Two Year Surgiversary

[want2bthin 93]

Beans, no carbs for the first six month - even nuts. What do I eat today? Anything I want.... just still small quantities. And I do have to admit that I should not eat as much sugar as I do now but I'm having no trouble maintaining so really just am keeping an eye on it and will absolutely return to my post op diet if needed.

What could/should I have done better? Absolutely #1 would be I should have done some strength training and exercised more. The loose skin is much worse than I expected it would be - so to those who feel they are losing slowly consider it a benefit that your skin won't be as saggy. I look like an 80 year old woman underneath (I'm 54). To be honest my tummy is the best of the 3 saggy areas - tummy, thighs and arms. My arms are by far the worst; I had larger than usual upper arms all of my life - inherited from generations on my mothers side. When I consider plastic surgery that is really the only part I definitely want to address. My tummy is always covered; my thighs are most of the time; when I wear a bathing suit I still wear shorts over it - which is what I did when I was heavy so no change there. I also should have done a better job of consistently using skin firming cream - I think it would have helped more. My favorite is Jergen's Skin Firming - it does a nice job and costs no more than any other lotion - and even less than most.

What do I feel I did right? I was absolutely faithful in sticking to my surgeon's post op diet. Having failed at the Lapband I was overly determined to succeed. I never want to feel the way I felt as a failed Lapband patient again - seriously! I did make sure that I exercised regularly while the weight was coming off. I used a Fitbit - I tracked my food every day on MyFitnessPal. Those were both invaluable tools. I came to coin my 'eating plan' that worked best for me as the '40/60/100' plan. What I found was that if I ate less than 40 carbs a day, 60g+ of Protein and drank 100oz+ of Water, I lost consistently every week.

I regularly read these forums as well as obesityhelp.com. I have met many new friends here - mostly virtual but even some in person. One has really become a very close friend which has been great. Another started a separate Facebook group for those of us who had surgery from January through March 2012 and it is just an incredible group of women (and one man) across a wide range of ages, though mostly younger than me - and we have become so close and been there for each other. The great thing was that as we were coming down we were going through the same stages of the post op diet and the associated challenges, successes, emotions, etc. I would highly encourage others to start or belong to a similar group after you have your surgery.

Well I really need to wrap this up now so I don't start putting people to sleep.....

To those of you embarking on this journey - I wish you much success. If you are still trying to choose which surgery you should have it goes without saying that I absolutely 100% recommend VSG and already had Lapband so learn from my experience.

To those of you who just had surgery - hang in there - the first four weeks were the worst. It really does get better... and better and better. Stick to your Dr.'s orders. Do not test foods you know you shouldn't eat to see if you can eat them - that was one of the major mistakes that I made with the Lapband.

To those of you farther out and struggling - go back to your roots - try your post op diet again - or my 40/60/100 plan for a week... hopefully it will give you the jumpstart you need.

And to the many people in this group (well really from the old verticalsleevetalk.com group) who encouraged me and led by their example - please accept my sincere THANKS!!! for sharing your experience and encouraging me throughout my journey.

Susie (2.0

• 15

tonya66, erp, Imanurse and 12 others reacted to this

[1Day1Life4Now 882]

Susie, what an awesome transformation and an encouraging and inspiring story. Thank you so much for your post. I am 4 weeks post surgery and worried about the slowness of the weight loss but you have renewed my enthusiasm for the journey. You are beautiful and I wish you continued success.

Janet

[Midijola 19]

What an awesome encouraging story! Thank you for sharing. I am 3 weeks away from revision surgery and naturally have had some trepidation about long term results. It was interesting to read your story about the plane seatbelt. As it was an o/s flight when I was at my heaviest that was the catalyst, helping me to make the decision to get a band, many yrs ago. Here I am now, not as heavy as I was, originally successful but now a failed lapbander ready to start my new journey.

[girliegirl 49]

Hopefully the photos will show up. I don't think I have posted in here since the change to Bariatric Pal. Of course I have been meaning to 'forever' but life got in the way. Assuming they show up OK you will see that I saved the clothes I wore two years ago - actually from March 6t, 2012, the day before my surgery - and you'll see a side by side comparison of that day to today.

However, on this day, my two year surgiversary, even though there's only an hour left (EST) to go (well at least from when I started typing this) I feel compelled that I want to be an encouragement to others and thank all of those 'legacy' members who encouraged me over two years ago.

