jennay5180

We are about right on the same time frame! I am hoping for an early August banding as well!! :cursing: I'll be excited to hear more about your journey!!

Hi there....I have yet to be banded, nor do I have a surgery date set (although I'm hoping for early August - provided everything works out with the insurance). However, the way I see it is that with any diet, it will be a lifelong commitment. Obviously, if you are needing a band, it means that you have some sort of weight issue.....so whether you have the band or not, it is going to require a lifelong commitment of exercise and diet. That is no different than having the band in my opinion. Anyways, best of luck with your surgery! I'm jealous that you will be banded soon! I CANNOT WAIT! :cursing:

Today is a sad day for me. My boyfriend of a year and half decided to part ways yesterday. I have been doing pretty well for the most part....mainly b/c I went into the relationship with minimal expectations. I had met him shortly after getting out of a 2 year relationship with another guy, so I didn't want to be hurt the same way I had been previously. It has helped...b/c I am not devastated like last time! I was a complete wreck for days! This time, it makes me sad when I think about calling him....or when I wait for his call. It just hit me that he was the only one who knew about my decision to be banded. I didn't even tell my family. I live about an hour from my family...and we aren't super close (although we get along)...so I could totally hide it from them if I wanted to. Now....what am I going to do? He was so supportive of me and my decision...and now I have no one! I know at some point, I'll have to let someone know....but who? Who can I trust enough not to judge me? Who can I trust enough not to tell everyone? I think this realization just made the breakup that much harder. I was ok up until about 15 minutes ago when this thought came in to my head. He was going to be the one to bring me to the hospital. He was going to be the one to stay for the day with me while I recovered in the hospital. He was going to be the one to drive me home. Now....I have no one. Gosh, it seems like my life is one giant disappointment after another. How much can one person take? I am overweight (and have been for all of my life) and can't lose the weight no matter how HARD I try.....I could never finish college no matter how many times I tried to go back.....it seems like my finances are always wacky - never far ahead......my desire to be married with children seems like it will never happen - especially after being in two long-term dating relationships with both of them ending. I can't win. I am afraid that getting the band will just be another one of those things that I look forward to, only to be sorely disappointed. My heart hurts. 3 :thumbup:

The sleep study is a requirement for the surgery (from the surgeon). I think it is mainly so that they can check to see if you have sleep apnea, so you can get the mask for the surgery? Or at least that is what I had seen on someone else's post. My surgeon told me that the icanchange program is pretty much a giant waste of time....b/c you go through this 6 month program trying to dissuade you from having the surgery....only to be approved at the end for the surgery? It makes no sense, he said. He said that they have never had anyone denied, which is at least some relief! I'm halfway through! I think I have most of the requirements done....I think I just need to have the labs done, or whatever. That just reminds me that I need to call their office and see what is up. I never did get the results for my sleep study, so I guess I don't have sleep apnea?? Otherwise, wouldn't they call?? haha...

SO...I wanted to write this down somewhere in case I forgot..... Start date of the icanchange program: 02.03.10 Completion date will be 08.03.10 My 1st call to health coach: 02.03.10 My 2nd call to health coach: 02.17.10 My 3rd call to health coach: 03.15.10 My 4th call to health coach: 04.07.10 ***The booklet has been completed ***Sleep study was completed on 04.06.10....now I'm just awaiting the results of the study. The technician said that she didn't think that there were enough "events" to be considered for CPAP; however, she said that she is not certified to read the study. ***I have my first nutrition appointment on 04.20.10. I am excited that this is becoming more and more real. :thumbup: Anyway, I just wanted to have this written down so that I wouldn't forget if I needed it at any time.... Have a great day!! ~Jen

Today is a sad day for me. My boyfriend of a year and half decided to part ways yesterday. I have been doing pretty well for the most part....mainly b/c I went into the relationship with minimal expectations. I had met him shortly after getting out of a 2 year relationship with another guy, so I didn't want to be hurt the same way I had been previously. It has helped...b/c I am not devastated like last time! I was a complete wreck for days! This time, it makes me sad when I think about calling him....or when I wait for his call. It just hit me that he was the only one who knew about my decision to be banded. I didn't even tell my family. I live about an hour from my family...and we aren't super close (although we get along)...so I could totally hide it from them if I wanted to. Now....what am I going to do? He was so supportive of me and my decision...and now I have no one! I know at some point, I'll have to let someone know....but who? Who can I trust enough not to judge me? Who can I trust enough not to tell everyone? I think this realization just made the breakup that much harder. I was ok up until about 15 minutes ago when this thought came in to my head. He was going to be the one to bring me to the hospital. He was going to be the one to stay for the day with me while I recovered in the hospital. He was going to be the one to drive me home. Now....I have no one. :thumbup: Gosh, it seems like my life is one giant disappointment after another. How much can one person take? I am overweight (and have been for all of my life) and can't lose the weight no matter how HARD I try.....I could never finish college no matter how many times I tried to go back.....it seems like my finances are always wacky - never far ahead......my desire to be married with children seems like it will never happen - especially after being in two long-term dating relationships with both of them ending. I can't win. I am afraid that getting the band will just be another one of those things that I look forward to, only to be sorely disappointed. My heart hurts. 3 :confused:

