divamichelle

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11/17/2004  I had my consultation today yea!! now the Psych and the nutritonal part to go!! I am ready   12/13/2004 I had my nutritional eval on the 8th it went well, I still don't know why I could not eat 3 hours before the appt. They only weighed me and measured how tall. Then we had 3 hours of nutritional couseleing and exerciese information. I am mad that I called Dr. Duncans office and they said the only information they had was my nutritinal eval, I faxed them my PCP medical cleareance , thyroid panel and h-pyloric information. They said they did not have, thank God for keeping copies, I faxed it again. I called Jennifer and she said to call her on tomorrow to see if she received. I will be on it tomorrow. I have my Psych eval on This Wed. 12/15/2004. Then everything will complete and ready for them to send to the insurance company   12/15/2004   Yea!! Today I had my Psych eval, everything went well.. They should have my results to Dr. Duncans office within a week so I will be following up a week from today to make sure they send a copy to me and the Doctors office. Once they get this information everything goes to the insurance company and the waiting begins. I am thrilled and excited.. I AM ON MY WAY TO BEING ON THE LOSING SIDE :-)   12/21/2004 Yea!! Talked with Dr. Grumets office (Hedi) and she said they were sending my Psych eval to Dr. Duncans office as of 3:30 p.m. est they had not received it but I will call them tomorrow to follow up Yakima said that is all I need and they will send my things to the insurance company. I am also working on losing some weight before surgery per Dr. Duncans instructions to his patients. I have not weighed but I will not be over eating during the Christmas Holidays, I finally walked about 15 minutes on my treadmill, I have not did anything today. Oh well tomorrow I will get up early and walk. I know I can do this!!   12/29/2004 Finally, I talked with Jennifer today at Dr. Duncans office they are sending my information to the insurance. She said they could not read my psych eval that well I am going to call them and get them to send me a copy also. Just in case I do not want any slip ups. Now the real waiting begins. I will call the insurance company on tomorrow just to see if they received my paperwork in. I wonder if that is too soon? Maybe I will call on Monday the 3rd of January. At any rate I will update and let you know.  1/06/2005 Okay why did I think that my doctors office sent my stuff to the insurance company on Friday, well beats me!!! I called BCBS to check and they said they had not recieved it. Well I called the office and guess what? They did not send my information until Jan. 4, 2005!!!! So I wait longer now!!! Oh well God is still awesome and on the throne and I was a littled, no a lot peeved about this. Life goes on    01/07/2005 I talked with BCBS, and they said they received my file on 01/04/05 and it usually takes 15 days for approval!! Wow 15 entire days that's half a month so that means I can expect an answer by when? Hmmmm....01/25/05 I am sure this is business days. Well praise God, I have waited this long.. I don't have a choice. I am just believing God to hear "APPROVED". In the mean time I am working on losing my required weight. I have been exercising 3 days a week, one day at church for Gospel aerobics on Monday and on Wed and Thurs I meet with my friend "Feelin Fine"(she is doing wonderful with the WLS)she is my motivation and we have a powerful workout with Lady Di who is a player for the Monarchs on the WNBA how cool is that!! She really works us out. I have been eating a low fat breakfast Kashi go lean crunch with 1% milk, I actually added the unflavored unjury powder the last two days just to see if I would like it (in preparation) I could not taste a thing it was great. For lunch I have been doing a slimfast optima shake and side salad or veggies and then a sensible dinner last night I had 2 baked wings and 1 cup of mixed veggies and 1/2 cup of limas(never liked them before I thought, but my DH made them taste very good, maybe my taste buds are changing which is a good thing.  