Two years ago I weighed 286; today I weigh 129. I have weighed as little as 125 so I'm not even sure what my ticker says right now. But for the last month or two my body has settled on 128-129 and I am fine with that. I am only 5' 2" tall. I went from a 4X to size 4/6. My goal weight was 134 which put me just under a 25 BMI and I reached that goal last May - 14 months after surgery. So I have stayed under goal for 10+ months now.

While I truly don't want to forget and I won't, it's hard for me to remember what it was like to be who I call 'Susie 1.0' as opposed to the 'new me' who I call 'Susie 2.0' I'm a computer geek, what can I say, so I'm sure some of you can relate

I have to tell you that I absolutely LOVE being skinny. I am a Lapband Revision and am going to post this in that forum also because I truly feel a special connection to those who went the same path I did. When I had my Lapband in 2006 the Sleeve was not even an option - in fact Lapband was the 'latest, greatest' thing that many insurance companies wouldn't cover. I won't go on about that - it's all written up in my profile somewhere.

I could probably write a book - or at least several chapters on how my life has changed. I no longer hate what I see in the mirror or in photos. In fact I stride around quite confidently. The newfound confidence helped me get a promotion in the last year and with that came a position where I travel very regularly. Considering that prior to surgery I had to wear a seat belt extender on airplanes, let alone just the limited mobility that came with all the weight, I could have never taken the new position had I not lost all the weight. I love sitting in the seat with all that room and crossing my legs - even with the tray table pulled down. I even volunteer to sit in middle seats now - who'd have thought? Before I was mortified to fly - even though I had to do so every few months for my last job. I bought the seat belt extender off eBay years ago so I could save myself the embarrassment of having to ask for one once on the plane. My hip hit up against the seat recline button constantly which meant a battle for me to keep sitting up and squirm to try to keep away from it so I would stop reclining into the person behind me. Most of the time the tray table just rested on my belly - could not come fully down - so having a drink on it was another balancing act. I had to wear special orthotic shoes; I had plantar fascitis and had to get cortizone shots every six months for many years. Needless to say No More!

Of course it took a lot of hard work to get where I am and I was fortunate that the weight came off pretty quickly. I really do attribute that to the fact that my surgeon's post surgery diet was quite strict - with the exception of fruits, veggies and Beans, no carbs for the first six month - even nuts. What do I eat today? Anything I want.... just still small quantities. And I do have to admit that I should not eat as much sugar as I do now but I'm having no trouble maintaining so really just am keeping an eye on it and will absolutely return to my post op diet if needed.

What could/should I have done better? Absolutely #1 would be I should have done some strength training and exercised more. The loose skin is much worse than I expected it would be - so to those who feel they are losing slowly consider it a benefit that your skin won't be as saggy. I look like an 80 year old woman underneath (I'm 54). To be honest my tummy is the best of the 3 saggy areas - tummy, thighs and arms. My arms are by far the worst; I had larger than usual upper arms all of my life - inherited from generations on my mothers side. When I consider plastic surgery that is really the only part I definitely want to address. My tummy is always covered; my thighs are most of the time; when I wear a bathing suit I still wear shorts over it - which is what I did when I was heavy so no change there. I also should have done a better job of consistently using skin firming cream - I think it would have helped more. My favorite is Jergen's Skin Firming - it does a nice job and costs no more than any other lotion - and even less than most.

What do I feel I did right? I was absolutely faithful in sticking to my surgeon's post op diet. Having failed at the Lapband I was overly determined to succeed. I never want to feel the way I felt as a failed Lapband patient again - seriously! I did make sure that I exercised regularly while the weight was coming off. I used a Fitbit - I tracked my food every day on MyFitnessPal. Those were both invaluable tools. I came to coin my 'eating plan' that worked best for me as the '40/60/100' plan. What I found was that if I ate less than 40 carbs a day, 60g+ of Protein and drank 100oz+ of Water, I lost consistently every week.

I regularly read these forums as well as obesityhelp.com. I have met many new friends here - mostly virtual but even some in person. One has really become a very close friend which has been great. Another started a separate Facebook group for those of us who had surgery from January through March 2012 and it is just an incredible group of women (and one man) across a wide range of ages, though mostly younger than me - and we have become so close and been there for each other. The great thing was that as we were coming down we were going through the same stages of the post op diet and the associated challenges, successes, emotions, etc. I would highly encourage others to start or belong to a similar group after you have your surgery.

Well I really need to wrap this up now so I don't start putting people to sleep.....

