DixieLee07
DixiePOP
Sep 23, 2010
I couldnt get into my old profile of DixiePOP, so I just copy pasted everything and am putting it in here, I will get back to update SOON maybe a lil off an on ...Im a 34 yr old mother of 3 boys whom are my world!!! Im married , have been for 2 years... :) ..... Ive been researching this surgery for the past few months and I havent started doing anything yet to get the ball rolling. I really DO feel like this is what I want to do, although I still have SO many questions. Like ... will Illinois medicaid pay for reconstructive surgery after my weight loss is done? How likely are blood clots or pulmonary embos to happen if I do what the Dr tells me to do . I have been here reading for a week straight!! I didnt even go to bed last night, Im soaking up all this information like Im a dried up sponge! lol This profile will change as soon as I get the hang of what ya'll are interested in reading, as for right now.. gotta get back to reading YOUR profiles and finding out whats goin on with ya'll !!! Tootles! :)---------------------------
2-22-04 I guess I should have put this in when I first wrote this profile. My co-morbidities are as follows... Irregular Menstruation,Migraines,Extreme lower back pain, leg and foot pain, numbness in my thigh, PCOS, hypertension,depression, descreased physical activity, fatigue, shortness of beath, gallstones.. but I had those removed 3 yrs ago , and edema... am currently taking zoloft, glucophage, relafen, and hydrochlorithiazide..
10-14-03 1:20 pm
LOL I guess Ive done more than I thought I did, cuz I checked the mail today and have two brochures from two different treatment facilities. Must have signed up not knowin what I was doin! lol boy oh boy this is gonna be a trip .. I do things like that without knowin it, theres no telling what Im gonna do when it comes to things Im SUPPOSED to do lol
2-18-04 2:01 p.m.
OMG I Did it!!
I havent posted on here in quite some time. Ive kinda been dragging my feet with the whole process of having this done even though its what I want more than anything in this world. I think Ive just been afraid of the changes that will happen. I met someone on this site a few months ago, I dont get to talk to her very often but she came on yahoo last night and I was telling her that I had gone as far as getting my referral from my PCP, then I just kinda stopped. She made me promise her that I would call surgeons today and she would call me this afternoon to find out the results. Well, I made that promise and I followed thru with it being the most nervous about anything that I ever have in my life, I did it !!! .. The first one I called, is scheduling til 2007, they asked me to call back in 2006... BIG let down right there cuz hes the one I wanted. The second one I called didnt take my insurance and informed me that the first one is scheduling so far out only for patients with my insurance because they have a hard time getting their money .. isnt that crazy??? So anywayz... the third that I called... she said, now we are scheduling pretty far out"... I said " How far is far?" She said "September" ... I was like OMG ... that'll work!!! That wasnt near as difficult as I had imagined it would be .... now they are going to send me my questionaire and my paperwork so I can finally get this rolling!! WOOOHOO! THANK YOU TRACY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2-21-04
I didnt have time to post last night, but Dr Oliphants office called me yesterday . I was hoping I would have already recieved my packet, but no such luck. They called to recheck some info I had given the receptionist when I called them the other day . I confirmed that all was correct and she asked me if I had my referal from my PCP yet, and I told her that I had a guarantee from my PCP that I could get referal but she wanted to make sure I had picked my surgeon before she wrote it. So Dr Oliphants office says that I need to mail the referal back with my information packet when I get it filled out. I was definately excited to hear this cuz it makes it feel like I am really gettin started on doin this! She did however tell me that now they are scheduling into October.. so by the time all of MY stuff gets done there is no telling when I will have a date. Insurance approval hasnt even begun yet... so keep your fingers crossed for me pleeeeeease. Ohhhh and it looks like Hubby is finally starting to show some interest in this for me.. He was concerned as to where I was going to sleep when I got home from the hospital, worried that I wont be able to get out of the bed... thats a big step right there. ! WOOHOO!
