April F.
I am 25 yrs old and I do not want to spend the rest of my life obese. All the weight came on when I got depressed. Needless to say as the depression gets worse, the more I gain.
July 8th..I have called most of the surgeons offices here in the Atlanta Metro area and I have several appts. scheduled. I can't wait till my 1st consultation. I am going to meet with Dr. Kermie Robinson on the 18th. I will definitely let everyone know how that goes. I have an appt. with Dr. Waits on Aug. 28th. I am so excited. I have the LOMN. I have contacted my insurance and faxed over a personal letter of why I feel this surgery is beneficial and how it will help me, hoping this might make a difference.
8/6/02
Well I started a Physicians Regulated diet on July 18th. Doing this I had to cancel my appt. with Dr. Robinson. I had an appt. with Dr. Daly on the 1st of August. Everything went well. Just had to wait awhile. Dr. Daly told me the good and bad of surgery. We discussed the different types and the one he would do on me. I am going LAP. I just hope I get approved by the insurance company. I sent over a 7 page letter enclosing medical terminology and my condition and family background. On Friday August 2nd, I spoke with a representative from PHCS and he told me the letter was impressive. He was going to call Dr. Daly's office and get some information. Then submit the information to their nurse, who will submit it to the board. The person at the insurance company told me to call at the end of the week and see if a decision has been made. Currently I am waiting for Dr. Daly to send the his letter over for review.
8/9/02
Today is my brother's b'day. He is 13. I called my insurance company today....they reviewed the letter from my surgeon...and guess what....I AM APPROVED...happy dance...happy dance!!! I am so happy. I am going to call Dr. Daly's office and see if there is anything I need to do in the meantime. My mom is worried so she is going to wait to tell my dad. I don't want them to worry. Now I just have to prepare for the upcoming. I am so excited...thank you GOD! Everyday, I am truly blessed. I was so happy it only took my insurance company 1 day to approve me. It makes me kinda worried though. It seemed so easy. I will be praying for all of you out there that are going through this process, and I wish the best for you all. May God bless everyone. The countdown begins....YAY!!!
I called my surgeons office and spoke with Tammy. I wanted to verify that I was approved. Tammy told me due to some contract that the Dr. has with PHCS, she will have to see what they are going to pay. They might not pay the full amount for the LAP procedure. Needless to say, I was a little concerned. She told me to call her Monday afternoon and hopefully she will be able to tell me one way or the other what the synapsis is. My fingers are crossed. Lord please make them cover the full cost. PLEASE!!
I will let everyone know what I find out on Monday.
8/22/02
Well Monday came and went. I didn't have any news to post unfortunately. On Tues. I called Tammy and she couldn't really tell me anything since the insurance company had been dragging their feet. Now its Thursday and Tammy just called me to tell me that she refaxed over the information the insurance company needed to get this underway. I am not going to worry anymore whether or not the insurance will pay for costs. The lord will bless me, this I know. There is no need to worry about what is in the lord's hands. I must be patient and focus on me and my mindset. I want to be ready mentally and physically. My parents are worried about me having this surgery. I have talked to them about it and give my side. Yet, they are still concerned. However, I can't take being this way for another yr. I used to tell people I wish I was made of clay so I could mold and shape my body into what I want it to be. Silly...huh...
Such is life...hehehe!
Tammy told me she hopes to have the letter back from PHCS by tomorrow so she can give me my official date. Boy am I anxious. I will just keep in mind that everything is going to be alright.