To those of you embarking on this journey - I wish you much success. If you are still trying to choose which surgery you should have it goes without saying that I absolutely 100% recommend VSG and already had Lapband so learn from my experience.

To those of you who just had surgery - hang in there - the first four weeks were the worst. It really does get better... and better and better. Stick to your Dr.'s orders. Do not test foods you know you shouldn't eat to see if you can eat them - that was one of the major mistakes that I made with the Lapband.

To those of you farther out and struggling - go back to your roots - try your post op diet again - or my 40/60/100 plan for a week... hopefully it will give you the jumpstart you need.

And to the many people in this group (well really from the old verticalsleevetalk.com group) who encouraged me and led by their example - please accept my sincere THANKS!!! for sharing your experience and encouraging me throughout my journey.

Susie (2.0

wow. you look amazing and it so very inspiring to those who are deciding if we should take the step to be sleeved. I too was banded once upon a time but I had it removed because of a slip. can you share why you had your band removed?

[cangudz 27]

Wow AWESOME! I converted from the band to sleeve on 2-5-14. Your post is so inspiring to me.....I want to do well sop bad but above all I want to keep it off! Thanks for the 40/60/100 plan I I'm carb sensitive spp this should add as I'm able to take in more Water and good period. Right now I'm not getting that much in!

[livvsmum 2,369]

Thank you so much for your post!!! And congrats on your maintained success! I am 6 months post op & about 2.5 pounds shy of 100 pounds lost. Things are going great, but I do worry about long term maintaining. You've proven that it's totally possible. I'm going to try to increase my Water to 100 oz. to see if your 40/60/100 plan works for me. I do try to stay between 30-40 carbs & get at least 60 of Protein.

[girliegirl 49]

Thank you so much for your post!!! And congrats on your maintained success! I am 6 months post op & about 2.5 pounds shy of 100 pounds lost. Things are going great, but I do worry about long term maintaining. You've proven that it's totally possible. I'm going to try to increase my Water to 100 oz. to see if your 40/60/100 plan works for me. I do try to stay between 30-40 carbs & get at least 60 of Protein.

wow.....i will say im shocked at all of you who are losing so much and so quickly. it makes me feel hopeful that maybe, just may I too can be that lucky when I get sleeved..... i hope so

[want2bthin 93]

Thanks everyone and congrats to all of you who have had surgery and are 'on your way'. To those of you 3-4 weeks out, like I mentioned those were the toughest weeks. You really do need to learn a whole new way of eating and try not to take it too fast. It amazes me the differences in surgeon's post op diets.

To answer some questions:

girliegirl: The reason I had the band removed was I was not having success with it - even after 6 years. I do admit that after the 3rd year or so I just gave up trying. I lived in NY and went to a support group where there were two women who had the 'new' sleeve procedure and they did great. Their surgeon came to talk to our group and explained that typically they were using this type of surgery for people with very large midsections which put them at higher risk to start off with RNY - but the thought was that they would have the sleeve only as step 1 of 2 surgeries. I was able to get that surgeon to accept me as a patient (Lapband people know how difficult that can be) and he did a scan which showed no issues so, of course, we started the fill route again. I so wanted it to work out but it didn't.

Then in 2011 we moved to Florida and I set some specific goals for myself - one was to lose the weight finally. I started doing research and looking for a surgeon. Went to a seminar and then set up an appointment. That surgeon had a new scan done and I honestly don't remember the specifics now but he saw that the band had either slipped upwards around my esophagus or something like that. I had no symptoms from it - other than not losing weight I suppose. He said it should qualify me for a revision so I started down that path. Well it took me multiple appeals with my insurance company to get it approved. Interestingly they approved removing the band immediately; but they wouldn't approve replacing it with the sleeve. One of their experts said in his report effectively - she failed with the Lapband, she'll fail with another WLS. That infuriated me and I appealed to my employer since they self fund the insurance. I wanted both done in one surgery so I waited until they were both approved which took about 6 month. Sorry for the long answer to a short question.

[girliegirl 49]

Thanks everyone and congrats to all of you who have had surgery and are 'on your way'. To those of you 3-4 weeks out, like I mentioned those were the toughest weeks. You really do need to learn a whole new way of eating and try not to take it too fast. It amazes me the differences in surgeon's post op diets.