So exciting! I'm right there with you....only a couple months ahead of you...so we can keep each other in the loop with what is going on. I also have Tufts...and should be completed with the program in the beginning of August. Hopefully banded shortly after! :thumbup:

SO...I had my Nutritionist appointment last night. They told me that this appointment would be an hour long. I got there about 15 minutes early....but couldn't find where it was located in the hospital. I was directed to the basement....but it was nowhere to be found. Then, I called the number given and she told me to come back upstairs and in actuality, was right down the hallway from where I had spoken to the first person. Haha...Oh, well. I got to her office, paid my $10 co-pay, and she was like, "Oh, I need you to fill out these forms". "Oh, you mean these?" I had all of the forms prefilled....so she was like, "OK! hahah" So, then she kept asking me if I knew this and that...and I felt like I know all of this so well, that I could repeat it to her. Long story short, I got out of my appointment at 5:07 - I had gotten in a little early, so in total, it probably lasted about 20 minutes. hahaha... Anyway, although the 2nd part is down, I feel a little bit at a standstill. I'm sure others have felt this way....but I can't start losing weight yet b/c I am right at the point where my insurance will fully cover my surgery. If I lose more than 1.6 of my BMI, I am under the 40 BMI that is required. I feel like this is almost counter-productive. I cannot start to modify my diet to be more like the one that I will be eating when I have the surgery, or I might risk losing a few pounds (which I inevitably gain back anyway), to have gone through this whole thing for the insurance to deny me. Anyway....I'm just counting down the months until this dream is a reality! :frown:

SO...I had my Nutritionist appointment last night. They told me that this appointment would be an hour long. I got there about 15 minutes early....but couldn't find where it was located in the hospital. I was directed to the basement....but it was nowhere to be found. Then, I called the number given and she told me to come back upstairs and in actuality, was right down the hallway from where I had spoken to the first person. Haha...Oh, well. I got to her office, paid my $10 co-pay, and she was like, "Oh, I need you to fill out these forms". "Oh, you mean these?" I had all of the forms prefilled....so she was like, "OK! :w00t: hahah" So, then she kept asking me if I knew this and that...and I felt like I know all of this so well, that I could repeat it to her. Long story short, I got out of my appointment at 5:07 - I had gotten in a little early, so in total, it probably lasted about 20 minutes. hahaha... Anyway, although the 2nd part is down, I feel a little bit at a standstill. I'm sure others have felt this way....but I can't start losing weight yet b/c I am right at the point where my insurance will fully cover my surgery. If I lose more than 1.6 of my BMI, I am under the 40 BMI that is required. I feel like this is almost counter-productive. I cannot start to modify my diet to be more like the one that I will be eating when I have the surgery, or I might risk losing a few pounds (which I inevitably gain back anyway), to have gone through this whole thing for the insurance to deny me. Anyway....I'm just counting down the months until this dream is a reality! :thumbup:

That's so exciting!! I'll definitely let you know how the nutritionist appointment goes.....I hear the first one is an hour, but I'm not sure how many more I need to go to after that first one. Gosh....I just want August to come! :w00t:

SO jealous! I can't wait to be blogging this great news too!!! :w00t: I can't wait to see how well you do!!

What is FMLA?

SO...I wanted to write this down somewhere in case I forgot..... Start date of the icanchange program: 02.03.10 Completion date will be 08.03.10 My 1st call to health coach: 02.03.10 My 2nd call to health coach: 02.17.10 My 3rd call to health coach: 03.15.10 My 4th call to health coach: 04.07.10 ***The booklet has been completed ***Sleep study was completed on 04.06.10....now I'm just awaiting the results of the study. The technician said that she didn't think that there were enough "events" to be considered for CPAP; however, she said that she is not certified to read the study. ***I have my first nutrition appointment on 04.20.10. I am excited that this is becoming more and more real. :thumbup: Anyway, I just wanted to have this written down so that I wouldn't forget if I needed it at any time.... Have a great day!! ~Jen

That is great! You are going to do awesome!!!! :thumbup:

SO....I had my first appointment with the surgeon today. It was basically just going over everything we had gone over at the seminar that I attended a few weeks back, just in a little more detail. The receptionist gave me a whole bunch of paperwork that needs to be filled out. She told me that the nutritionist would be calling me to schedule an appointment (first of two) within the week....and on my ride home, the receptionist from their office called to schedule that appointment. I will meet with the nutritionist on Wednesday, April 7th. She also said that the sleep lab would be contacting me within a couple weeks to schedule that appointment as well. As I am not going to be through the icanchange program until the end of August, I am not in a super rush to get all of this done....although it will be a great feeling when it has been completed! The doctor said that about 2 weeks before my program ends, I have to give him a call and he will send in the paperwork for approval. He said that in some cases, he has done the surgery a day after approval! It feels real now....I'm in the process....and there is no turning back now! I can't wait.....I keep dreaming of the day that I am thin and happy. It's funny....I went skiing with my boyfriend a few weeks ago....and all that I could think of was was this: "This will be the last time that I will be skiing fat and out of breath!" Every time I do something, I think the same thing...."This will be the last time that I (insert activity here) as a fat girl!" If you want it bad enough, right? For now, I'll continue to dream of being thin.... I'll keep you posted as something else happens....