9/06/02
Well I have been calling and calling, and it seems I am not getting anywhere. Guardian tells me that they will only pay $1900.00, which has gotta be a bad joke. Tammy at Dr. Daly's office has been trying to get this straightened out. The person at Guardian who gave that amount doesn't even know what the procedure actually involves. She has no medical background. All I can say is ....THIS REALLY SUCKS! So yesterday I called Guardian and spoke with a claims specialist. He told me that he will contact the person who wrote the letter stating that only $1900 would be paid. He would try to get her to hurry up and have the amount revised. Hopefully I will hear something today. I have been waiting for 3 weeks. Needless to say, I am not the most patient person when it comes to this surgery. One a good note if everything goes well and Guardian gets their stuff straight, I will be having surgery on the 16th of October. Tammy set a date aside for me. Please let everything (paperwork)get straightened out!! Every night I dream about being that new thin healthy me. I dream about jogging and the feeling is so great. I feel so free in my dreams. I hope these dreams become a reality soon. It has been really depressing thinking that I might not be able to have this surgery. I try to push those thoughts aside and focus on the positive. I am going to start writing down a list of my goals. All those things I want to be able to do after surgery. BTW, I would love to hear from anyone who has had this surgery, especially those who had Dr. Daly for a surgeon or had Guardian Insurance. Thanks so much! April :)
9/12/02
Afternoon everyone!! Well I have good news, Guardian finally came through and sent over the contract rates to take care of surgery. Now I am good to go. My surgeon requested that I get new blood work, an Chest Xray and a letter of clearance from my PCP and the Psyche evaluation, which will all be taken care of by Friday 9/20. YAY!!! Its finally happening. I can't believe it. Its so funny, I dream I am this athletic person jogging along so free and feeling great. I can't wait to make that dream a reality. Thank you Lord Jesus. Thank you all the lovely people on this site and especially to all of you who have sent me well wishes. My prayers and thoughts are with all of you as we make our journey's to the losing side. Bless you all. Much love and many prayer's...April
One last thing...Tammy at Dr. Daly's office...I am not sure if you will ever read this, but I greatly appreciate everything you have done to help me get to where I am. Thank you so much!!!!
9/30/02
Its been a while. I am patiently yet anxiously awaiting my surgery date. I have given a lot of thought to what my life is going to be like over the next year or so. I have been working out...so thats a great thing. I always liked to exercise, so thats really not an issue. The problem would be consistency. There are so many things I hate about being fat. I know everyone else feels the same way. I am so tired of the stereotypes, the stares, the comments. I know this is not me. I wasn't meant to feel like this about myself. I know that after this surgery I am going to have issues with my self image. I am more than willing to put forth the effort to achieve my goals/dreams. So I do not doubt for one second that I will reach my weightloss goal. I really want to get my mind and my body in tune w/ each other. I want to focus on developing my mind and body and produce positive results. I try to create the visual of what I am going to look like after the surgery but its so hard. Sometimes its really difficult to be able to tell how and what I will look like.
Looking the way I do makes it really hard for anyone to be interested in going out. No one wants to be with someone they are not attracted to...good personality or not. Its funny..I don't see people who think like this as being shallow. I guess if I never had a problem w/ weight I would be the same way. Instead of letting this piss me off or hurt me, I use it as motivation. I think that once I reach my goal I will finally be able to mark this source of depression off my list. All the negative stimuli from weight will be gone. Then I can focus on the other areas of my life. I am more than sure at that point I will be the somewhat social butterfly I once was. It seems like it has been so long since I have been comfortable w/ myself. Everyday I think about who I am now, and who I am going to be in the next 6 months. These thoughts are so exciting. I want to be able to jog in the Peachtree. I want to be able to complete in fitness competitions and so on. The fat, lazy, depressed, ugly person that I once was will be gone. Hopefully all the negative thoughts associated with it will be as well. For all of you going throught this, just know that your in my thoughts. Take Care!
10/15/02
Well the day is almost here. Tomorrow morning at 5:30 a.m. I will be at the hospital, 7:30 a.m. I will be having my surgery. Am I worried? Not at all. Am I anxious...OH YEAH! I can't believe I started this journey four months ago. I have been very fortunate to have this go this quickly. Thank you to all the people who have listened and supported me. Thank you for all the well wishes. To those of you beginning your journey, do not give up hope. For those of you experiencing the same surgery date as me...I wish you the best and my the lord bless you all. Time is passing so fast today. I need to go to the library and get a book or two for the hospital stay. I have bought several types of liquid drinks for the homecoming diet. I will let you know how that goes. So far today I have eaten a roll and drank some Glucerna. I know that this is going to be a challenge for me to stay on the liquids but I am going to try my best. Please let my surgery be an uneventful one. I plan on staying up all nite, since I will have to be up at 4:30 anyway. I see no reason why I should go to sleep. It would do no good. All I can say is COME ON 5:30....hehehe. From that point on, I will be somewhat out of it. Ok, now I am rambling. Once again, I wish everyone the best. I will let you know how the surgery goes. I am to come home on Friday the 18th provided all goes well. Take care all...LOVE APRIL!
