Traci L.

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MOST RECENT POSTS~
June 6, 2006 It's my son's birthday today. He turned 8. Where does the time go? Only 15 days until I leave and 16 til my surgery. I need to get stocked up with what I'll need afterward. I'm so scared that I'll do something or eat something wrong. I'll be looking for guidance from all the post-ops here, you can bet! My angel, Trish, had her surgery last Wednesday and should be home by now. She did great and said that everything in Ensenada is just as people have posted, which is a relief! We're going to be staying at a hotel, since the apartment is booked, but I'm sure everything will be fine! I'm absolutely psyched!!!


June 2, 2006 Today is my 16th wedding anniversary. I'm looking forward to next year's anniversary when I can be free of this weight and feel sexy like I used to! Only 20 more days til my surgery. It still doesn't seem real, and probably won't until I get to Ensenada!

May 9, 2006 I wanted to update my profile to have my most recent posts at the top, so this will be my first new one... the ones below this will be old. I am 36 years old. I have 2 children turning 8 and 6 within the next month. I have told only a handful of people that I am going to have this surgery, and even fewer know I'm going to Mexico. I've met lots of wonderfully supportive people on this site who never seem to get tired of answering silly questions. My surgery date is for June 22, 2006 and I can't wait!!!

3-30-06 ... almost 2 years later! I've decided to self-pay for WLS. I'm making plans to go to Ensenada, Mexico with Dr. Allejandro Aguirre. My surgery date is scheduled for June 22, 2006. It's the last week of school for the term, so I should only need to take a couple of days off. I can't wait!

4-1-06 I just want to say thank you to all who have been emailing me and answering my posts... the welcome and advice are greatly appreciated! Since I haven't really written in 2 years, I thought I'd update a bit. My kids are now 7 and 5, turning 8 and 6 in a couple of months (how time does fly!). My husband finally got social security disability after hiring a lawyer and going through the whole court thing. We still haven't seen any money, but should be very soon! We've sold our house that we've lived in for 14 years and are moving to a house my parents own. They are paying for us to remodel it. We had to gut the entire thing. We're supposed to close on our house this week (and move)... stress!!! I'm very excited about my surgery, but it doesn't seem real yet. I haven't made my down-payment or booked a flight or hotel... I'm sure that's part of the reason. We have to wait for my husband's SS money to come to do that. Also, I haven't told anybody except my hubby and one close friend. I'm scared to tell my mother, for fear she won't approve of me going to Mexico to have this done... we all know about people's perceptions of surgeons outside of our "perfect" country. I'm not sure whether I'll tell her at all... might just say we're going on vacation. I hate that people don't understand!!!

5-5-06 I have an angel. I've been trying to figure out for a while how to list her, but finally did. Thanks, Trish! Well, I'm getting closer and closer to my date and getting very excited. I am frustrated that I can't get my picture posted on here, though. Must be something with the new site setup. I just want people to be able to see what I look like!!! Oh well.

OLDER POSTS~

I have been battling with my weight all me life. I am worried about my health and am ready to take control of my situation.I am 34 years old. I'm 5'3" and weigh 245. I have a wonderful, supportive husband who loves me how I am, but even he is now starting to say enough is enough! I have 2 beautiful children-- 5 and 3.

1-9-04 Man, is this site addicting. I'm on my planning period at school and spending it on the computer. I have a consult with my surgeon scheduled for March 2. I go to an informational group meeting the day before that. I can't wait. I really want to get this underway! I also have a consult scheduled with another surgeon for the week after, which I made because I was impatient waiting for the initial surgeon to get me in. Now I'm not sure whether to keep both appointments or cancel the 2nd one? I guess time will tell. I hope it goes by quickly!

2-16-04 I talked to someone at RMSCO today. I asked the question about whether or not I could see 2 different surgeons and have both consults be covered. Well, the lady started to go nuts on me! "What do you mean? You can't even make an appt. for a consultation without a letter of medical necessity from your PCP!" and blah, blah, blah. Once I talked her down a level or 2, she was very nice. I explained how long it took around here to get an appt. with a surgeon, and that my appts. were coming up in March. She reiterrated the need for the letter from my PCP ASAP. So I called his office and asked the nurse to have him write it up as soon as he could and fax it in! But, in answer to my initial question, I am allowed to have 2 consultations with different surgeons, so that's good. I'll be keeping both appointments. But talking to the insurance company and filling our paperwork for the surgeons makes me nervous. What if they don't think I'm a good candidate? What if they want me to go on yet another diet? (what if the 8 times I've dieted before weren't enough). UGGHH! Guess I'm having a lot of angst right now. I really want this and don't know what I'll do if I'm not allowed! I can't keep living this way, because the way I feel, it's not really living.

3-3-04 I had my consult with Dr. Cunningham yesterday. I met with the nutritionist, the nurse practitioner and him. They aren't requiring me to lose weight, which I'm glad about, but I do have to start eating slowly, improve what I'm eating, and practice not drinking with meals (that's gonna kill me). I really like the program at SUNY Upstate. It's very behaviorally based, and I'm going to need that. Before my next appt. at the end of this month, I have to have an EKG, bloodwork (which I did yesterday), and get my psych eval done. Marcy (the NP) said summer may be a possibility for surgery, but she couldn't guarantee it, of course. She said it all depends on how I do with all the evals. and changing my habits in the next 3 months. I can do this, I know! I think I'm going to cancel my appt. with Dr. Graber in Utica because I feel that the Syracuse program will help me achieve a higher level of success. Until next time...

3-20-04 Well, I've had my head officially shrunk... I had my psych. eval. Thursday night. I passed-phew! I saw Dr. FitzGerald in Watertown. He was very nice. I was very comfortable talking to him. My husband went in with me, and the doc included him in the discussion, which I thought was great! And he said that I'm sane... then looked directly at my hubby and said, "You heard it here from a professional." Ha, ha... very funny, boys! Anyway, I'm glad it's done. I've been doing really well chewing my food, taking my time to eat, and NOT drinking with meals (that's been my toughest challenge). According to my scales, I've lost 7 pounds. I go to my next appt. in Syracuse next Friday; I hope they see the loss on their scales, too. I'll post again after my appt. next week. TTFN!

4-7-04 I met Dr. Simon today. He seems SO knowledgeable and caring. I really feel good about being in his hands. Also today, Marcy said, "Let's get the ball rolling for you." They're going to start with the insurance stuff, so please keep me in your prayers! I lost 5 lbs. since my last appt. which they were happy about. They say to lose another 10-15 before surgery to make the lap easier to do. My next appt. is in a month. I'll post before if I get any news about my insurance company's decision. TTFN!

4-24-04 UGHHH!!! I hate RMSCO. I called a week ago and was told that I have a written exclusion policy and WLS is not covered. I cried for a whole day when I found out. I'm in the process of trying to get my employer to help me find a way around it because of medical necessity. I can see this may drag on for quite a while. But I will not give up hope. I have another appt. in a couple of weeks. I don't expect anything new to transpire at that point either. I really have to do a lot of work on my end... including the letter of medical necessity from the surgeon, which I'll get at my next appointment, and then hand in with my appeal letter to my plan administrator. A word to the wise... know your policy!!!

5-6-04 I had my 3rd appt. today. Nothing new, as predicted. They're all set to send in the insurance paperwork, but I asked them to hold off for a week or so to try to pave the way on my end. I handed in my letter and the letter of medical necessity. My plan administrator said, "I'll see what I can do." Now the ball's out of my court, and I have to play the waiting game. We'll see. BTW, I have lost 9 pounds since my initial consult. I'm down to 241.