ObesityHelp.com: Making the Journey Together
 
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Finally realize my goal of weight loss and getting healthy

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Surgeon Testimonial

Fernando Bonanni, M.D.
Very informative of all aspects of the process. His office staff: Jamie, Paula ,Toni and Ann are the best and have kept me going for the past 10 months while I waited for Aetna to come to their collective senses!!

The seminars and monthly support groups are full of information and people who are willing to share all of their experiences.

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Latest Surgery Support Comments

  • Comment by philly_passion19135 on 8/13/07 4:38 pm
    Hey there I just wanted to wish you a safe surgery and a speedy recovery!! Good luck on your new journey... Keep in touch and let me know how you are. You are in my prayers. Hugs & kisses philly_passion
  • Comment by judyanne on 8/10/07 5:56 pm
    Monday is your day! Just remember you are on the journey of a lifetime. Try to enjoy every minute. It may sound weird now, but know that you are cared for and prayed for here, and all too soon this will be but a memory and you will be an inspiration to someone else. I am waiting for you on the losers' bench!
  • Comment by treiser on 8/10/07 5:47 pm
    Good luck and congratulations on your big day! You will be in my thoughts and prayers. Tanya
Click here for the surgery support page
Welcome to my page.  I am 41 years old and have finally been approved for surgery!  It has been over 10 long months fighting with the insurance but my patience has paid off!  Time to see everyone on the Losing Side.



sanscarpaci's Blog



Baby It's COLD Outside!!!
4 days ago

As I write this I have kicked the heat on because it is cold!  Summer is over and Fall is here.  I don't know why but I always hungrier when it is cold out and the nights are long (dark). 

WW is going well.  Week 6 and I am down 4.2 lbs.  Slow but steady.

I finished the month of September with 2485 minutes of excercise, far surpassing my goal of 2300 minutes!  That felt good!

The kids are back in school, the strike is on hold pending litigation so all is back to normal.  Yeah.

Susan

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Summer is Gone...
on September 7, 2008 6:57 pm
It is September already and I would like to say we have all gotten back to normal schedules but as I write this, our school district is on strike!!  The kids just want to go to school and do not understand unions, demands, economics....  No idea how long this will continue.

Anyway I finished the summer exercise with 2075 minutes.  I had aimed for 2300 in August but sadly did not make it.  But it is a new month and I am getting back to basics.

It has also been a while since I have lost any consistent weight.  As of Friday 9/5/08 I have joined Weight Watchers as a needed accountability step.  I will be attending the weekly meetings with my daughter and going through the weekly weigh ins.

It has been a glorious summer.  Time to get back to work...

Susan
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1 Year Surgiversary
on August 13, 2008 8:59 pm

Dear OH Friends,

Today is 1 year since I received the gift of this weight loss tool that has helped me to transform my life.

 

   I celebrated today my taking a vacation day for some "Me" time.  Here is a rundown on how I celebrated.

Started out by getting my blood work done for 1 year post op.  They took 10 vials!!
 


Treated myself to a "raw" green smoothie.  Lots of protein and vitamins and a pretty green color.

Got a pedicure and had them paint my nails purple with a design! 

Totally not me, I'm a beige/French mani girl.

For lunch I stopped by my favorite Dunkin Donuts for some decaf and the new egg white flat bread sandwich.  Very yummy.

Took a Kickboxing Class.

Started a "Couch to 5K" running program.  Even had a new running bra and running shoes to assist me.  Lasted 10 minutes. Played the lottery since I felt so lucky today.  Played scratch off’s and “0813”.  I don’t know if I won yet.


Donated my "prior self" clothes to a women’s shelter.  That felt good.

Took pictures and reflected on how far I have come.
  

So here are the stats:
75 lbs down
73 inches lost
BP from 160/98 to 114/88.
Sugars from 102 to 83
No aches or pains.
From no exercise to walking 5 hours a week and taking 5-1 hour classes a week.
Size 24 to a 12
No diet coke for over a year.
No alcohol for over a year.
Kicked caffeine in the last 4 months.
Still working on the sugar thing...