SO....I had my first appointment with the surgeon today. It was basically just going over everything we had gone over at the seminar that I attended a few weeks back, just in a little more detail. The receptionist gave me a whole bunch of paperwork that needs to be filled out. She told me that the nutritionist would be calling me to schedule an appointment (first of two) within the week....and on my ride home, the receptionist from their office called to schedule that appointment. I will meet with the nutritionist on Wednesday, April 7th. She also said that the sleep lab would be contacting me within a couple weeks to schedule that appointment as well. As I am not going to be through the icanchange program until the end of August, I am not in a super rush to get all of this done....although it will be a great feeling when it has been completed! The doctor said that about 2 weeks before my program ends, I have to give him a call and he will send in the paperwork for approval. He said that in some cases, he has done the surgery a day after approval! It feels real now....I'm in the process....and there is no turning back now! I can't wait.....I keep dreaming of the day that I am thin and happy. It's funny....I went skiing with my boyfriend a few weeks ago....and all that I could think of was was this: "This will be the last time that I will be skiing fat and out of breath!" Every time I do something, I think the same thing...."This will be the last time that I (insert activity here) as a fat girl!" If you want it bad enough, right? For now, I'll continue to dream of being thin.... I'll keep you posted as something else happens....

I know exactly how you feel! I'm in the process of my six month supervised diet for my insurance. I'm about 2 months in....so I've still got a few months to go....but I love when the doors just keep opening for this to actually happen! I dream about the days when I'll be thin!

Last night, I went to my first seminar. I really feel like this is where I am supposed to be. The two doctors (a father/son duo) were so friendly and made you feel so comfortable. They were so encouraging and made me feel like this was the absolutely best decision I could have made! I have done so much research, so I didn't really hear anything that I hadn't heard before. It was nice to meet them though. I made my first appointment with the Doctor who would be performing the surgery - on Monday, March 8th. I am so excited to meet them one on one and just really get the ball rolling. Even better than the fantastic seminar that I attended last night, I finally told my boyfriend what I have been planning. I was nervous about telling him b/c I wasn't sure how he would respond. I wasn't sure if he would be upset that I was going to have surgery....or to me, even worse, would have been to hear, "YES! You need to.....you fat cow!" I know he would never say that to me....but I always have a very active imagination....and I know I wouldn't be able to handle that response! Anyway, his response brought me to tears! He was absolutely SO sweet! He told me that he would be there for me either way. If I wanted to go through with the surgery, he would be there....for anything that I needed. If I didn't want to have the surgery, he would be there for me then too. He said that he just wants me to be happy. I told him that I DO want the surgery and that being thin WOULD make me happy. He said that then he would be supportive of that. He is so sweet! :smile: Anyway, that's my update for a while....until I have my first meeting with the dr. I'll let you know how that goes! :tongue_smilie::smile2::w00t:

Last night, I went to my first seminar. I really feel like this is where I am supposed to be. The two doctors (a father/son duo) were so friendly and made you feel so comfortable. They were so encouraging and made me feel like this was the absolutely best decision I could have made! I have done so much research, so I didn't really hear anything that I hadn't heard before. It was nice to meet them though. I made my first appointment with the Doctor who would be performing the surgery - on Monday, March 8th. I am so excited to meet them one on one and just really get the ball rolling. Even better than the fantastic seminar that I attended last night, I finally told my boyfriend what I have been planning. I was nervous about telling him b/c I wasn't sure how he would respond. I wasn't sure if he would be upset that I was going to have surgery....or to me, even worse, would have been to hear, "YES! You need to.....you fat cow!" I know he would never say that to me....but I always have a very active imagination....and I know I wouldn't be able to handle that response! Anyway, his response brought me to tears! He was absolutely SO sweet! He told me that he would be there for me either way. If I wanted to go through with the surgery, he would be there....for anything that I needed. If I didn't want to have the surgery, he would be there for me then too. He said that he just wants me to be happy. I told him that I DO want the surgery and that being thin WOULD make me happy. He said that then he would be supportive of that. He is so sweet! :scared2: Anyway, that's my update for a while....until I have my first meeting with the dr. I'll let you know how that goes! :thumbup::smile2::thumbdown:

Wow! Great job!! You look awesome!!! :smile2: How many lb's have you lost? How long have you been banded? OH, goshhh...I can't wait!!!!!

I haven't been on here too long...so I'm not sure what kind of pain you are talking about. Is it that gas pain in the shoulder that I have heard about? Or does your actual stomach hurt? Ughhh...now I'm getting nervous! I suck with pain!! :smile2: Have you been on the scale yet? Can you tell if you have lost anything yet?