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So Christmas has come and gone.  I had a very nice Christmas.  We had AnnaBelle the weekend before and got to give her gifts to her.  Heather has been very generous in letting us spend time with her, which we are very thankful for.  This year it was just me, Bert and Catherine (MIL), but it was nice.  Our friend, Luke, came over and joined us for Christmas dinner.  I am pleased to report that I did NOT overeat and did NOT dump on anything.  I was very careful about what I ate and kept mostly to eating meat and protein smoothies.  I attended Christmas Eve services with Julie and her family.  I felt blessed to be included in their Christmas tradition.

I finally broke my weight stand-still.  I was stuck at 100 lbs lost and finally lost two lbs.  YAY ME!  I still hope to lose 8 more lbs before my cruise in February...I have a month and a half so we'll see.  If I use my tool and work my plan, I will be successful.  I just have to stay on track.

School starts back up on January 7th.  I am taking Algebra II, Biology II and Sociology.  It's going to be a long, difficult semester for me.  I am going to have to put more than my usual effort into it this time in order to keep my GPA up.  I want to be able to qualify for Honor's Society once I transfer to USA.  I have 2-3 more semesters at FSCC, then I can transfer. 

I am blessed to be spending Thanksgiving with my sister and her kids in Atlanta.  We had the Turkey, Ham and All the trimmings.  I pushed the limits and dumped on the sweet potato casserole so that's off my acceptable food list.  Sigh...I love that stuff.

Annabelle got her baby brother. They brought him home from the hospital on Thanksgiving Day.  She is definitely a doting big sister.  She's been waiting so long for baby Mathew and now he's finally here.

I made my short term goal of reaching 160 by Thanksgiving.  I actually made my 100 lb loss goal too and earned my century card.  What an accomplishment!  I am very proud of myself.  Not sure what my next short term goal will be just yet.  My weight loss has dramatically slowed down.  I am sitting at 158 and wearing a size 12 comfortably.  Hoping to be a size 10 by cruise time.  Reasonable goal I think.

Sandi

Well, first off...I am a proud Angel to Brandy Morris.  She is just starting her journey and I hope to be there with her every step of the way.  She is so blessed and a wonderful person.  I am proud to be her Angel.

Update on my weight loss journey:
I am 8 months out now and have lost 95 lbs.  I can't wait until I get to the century mark.  Should be soon.  I am down to 163 from 258.  I am wearing a size 12 pants and Large tops (can fit into some medium...but Large works better for me).  I am soo glad I made the decision to have this surgery.  I haven't had ANY problem.  I don't dump on hardly anything, which is a double edged sword because that means I sneak a little unhealthy stuff every now and then.  I do it in moderation though.  Can't go overboard.  My weight loss has slowed down dramatically.  I lost a lot of hair between 3-5 months, but it's growing back now.  My new growth is about an inch long and my hair is finally beginning to feel thicker again so I can let it grow out a little more.  While it was sooo thin, it just looked better shorter. 

I am loving my support group, Weigh Down.  We meet the first Thursday of each month.  I have invited Kristie Q from work and she is supposed to bring several of her friends (1 post op and 2 considering surgery) to the next meeting.  I pray they are all able to make the meeting.  This one is going to be a great one since we are meeting at Smoothie King and will be sampling protein smoothies.  We also have other samples and insulated lunch bags for each member of the group.  I pray we have a big turnout this month.  I love each of the girls in the group and the support we get from each other.  A special thanks to our group leaders, Julie C and Cynthia (501CynthiaC).  You guys are doing a great job growing the group each month with new members.

Sandi
RNY 2/21/08
258/163/125

Yes!  I got the call today from BCBSAL that  my appeal had been approved.  I am soooo excited.  I have to wait until Dr. Lane's office gets their letter from insurance before I can start my BEGIN class and get my date.  I am just elated that I have passed the insurance hurdle and am looking forward to moving forward with my new lease on life.

Sandi

Yep.  Apparently in July of 2004 my weight was 231 (BMI 39.6) which they said was below 40.  Argh!  That month shouldn't have even been submitted because it wasn't even within the three year period.  I have to appeal and see about getting this decision reversed. Let me go to work on that right now.   Who do I call....?

I talked with Mary at Dr. Lane's office and she said she would be submitting my paperwork tomorrow and would have an answer by the end of the day.  I hope and pray that the answer is YES!  To the best of my knowledge and ability, I have met all the requirements that my policy with BCBSAL have so there shouldn't be any reason for a denial.  There is always that chance but I will apeal and apeal again if I have to.  I am choosing to think positive and hope that the answer is YES!

Sandi

I attended the required seminar last night.  I was a little disappointed because they only discussed the bypass for about five minutes and the lap band for about 45 minutes.  Since I plan to have an RNY bypass the seminar didn't offer up much for me.  But I had to attend and I did.

I have my last supervised diet appt with my PCP in just two days.  I have the release form to give her authorizing her to send my records to the surgeon.  I hope she doesn't take long in getting the paperwork together and sent over.  I will definitely stay on top of it.

-swc

I met with Dr. Lane.  He is an excellent surgeon and has performed many, many gastric bypasses.  I feel that I am in good hands with him as my surgeon.  He covered all the risks involved with having surgery as well as the risks of NOT having the surgery.  I had consulted with him 4 years ago so we covered a lot of the same material, just not as indepth.  I have read both books I purchased "WLS for Dummies" and "The Real Skinny on WLS" and feel like I am mentally ready for this.  I still have my last diet appt with Dr. Kirkland next week then we can get the paperwork over to Dr. Lane's office and get it submitted to insurance.  I honestly feel that I have done everything required by my insurance so there is no reason I can conceive that they would deny my claim.  My BMI has been over 40 for the past three years and is 43.9 right now.  I did the required six month supervised diet, losing weight initially then gaining some of it back (most of it...lol).  I have several minor co-morbids but none of the major ones.  

Peace out!  Sandi

I meet with Dr. Lane in Mobile, AL on November 7th.  This will be my initial consult but I can at least get the ball rolling and find out about the classes I have to attend.  Catherine is onboard about attending as my primary support person.  Her help after surgery will be a Godsend so it's important that she's involved in the process.  My sister will also be coming down after my surgery which will be a huge load off my mind.  To have someone who has been through it and knows first hand what I am experiencing.  YAY!  I am so excited that things are finally moving forward.  Now just have the insurance jitters.

Seems like just yesterday that I was complaining that November was soooo far away.  Now it's just a week away.  I am in  my last month of my six month supervised diet.  Hooray!  I am going to call this week and schedule my last appt with my PCP and my first appt (consult) with  my surgeon.  I have an excellent support group.  My whole family, including my sister (avensong) who had an RNY in August.  She has been such an inspiration and a wealth of information.  I hope to be able to pick my surgeon this week too.  I have chosen which bariatric group, just not which surgeon within the group.  They are all equally qualified and are a Center of Excellence surgeon group.  A coworker's wife just had her surgery last week and once our insurance approved her and she attended the required classes, things moved pretty quickly.  I was surprised at how quickly she was scheduled.  I hope mine moves smoothly as well.