BandCamper

Send Message

Block

Add Friend

It's interesting how life has settled in to a whole new routine and way of living since my surgery. I notice similar changes in a  lot of people who I "know" from here. I was so obsessed with reading and posting and checking in even several times per day. Now that surgery has come and gone, I spend my time out living in a whole new way and rarely come here to OH anymore. Not that that's good or bad, just different. My focus is so outward now as I feel so much better about myself, life, my health, and others around me. Life is good.

My weight loss has settled into a routine also. I will go three or four weeks with no change in my weight, but I get smaller a bit at a time over those weeks. I can tell from how my clothes fit that I'm shrinking. Then, as happened today, I will weigh during my weekly weigh-ins and I will have lost up to eight pounds all at once. This has been the only consistent part of my loss. I can't explain it, and I'm sure my NP or my nutritionist can, but I don't care. I've gotten over disappointment and frustration about not losing every week because I know one weigh in will come and I'll be way down into another "decade" of weight. I hung right over 200 lbs for weeks then all of a sudden, I was 197. I stayed there for weeks then hit 193. I would gain a pound then lose that a couple of times over the weeks too. Then, suddenly, today I am 186 after being 194 last Friday. Has anyone else experienced this too? It just seems my body won't want to let go of it then suddenly, bam, it's gone. I feel so satisfied. I've lost a total of 53 lbs now over 9 months - 40 of it since surgery. wahoo!

I'm enjoying see everyone's progress photos. I'll get mine up when I can. i haven't looked at them collectively yet...I'm procrastinating but I don't know why. Perhaps I don't want to see where I was and I know I'm not at goal yet...I'm about half way there so maybe I'll look then. Don't know...I will have to think about that.

Best to you all....what a ride this is! Sending good thoughts to everyone. :)

L.

Quick update....

Had my second fill on July 1st. They added .5 for a total of 5.0 in my band. The nutritionist feels I am very near, if not at, my sweet spot. Hopefully, a steady loss will now begin. Since my first fill on May 28th, I've lost and gained and lost again, but she indicates our bodies try to adjust to how they used to be and our metabolisms just freak out.

Good news is my blood sugars are pretty consistantly in the normal range. Fasting and post meals are anywhere between 90 and 120. Wahoo!! I feel SO much better, my memory is better and I have lots of energy. This is great as I just started my new job as a property broker so it's nice to feel good while working and learning so much.

Still bagging up clothes to share with those who are shinking also. Finally gave in and hit the vintage/resale store to rent more clothes for awhile. I say rent as I don't really get to own them for too long. Some jeans I bought a month ago are now clown size on me so into the bag they went and off to the store I went to retain some new ones. Yay!!

Happy 4th to all...I'll be eating a few bites of a hamburger patty and maybe some cole slaw. Don't eat much now which is fine with me!!

xoxox Lori

It’s now been 7 weeks since surgery. I could write for days about the changes and experiences that I have encountered in these few weeks, but I have lots of stuff to do today, so I’ll keep it brief.

 I’ve now lost a total of 30 pounds. 23 of which in the last nine weeks – about 7 in the two weeks before surgery and 16 since.  I had my first fill on Monday, at my 6 week post op. They added 1.5 to the 3.0 that they put it at surgery. I can’t really say that I’ve hit my “sweet spot,” but I’ve lost 5 lbs since Monday (it’s now Saturday). Wow!!  I couldn’t believe my eyes when I was on the scale this morning. I weigh only once per week so as not to become discouraged, but this was the best one yet! I could tell something was happening because pants I wore last week were even more baggy. Oh well…off  they go to the “sharing bag” that I keep in my closet to share with those who are on the same journey. I love being able to share my clothes and hopefully encourage others who are going through this.

 I haven’t shopped for any clothes yet. I’m a bit apprehensive, as I know it will be weird to find a size to start with. I am wearing anything from 16s to 20s that are in my closet. That’ll start changing a bit faster now I think. I’m now with no long jeans to wear. The last pair are just too baggy and make me look stumpy. I have a pair of Capri length jeans so they are my go-to pair right now.

 Some of the more profound experiences that I have had in the last 9 weeks are seeing a different face in the mirror. Mostly when I don’t have on any makeup, I have had glimpses of my childhood face in the mirror. My smile is different – more smile lines and dimples around my mouth and chin. Not age wrinkles, but more contours. The skin around my eyes is decreasing too which makes putting on makeup way more fun. I’ve been experimenting with different eye liner styles as it’s firmer around my eyes. That’s been fun.