2-22-04 2:11 PM
You know, Ive been sitting at this computer since yesterday morning, reading the message boards, the FAQ, and ya'll profiles. Ive seen different people give an estimated time of when they started gaining all of their weight and it just dawned on me when I started putting all of mine on. Well, Ive always "thought" I was fat... always "bigger" than the other kids. Yet I look back at my school pictures, especially 8th grade graduation and I wasnt fat at all, I was downright skinny!!! I remember when I was 13 years old, my Dr put me on Fastin.. now this was the second time I had been on it mind you.. but this time I lost enough weight to get down into my moms 5/6 pants ..I was SO proud that I wore a pair of red button up dress pants to a musical we were having at school, I was in the chorus. I was in the 8th grade at this time. Now these pants just about cut me in two, but I was bound and determined I was going to wear them anyway.. just cuz I had put enough effort in the struggle to get them buttoned.. I "thought" I could do it. About half way through the program I started getting light headed and very very sick , I couldnt breathe... and no, it wasnt a case of nerves, I performed in contests across the state with the chorus, I was used to the people. My dad noticed that something was wrong, came up to the stage and got me and took me home. After I got home and took off those damned pants, I started feeling better. Heck they were probably cutting off my circulation as well as cutting me in half lol ... but anways back to the subject at hand.. My dad passed away when I was 16 yrs old ... and that is when I started putting on all of my weight... by the time I was this age, I was back up to a size 16... I never knew "how much" I weighed for it was taboo to get on a scale for me.. It wasnt happening no matter what!! .. At 18 I got pregnant with my first child and gained 45 lbs... and of course the rest is history... I never lost all of that and just kept gaining and gaining with each child and then MORE after I was done having babies... this is probably insignificant, but this is when I started to really realize that I was "FAT".... and not just "thinking" that I was....
2-25-04
I got it !I got it! I got my packet from the surgeon! Finally!
Now that Ive looked inside Im overwhelmed at all the stuff I have to fill out, heck there is practically a psych eval included ..why should I have to go have another one? lol ... This is a milestone for me, cuz I really didnt think Id actually get this far without backing out. Ive been reading posts on writing goodbye letters and such and have decided that Im not going to do that because to me it will be like sealing my fate and Im not going to let that happen ... LETS ROLL!!!
2-27-04 7:08 pm
I went to my PCP today to let her know that I had received my packet from the surgeon and to get her to finish my referal. She seemed happy that I had made up my mind and that I was fully aware of what I am getting into. She looked over my records and gave me dates of diets and visits with the nutritionist that I had over the years . I had written a list of my comorbidities and asked her if I was indeed correct on these and she said yes it looks accurate, then she took it and made a copy of MY list so she could include those in my referal lol ... I guess I did a bang up job on that. She was also impressed of all the notes that I had taken and stuck in the envelope with everything. Looks like Im doin something right... so here I go!!! I also "heard" that with this surgeon I will have to do the 6 month dr supervised thingy ... so I figured since they are scheduling surgeries right now for October, Id go ahead and start this now , gives me plenty of time, so she put me back on phentermine again .. Dont have to worry about sleep problems I have been having that for weeks now. She also raised the mg of my relafen for my legs and my back.. hope this works, Im tired of being in pain. OH! Ive lost 4 pounds since last visit without even trying!!! .. Now Im at 296 ... that was encouraging! Wish me luck.
3-01-04
Here I am, the beginning of March ... I keep sitting here every day looking at that packet that Im supposed to mail back with my referal enclosed. Im still waiting on the PCP to call me to tell me that shes got it written so I can attach it to the packet. Gettin kinda discouraged. I was so looking forward to getting that and I havent even filled any of it out yet. I dont know whats wrong with me. Maybe Im just worried bout my cat. He still isnt doing any better. Hopefully today the vet will have some kinda of treatment plan for him. Im praying he doest suggest putting him down. I dont think I can handle hearing that. I am wondering however how to do the 2 day food log they require since I am now taking the phentermine. Im not eating much at all and only drinking water.This drug completely takes away my appetite, and from what I have read here, you HAVE to eat to lose.. just eat the right things. Im gonna have to figure something out for that. What exactly are they looking for when they look at that log??? I guess Ill post that question on the main message board sometime today, see what kinda responses I get.I know I need to get bizy on it, that and gathering all the information that Im going to need. I dont even know what the Dr or the insurance require yet, but Im going to try to get everything I can, just in case so Ill have it ready.
I need to get this ball rolling thats for sure. Every day that I look in the mirror , I feel fatter and fatter even though I am losing a lil bit of weight. I wonder what that means.. whats going on in my head??
