Hello Everyone. My name is Andrea and I just turned 40 on Sept 6, 2007.  I am currently weighing in at around 228 lbs and I am a little over 5'2".  I wasn't always overweight. As a teenager, I weighed 113-117 lbs.  I exercised constantly and was very active.  At my lowest, I wore a size 3.  Mostly I was wearing between a 6 - 8.  I was always out-going and you couldn't tell me I was going to be fat.  I have always been interested in acting and performing but was a little to scared to fully pursue this.  I even lived in West Hollywood, CA where my sister was attending UCLA and the other one was going to Cal State-Long Beach. 

I had many actor friends but I never pursued it even though I was often prompted.  I was attending Woodbury University in Burbank and studying Fashion Marketing. Family issues made me abruptly stop going to school and I returned back to St. Louis.  One decision can literally ruin your whole life.  My father and sisters kept telling me to return back to California but I was stubborn. Well..back in St. Louis, I became depressed and lethargic and started gaining weight.  I mean I gained 30 lbs in 4 months and it continued to go up.  I hated my job and my life.  I started school again but it was on and off. I was really depressed.  After years of being depressed and gaining weight I bottomed out at 228 lbs.  (I use to swear that I'd never be over 125 lbs and now I was 103 lbs heavier)- I didn't have a decent relationship and was often alone.  Now..don't get me wronge.  I was depressed and alone but not lonely.  I was comfortable being by myself but I did miss a real relationship. 

I often blamed my weight as a reminder of my failure. I first became interested in bariatric surgery around 4 years ago.  At that time I was doing LA Weightloss and had just lost 14 lbs in my first month when one of my good friends convinced me to go to the seminar.  The commercials were all over the airways and I was interested.  I was doing well on LA Weightloss and wasn't quite sure if I wanted to discontinue my progress.  Needless to say, my doctor felt as though I could benefit from the surgery but when I first weighed in, I was around 208 lbs and wasn't quite heavy enough.  Needless to say, I stopped doing LA Weightloss and stopped walking to try to maintain this weight. 

I was first going through St. Alexius Hospital here in St. Louis.  The hospital literally sucked.  I did everything myself.  I would fax in the info to my insurance providers because they would misplace my paperwork.  I was constantly calling and was highly frustrated.  My insurance carrier was and still is Cigna.  After months of going back and forth and me calling the deciding nurse at Cigna, they finally sent me a denial letter because it wasn't a medical necessity.  I was devastated.  My friend who encouraged me to get the surgery didn't follow through and I did.  I was mad for many reasons.  Mad because I stopped my own program to pursue this and mad because of the denial.  I thought, if I would have stuck with LA Weightloss, I would be around 40 lbs lighter by now.  Cignal said I could appeal the decision but they had worn me and my spirit out. 

Last year in Feb 2006, l joined Lipo Dissolve and went on the Medifast program.  I lost 20 lbs my first month and my doctor was really happy and surprised.  When she came back in the room the first thing she said was, "Wow, you lost 20 lbs this month, have you thought about pursuing the bariatric surgery again?'  I was like, "Donna..I just lost 20 lbs!"  She say, "it won't stay off and we have many patients having the surgery and you would be a great candidate"  I reminded her of the devastation I suffered a few years earlier and couldn't take it again.  She then tells me to go through with it again because the head doctor will call the insurance company directly to make sure you get the surgery if you get denied.  

Well...I still sat on this for over a year because I was honestly not wanting to do this again. Around March of this year, my co-worker says she's getting the Lap Band in Mexico for $10,000 and this prompted me to start moving.  She was about the same size as myself and I really thought about moving forward.  To make a long story short, my doctor encouraged me to move forward.  I almost forgot, one of my former co-workers called me around November 2006 and said she had the laparoscopic Roux-en Y gastric bypass surgery in August and had already lost around 80 lbs and suggested that I go through DePaul Hospital instead of St. Alexius because she had the same experience and she felt great now. Well...I took my doctor's and coworkers advice and called and made an appointment with DePaul Hospital and that's when I first met Dr. Roger de la Torre. He really impressed me at the seminar and I decided to move forward.  I went through their weight loss program and their psychiatrist for the evaluation. 

I passed everything with flying colors.  My doctor had to still write me a letter of necessity and after several drafts, he told me to write it and he'll look over it and sign it. Great!!  I found a letter that was on the internet that someone had provided and was approved the first time.  I used this letter as a template and added in all my information.  I had two knee surgeries since then because of a torn cartilage and needless to say after 2 months of callling Cigna for an update I was approved the first time!!!  I was ecstatic.  That was last month in August.  

People were really surprised that I was approved because I'm not diabetic or have high blood pressure. My family does have history of strokes and diabetes so I could have ended up with the same health conditions. I really think that some people really weren't happy for me and wanted to speak negative to me and I wasn't going to have that again!!  This surgery is extremely popular now so I will be scheduled for my surgery at the end of October for my Laparoscopic Roux-enY gastric bypass. 

I have a Pre Op on September 26th and I'm so excited.  Since my approval, many of my overweight friends have now jumped on the bandwagon and want all the information.  Pray that everything goes well.  I'm really looking forward to changing my life around and go after the things I wanted 20 years ago.  Good News...I did complete my BA last year (finally--so it's never to late) and after tonight's class, I will officially have my Masters!!!  This journey has taught me to not ever give up on what you believe in or want.  If you want to go back to school, make it happen..you're going to get older year after year so why not do something that will benefit you in the long run. 

People can take many things from you but they can't take away your education!!! I have lost friends because I went back to school. I had a friend tell me just 13 weeks before I graduated with my BA that I shouldn't do it because I'm doing it to please my family.  How stupid!!!  As long as I can remember, one of my main goals was to graduate from college. I will encourage any and everyone to do the same if that's what they want.  Don't listen to people who say you are too old or it's too expensive or there are people out there who have a degree and still don't make money...Who cares...they still have options!!!  We have a lot of living to do so we might as well be HAPPY doing it!!!!  I've been miserable for too many years...watch out world, here comes the new and improved Andrea aka DIVA DOLL!!! 

                   

                                                    This is virtual Andrea before my WLS journey.