To answer some questions:

girliegirl: The reason I had the band removed was I was not having success with it - even after 6 years. I do admit that after the 3rd year or so I just gave up trying. I lived in NY and went to a support group where there were two women who had the 'new' sleeve procedure and they did great. Their surgeon came to talk to our group and explained that typically they were using this type of surgery for people with very large midsections which put them at higher risk to start off with RNY - but the thought was that they would have the sleeve only as step 1 of 2 surgeries. I was able to get that surgeon to accept me as a patient (Lapband people know how difficult that can be) and he did a scan which showed no issues so, of course, we started the fill route again. I so wanted it to work out but it didn't.

Then in 2011 we moved to Florida and I set some specific goals for myself - one was to lose the weight finally. I started doing research and looking for a surgeon. Went to a seminar and then set up an appointment. That surgeon had a new scan done and I honestly don't remember the specifics now but he saw that the band had either slipped upwards around my esophagus or something like that. I had no symptoms from it - other than not losing weight I suppose. He said it should qualify me for a revision so I started down that path. Well it took me multiple appeals with my insurance company to get it approved. Interestingly they approved removing the band immediately; but they wouldn't approve replacing it with the sleeve. One of their experts said in his report effectively - she failed with the Lapband, she'll fail with another WLS. That infuriated me and I appealed to my employer since they self fund the insurance. I wanted both done in one surgery so I waited until they were both approved which took about 6 month. Sorry for the long answer to a short question.

before you were sleeved did you have any doubts that you would be able to stick to the program as strict as you did?

[atkinsguidry 33]

I'm 2 years out and freaked out because I have gained 10-13 lbs in the lady fee months. Trying to get back on track but I don't seem to be able to get thing going on a positive direction. I was a very slow loser and only lost 60lbs. I would love to lose another 20lbs.

[missyhogan 0]

Hopefully the photos will show up. I don't think I have posted in here since the change to Bariatric Pal. Of course I have been meaning to 'forever' but life got in the way. Assuming they show up OK you will see that I saved the clothes I wore two years ago - actually from March 6t, 2012, the day before my surgery - and you'll see a side by side comparison of that day to today.

However, on this day, my two year surgiversary, even though there's only an hour left (EST) to go (well at least from when I started typing this) I feel compelled that I want to be an encouragement to others and thank all of those 'legacy' members who encouraged me over two years ago.

Two years ago I weighed 286; today I weigh 129. I have weighed as little as 125 so I'm not even sure what my ticker says right now. But for the last month or two my body has settled on 128-129 and I am fine with that. I am only 5' 2" tall. I went from a 4X to size 4/6. My goal weight was 134 which put me just under a 25 BMI and I reached that goal last May - 14 months after surgery. So I have stayed under goal for 10+ months now.

While I truly don't want to forget and I won't, it's hard for me to remember what it was like to be who I call 'Susie 1.0' as opposed to the 'new me' who I call 'Susie 2.0' I'm a computer geek, what can I say, so I'm sure some of you can relate

I have to tell you that I absolutely LOVE being skinny. I am a Lapband Revision and am going to post this in that forum also because I truly feel a special connection to those who went the same path I did. When I had my Lapband in 2006 the Sleeve was not even an option - in fact Lapband was the 'latest, greatest' thing that many insurance companies wouldn't cover. I won't go on about that - it's all written up in my profile somewhere.

I could probably write a book - or at least several chapters on how my life has changed. I no longer hate what I see in the mirror or in photos. In fact I stride around quite confidently. The newfound confidence helped me get a promotion in the last year and with that came a position where I travel very regularly. Considering that prior to surgery I had to wear a seat belt extender on airplanes, let alone just the limited mobility that came with all the weight, I could have never taken the new position had I not lost all the weight. I love sitting in the seat with all that room and crossing my legs - even with the tray table pulled down. I even volunteer to sit in middle seats now - who'd have thought? Before I was mortified to fly - even though I had to do so every few months for my last job. I bought the seat belt extender off eBay years ago so I could save myself the embarrassment of having to ask for one once on the plane. My hip hit up against the seat recline button constantly which meant a battle for me to keep sitting up and squirm to try to keep away from it so I would stop reclining into the person behind me. Most of the time the tray table just rested on my belly - could not come fully down - so having a drink on it was another balancing act. I had to wear special orthotic shoes; I had plantar fascitis and had to get cortizone shots every six months for many years. Needless to say No More!

Of course it took a lot of hard work to get where I am and I was fortunate that the weight came off pretty quickly. I really do attribute that to the fact that my surgeon's post surgery diet was quite strict - with the exception of fruits, veggies and Beans, no carbs for the first six month - even nuts. What do I eat today? Anything I want.... just still small quantities. And I do have to admit that I should not eat as much sugar as I do now but I'm having no trouble maintaining so really just am keeping an eye on it and will absolutely return to my post op diet if needed.