3-05-04
I have been waiting for 8 days for my pcp to write my referal. In the beginning she made me pick a surgeon before she would do it, so thats been done and now I wait. She told me 8 days ago that it would be done this week. I called today to get it cuz I have to send it back to the surgeon with my paperwork. I also found out that the first time I started inquiring about WLS was wayyyy back in June of last year. I cant believe its been that long.. WHY have I been dragging my feet?? Grrr @ myself.
She isnt there today .. its not in my file. The only thing thats there is the list of my co morbidities that I made to show her and she took a copy of. Nurse says she will be in tomorrow to write it, it will be typed Monday and I can pick it up Tuesday.. why cant I pick it up tomorrow??? UGHH! The surgeon is already scheduling into October.. what does she want me to do, get a date for NEXT year???! The only thing I accomplished with them today was getting a 4 yr backtrack of my weight fluctuations and and a lil bit of info of when I was put on phentermine and saw a nutritionist.
I also called to get info on what my insurance requirements were.. after spending a total of almost an hour and half on hold... with all the numbers they kept giving me, I finally get someone who says insurance has NO requirements... that if I do what surgeon requires and he writes letter of medical necessity,it will be approved in 2 to 5 days.. a lil good news there!!
then...
I called the surgeons office to see what their requirements were... she said... you have to be under 500 lbs... be at least 100 lbs overweight... and be a non smoker... this one imma have to work on .... I asked about the psych eval and 6 month dr supervised diet,, which ive already started on ... and she said those arent always required.. that the surgeon would decide this at the consult. So, I guess Ill just stay on the phentermine... just in case...
03-11-04 10:07 am
Ok, I havent updated in a few days, Ive been busy on the phone trying to get info on exactly what my insurance and the surgeon require for surgery so I can get it all done and hopefully speed up the consult.
Yesterday I went to visit a veryyy nice lady that I met on this site who has an upcoming surgery date with my surgeon on March 30th. Good luck Rosemary, Im right here for ya if ya need me ! :) We talked for several hours about the process that the surgeon takes you through, she showed me her booklet of what to eat after surgery and how to eat it and what to expect WHEN you eat it.. pretty much covered everything. The good thing about the whole visit was that I made a great friend, we also talked about our lives and our families, it was a super experience all in all. :) So after that , I knew what the surgeon required, just had to find out about the insurance requirements, prior approvals and such.
I finally got through to a VERY VERY nice lady named Jill. She surprised me when I told her my name by saying that she knew me!! I couldnt figure out how! lol .. As we were talking I mentioned this website and she said its very possible that she knows my name from here! She checks up on the patients that have had this done, just to see how they are doing. See, told ya she was VERY VERY Nice ;) .. Hiya Jill!! lol She was a really BIG help in telling me what steps I need to take and what the whole process of this was. So from what I understand, all I need to do is send my referal from my PCP along with the paperwork Dr O sent me back to him and his office will take care of the rest, prior approval and all. She did say that it wasnt necessary , but if I want to, I can send in a letter written by me, why I want to have this surgery done. I dont think it would hurt for me to send that along with everything else. I already have one written, havent decided if Im going to submit it too. She also said that the 6 mo Dr supervised diet isnt necessary unless Dr O sees that it is.. so medicaid doesnt require it, yet they do require a psych eval. I guess Ill get busy finding a psych that will accept my insurance. Wish me lots of luck!!
Jill also said that it wouldnt hurt for me to post on here that losing weight on a dr supervised diet before surgery doesnt decrease your chance in getting approved, if anything it helps in the approval process because it shows them that you are very capable of following a diet plan and that will definately help you out after surgery. SO all of you preops... start counting calories or whatever method you want to use and try to lose a lil weight before your surgery. It cant hurt! :)
3-12-04 8:06 am
My sis in law and I, attended our first support group meeting last night. We were 2 of the 3 preops that were there. Of course I was nervous at first, but only cuz I didnt know anyone but warmed up very very quickly. This was a group of the nicest people I had ever met, and of course as soon as they found out we were preop, EVERYONE had something to share with us.
We listened to everyone talking and sharing their stories, it was WONDERFUL! People were SO completely honest... one wasnt excercising like she should be and was drinking pop, with a STRAW no less!, one wasnt getting her protein in and was trying very hard.....I felt like I had just made a whole new family. We were allowed to just jump in and ask questions and any time and they were SO cooperative. I mentioned this website and all of you great people several times and many of them have been to this site. They also have a yahoo group for the locals. I did tell the lady who was heading this support group that everything they were all talking about was no new news to me. I come here every day and read and read and read about everyones journeys and being at this meeting was EXACTLY like being here only the people were right in front of me.