1/15/2005 I went to a support group meeting today at Atlanta Medical Center. Kevia the lady who did part of my nutritional assessment ran the meeting. She said that she does not normally moderate. The meeting was great. As a pre-op I had several questions from the post-ops who were very open to share their experiences. There were 3 people there who all had been through Peachtree Bariactrics one had Dr. Hobson and I believe the other two had Dr. Duncan as surgeons. All of them were doing well. No complications. There was a pre-op there who gave a horror story of how his sister has had the surgery and is doing great, however he had about 3-4 co-workers who have had the surgery one has died and the others are not doing well. So he was extremely scared. The post-ops gave him some great advise. It did not sway me a bit. I am waiting to hear any day now that I have been approved. And I am going forward. I am ready to fight if necessary. I went to my state site and emailed my rep. Virgil Floyd and told him to vote in favor of HB-43 which is a bill to pass regulations so that it will be easier to have this surgery in Georgia. So if you are from GA and you are reading. Write, call and email your congress person and tell them to vote yes, Yes, Yes! I will definitely be going to the next meeting next month.Very good meeting and support. Tomorrow is my baby girls birthday 1/16/05. Happy Birthday "Essence", she is gone to Florida with a couple and their daughter from church, gone to Disney world. I miss  her, she is my sweetie. I will be glad when she gets home!! Well that's all for now. Oh when I weighed yesterday. I was down to  254 so I am losing I will continue on my protein and slimfast kick starting on MOnday, since I know it's working. Oh I am working out 3 times a week my sister and I are going to Ballys tomorrow. We  have a free 8 week membership, from the Discovery health challenge. Check out their website and get yours. Until next time.....    1/18/2005 I got it........I got It!!! My approval has come through. I called BCBS today to check the status they said I was approved and gave me my authorization number. I called my doctors office and I have an appointment for Tuesday the 25th at 11:30. I am on my way for real yall....God is awesome. Well I will continue my plan for weightloss, I am so glad I started. I don't know if I have lost the required amount or not. I guess I will find out Tuesday. I AM SO HAPPY!!! THIS IS SO LIFE CHANGING. 10 days for approval not bad at all

01/25/2005  Well today I received my surgery date it is Febuary 23, 2005!! Wow I am excited, a little nervous, but I am at peace with my decision. I have a appt with the surgeon on Feb. 10 with my husband, this is when they go over the surgery again in a small group and make sure your family knows the risk etc. My pre-op is on Feb. 14th (Happy Valentines Day). Truly God is good. I believe that God will watch over me during this entire process. He has not brought me this far to leave me. For those of you who believe in prayer; Please pray for me, that I have a great surgery with no complications, and a speedy recovery. It's ll:07 p.m. I have to get up at 5:00 a.m. So I will stop now. But WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so EXCITED!! THIS IS LIFE CHANGING! To think there is a skinny woman in this body that's bursting to come out is "mind boggling". Oh by the way. When I first went to the doctor in November I was 259. Today they weighed me and I was 247.00 Twelve pounds gone. Thanks "Cookie" for the protein train. I have one more weigh in before surgery. So I am going to keep it up. Hey I am on a roll. Oh last thing I worked out 5 days last week. Chile, God knows he is doing a work in my life. 

02/05/2005  Hello everyone if I am counting right I have 18 days before my surgery. Wow 18 days. I will catch up at work this week just a few things to do really. Regular reports that go out by the 20th I will do early. Just so I won't be stressing. I received some free sample packs from Bariatriceating.com. I am going to save them for after the surgery and see if I like them. I did really good on my water this week. My friend (Feelin Fine)gave me a 74 oz jug and I managed for the first time in life two days straight to drink it all up before the end of the day. I certainly hope it will be this easy after surgery. Reading everyone profiles it seems a lot of people have trouble getting the water in and protein. I pray I am blessed in every area and will not have any difficutlites. I am going to do the protein train again next week. I meet with the Dr. Duncan on the 10th this is for the talk you out of surgery talk which he has with all of his patients to warn of the dangers of surgery. I will update after that meeting and tell you how my husband reacts. 

02/10/2005  Today my husband and I met with Dr. Duncan and his staff. There were 1 man, and 4 other ladies besides myself in the conference room. Dr. Spade went over the dangers of surgery and what the risks were, then Dr. Duncan came in and went over the same things basically, He also told us to get juice plus as a supplment and told us the benefits of using it. If I began to take it I will become a distributor. This talk did not sway me or my husband from going forward. Monday 2/14 is my pre-op appt. 

