Honey_Bee
Hello Everyone! Welcome to my journey as I transform myself into the person I see in my mind, but who has yet to be seen by the world!
My girlfriend and I talked about having WLS surgery over 4-5 years ago...dieted and forgot about it...we talked more a few years ago (considered going to Mexico and paying cash for it), dieted some more with some success followed by significant weight gain. Fast forward to 2006 and I can't believe I had the surgery before Ruth (she'll get here too!)...I've believed I was overweight my whole life..my nick name as an 8, 9 or 10 year old kid was "fatso atso" but I wasn't really heavy (just "normal" compared to the skinny bone neighbors of mine. Then in high school my closest friends were size 1/3 and I was a 9/10 so I thought I was so fat. Luckily, I was involved in sports and so it kept me about that size. After high school, I started to gain and then it really bloomed during/after each of my 4 pregnancies...I gained 76 with my first, 37 with my second and so on. I dieted, lost weight and gained it back + much more! I finally realized I just could not do this alone...I needed a tool for the rest of my life as "diets" were short term followed by big gains and my DH & kids need me here and I want to be here. I've been so sick the last couple of years that I've not attended school events, relied on my DH and my 20 year-old to help with many of my responsibilities and feel that I've really missed out and it would definitely get worse if this madness didn't stop! So, about 18 mos ago I decided to have WLS. At first my DH was very leary but we talked and talked. We also knew a couple of friends who had gone through it and he talked to them and he finally agreed to support me 100%. So, I talked to my pcp but he didn't believe in it...so I changed pcp's. My new pcp submitted and I was denied in May of 2005. Then, I worked all last year to get approval. I had to document all illnesses and each onset (chronic asthma, bronchitis (4x), Acid Reflux, edema/swelling in my legs, high bp, back pain, stress incontenance, etc then resubmitted in May of 2006...I got approval to see the nut and the psych. After resubmitting their reports 4x to BC/BS...I finally received approval to see the surgeon, meet his criteria and then schedule sugery for September 2006...only to postpone from October 8th, to October 18th to the 23rd due to insur problems, then bronchitis again....what a long haul but I finally made it and I'm so happy to be on the road to the slimmer me! I can honestly say...WHAT TOOK ME SO LONG!!
Paris & Nicky... Best Friends Forever