10/24/02 Hello all!! I made it. I had surgery on the 16th of Oct. Everything went fine. I was in quite a while though. I went into surgery at 7:30 a.m. I woke up in recovery at 12:15p.m. I stayed there for a little while. Then got to go to my room. It was around 1 or so when I got into a room. I stayed there till Friday the 18th. Boy was I glad to come home.While there, I walked and walked and walked. Its funny, I was known as the marathon running. Everyone was amazed at how much, and how well I was doing. I was in pain though. It hurt like a sonofagun!!! I am over most of the soreness now. It took a while. No one can describe how you will feel when you wake up from surgery. Don't be scared. Its not that bad. Its mainly pressure. The soreness comes later. My incisions look AWESOME. Its too cool...I am still bruised, but the 5 sites look like scratches, not incisions. Thank the lord. I am making good progress, I do not get to go to the Dr. until next Tues. Thats when I will get my official weightloss amount. I have to admit, the liquid diet sucks. I am ready for some soft foods..hehehe. I dont want to rush it though. Well I guess I will update after next weeks appt. take care all. Lord bless you and may everyone be as lucky as I was. Bye ya'll!
11/25/02
Happy Thanksgiving Week!!
Well I went in for my one month check up on the 22nd. Everything seems to be progressing along just fine. I have lost 37 lbs. WHEW WHO! If it keeps up at this rate, I will be at my goal at the end of Feb. or so. Its funny, when I exercise I break out in a fine rash of little bumps. I told my surgeon. He had never heard of that before. I must say that makes two of us. I have upped the water and vitamin C. Maybe that will correct the problem. The surgeon told me to eat and drink more. Never thought I would hear that one. Its really hard to eat sometimes. I do not have the appetite and I sometimes end up hurling everything I ate. I am very concious of what and how I eat now.
It's quite strange. I make sure that I do not eat heavy food, otherwise it will come back up. I do not go back to the Dr. for another 3 months. I really hope I will be at my goal at that time. If I am not, I will be really close. For the most part, I feel great. When I exercise my energy goes so quickly. I really have to focus on eating more to sustain my energy levels. I hope everything is going well for those of you who are in process of having surgery and those who have already had it. Charnell Stanley, good luck with your surgery Dec.4th. I will be praying for you. C-ya fellow losers!
12/2/02
Hope everyone's Thanksgiving went well. Mine was lovely. I am trying to eat more now. However, food makes me ill. The thought of food grosses me out. Needless to say, I have been kinda sick lately. I do not throw up all the time, but there are plenty of times I would rather throw up the food than keep it down. ugg...
I have lost another 5 lbs. So thats good. I just hope I can keep it up. I should reach my goal of 55-60 lbs by the end of Dec. without a problem. YAY! I have noticed that my attitude toward myself has changed a little. I don't loathe myself as much as I did. I see changes starting to take place. There is still a long way to go. TTYL!!
12/16/02 2 Months Post OP
Time has been passing by pretty quickly. I can't believe it. Well I have managed to lose some more weight. A total of 50 lbs. So I should definitely hit my goal of 55-60 for the end Dec. I know that the weightloss has slowed down. I hit a plateau about two weeks ago and the scale wasn't budging. Makes ya kinda depressed. Oh well, at least its moving again. 70 more to go. I will be glad to get below 200. Not too much longer. YAY! I have noticed a difference in the attention that I receive from people. More ppl actually notice the changes I am going through. It's funny, ppl who wouldn't talk to me now do. I figured that would happen. Thats life. I have started to dress differently, changed the hair and the make up, so that helps. I need to post some pics. Well, its kinda busy here so I am going to run. TTYL!
