Newbie but almost there!

[prettyCali916 299]

Hi everyone - I've been a member for some weeks now but have just gotten comfortable posting here and there. About me:

I am a military wife and thanks to my amazing, selfless and just all-around wonderful hubby and his military service, I have Tricare (United Healthcare Military West) insurance and I'm about to get my surgery date.

My weight gain began when I left my father's house and entered into the real world sans maids, which meant no regular healthy meals prepared on schedule every day which is how I grew up. I was 125lbs at 21 but by the time I got married in 2009 at 23, I was 201. End of that year I was 231. Between 2010 and 2012 I began Zumba and became a certified personal trainer and got down to 181 and was quite happy there until I dislocated my knee cap one day at the gym. This led to some serious weight gain and I was at 240lbs. So I decided to do Optifast through Kaiser (medically supervised) which I did and got back to 207 by June 2013. Well, around this time my knee started bugging me again so I had surgery to repair the damage from the initial dislocation. I gained 20lbs right after surgery in October 2013. My husband had just returned from his 2nd deployment and I had promised him that when he got back we could finally have a baby. I didn't know before he left that I would have surgery but a promise is a promise right? Jan 2014 I was pregnant and we welcomed our lovely daughter in September 2014. I left the hospital at 310 lbs. fast forward to now, I have gotten myself down to 282. I've been going up and down from 252 and 282 this whole year.

I decided in mid November that I would finally have the surgery. Met with Bariatrician on 12/1 - said I'm a good candidate and that after talking to Tricare reps, was informed that my 6 months on the Kaiser program from 2013 meets the insurance requirement of having a documented attempt at weight loss before approval, so I was told I needed to have one dietician visit to complete requirements. Had EKG same day. She also put in an order for pre-op labs, GI, etc. 12/2 - Met with surgeon (amazing dr!!!) and he agreed that I was a great candidate and he was especially interested to see my results as far as my knee issue. 12/3 - had psych eval and was told no red flags and that I would be recommended for surgery. 12/4 - had labs, chest X-ray and scheduled GI X-ray for 12/11. Dietician appt. is 12/8 - will receive pre and post diet instructions, information on general eating, as well as final green light to be scheduled by surgeon. Was told surgery will most likely be mid January so fingers crossed for that!

It's moving faster than I expected and I'm really excited. There's a lot of good information on the forum and I can't wait to learn more and share more. Especially looking forward to joining a monthly group once I find out my surgery date.

God bless you all on your journeys!

Edited December 6, 2015 by Afwifey

[The Candidate 3,215]

Welcome and congrats on the beginning of your weight loss surgery journey!

[muhol88 16]

Welcome and best of luck with your journey! I also am newer to this journey and I also wasn't expected it to go as quickly as it is! I'm looking at a January or February surgery date And it's almost like I can't believe it! I wish you lots of luck as you continue down this courageous path!!!

[prettyCali916 299]

Welcome and congrats on the beginning of your weight loss surgery journey!

Thanks so much!

Welcome and best of luck with your journey! I also am newer to this journey and I also wasn't expected it to go as quickly as it is! I'm looking at a January or February surgery date And it's almost like I can't believe it! I wish you lots of luck as you continue down this courageous path!!!

Thank you!!! I wish you the best too - speedy surgery date, quick recovery time and excellent results!!!

As soon as I had decided to have the surgery I anticipated months and months of waiting but I'm really happy about it not being that long! I mean, at the end of the first appointment regarding this surgery the bariatrician says she's sending a tech in to do the EKG. I'm all "now? In this same room?" And she says "yeah! Oh do you have to be back to work?" I said no way and called and told my boss I would be back from lunch a little later...

Just really happy and excited...lots of mental preparation going on.

[_Kate_ 2,224]

Congratulations on your surgery date and a speedy recovery!

[DivaSoBlessed 97]

Welcome and congratulations!