I also submitted a "Wow" moment to OH and have been informed that my story and picture have been accepted for a future issue.  Very Cool.

Best of all,  I feel normal.  Most of you will know what I mean by this.  I don't worry about the size and strength of chairs.  I don't measure myself against others to see if I am the biggest person in the room.  I just...feel...normal.  But the funny thing is, I still feel like the same me inside, just in different packaging.

I plan on writing to Aetna and including all of this information. They denied me 3 times for over 10 months and it wasn't until it went to an outside arbitrator did I win the case to have them cover this procedure.  Maybe eventually they will see the benefits of WLS and be more apt to cover the costs.


I am currently at 9 cc's in my 10 cc band.  Feeling good restriction as long as I eat the right foods and follow all of my band rules.

I am so grateful for the support and friendship I have received on this board as well as the support from my family and friends. The exercise challenges have been especially helpful and motivating when I am not eating my best.  

My husband has been especially helpful throughout this journey.  Today our internet stopped working and he knew I wanted to post this message so he was on the phone with Comcast for over an hour, while I was at the Y, to get it going.  Those are the things that count in a relationship. 


I plan to continue to "pay it forward" by participating on the boards and helping others whenever I can.

Keep on this Journey, it is so worth it!  And so are WE!!

Susan

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And another month is gone....the summer is almost gone!
on July 31, 2008 6:38 pm
We are heading into August!  Ack!  This month I have surpassed my exercise goal of 2000 minutes by 306 minutes despite an exercise-less week and a week of not feeling up to par.

The eating is not keeping up as well.  My latest fill has me really restricted and it is really easy to eat the slider foods like chips and candy.  So as a result I am not dropping any pounds and keep going up and down the same 5 lbs. 

I am giving myself a break during the summer.  I continue to walk every day for an hour and doing my 5 classes a week at the Y.  I am getting in great shape!

I want to start running!  I am listening to a podcast called "from couch to 5K" for inspiration.  I also invested in a really good support top and running shoes for when I do start.  I'll ease into it....

So here is to the last month of the summer.  Very much enjoying these months going to the NJ shore every weekend and sitting on the beach.  Thank you all for your continued interest and support!

Susan
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June has come to a close...
on July 4, 2008 8:17 am
As I write this we are lounging pool side at a campground near the NJ shore.  I am comfortable in my new bathing suit and not wearing a cover-up (which is a miracle in itself). Again this month I have surpassed my goal of 2000 minutes of exercise, coming in at 2260 min.  I had my 3rd fill on 13-Jun and am now 9 out of 10 cc's filled.

Dr. B is very pleased with my progress and so I continue on this path.  I don't think I will hit my goal of 100 lbs lost by 13-Aug but I continue to try everyday.

I am actually looking forward to getting back to my normal schedule after vacation and hitting the gym!!

Susan
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Archive

My Story

I was born 40 years ago to two loving (if not moderately) overweight parents. It was the 1960's and what did we know about nutrition? I wanted for nothing, ate my share of snacks like all kids do. One thing I remember is that my mom always ate on a smaller plate. And we always had a food scale on our counter next to the yellow Lean Line Book that weighed my mother's successes and failures each week. By the age of 10, I was well versed in the dieting world. At age 13, I was enrolled in Lean Line and weighed 156 lbs. I lasted 3 weeks.

So from there I struggled with my weight all through middle school, high school. I didn't eat much in high school; I saved my money and drank diet soda to be "cool" and somewhat thin. I was fortunate that I could look thin at 150 lbs. I carried it well.

When I entered college, I became obsessed with exercise. I joined a local gym and became an aerobics instructor at the Four Seasons Spa in Glassboro, NJ. I taught back to back classes 3-4 times a week. I could eat whatever I wanted since I burned it off in class. Plus, I was still young…. I was still somewhat on the heavy side but had no health issues or aches or pains. Life was Good.

I entered graduate school at West Chester University and became engaged to my husband. Something had to give, I was burning out. So I gave up teaching aerobics. I knew the moment I hung up the phone with my head teacher that my physical self was going to change. Unless I changed my eating, I was going to gain.