Out of 17 people there, only one girl had complications and to hear her tell it she had every one imaginable. Although it may have seemed that way to her, and Im sure it did... she only named a couple. She didnt want to answer the question of "would you do it all over again", she said it was too soon, wait another 6 months.
I cant wait til next month!!!!!
My sis in law and our DH's went to Dennys afterwards for coffee and were sitting there talking about our comorbids and surgeon and pretty much everything that goes along with this journey and I heard the lady next to us talking about losing 32 lbs in 6 weeks and immediately I turned to her and asked her if she had had gastric bypass surgery. Boy oh boy I wish I had known what I was getting myself into. LOL ...Ironically, she had the surgery 6 weeks ago and she came over to our table and proceeded to what I would call "try to scare us". She was happy she had it done but went into the statistics of mortality rates. She said "girls, this is gonna scare you, but you HAVE to know, that ONE out of 200 people dont make it outta there alive!!" , and that her surgery was the BEST one to have yadda yadda... you cant eat this you cant eat that you cant do this you have to do that. I happened to look over at the table where she had been sitting and noticed she was eating TWO Of the LARGEST pieces of french toast that I had ever seen, heavily dusted with powdered sugar and smothered in syrup.... I thought it was time that we go. lol.... 6 weeks out and doesnt seem to be worried how that was going to affect her. I was sad for her success.
Once again Ive been dragging my feet sending back my paperwork etc etc.. but after that meeting, Im mailing my packet and referal back to the surgeon today.
Im SOOOOOOOO Excited I cant wait to be a LOSER!!!!
3-31-04
Yeah I know , its been a while since Ive updated.... but havent really had anything to update. Once again... I made one step and then started dragging my feet with the next . :( I Just mailed my packet back to the surgeon yesterday. I wanted to make sure I didnt forget anything so it sat here on my desk.. I guess I was hoping that If I had forgotten anything it would just jump right there in the envelope and it would do it by yesterday so I could mail it? LOL I also got my disenrollment papers from Harmony insurance and mailed them off yesterday as well .... I had an appt last week with the case manager for the psychiatrist for my psych eval and woke up very very sick. Had a cold the day before and I guess it just manifested overnight.. so I called to cancel, I just didnt feel like going. SOOOooOooOO once again .. dragging my feet to call and make another appt... I will get on that this week, I promise to myself that I will at least call and get that part taken care of.
I also wanted to add that my hubby and I watched Kathy Harris on DHC the other night and I was so inspired by her and I guess hubby was too ... he just kept saying Bless her, Bless them ... he was so into how supportive her hubby was for her... and when it was over, I turned off the tv and said .. "now, do you see why I want to have it done?" and he said.. "yes, I do" ... and I said Im really going to need you really really bad when I do this , will I be able to count on you and he said YES you will! Big accomplishment right there! So I emailed Kathy and told her how great she was and how thankful I was for her doing that show and she emailed me back the next day .. Shes a very nice lady and Im so happy for her. So if anyone reading this has some time.. please email Discovery Health and request they do an update on her and follow her through her plastic surgery.. she would GREATLY appreciate that. Enough for now.. back to reading the boards.. Ive been gone all day today and I gotta lot to catch up on. Toootlies :)
4/01/04
Ok, I kept my promise to myself and I made my appt with the lady that I had to make the appt with so she could make me an appt with the psych for the eval .. whew! That was crazy. Anywayz, I go on Tuesday the 6th so wish me luck!
Today I bought some Crystal Lite sunrise.. YUMMY it is! Got some strawberry banana too ... just testing things out to see what will be good for me postop .. so far I have ONE thing on my to get list... yup, thats right... Sunrise Crystal Lite lol
Ok just wanted to say that Yes, I made my appt to make my appt.. im outties
4/09/04
Just a quick lil update.. note much to say once again ... I went to the appt with the case manager on Monday and got accepted to see the psychiatrist, my appt with him is on the 19th.
Went to support group meeting last night, had a great time as usual and even got my 2 week post op cousin to go with me, she loved it.. and will be going back with me next month.