Another is the ability to paint my toe nails! I was able to reach all the lil piggies – even the little one – and it felt so good! Looking at my toes makes me happy now. J

Another was yesterday when I was doing some online training for my new job (I’m studying for my property broker license) and I was up on my bed with books and my laptop all around me. I could bend over to reach things and fold my legs up under me, which I haven’t been able to do in years. I crossed my legs the other day while sitting at a restaurant. I can reach to higher shelves in the kitchen as I can get closer to the edge of the countertop. I don’t mind bending over to reach things below me as it’s not laborious any longer. These are all subtle changes, but give me so much joy as I progress. I know there will be many more and things that I can do but just haven’t noticed yet.

I performed last week on a stage for the first time in years (my husband and I play swing and bluegrass music). I was able to wear a cute little green sharkskin suit that I’ve had for years but haven’t been able to wear. I was actually excited about it instead of dreading it, afraid of what people would think. When I saw the photos and video of the gig, I was so pleasantly surprised and not mortified to have people see the images. Now I’m thinking of cute ways to wear my hair and the types of clothes to wear onstage as I am shrinking. I want to try a French twist style as my hair is longer, but I have no way to do it! I’ll have to hit up YouTube and see if there are how-to videos! It just feels SO good to not feel so embarrassed about being in front of people.

 Eating is going well. I can still eat just about anything – even since my fill. I just have to take tiny bites and chew really well. I do feel full now though very soon so that’s why I’m losing more now I’m sure. I sure feels different for which I’m glad as before the fill, I didn’t have to be so careful. This is really making me slow down and eat a lot less. Yay! I’m enjoying Crystal Lite and Wyler’s individual packets for my water. I don’t miss soda at all. Considering how much soda I drank before, I’m really surprised. I haven’t’ felt any sorrow or remorse for missing any of my favorite foods. I just always go to what I can have and should have for my protein requirements. I ate a cookie yesterday to celebrate passing my preliminary exam test, but I ate 1/3 of it over the course of the day. My blood sugars were fine with each reading. I’m not going to tempt fate and start eating cookies, but it tasted really good and I really enjoyed it as a celebration. Who knew a freaking cookie could mean so much and so little at the same time. I felt no pangs to have another one, or thinking “cool…I can eat cookies now” or anything like that. It was just what it was. 

 Another challenge has arisen this week. At my 90 day follow up at my PCP, I had to do my annual mammogram but got a call that there was something they wanted to follow up. There are micro-calcifications that didn’t look right, so Thursday off I went for a needle biopsy. Ugh. It wasn’t too bad, just more nerves after they showed me the video of what they do! I think ignorance is indeed bliss sometimes! When I could hear the sounds of the machines, I then knew what they were doing and it made me nervous. I wasn’t really nervous before the video! I told the doctor and nurse that and they said people had that reaction more often than they thought. Well hell, stop showing the scary video then! Sheesh! The procedure was ok and the residual soreness has been minimal. I haven’t even taken the liquid Tylenol I bought just in case. Now we are in the waiting stage to find out the results. I don’t think about it too often…there is just so much goodness going on now in my life that I’ll just deal with whatever comes and celebrate all the goodness that is here – my weight loss, my music, my new job, changes my husband has made in his life that are awesome….I’m so thankful and grateful for all of these things. Anything else will have it’s proper place and onward I will tread. Tuesday should bring the results from my PCP and I’ll just fit any further treatments into everything that I’m doing. My husband is taking it harder than I am, but perhaps I’m just staying strong to help him cope. I’ve always been the strong one in my two marriages, and perhaps that’s my coping mechanism. I don’t fall apart so that no one else will either. I don’t know…I reserve the right to change my tune next week depending on the outcome of this, but so far, I’m dealing and thrilled to pieces that I’m shrinking at a nice rate!

Blessings to all as we push along in our journeys!

Xoxo Lori

 Surgery went very fast and very well! I am so thankful and grateful to my family and to the wonderful doctors and staff at Sacred Heart/Rockwood. I highly recommend all of them to anyone considering this surgery (that said, Rockwood is moving to Deaconess Hospital due to a change in ownership, but Deaconess gets high marks too so don’t let that dissuade you).

 I checked in at 10am on Wednesday, the 7^th of April. I was sent to the surgery center where I was ushered into my pre-op prep room. Surgery was scheduled for noon, but it only took them about 45 minutes to get me ready, so Dr. Spitz popped in at 10:50am with the anesthesiologist (sorry, his name is a blur). They did their thing and wheeled me off to surgery at about 11:15 –early is good!

