DCampbell2k
I got my surgery the day before Valentines Day, Feb 13th, 2006. I battled for about 6 months trying to get my insurance to cover my surgery. All the stress just had me gaining more weight. I had high blood pressure, sleep apnea, severe edema and tons of other comorbidites. I could barely leave the house and ended up being off work for 8 months. I couldn't even go to the grocery store and everyday chores were impossible. It was making everyone around me miserable and myself even moreso. Finally I decided to try to get the money to pay for the surgery without insurance. It wasn't easy, but my family came through and got me the $25,500. I have to say it was the best money ever spent. When I went in for Surgery on the 13th I was up to 595 lbs. At last weigh in 2 weeks ago I had lost nearly 200 lbs. That's a lot for 8 months! I've come to terms that I'm never going to be a GQ cover model skinny, and I'm more and more happy with my body size each day. The best part of all is how much more I am able to do. I can walk for miles and not get tired, steps are no longer "off limits", I don't worry about if I'm going to fit in certain chairs. That one took a while to get used to. It is NOT an easy process, and I don't want people to think that. But it is something that if you commit to and do what the doctors tell you it WILL change your life. Oh, and by the way, I am off all my medications and no longer use my C-Pap machine. What a difference 8 months can make!
