactics. Last month, I gave up, gained a few pounds, and was told that even if my insurance okayd the surgery, the surgeons would say no because I screwed up and arent proving that I am serious. Here is the thing though. I have never ever ever been as healthy as I am now. I actually like water!!??? I make healthier eating choices, I am not getting the weight off like I used to. I swear I hit 30 and it is so hard. I never believed everyone. I know I did some stupid crap to loose weight in the past before, which I am paying for now. At least I can say I learned my lesson the hard way. I have never been this big, and for the first time in my life I actually love myself, and think I am hot. LOL. Thats a whole other discussion.. Anyways,, My thing I think I wanted to bring up while I was aimlessly ranting, is that, I freak out before my monthly weigh in. I do good all month, then like 5 days before I have to go get on the scale and answer what I have been eating, I binge. WTF?? Its making me want to just say forget it all. Now after all this time, I dont know what to do. All my insurance co. wants now is a letter from the surgeon. Which the surgeon tells me is not protocol, and is just another delay tactic. Ive done everything a good lap band wanna be should. The psych consult, dietician, exercise class, monthly weigh ins. I guess I am glad I found this site. Hopefully reading all of your posts will help me make a final decision. Sorry for going on in 8 different directions, I could seriously write a book here with all I have to say!!!