02/11/2005  Atlanta Medical called me today to get my insurance information and to tell me I will need to bring $200 on Monday 2/14 when I have my pre-op appointment. Everything else is paid 100% Thank God for insurance. I have lost 13.5 lbs. I am down to 246. I will be weighed again on Monday. So I will definitely not be over eating this weekend. I will just continue the protien shakes etc. 

02/21/2005  I have today and tomorrow of clear liquids than Wednesday is my big day. I am so excited, I did go to a support Group meeting on Sat. it was awesome to see the people and how much weight they have lost and to get advice. The best advice given was "to get up" and get home. I bought cards Saturday for my husband,my mom and my sisters. I also wrote notes to my kids and a few people at work, Just to let them know I love them and I will see them when I return. I cried on a few, putting your feelings on paper is emotional. Hey this entire process is emotional, I can tell I am about to cry just writing this. I need to say, I don't have any fear. I truly trust in God and I have accepted Jesus Christ as my personal saviour. So I am reassured. I am emotional becuase this is a major change for me and my family. I look forward to the new me. See you on the losing side. :-) I am at 246.5 pounds 

2/22/2005 Well it's the night before surgery, I feel really good. I decided to take my measurements to compare later. waist 48, Breast 49, Hips 52, Thighs 33, arms 15, calves 19, neck 15. I know that God has his hands on me. I will update you later.  2/24/2005  I am home, the surgery went very well, they said I had a herenia and repaired that also. I have a little gas, but over all I feel great. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the highest for pain I am a 2. Dr. Hobson, Dr. Scott and Shannon performed my surgery. I thank God to be home and feeling great. I will post more later.  03/09/2005  Drum roll please........I went today for my 2 week appt and I had lost 18 lbs today. I am now at 228 lbs. I have lost a total of 28lbs since I began this journey. I feel wonderful. I am getting stronger everyday. I have been tired alot lately. The doctors gave me a B-12 shot today hopefully this will help. I am going to start back exercising tomorrow. I will keep you posted. I startd out at 256 lost to 246 before surgery and now at 228. Wow this is a wonderful tool. 3/17/2005  Guess what happen to me. Sunday I wore a pair of 16 pants I can't remember the last time I wore that size. They were a little stretchy so I was not real sure if they were true to size. Well Tuesday, I had to try on a dress to sing in for Easter, I had ordered a 18 well it was too big. Yeah!! So then I tried on the 16 and it fit and I had room in it I might have been able to wear the 14 but there was not one to try on. So I kept the 16. I was so excited. I did have a bad day yesterday the (16th) I tried a scrambled egg with cheese and oh my Lord. I thought I was leaving and going to heaven. I was an emotional wreck after wards, I felt like I can't eat, I can't drink. I am still having difficulties getting in all the required water and protein. But I just take it one day at a time. Today, I ate a couple of peanut butter crackers for breakfast, had some water in between and some diluted grape juice and hot chocalate(I love this stuff). Later around 3:00 I had some tuna fish about 1 oz I believe. It was good and went down find. I am still not hungry and just try to eat as much as I can. I sip all day. I am only 3 weeks out, so I believe I am doing fine for this time. I am going to try the protein shakes again tomorrow. I stopped for a few days because they were making me want to barf. I pray tomorrow will be better.   3/21/2005  Hey journal today is the first day of spring. I feel great today. I took my vitamins this morning. I am doing protein first as far as eating and still working on the protein shakes and getting my water in. I went to support group meeting on Saturday (this is a must for me) I get so much encouragement and support. I had lost 6 more lbs this is now a total of 24 lbs since the surgery and 34lbs over all. I am at 222lbs. I also wore a black skirt sunday and it was a size 16 and a 14/16 shirt to match. I got so many compliments and I felt good. I will start back exercising this week also. I am happy about my choice for surgery. /31/2005  Well today I gave in an bought a scale. I weighed and I am down to 220lbs. I just started back doing my protein shakes, I had fell off because of the taste. But I was looking on the main board and someone posted that they had about 70 recipes on their site so I went there and copied them into a Word doc. and tried a few and I have been doing 2 a day. I am still struggling getting in all of my water but it's getting better. I need to get me a measuring tape to see how many inches. I am still wearing 16 pants and 14/16 shirts. I am going out of town for the weekend so this will be a challenge. I will update later.  