 I recall scooting across from the gurney to the operating table, then them fluttering about and around me. Soon came the mask and instructions to breath in….I remember two breaths…. ZZzzZZZzzzZZZzzzzZzzz…off to lala-land!

Woke up in recovery and chatting with some nice recovery nurse and somehow got on the subject of bluegrass music and discovered we had common friends (I am a musician – as is he). Wheeled up to my room where another very nice gentleman took over my care, I recall his name is Steve. He helped me call my husband’s cell phone as no one had notified my husband and daughter where I was! They spent the rest of the afternoon with me and I was released at 6pm! Wahoo….home I went!

 I felt great! Went home and watched TV and hung out. Still feeling great, but a bit tired, I took one pre-emptive dose of my liquid hydrocodone and went to bed. Next day I wasn’t feeling as good as the night before, but still pretty darn good overall. Took two doses of pain meds that day, and sips of liquids for day two of the two day clear liquid diet.

 Got funny hiccups that reverberated to my shoulders that felt weird but didn’t bother me at all…they actually made me laugh. I can’t recall any actual pain…just some soreness on my left side where the port site is. That faded over the next couple of days and is almost gone now (day 10).

 Friday, day three, I felt much better but just took it easy watching TV with my daughter. Took a shower – which was wonderful – and gingerly bent over to blow dry my hair but was able to without any trouble. Started full liquids which was great….back to jello, popsicles, protein shakes etc.

 Saturday I was ready to get out of the house. Showered again with full hair  and makeup - nice to feel human again. Mallory and I ventured into town but not until I had to try on THREE pair of pants to find some that weren’t hanging on me and looking very dopey! That was awesome! We each got our hair cut and met a friend for dinner at Red Robin. First challenge to be faced - how could I eat? Decided on chicken tortilla soup. Asked the nice server to leave off the tortilla strips and ate around the beans and chunks of chicken. Did great! Tasted great and I just took my time and ate it slowly. It was really nice to not feel deprived and still got to participate in a meal out with fun family and friends. It was delightful!

 Each day just got better and better. Wednesday, the 14^th, brought my one week check up and nutritional meeting. All went great. Overall I’d lost 11 lbs since pre-op visit, two week prior to surgery and start of pre-op liquids! I haven’t weighed since the 14th, but will on the two week day, this next Wednesday. Might just do that as my weigh in routine. Don’t want to get disappointed or frustrated if things don’t move fast enough if I weigh more often.

 Drove to client meetings on Friday, day 9, and did really well. Took along two protein shakes as I was traveling slightly out of the area about 50 miles away. Got home a bit tired but took it easy and slept very well last night.

 Diet is interesting. I’m on pureed food now, which is nice. I did eat some cottage cheese and it goes down just fine. I take small bites and chew it until it just goes down by itself. Put a left over piece of chicken breast in the Cuisinart with some barbecue sauce to make it more like a paste. Added some sweet relish (it’s a Southern thing) and that was like heaven! Will do the same with tuna while in this phase. I felt satisfied but never full.

 Cream soups are working well. The chunks are soft enough that I just chew them well and they go down just fine. Today I made a creamy black bean soup that I found in some recipes on lapbandtalk.com. It was really good and it felt really nice to eat something spicy. I put in a spicy salsa to add some flavor. I love hot food so that was really good to taste. I’ve already tried some refried beans with some sour crème on top and that worked well too. I thinned them a bit with chicken stock, but still felt satiated with about a half cup of those. I think I’m craving more flavorful things since I’ve had nothing but rather bland liquids for the last month! Bring on the spicy stuff! J

 That brings me to prepping for soft foods, which starts this Wednesday. Don’t know what I will start with, but cheese enchiladas sound really good.

 I do my Wii fit every night…about 20 – 30 minutes of free step at a pretty good pace. Dr. said no crunches, weights or stretches for 6 weeks for all of the stitches to heal, so I skip the strength training and yoga that is in my regular routine. Don’t do the in place running on the Wii yet either. Still get tired and want to pace myself. It’s been a really interesting 10 days and I’m so grateful and thankful for this opportunity. I can’t believe it’s behind me now after all of those months of waiting! My heart goes out to those who have to really wait a long time, or save for self pay and such. I had it pretty easy overall and I don’t take that for granted.