1/14/03 Almost three months Post Op!
Well I have almost reached the 3 month marker. Time has gone by pretty fast. I have reached a 60 lb lose. Thank you lord! I am so glad I had this done. I have no regrets. I do wish it would come off faster b/c I am impatient as all hell. I was really surprised over the wkd by my father. He said "you've lost more weight" and my sister said "you look so cute." I was so happy, I think I started blushing...hehe. I go back to the Dr. next month so I am kinda excited to hear what he has to say. I hope all is going well for everyone and I wish you all the best. TTYL!
2/26/03 Fourth Month
On 2/20/03 I went to the Dr. His first statement...You have lost all your chins. I was like..yup...I surely did. He said "you look great." WHEW WHO!! I still have a ways to go though. I want to lose another 45-50 lbs. I should be able to hit goal by June. Yeah, its not as soon as I would have liked. But it will work. I signed up for tennis lessons. So maybe that will help me pull that extra weight off. I start Curves for Women tomorrow. I need guidance and motivation to get my butt moving. Otherwise life is going well. I am trying to eat better. I have found that I really do not care for beef. I love seafood, which is odd since I didn't like it before. I eat quite a bit of salad and soup. I am trying to make better decisions about what I am eating and up the water intake. I will update in two weeks so we can see how the progress is going. Until then, best wishes all!!
3/18/03
I started going to Curves for women and boy can I tell a difference already. I can't wait to see how many inches and lbs. I have lost. I do not think the lbs have been dramatic, but the inches....I can definitely tell. My clothes fit quite differently. I get to do the weigh in/measurements on 3/27/03. So a little over a wk. The countdown is on!! WHEW WHO!! TTYL!
5/19/03
Wow, its been a while since I have updated. Shame on me. Life is much different now than it was this time last year. I have changed tremendously, inside and out. How do I feel about this? I feel like these changes are long overdue. This is my seventh month and I still have about 30 lbs to lose before I am at my goal. I can't wait. As far as eating habits go, I can eat anything I want. Please realize that although I say this, I do not do it very often. I try to pay attention to what and how I eat. I have recently gotten back into the dating scene. I haven't really found anyone that interests me that much. Crazyness! hehe...TTYL! Take care everyone!
9/18/08
It's obviously been too long. What can I say, I stink. LOL! A lot has taken place since 2003. I've lost the weight and become who I wanted to be for most part. I had plastic surgery which includes a tummy tuck, breast lift and augmentation (got more than I bargained for there) haha! If anyone has any questions with any of that, let me know. I will be glad to let you know what I've gone through. I've been through a lot of BS in the past few years. The past 6 wks or so have been tough too. Lots of pain. Good times! I am just keeping my head up and continuing to push forward. I probably sound like I am being negative. I promise I am not. It's just the first thing that's on my mind at the moment. There are plenty of things that I am super happy about and am able to do now that I'd never have done prior to WLS. For instance, singing in front of large groups of people and rockin' out. I have become more vivacious and hungry to live life and take no prisoners. I travel throughout the states going to concerts and such. Going to Vegas is a fav. Great place to let loose. I travel a fair amount with my job as well. I love what I do. Albeit probably not that exciting to everyone. It's fine by me.
sidenote: It's great to be back on here and reading everyone's trials and tribulations. I know we all have them. I wish everyone the best and much love.
10/01/08
Time for an update I suppose. Monday I will be having exploratory surgery to see what's going on with me and why I am experiencing so much pain. This pain started around the 25th of July. I've had lots of tests and had my appendix taken out in August. This solved nothing. So now my WLS is going in to take a look. He said that the dr. that took out my appendix wouldn't know what he was looking for anyway. I have confidence in Dr. Daly to find what the source is and to get rid of the problem. I am excited but a bit nervous too. I've missed a lot of work and I am ready to go back healthy and strong. Once all of this is done I will update again and post the results. Wishing you all the best!