I called Jill from medicaid yesterday ...she said that Drs far away wont accept us down here in southern illinois due to after care being hard to find here and harder to get to up there.. so this is really a good thing.... found out some disturbing news that I had heard earlier in the week wasnt necessarily true... was told that Dr O will only do OPEN on medicaid patients cuz he gets paid more.. and Dr Os receptionist says no.. it is totally up to him he doesnt have a set policy due to insurance, thank GOODNESS! Also found out that Im due to be called in November for consult in December and surgery 3 to 4 months after that.. so really I am lookin at a year.. this does NOT make me happy, but there is nothing I can do but get my psych eval done and then wait... and that is something I am no good at... so Ill close with that cuz it makes me depressed. Laters all.
2/19/06 7:34 pm
Yes its been a very very long time since Ive been here. Had many things going on in my life and still do... but just for a short catchup . I moved to georgia .. thinking i could get approved for medicaid and find a surgeon nearby with hardly any or no troubles and start all over again, I was wrong.. Im not eligible for medicaid here at all .. I cant even go to the dr to get my meds for all my other problems.. so ive been here for almost 9 months without them. I have come to my senses about some things *namely the reason I moved here to begin with* and when school is out I will be moving back to Illinois and starting all over again. I want this more than anything now... I even dreamed last night that I had had the surgery and was sitting on some kinda of footstool of sorts in the floor and actually felt the weight melting off of me, I looked down at my stomach and it was shrinking right before my eyes!! It was a wonderful feeling and I cannot wait to get this going again!!! Now back to the message boards to see if anyone I knew from way back when is still around!!
2/17/07
Hello everyone! yes, once again, its been way too long since Ive updated my profile, after the above happened I just kinda got motivated to get things on the ball and in June of 06 I moved back home to Illinois, got me a house, one I really really like. I am now back together with my exhusband and as to me being happy about that, it changes from day to day. Anyways.. Ill tell you what prompted me to come in here and update this profile today!! Once I got back to Illinois I signed up for medicaid again and was approved... I had a surgery consult in Chicago Illinois on September 21, 06 with Dr. Joseph Vitello. Of course I was a nervous wreck even though I had been to one consult with another dr a couple of years back, I didnt know what to expect. The waiting room was plum full and I thought Id be there forever, thankfully my chosen sister (whom I met online many years ago) took me there and stayed with me thru it all. They called me back and took vitals and got med list and weight.. I weighed in at 321etc etc.. and then sent me to a conference room, not an examinaing room which surprised the heck out of me. Dr Vitello came in and was very cut and dry about the whole procedure, Im sure because he repeats himself numerous times a day and that must get pretty old. Anyways, I already knew everything he told me thanks to this wonderful website we have here and he said that I needed to go have psych eval and send it to him, he would take care of the rest. I had a helluva time finding a psych in my area that would take medicaid, but my PCP helped me out tremendously on that one and made me an appt for October 31st. I went to that and was again a nervous wreck, didnt have anyone there to support me this time but I made it. The Dr was Dr Quershi and he was very very very nice!!! He made me feel very comfortable even though some of the questions he asked were a lil weird for the circumstances I thought. Anyways, he completely and totally cleared me and stood behind me to have this surgery done, he wrote a letter of recommendation that far exceeded what Id hoped for. SO, to make an even longer story short.. I FINALLY got all of the paperwork I needed including medical records of dr supervised weight loss plans , psych eval, and my own written records of unsupervised weight loss plans together and got them into Dr. V and called his nurse Mary Ann who is an absolutely WONDERFUL person... told her it was all on its way and she called me when she got it and sent it to medicaid that day.. she said medicaid was taking about 2 weeks for approvals and that I would more than likely receive the letter before they did, so when I got it, to call them and they would schedule the surgery, this was almost 2 weeks ago and Dr V was scheduling surgeries for March at that time. So Ive been watching and watching and watching the mailbox like a freakin HAWK.. and today it came!!! .. My 3 sons were standing here over me, my hands shaking as I opened it and my oldest one said.. Mama I dont know if to pray that it says yes or pray that it says no, I know you want it but im scared.. I said I know son but whatever is in this letter is in Gods plan or it wouldnt be here in my hands right now.. I opened it and it was approved!!! Thank God! But of all days to come on saturday so I cant call MaryAnn and let her know now I have to wait and thats gonna kill me lol Anyways,... Ive been on this road for 4 yrs now... and Im finally the closest Ive ever been and I know more now that Ive ever known this is more important to me now than it ever was. I wanna thank Kathy Harris for being such an inspiration for me, youve probably all seen the story of her journey on the Discovery channel.. I thank you Kathy for your supportive emails and hope one day to get to meet you. I have a feeling I will be on here more than ever now, so please get used to seeing me around lol .. I know some of you remember me from way back, but I also know there are lots of new faces here and this website has grown by leaps and bounds since Ive been here... If any of you have any questions about my experiences with DR V or medicaid please email me!