One of the biggest wins so far is that I don't have to take my diabetes meds so far (or anymore I am hoping!). Dr. said that as long as my blood sugars don't sustain lower than 70 or higher than 150, I shouldn't take the Glumetza!! So far, my highest reading was 142 and my lowest 92, and that was only once each. Average of fasting/morning is 125 and afer meals is 100!!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed so far, but am getting really excited that I can sustain this win! Now, next is the blood pressure meds as they are the ones that are really f'ing with my memory! Wahoo!! I'm so excited to see such quick, good results on the diabetes front!

 More later when more time goes by. Thanks so much to everyone who has been following along and sending well wishes…they mean to world to me!

Xoxoxo Lori

Just to do a quick update....surgery went very well, quickly and I was headed home within four hours of going to recovery. I feel great...one dose of pain meds and no pain. I thought I would sleep all of the time, but took a great nap and enjoying time with my daughter Mallory who flew here to assist me along with my husband, Mark. They have been awesome to me!

Will write more later, and send best wishes to everyone!!

oxoxox Lori

Well, one week in to the pre-op diet and it’s going ok. I’ve had some head hunger, and I’m really wanting something crunchy to chew on other than my fingernails! I caved and ate some mushrooms as the nutritionist said I could put some sliced mushrooms in my broth, as they have no calories. That’s all it took for me to rationalize that I could eat some more and not sliced up in the broth. I felt bad so skipped having any in my broth to make up for it. Ha…like it was a deal I made with the Food Fairy.

 

The good news is that I’ve lost 8 lbs in the first 7 days! That was exciting! And it’s been a motivator as I was thinking about any calorie free food I could get away with (there’s that making deals with the Food Fairy again) so I tried to think about trying to get to a 21_ number instead of 222 as I just weighed in at. That would be cool before going in for surgery! Hopefully that will happen before Wednesday and it helped me to stop thinking about what I can get away with! And I’m not even hungry; I’m just waiting for time for another protein shake and knitting to keep my hands busy.

 

I read the article on the home page of OH website about people making comments. Very timely as I haven’t even had surgery yet and I had to ward off unsolicited advice! I had to phone pharmacist to see if I could crush all of my meds to take after surgery for the first week. He had all of my meds records and started telling me how I should see a nutritionist to try to lose weight to resolve all of my co-morbidities instead of taking “drastic measures like lap band surgery” to do something I could just do myself if I tried hard enough! The nerve!!! I started thinking about the article and the advice it gave about how to deal with these ‘well meaning” buttinskis! Finally, he took a breath and I just thanked him for his information and insights and hung up! Ugh! That felt good. I wasn’t going to argue with him or tell him that I’ve already done ALL of that and it didn’t help me to lose weight. I guess that was a warm up to deal with people who wanna tell me what to do!

 

The next few days will be busier, which will help pass the time before Wednesday, surgery day. My daughter is flying in on Tuesday to stay for a week to help out. That will be fun and I’m getting the house ready for her too. It won’t be long now and I’ll continue to be a loser!

    Had my pre-op appointments on Wed, March 24 with the nutritionist, and the nurse practitioner. They were both awesome and I learned so much. Each indicated that I should do really well with the lap band. That was nice to hear. The NP indicated that I was one of the healthier patients she’s ever seen. That was nice to hear too as I have always exercised and watched my eating habits. I felt vindicated as it seems so many just assume someone is lying about those things when they weigh more. My body and its conditions are there despite my best efforts and others see that. So, if you are feeling like people look at you with scorn and disbelief, tell ‘em to screw off! (Well, maybe inside your head – haha).

Thursday brought day one of my pre-op two-week liquid diet. Went shopping Wednesday night at Costco for the protein shakes (Muscle Milk – Chocolate shake flavor powder and Premium Protein Shake Vanilla powder – each are yummy. If used with skim milk it adds 100 calories but they taste much better). An interesting thing happened while we were there shopping, We walked passed the spring bathing suit display. Normally, I would have zoomed right past thinking “yeah, right.” This time I stopped and looked at them. I just stood there thinking “holy crap….I just might get to wear one of these really cute two piece bathing suits someday!” They were two-piece but the top had a little fabric that went down over half the semi-brief style bottoms. They really weren’t bikini style, which would totally work for someone with some extra skin around the middle, but upper legs look ok. That’s what I’m hoping for anyway. I couldn’t stop looking at them and feeling the fabric and feeling like my life might be coming back to me. I've hated having activities that I once loved no longer an option. I used to love going to the beach, swimming at my Mom’s in San Diego, and using a Jacuzzi at a hotel, stuff like that. I haven’t done that in ten years at least. I realized that I’ve never been swimming with my husband and we’ve been together 8 years. These thoughts overwhelmed me and I started getting a lil bit teary. My husband saw me and knew exactly what I was feeling. He came over and put his beautiful long arms around me and just held me and told me that my life is going to get better and better, which just made me feel more emotional as it all came flooding into my thoughts and heart. Ha, usually bathing suits cause people fear and pain and here I was excited at the prospect!