4/25/2005  Hello Jouranal,  Today is my birthday and I feel wonderful I am 4O today and fablous if I must say so myself as of today I am 209 lbs which is a 50lbs lost. I am wearing 14's and 16s depending on the cut and where I buy them. I thank God for letting me see another birthday and being healthy. I have a great family and a great support system. God is truly good in my life. I went to a restaruant called Papadeuxs and I was able to eat a little salad, shrimp, scallops and fish. I felt a little sick in the end but I think it was from the tartar sauce. I will update latter.  5/18/2005  I went yesterday for my 3 month check up...drumroll please... I am down to 205 from 259 a lost of 54lbs. I am so thrilled. I am healthy and I am feeling good. I am eating more, drinking more water. I finally found a protein shake I like and I drink 2 a day, I am working on doing 3 aday. I saw a picture of me from last month and almost did not recognize myself. I am loving this journey.  /27/2005 Hello journal,  I had been working for the last 2 years out of my field for the school system. I had applied for different jobs etc. trying to increase my salary because I was just not making enough to take care of what I needed. Well to make a long story short. I got a call on Monday for a interview for a job with the state. I interviewed Wednesday from 3:55 to 5:12 p.m. and I thought it went pretty well. I got a call on yesterday with an offer for the job that DOUBLES my current salary!!!  I am so Thank ful to God. I had to share. Also I weighed today and I am down to 201 lbs. I am almost in  onedurland.   06/01/2005  Today I made onedurland!! I am officially 199lbs today. I am doing the happy dance. My husband weighs 198 I am 1 lb away from being smaller than him. I have not been smaller than him since we first got married over 14 years ago. This is so remarkable and life changing. I absolutely feel so wonderful about myself. Mind you I am not where I want to be. I need to exercise more and tone and of course I am not at my goal weight yet. But this is a great tool. I pray that it continues. 06/02/05  Hello Journal,   I put on a size 12 pantsuit today!!!! I am jumping up and down. I actually had just tried on a 12 skirt suit that one of my co-workers had given me, and it was "too tight". So I said to myself I will try you in another 2 weeks or so. Well I looked at the red pantsuit and said wow they look a little bigger than the others I saw. So low and behold it fits wonderfully. So I now wears so 12's and 14's it is official!! Hey a 12 is a 12 :-) 6/6/2005  I weighed today and I am 195 wow and I have on size 12 black pants that look great on me. Wow I feel so good. My current boss told me today I don't need to lose anymore. I am not thinking about him, he is not my man!! The nerve of some people!!  6/16/05  Today is was the second day at the new job I am going to really like it. I shared my weightloss journey with a co-worker today and some before and after pictures, she wants more information I am going to refer her to obesity help site as well. I am PMSing big time. I will not weigh until after hopefully I would have dropped about 7 lbs or so. I will keep you posted.   06/30/2005  Weight is 193 lbs as of today. I think I may be on a plateau. I know I need to up my water. I am going to really concentrate on this for the next 30 days and see if I can increase my water intake up to 64 oz or more. I do drink other things , orange juice, decaf english breakfast tea. light lemonade by minutemaid. But I am not loving water like I should I am going to buy me some lemons and add that for flavor hopefully this will help. I go to Jamaica on Friday for my sisters wedding. I am a good solid 14 and can wear some 12's I have 3 great looking swim suits that I am looking forward to wearing. I have  never looked forward to this before, but hey I am getting fine!!! I will update when I get home. This trip will be an experience not sure what I will be able to eat. But I will take my vitamins and some protein supplements with me. /16/2005  Well the wedding was wonderful and my sister was beautiful. I am officially today 191lbs so I guess my plateau is finally over and I am on my cycle to boot. So yea!!! I am also officially 7.5lbs smaller than my husband I am so hyped about that I could SCREAM! I believe in the 14 years if marriage this is the first time I have been smaller than him and it feels good  baby !!!!! Support group was great today also, I felt like I had a lot to share even though I am only  5 months out officially 7/23/2005. This tool is awesome, I did take my vitamins everyday while in Jamaica and tried to eat protein first. I am now back on track and I think I am going to try to do this 5 protein shakes a day thing I read about on one of the boards I will keep you posted.  