What could/should I have done better? Absolutely #1 would be I should have done some strength training and exercised more. The loose skin is much worse than I expected it would be - so to those who feel they are losing slowly consider it a benefit that your skin won't be as saggy. I look like an 80 year old woman underneath (I'm 54). To be honest my tummy is the best of the 3 saggy areas - tummy, thighs and arms. My arms are by far the worst; I had larger than usual upper arms all of my life - inherited from generations on my mothers side. When I consider plastic surgery that is really the only part I definitely want to address. My tummy is always covered; my thighs are most of the time; when I wear a bathing suit I still wear shorts over it - which is what I did when I was heavy so no change there. I also should have done a better job of consistently using skin firming cream - I think it would have helped more. My favorite is Jergen's Skin Firming - it does a nice job and costs no more than any other lotion - and even less than most.

What do I feel I did right? I was absolutely faithful in sticking to my surgeon's post op diet. Having failed at the Lapband I was overly determined to succeed. I never want to feel the way I felt as a failed Lapband patient again - seriously! I did make sure that I exercised regularly while the weight was coming off. I used a Fitbit - I tracked my food every day on MyFitnessPal. Those were both invaluable tools. I came to coin my 'eating plan' that worked best for me as the '40/60/100' plan. What I found was that if I ate less than 40 carbs a day, 60g+ of Protein and drank 100oz+ of Water, I lost consistently every week.

I regularly read these forums as well as obesityhelp.com. I have met many new friends here - mostly virtual but even some in person. One has really become a very close friend which has been great. Another started a separate Facebook group for those of us who had surgery from January through March 2012 and it is just an incredible group of women (and one man) across a wide range of ages, though mostly younger than me - and we have become so close and been there for each other. The great thing was that as we were coming down we were going through the same stages of the post op diet and the associated challenges, successes, emotions, etc. I would highly encourage others to start or belong to a similar group after you have your surgery.

Well I really need to wrap this up now so I don't start putting people to sleep.....

To those of you embarking on this journey - I wish you much success. If you are still trying to choose which surgery you should have it goes without saying that I absolutely 100% recommend VSG and already had Lapband so learn from my experience.

To those of you who just had surgery - hang in there - the first four weeks were the worst. It really does get better... and better and better. Stick to your Dr.'s orders. Do not test foods you know you shouldn't eat to see if you can eat them - that was one of the major mistakes that I made with the Lapband.

To those of you farther out and struggling - go back to your roots - try your post op diet again - or my 40/60/100 plan for a week... hopefully it will give you the jumpstart you need.

And to the many people in this group (well really from the old verticalsleevetalk.com group) who encouraged me and led by their example - please accept my sincere THANKS!!! for sharing your experience and encouraging me throughout my journey.

Susie (2.0

I am 4 months in and only lost 30 lbs and in last three weeks haven't lost any weight oam getting very disappointed any suggestions thanks

[missyhogan 0]

I am 4 months in and only lost 30 lbs and in last three weeks haven't lost any weight oam getting very disappointed any suggestions thanks

[katesuccess 990]

Dear Want2 bthin,

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!! Your story is so inspirational, and gets me hope while I am waiting hell I can get in for the surgery. I'm all approved, but group health is so darn busy it takes four months to get a psych eval, and two or three more months to see the surgeon--then another couple for a surgery date, so reading your post and hearing how well you are doing is incredibly helpful to me. Your two year perspective is also good for giving me better perspective on time. Thank you--once again. Yours were the words I needed to hear, and you look fantastic!!

[want2bthin 93]

Thanks everyone and congrats to all of you who have had surgery and are 'on your way'. To those of you 3-4 weeks out, like I mentioned those were the toughest weeks. You really do need to learn a whole new way of eating and try not to take it too fast. It amazes me the differences in surgeon's post op diets.

To answer some questions:

girliegirl: The reason I had the band removed was I was not having success with it - even after 6 years. I do admit that after the 3rd year or so I just gave up trying. I lived in NY and went to a support group where there were two women who had the 'new' sleeve procedure and they did great. Their surgeon came to talk to our group and explained that typically they were using this type of surgery for people with very large midsections which put them at higher risk to start off with RNY - but the thought was that they would have the sleeve only as step 1 of 2 surgeries. I was able to get that surgeon to accept me as a patient (Lapband people know how difficult that can be) and he did a scan which showed no issues so, of course, we started the fill route again. I so wanted it to work out but it didn't.