 

The diet has been pretty easy so far. I’m on day 4. The shakes are good, but it’s kinda cold in our house as we aren’t burning our stove much to conserve our wood and pellets, so I would love a hot meal with something to chew, but I’ve not been hungry at all. I was told by the NP not to weigh every day, as I would just get frustrated. Not a problem there, but I was curious, so yesterday morning I did weigh to see if the scale had moved. I didn’t expect much as it had only been 2 days, but I had lost 5 lbs!! Wahoo! I know most would be water weight, although my daughter – an athletic trainer – said that since I’m taking in 108 grams of protein each day, I won’t have the water weight loss as in a regular diet, so that felt good to hear. I won’t weigh again until day 7 next Wednesday so I will hopefully be really surprised.

 

I’ve succumbed to hot chicken broth twice just to have something salty and warm. I’ve used that before with diced green onions and sliced mushrooms, and the nutritionist said she has no problem with me continuing with that as there are no calories in either and they offer some nutrients. That sure makes it nice to have something to chew on! I admit, that when I was washing the mushrooms I bought, I ate a few. Also, last light I was not wanting something sweet again for a snack (jello or SF popsicle) so I made a pile of 12 hulled sunflower seed kernels on the table and ate one at a time. They tasted SO good!

 

Day one of the diet, I was kinda crabby, no energy and feeling off kilter. Since I'm diabetic, that is normal according to the nutritionist. Friday and Saturday though I felt pretty good. My energy is back although I think I’m colder than I usually am. We fired up the wood stove yesterday to get the chill off the house and that was really nice. Might do so today if it doesn’t warm up much.

 

I’m SO glad to be going through this while I’m not working. I was laid off last month and although being unemployed sucks arse big time, it’s a blessing in disguise as it’s much easier to have my time to myself without big demands. If I had to work at my old job and stay on my game, I’d have a lot more trouble I think. I do look for work still, of course, but I’ll hit it much harder after I recover from surgery.

 

I love reading everyone’s blogs, posts and profiles. The before and after pics are my favorites and SO inspiring! Blessings and best wishes to everyone!

 

It's been a few days since I got the news of my surgery date. It feels real now, as I've mentioned, and I'm finding myself thinking in more optimistic terms now - I'm too pragmatic for my own good sometimes, but am working on that. I find my thoughts wandering to more tangible after effects of surgery and the subsequent weight loss. The primary reason I started this was, and still is really, getting off all of the freaking meds. They are f'ing up my memory in a big way. I feel dull and have to work too hard to track and keep things straight. It really impacted my work, but I was able to find other ways to deal with it, making lists, notes, and the like. I was laid off then and have had to deal with the emotional toll of losing my job and livelihood. This has been an interesting mix of thoughts, feelings and emotions in the last month. I put the WLS on the shelf in a way, and just knew it was lingering out on the horizon. Now, though, it's come to the forefront of my consciousness now that I have the date.

I have been looking for a new job, as I'm required in order to maintain my unemployment benefits, but will hit it much harder after the initial bump of weight loss from pre-surgical liquids and post surgical restrictions. From what I am reading, it could be as much as 30 lbs. That'd be cool as since my overall goal is 100 lbs, a third of the way in 6 weeks or so would be really great! I would feel and look much better and not so afraid of being discriminated against for being so overweight. That feels much better for me to think about than taking such huge hits to my self confidence being overweight and trying to compete for jobs in this horrible market. I don't care what anyone says, fat people ARE thought to be lazy and under performing. I'm so tired of feeling that people think that I'm lazy and stupid because I'm overweight!

The more subtle good things that are creeping into my thoughts are things like wearing those really cute little track suits - the ones with stretchy pants and a zip up matching jacket that look good on thinner people. I love those little jackets from North Face and they seem to fit so well on a cute figure. How fun if I would get to a point of wearing those.....and with skinny jeans! wahoo! I love clothes and when I was thinner, I loved putting together cute outfits and accessories. Now I just enjoy shoes and handbags. Don't get me started about my handbag collection! After I lose weight I will get to have really cute clothes to go with my handbags!

