5.4.09

May 04, 2009

It's been a rough couple of days...

However, since it's my first blog, I will introduce myself. My name is Becky and I live in Kent, WA with my husband of three years and two cats. I work for the state and luckily my insurance covers WLS.

I have been overweight my entire life, but tried to not let it control what I did. I had great friends, a great attitude and got far in life. However, after topping the scale at 370, I knew my time of being carefree about obesity was ending. At my wedding, I boogied down too much. Nine months after having a sore knee from dancing at my reception, I made an appointment with a dr to have it looked at. A few hours before leaving for the appointment, I was walking up the stairs and something snapped in my knee. I had no idea what happened. The paramedics and firefighters responded and it took 6 of them to get me out of the house. I was on crutches for several weeks.

Another moment that shamed me was when we were on our honeymoon, we had a flight on a small plane. They moved us to "distribute the weight" around the plane. It was awful thinking my weight was rivaling the weight of the luggage. Those embarrassments kicked me into gear. 

I started looking to WLS but decided to give Weight Watchers (WW) another try. I did well on it but it didn't last, just like previous attempts. I was also diagnosed with high cholesterol and sleep apnea. Additionally, my husband and I were doing fertility treatments to try to conceive (PCOS made it difficult). I realize now that even if I got pregnant while obese, it probably wouldn't be a healthy pregnancy.

In November 2008, I started to look into WLS more closely. For me, any kind of surgery where things are removed or rerouted scares me so LapBand seemed to be a natural solution. Another plus was the band can be adjusted to allow for pregnancy. After discussing with my husband and best friend to get their support, I submitted the paperwork to my insurance company in Jan 09.

On 1.15.09, I had a phone consult with the nurse, Riaz, for the Bariatric Surgery program with Uniform Medical Plan. He laid out the game plan: keep track of what I ate, when I exercised and fax my weight to him every two weeks. If I lost 5% of my weight by July, I'd be referred to either University of Washington Medical Center or Virginia Mason (my choice). After going through their workup, they submit paperwork back to the insurance company where the medical director makes the final decision.

To prepare for life-long success, I've started seeing a counselor and working out regularly (Jazzercise is it for now!). I plan on seeing a nutritionist but can't find one covered by my insurance. I'm following WW to aide in losing the 5% more steadily.

The past few days have been difficult but I can't figure out why. My appetite has gotten out of control and I've found it hard to reign in the urges. Tomorrow is a new day and I hope to get back on track.

That's me for now. 

0 Comments