7-22-05 I weighed this morning and hey I lost another lb so I am at 190. It seems as if the scale is moving again Thank the Lord. I feel great. I am doing the protein train this week, I messed up a couple of days by eating peanut butter crackers, but hey I lost a lb so it's working. I will do it another week and really see if I can do it right without messing up that way I can really see if it makes a difference or not. I did try to add 2 protein shakes a day, but I did not do it everyday. So hey I will give it another shot.   8/1/2005 Hey I just had to post about the great weekend, the BAF Meet and Greet was fablous, I met people from all over the country and they are working their tools to the fullest. I mean these people look great. We had a ball at Micks and Dugans for karoake, BAF has some talent as well. I am still 190lbs. I went up to 191.5 one day last week and just freaked out thinking my Lord the scale is going back up but I posted on the Main board and BAF and they told me it's normal to fluctate a few lbs. I am doing a new strategy this week more water and more protein. I know I am lacking with this so I will keep you posted on my success. Until the next time....  8/03/05  I hit the 180's I am officially 189 lbs I have starting losing again  08/25/2005  I was 6months out on 8/23/2005 as of today I am at 187 lbs now but it is creeping slow, I am a solid size 12 so I must be losing inches I don't know of. I recently was blessed with several skirt suits and pantsuits from a lady at church(very nice things) And  most were 12's and some 14's. I feel so good every time I try something on now. I am still not where I want yet but I know it will happen. I have been slacking on doing my 2 protein shakes a day. But I will commit to began that starting tomorrow. I forgot my shake this morning, but I will have one this evening afterwork. I have found a way to increase my water by adding limes or lemons and splenda. Hey whatever helps. I have not exercised consistently in about 3 weeks. I am going to start back on doing something everyday. I will be able to start aerobics on Tuesday next week I will be finish training and hopefully can get back on schedule. Well that's it for now. I thank God for this surgery!! No regrets (smile)  8/28/2005 The scale is moving again yall I weighed today and it was 185.5 that's a 1.5 lb and I will take it it seemed as if the scale was'nt moving. I am starting  the plateau breaker on Tuesday. I have a class tomorrow and it will be hard to follow on tomorrow. Because they do breakfast and lunch and I am not sure what it will be and I am do lazy to bring my own when I don't have to. I also will be starting aerobics back on Tuesday. So I will update next Sunday my results.  9/5/2005 Current weigh 184   Well my WOW moment was that I was packing up some old clothes mostly 24's, 22's and 18's and I found a pair of 26 jeans that I use to wear from time to time. I normally tell people my highest size is 24 :-)  I forgot about those jeans. I was able to fit in one pant leg. I had my husband to take the picture. It was definitely a WOW moment for me!!  I am now a 12 and I am still losing. I am so excited. Many blessings on your journey as well  Michelle :-)09/12/2005 Today I went for my 6 month checkup, I will actually be 7momths on the 23rd of this month. I am officially 182 lbs. that is a total lost of 77lbs to date. I have been experiencing a little light headness for a few days. Dr. Fields said I need to eat every 3 hours and make sure I am drinking my water etc. I had a b-12 shot today. I need to make an appt with my PCP to get a shot every month. I may try the sublingual tablets again. I hated the way they tasted. They took my blood and I guess I will be calling to hear the results. I feel great I am wearing mostly 12's and some 14's but a lot of them are big unless it was cut small. I have been blessed with clothes from one of my school mates and a church member. I gave away all of my things that were too big as well. I thank God for having this surgery. I have still not been exercising lately. But I make a commitment to start this week. Aerobics class is WED, THUR, and FRI so I will be there.  09/26/2005 Well Friday I was officially 7 months out and I am feeling great.  