Then in 2011 we moved to Florida and I set some specific goals for myself - one was to lose the weight finally. I started doing research and looking for a surgeon. Went to a seminar and then set up an appointment. That surgeon had a new scan done and I honestly don't remember the specifics now but he saw that the band had either slipped upwards around my esophagus or something like that. I had no symptoms from it - other than not losing weight I suppose. He said it should qualify me for a revision so I started down that path. Well it took me multiple appeals with my insurance company to get it approved. Interestingly they approved removing the band immediately; but they wouldn't approve replacing it with the sleeve. One of their experts said in his report effectively - she failed with the Lapband, she'll fail with another WLS. That infuriated me and I appealed to my employer since they self fund the insurance. I wanted both done in one surgery so I waited until they were both approved which took about 6 month. Sorry for the long answer to a short question.

before you were sleeved did you have any doubts that you would be able to stick to the program as strict as you did?

I'm sure I had some doubts but I think more than that I had tons of determination. I honestly think that being a failed Lapband patient gave me - and still gives me - more determination then ever to succeed. I think only those who have been there -- which is I expect most of the people in this particular forum - can understand that. With the exception of my morbid obesity I always considered myself to be a successful and goal driven woman. I dealt with failing on numerous diets over many many years and while I wasn't happy with that the magnitude of the failure I felt at failing after Lapband surgery was at least 10 time worse and I never want to feel that way again.

It took just about six months for me to get approval and I took advantage of that time by doing a lot of research and reading here and on obesityhelp.com to mentally prepare myself. Thankfully my surgeon's pre-op diet was not as strict as many others I've read about in that it was not a completely liquid diet. Two meals were shakes but one was a regular diet type meal with Protein, veggies and a starch. The two weeks that I was on it prior to surgery all I would think about was how far I had come to get there and there was no turning back.

That's probably one thing I did not stress enough in terms of what I did right - or that went right -- the selection of my surgeon (Dr. Robert Marema @ US Bariatrics) and the fact that the program is a Center of Excellence. I cannot rave enough about him and the entire practice. We have a separate Facebook group and monthly support meetings so I continue to be in contact with them to this day. I can call or email at any time - the staff is incredible. The whole pre and post op programs are phenomenal. There was a special Bariatric care unit at the St. Augustine Hospital which they designed. They required that I attend a four hour pre op education course -- even when I was the only one attending they took me through the whole four hours of education one on one. At the hospital they sent me home with all kinds of goodies - shake samples and a shake bottle, sample Vitamins and Vitamin holders, an insulated bag and measuring spoon set, jars of baby food, etc. Since I had prior WLS surgery I also had another experience to compare this with and it was literally night and day.

Lastly my surgeon had WLS himself some 15 or so years ago -- gastric bypass -- so I knew he could truly relate to what I was going through having gone through it himself so he definitely practices what he preaches. This might sound terrible but my Lapband surgeon was a very petite man who I doubt weighed more than 140 lbs if even that so I never had the same sense that he understood what it was like to be morbidly obese.

A very long answer to a short question but I hope this helps.... Don't be afraid of sticking to your program. The lack of hunger made that quite easy for those first few weeks and when you see how little you can eat and learn to stop yourself (and the sleeve teaches you that whether you like it or not), you'll do very well.

[want2bthin 93]

Dear Want2 bthin,

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!! Your story is so inspirational, and gets me hope while I am waiting hell I can get in for the surgery. I'm all approved, but group health is so darn busy it takes four months to get a psych eval, and two or three more months to see the surgeon--then another couple for a surgery date, so reading your post and hearing how well you are doing is incredibly helpful to me. Your two year perspective is also good for giving me better perspective on time. Thank you--once again. Yours were the words I needed to hear, and you look fantastic!!

I know how difficult the waiting can be so hang in there. I submitted my appeals mostly over that I didn't think I should have to go through the 6 months pre-op diet that my insurance wanted me to do again since obviously I had to do that prior to my Lapband surgery and, in effect, I felt like I had been on a 'diet' for the last 6 years while having the Lapband. Well since it took 3 appeals in the end I think I was just shy of six months when I finally won the appeals. It was draining but it added all the more to my determination. I had so much encouragement from others who already had the surgery - that I should use the time to continue to do research and ask questions and learn from others. And that before long I would be on the 'losing side' -- and they were so right. You'll get through this too - keep your eye on the prize