that is fantastic Kimmieb!

Barbara,
Thank you for this information! I have gone ahead and signed up for the meetup support group and do look forward to meeting you someday as well!

I will keep in mind YMCA as an option as well. My boyfriend and I are going tomorrow to go look at a couple of places for me although he will not be working out with me. :(  I am not too upset about that at all - I am doing this for me and no one else. He just does not have any time right now with his company going through a merger and him having so much work on his hands. I totally understand. :)

You totally understand the bionic ankle dilema when it comes to the limitations of starting out when working out in the early stages of working out! I want to do it right and not burn myself out but at the same time I want to be able to to push myself to a point of doing something good for my body.

Anyway, thanks again for your help and I hope to cross paths with you in the future.
Best wishes,
Chelsea

 Kim - I am scheduled for surgery 10/3 through the Duke center.  I started the process in May with my online eval and got a call 5 weeks later scheduling my appointment(s).   I saw the surgeon, the psych, the nurse for labs and they even sent me to the hospital for my barium xray that day.  Be sure to ask them to schedule all for the same day to avoid making an additional trip if you live a ways away like I do!   The psych eval went well - I was worried that they were going to run me through the wringer but really, they just spent an hour talking with me, making sure I knew what I was in for. Four weeks after that (4th of July holidays held it up a couple days)  they had all the test results and called the insurance company.  Thankfully I have BCBSNC and they approved me in just a couple days.  They called to schedule my surgery for August but due to work constraints, I had to schedule in October.   Be patient with the center - they have had issues with returning calls but they are SOOOOO busy.  To me it is worth it knowing that I'm going through this process with such a great group.  Good luck to you! Cherie

WOOOHOOOO! I weighed this morning, I've lost 100 lbs!  YEAH ME! So happy, this has been the best decision I ever made!