NikkiC
Wow.. where should I start? I'm Nikki, I'm 27 yrs. and old 5'4 over 260lbs. and just sick and tired (literally) of being overweight. I have tried every diet know to man and I've always lost weight. The problem is that I've just never been successful at keeing it off. No matter what I did, or how much I exercised, I would always gain the weight back plus some. This past year has been a serious wake up call. My healt has deterioated seriously and I've had too many complication that all go back to me being obese. At least that's what I've been told by my doctors. I think the hardest part was after my miscarriage. My ob/gyn told me that if I ever wanted to conceive and have a healthy pregancy and baby that I would absolutely have to lose weight before my husband and I even tried. That was hard to hear, but as they say "The truth hurts". That was in June 2006. Since then I said that I would give dieting and exercising one more try. It seemed like the harder I tried, the more weight I gained. I didn't know what to do, or who to turn to about the way I felt. I would wake up in the morning, and stand in my closet and just cry. At times, I wanted to throw every single thing in the closet out the window. I knew I was getting worst when I didn't want to go places because I hated the way I look. No matter what my husband said, or how much he told me that I was"beautiful" I still felt ugly and uncomfortable in my own skin. When January 1, 2007 arrived and I weighed even more than I did six months before, that's when I decided that 2007 would be the year for me to make a change.
I had been thinking about WLS for about 5 years now and I always said that I would only turn to it as a last resort. Although a really close friend of mine had her RNY in 2004, at that time I still wasn't sure if WLS was for me. I continued to read about it and investigate everything that I could about WLS. I attended two WLS seminars by differnt surgeons. At each seminar I asked as many questions as I could because I wanted to be sure that this was the right thing for me to do. I felt very comfortable and at ease with the Surgeon at the last seminar. His name was Dr. Amir Moazzes and he was referred to me through another friend who is a patient of his. His seminar was very informative, and he took the time to answer all of my questions after the seminar was over. He even answered the many questions that my husband had. This made me feel very relaxed because for the first time, my husband felt that all of his concerns and questions were answered satisfactory. After the seminar, my husand and I discussed it at length. We talked about all the pros and cons and considered all the health problems that I have. I finally felt that this was the only thing that could save my life and improve my medical conditions. The only thing I had left to decide was which surgery was best for me. It took me a while to decide. After writing a list of the pros and cons of the RNY and the Lap Band, and reviewing the details of what each surgery entailed, I decided that the RNY would be best for me.
A few days after the seminar, I called Dr. Moazzez's office to schedule my consulation. I had already spoken with my insuance company several times to be sure that each surgery was covered and to find out what the requirements were. I was totally expecting them to give me a long list of things that I would need to do or prove to them in order to be approved. I was SO surprised when they said "As long as you have a BMI of 40 or < (which I do) then just have the Surgeon send us the request and that's it. I kept calling back and speaking with different representitives just to be sure that I was hearing them correctly. Each time I was told the same thing.
My consultation was scheduled for June 6th. My husband and I still had a few questions for Dr. Mo and as he did previously, he was so attentive and detailed with answering our questions. We both felt extremely comfortable and confident that he was the best Suergon for me. He gave me a huge binder with tons of information to read and forms to complete. He also told me that he wanted me to lose some weight beofore my pe-op appointment. I told him that I could lose it, but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to keep it off before our next appointment. He told me he knew I could do it, and keep it off especially since it would help a great deal with my surgery. He told me "Don't give up". Before I left the coordinator told me that she would submit my request for surgery later that afternoon and be in touch with me as soon as she heard back from my insurance company which usually takes four to six weeks.
Well, it's been over a month since that appointment and I've been doing everything I've been told, reading every book about WLS and learning as much as possible. I figure the more I know, the better off I'll be. My insuance company approved my authorization the first time so it's been smooth sailing thus far. My surgery is scheduled for Monday August 27, 2007. I'm SO excited!!! I know that things will get difficult at times, and this will be the hardest thing I've ever done, but I know that I can do all things through christ who strengthes me! I am so blessed to have a GREAT support system and I know that I can lean on them on those hard days when everything seems impossible. I pray that I will have the strength to push forward when I feel that I can do no more, and I pray that this journey will continue to run as smoothly as possible.
Best wishes to everyone with their journey to weight loss and a healthier lifestyle.