As of today I weigh 181 lbs. Friday I had to go back to the surgeons office to take a glucose test over they said my glucose levels were low a 23 and normal was 65-99. I pray all is well. I belive it was because I had not eaten in about 4 hours prior to taking the blood test. I am on a schedule now every 3- 3 1/2 hours I eat something or have a protein shake or protein snack.  Vanessa, (Trintee) told me about this yogurt called Carb masters kroger brand which has 12 gm of protein on 3 g sugar it is awesome so I have added that to my diet. I am still a solid 12 now and some 10's they are really tight, but I see myself in the future fitting them soon. People ask me all the time how much more do you want to lose. I say as much as I can thank you. They don't understand. My goal is 130 lbs and to be healthy and toned so there :-) 10/11/2005 Wow did I have a great weekend, my husband celebrated his 44th birthday and we(the kids and I) may a day of it on Saturday, we took family pictures I will post soon. We also went to Ted's Montana Grill I had "bison" which really was good. We later went to the "Gospel" great movie I might add. Sunday we went to church with my mother and to dinner at O'Charleys where I shared a meal with my hubbie I had a little salad and a small piece of ribs and one roll, I remember a day when I would have ate at least 3 or more rolls by themselves. Well today I weighed and I  am at 179 lbs. I have officially left the 180's behind. That's a total lost to date of about 82 lbs or so. I am thrilled. Still wearing 12's and I am finally trying some 10's but they are still tight so I am not wearing them yet but soon I can tell I will be there. Until the next update....  10/12/2005  Guess what!! Today I was able to wear a size 10 dress, one of my classmates gave me some clothes months ago, mostly 12's and 14's but I have been measuring also by this dress to see if I can wear it, well last night I put it on and it was a tad tight at the top but looked very good so I have it on today at work with a pink shawl over the top part so you can't see the rolls at the top where it's a bit too tight. I have gotten a lot of compliments. Wow I feel great today. A 10 now I can't wear many 10's yet but hey this is definitely a start.   10/27/2005 I was officially 8 months on 10/23/2005. I am still maintaining at 179-180. I am on a mission to break this plateau. I hate that one day you are 179 and one day 180 and then 180.5 and then back down to 179 see the pattern and if you are reading this yes I am a slave to the scale. I weigh every morning after using the restroom like clock work at 5:30 a.m. and sometimes in the evening before going to bed. For those who say stop it's too late for me. But for you don't do it . It is sometimes mind boggling. Any way I am pleased with how I am looking. I know the scale will move again and I will reach my goal. The good thing is last week "Feelin Fine" and I met with our church administrator and we are starting a support group along with another sister name Prisca at our church. They were more excited than us it seem. I attend a church of about 800 to 1000 members. Since I sing every Sunday of course people I know and don't know have seen my progress and always are asking questions. I know for sure of 10 people who have had the surgery I am sure after the annoucment on Nov. 6 that we are starting a support group called "In It to Win It" we will increase our numbers. I will be following the OH chapter leader training. I am in the pro11/07/2005 Hello Journal,  Yesterday was a wow moment for me. I bought a $5.00 dress which was a medium and a small sweater and guess what they fit so nicely. I am so thrilled!!! I am still at 179lbs but I must be losing inches. I need to do my inches weekly or at least twice a month. I started doing the protein train this week I am praying to break my stall and see the scale move down again.    11/14/2005 Well the Atlanta Meet and Greet was fun, I only met with everyone on Friday night, but I  had a blast. Curvi Chic(Christina F) is my new Shero for real. You had to be there (smile). I weighed today and I am 177 a lost of 2 lbs. So maybe the scales are moving again.  11/28/2005  Today I am at a weight of 176 lbs. And I have on a size 10 pantsuit. I am so thrilled. Sometimes you just have to go by the sizes. This suit was given to me by Trini Peach. And I have been using it as a guide to my weightloss, when she gave it to me about  2-3 months ago. I could not get a thigh in it,but I said to myself. You will be able to wear this in a few months. Well hey I am in it and looking great I might add (smile) cess of completing that training now.