I was married in 1990 and began an internship at FMC Corp and then Merck Pharmaceuticals. Long drives from Salem and Glassboro NJ to Delaware and Montgomery County, PA. The exercise went away and the eating continued. I have consistently been at or over 200 lbs for most of my 20's and 30's. I should mention that I don't drink or smoke or do drugs or engage in any risky behaviors, and have never in my life.

In 1997 we moved to PA. My husband and I are both employed by Merck and wanted to reside in the community. In 2000 I was blessed with a baby girl Nicole, and recognition of high blood pressure which has been in existence for some time. I just never went to the doctor so it was never diagnosed.

I joined Weight Watchers officially after Nicole was born. I managed to lose some weight, work out. But the weight always came back.

In 2003, I was blessed again, this time with my son Anthony. Now I had high blood pressure and borderline diabetes. Three weeks after Anthony was born I went on the Atkins plan and lost 50 lbs in 6 months. I also coupled the diet with daily 2 mile walks. I felt great!!

My maternity leave was up and I went back to work at Merck. In 2004 I was moved to a high stress job in Human Resources/Labor Relations. It was at this time that I developed some anxiety issues and began seeing Catherine Shields at the Lansdale Medical Group. After diagnostics and root cause analysis, I was placed on a low dosage antidepressant (Zoloft) and the quality of my Life was through the roof. It turns out that I had some measure of anxiety all of my life but it was something, and continues to be something, that is not discussed or dealt with. I decided to deal with it and I was beginning to do things I had never done before. Going on trips, to the mall, being comfortable in crowds, comfortable in my own skin!!! For once I believed in the power of medicine. My benefits covered this small miracle and for that I am grateful.

Unfortunately a side effect was weight gain. One could argue that it wasn't the medicine, it was my relaxed mind that allowed it, but there it is. I was weighing in by 2006 at 239 lbs.

In August of 2006 I began researching weight loss methods. I stumbled on a wonderful website called www.obesityhelp.com. Through this website I was able to research the various procedures and their effectiveness.

I attended my first group consultation at the Barix Clinics in PA in September 2006. I was immediately sure that the Lap-Band was the procedure for me. Unfortunately, they didn't like the Aetna/HMO payment method and my friends at Aetna encouraged me to find a program that Aetna supports and has a relationship with.

This led me to the Surgical Weight Loss Center at Abington PA. I had a group and individual consultation with Paula Beam, who coincidentally is a walking advertisement of Dr. Bonanni's work as she was his first weight loss surgery patient! We agreed I was a candidate and began our journey…

24 vials of blood
1 stool sample
1 blood gas test (with a few mis-steps in there)
1 psych consult (I passed)
1 nutritional consult (very informative)
1 unexpected-but-handled-gracefully rectal exam
1 in-hospital endoscopy test (I have a hiatal hernia)
Several doctor visits/consults

In October, my father was diagnosed with stage IV kidney cancer. After many trips to the Cancer Institute in NJ and countless hospital visits, my father passed away, at age 64, on January 13, 2007. His last conversation he told me to push on and don't forget to take care of myself. He said to not forget what the doctors told us how obesity is a leading cause of kidney cancer.

I only had the heart disease and high blood pressure boxes to check off on my medical history. Now I have a new box to check, CANCER.

I am now at 250 lbs. I joined Weight Watchers again 3 weeks ago and have lost a whopping 3 lbs. But still I try. I know what to do; it isn't as easy as that.

And now I have been denied twice. I had always hoped that when I really, really needed my benefits, they would be there. I never imagined I wasn't "fat" enough for this surgery. I chose the least invasive, least expensive, yet most realistic option for my lifestyle.

I am successful in every area of my life. I have been married for 16 years, 2 beautiful children, and a 15 year career with Merck currently working in Rotavirus Manufacturing as an area head, a successful writer-on-the-side and a loving daughter and friend. The area of normal body size is the only thing left to get in perspective!! 

 


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