2/21/07
Arghghg My pcp called me today and has made my appts for the nerve block and physical therapy. Im supposed to start tomorrow but dont think Ill be able to, the nerve block is scheduled for 3/01/07 .. im not looking forward to that at all, ive been told it hurts very bad, but if it will take away some of this constant pain that i have every day, Ill be more than happy. Oh.. I just realized that I didnt include anything about this in my profile. To make a very long story short.. I have 5 ruptured disks in my back, spinal stenosis and degenerative disk disease. I just found all this out in September... so to avoid surgery the neurosurgeon wants to try this route first and told me to go ahead with my Gastric bypass hoping that a significant weight loss will help with the healing of the disks. This causes me constant pain and I take medication for it that makes it semi-tolerable but nothing miraculous.. Im hoping these injections work. They put the needle in your back and inject anesthesia and steroids, wish me luck!
2/19/07 5:30 pm
Well I talked to Mary Ann today and she was working out of another office and wasnt right there with Dr V.. I told her I received my approval letter and its a good thing I called because she hasnt gotten anything yet, she told me to hang on to it in case she needed a copy. She said that she will be back in his office on Thursday and I should get a date then because he schedules all his own dates, that he wont let her do it for him. I asked her about doing it lap even though he only does open because I read on someones profile here that he did it lap on her with assistance from another dr, and she said he does do that so she is going to check on that for me as well. She asked if I wanted to do my preop testing up there in chicago or down here and I said here so shes going to send me what I need. Right now Dr Vitello is scheduling for the middle of March so this is coming up on me ALOT quicker than what I had planned, Im hoping it was meant to be that way so I dont have time to get scared! lol Keep throwing ya prayers my way please and good luck to all of you that are on this journey, and remember things happen for a reason so whatever happens is meant to be !
2/22/07
i was hoping and praying that today when I called my surgeons nurse I would have a surgery date. Well, it didnt turn out that way. I called several times and never got an answer, so I left a msg. I called back about half an hour later because i was getting so impatient as the day was almost over that I couldnt take it anymore. Mary Ann answered the phone and as soon as I told her who I was, she told me that Dr Vitello took my chart away from her today and told her that he would call me himself. Well, this was around 4 pm , and Im sure the office would be closing soon and I waited and prayed , waited and prayed and I still got no phone call. I know I shouldnt be so impatient, he will more than likely call me tomorrow or maybe Monday, but man Ive been waiting so long for this, even one more days HURTS! Keep ya fingers crossed ya'll that sometime tomorrow he will call me. Thanks!
5/30/07
Once again its been a LONG time since Ive updated and I am sooooo sorry, but Ive had some financial problems and lost my internet for a while and then guess what.. I HAD MY SURGERY!! Yessireeeeee!! So much has happened since my last post that I know if I even tried to put it in here it would be all jumbled and very important details may be forgetten so here is my idea... If you want to know ANYTHING about my experience with Dr Vitello or the psychiatrist Dr Qureshi or some of the minor setbacks I have had since surgery email me your phone number and Ill call ya ( I have free LD) or email me and Ill give you mine, whichever you prefer and you can ask me all the questions that you want so to be sure nothing is left out and believe me there is LOTS to tell and Id love to share my experience with anyone whos willing to listen! LOL I will tell ya all the crazy food concoctions Ive come up with just to get a taste of REAL food and they still fit within the 5 grams or less of fat and 20 grams or less of sugar that Dr Vitello wishes us to have. Although all surgeons are different I can still give ya some ideas but always listen to your surgeon and Dietician.
Just for starters on surgery date I weighed 321 pounds , I am now 8 weeks out and I have lost 55 pounds now weighing at 266 pounds.