I've thought about how my husband might look at me and how he'll think about me after some weight loss. He always is so supportive and says he loves me just as I am, and I wasn't skinny when I met him, but I was thinner. He tells me I'm pretty and that he would love me and want me no matter what. I can't ask for any better than that, especially when I feel so unattractive and undesirable. I look forward to being someone he'll be proud to walk down the street with, or be seen with at a company function. I know his friends and acquaintances like me and don't judge me, they are that quality of people for the most part, but how fun it will be to walk into an event or function looking really good by his side and know he feels very proud to be seen with me and maybe turning some heads. I don't mean to sound superficial, but I want to give him that. He deserves it...he's so good to me and for me and loves me so much. I adore him and want to be my best for myself, for him, and for us together.

Mostly, though, I've been thinking of how this can be a real boon to my self image and self esteem. I've taken some hard hits the last 10 years through life events. There has been a lot of wonderful things happen too, but it's all been covered with a dark cloud of some challenging situations, and me feeling worse and worse about myself as a result. I want to clear the clouds and smell the fresh air and have a good start, feeling good about life and myself. The meds seem to cause a haze to my psyche too, so having those go away will be a great boon to me. 

I will keep thinking about all of this and how it will help me through these times. What a nice coincidence all of this is happening now. I am getting fresh starts in my life and my career. Who knows what the future will bring, but I know it will not include me feeling so horrible about being fat. I'm beginning to feel a small tingle of excitement in my heart. I hope that keeps growing as these last few weeks go by before surgery!

Got the call today...wahoo!!! April 7th it is!!! And, as I suspected, other people's dates are not related to mine. I go for my pre-op appointments on March 24, about 15 days away and start my two week pre-op liquid diet then. Gosh, it's finally starting to feel real. I ate a slice of pizza today at the airport (while flying home from a visit to my parents in San Diego) and was thinking "this is probably my last piece of pizza I'll eat for a loooooong while." I surely don't want to run all over town eating things that I will not get to eat, but wow, the temptation is there.

Gotta try to find the low carb SlimFast as that's what I'm told is what you drink as a staple for the liquid diet. Heard Wally World has it, so I will pop in there and grab some. Any suggestions on good flavors would be welcome...or any other advice anyone has who might be reading this. Yay!!!! I'm so relieved right now, and overwhelmed a bit too for some reason. Perhaps it's because as I sat on the airplane today and buckled myself in, I thought that perhaps this is the last time I'll fly when the seat belt is in it's longest setting and I won't have to worry about sitting next to someone and have them think "oh damn, I'm stuck sitting next to this chubby chick." I think the changes about to take place will start to creep in to my consciousness and help me to realize all that being heavy has entailed and will finally be over. I can't even begin to get my head around it. I'll have to ponder all of this......I'm sure I will have more to write about as the days pass before surgery. It's mind and heart boggling!

Monday, March 1, brought a call from my case manager. I'm approved by my surgeon for surgery! This is great, although I kinda knew that would be the case. She is sending my case to the surgery scheduler and they'll be in touch in 7 - 10 days. From what I've read from other patients who blog here and who share my surgeon, it would seem I would be having surgery in about 3 - 4 weeks from my schedule call, or around April 1st.

I attended the monthly support group on Tuesday night, the 2nd, and was greatly dismayed to learn that someone there just got their call that day from the scheduler and she is scheduled on MAY 3!!!! That's eight freaking weeks away! How long is this going to drag on!??!? There are others who started this process at the same time as I did and they've already had surgery. One issue was my case manager didn't see my psych eval in my file (it was completed in December) and it took emails and calls back and forth to tell her that it was done. She had been waiting for it for two weeks until I reminded her that it was done already. Ugh! I can't imagine her case load and it has to be daunting, so I can imagine she must have skimmed over several of my emails and calls that they requested when we finished our testing indicating ALL of my tests were done, and submitted to them. They are so nice there, I surely can't be mad at them, but 8 more weeks? I'm becoming dismayed and really don't think about it or am I excited about it anymore. It feels like the ever-moving dangling carrot. It's possible the person at  group is using a different surgeon in the group or something, plus I'd heard that they only do lap-bands on Fridays (with my surgeon anyways) and this gal is scheduled on a Tuesday, so that could mean she's not on the same surgery schedule as I am. I guess I will wait and see when the schedule call comes in. It shoud be one day this week.

We'll see how it goes....perhaps I will be excited again once a date comes and it's not so far off.