BrandiG

Hi my name is Brandi, I am 26 years old and a mother to a very active 4 year old. I first started researching lap band about 2 years ago and saw the cost and laughed, there was no way in the world that a could fund a surgery and working in the insurance industry I knew the ins and outs of  my policy and knew it was excluded. About 5 months ago it was my husbands open enrollment for his insurance and I discovered it was covered under the most expensive plan offered, I thought very long and hard about this and how much money it would cost for our whole family to be under this insurance plan just so I  could have this surgery. Even spending the extra money each month for the insurance would not touch the cost of surgery out of pocket and I couldn't stop thinking about all the doors this would open for me and how this was something that I had wanted for so long. We made the decision to switch our insurance even though my husband was not quite on board with the surgery he went along with the change of polices. And then it began, the seminars, the doctor visits, the meetings, this was beginning to be real, the only thing standing in my way was 14lbs; one would think...why in the world would you have to loose 14lbs in order to be eligible for lap band surgery, well my insurance company has a 5% weight loss requirement to show commitment and capable of dietary changes. Here I am 3 months later, and only 9-10 pounds lighter, I am not rushing things but I really wish these last 4-5 pounds would fall off so we can start the approval process. It has been very difficult for me to get this weight off. For all of my life I have been over weight but it has never been a big concern because I made light of the situation and it never stoped me from going anywhere or doing anything. I had a sense of humor about it and felt i was a good person on the inside and that should show on the outside; never did imagine my weight was holding me back in so many ways I didn't even realize. My sister in law and I started talking about our weight shortly after I attended my first seminar and we began brainstorming the way our life would be as a smaller person. We came up with situations we had been in and how differently they would be had we been a size 8 instead of a size 20 or 22. How much more energy we would have wiith our wonderful children that were all non-stop on the go'ers; there was no holding me back now! I was inspired and determined I was going to go through with this and live my life the way it was supposed to be lived and have my outer body reflelct the inner person that I was. I do still get discuraged at times and think I will never loose what i need to loose in order to have the surgery but then I think about how far I have come and how much further I have to go and start asking myself "how badly do you want this?' My answer is alway "so bad I can taste it!' I will be getting these last few pounds off within the next couple of weeks and hopefully start the approval process by June (this is my goal.) I am a bottle of emotions, nervous and excited all at the same time but no questions asked, I AM READY!!!!