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7/3/2006

Hello my name is Latrice. My friends call me Treece. I am happy to have a site here at Obesityhelp.com. This is a wonderful place. I am 38 years old and have been overweight since I was 18 years old. Tried everything under the sun, but the weight just keeps coming. My current weight is 313lbs. I feel pretty miserable, but positive. I tried for WLS 2 years ago and was denied. I didn't think to appeal. Recently my aunt underwent WLS and is doing great. I talked to her and got her Surgeon info and decided to try again. I am scheduled to go a WL Seminar on July 13th(required to go to at least one b4 surgery.) The office also sent out a package of medical paperwork to be filled out, which I filled out and sent back in within 2 days. Once they rec'd my paperwork, the doctor looked over it and thought I would be a good candidate for WLS and scheduled a consultation with me for July 20th, 2006. In the mean time I needed to get a letter from my primary care physician giving me the okay and a letter from my psych doctor giving me the okay, so I made appointments with them. I wanted to have my letters by the time I went to my first consultation.

07/13/2006

Well this evening I went to the seminar and got the chance to meet the doctor. His name is Van L. Wagner from Heart of America Bariatrics. He seemed to be a really nice doctor and had a nice slide show talking about weight loss procedures, the benefits and the risks. It was very thorough. He was really nice. Afterwards he answered questions from the audience. He seems to be patient, which is always a good quality in a doctor. Next will be my consult on the 20th. I want to do the Lap RNY Gastric Bypass

07/18/06

Today I rec'd my letters from my primary and my psych doctor giving me clearance for surgery.... nothing more needed on my part for now.

07/20/2006

Today was a very exciting day... I went to the consultation. I took my two letters with me for my file. The consultation existed of a physical exam first and then a question and answer session about my medical history. Then a consultation report was printed according the exams for me to look over. It listed my weight and goal weight, co-morbidities(9) - that was kind of frightening, this really is a sickness, being morbidly obese. It was like 3 pages long and was basically a rough draft of what would be sent to my insurance company. They said that they would file the info the next day, Friday. So now I just have to wait and see what happens ........... hopefully I will get approved and can start my journey to the new me!

07/26/2006

I received a phone call from my doctors office today, while I was at the movies(saw, the Devil wears Prada--pretty good movie) anyhew, they were letting me know that my insurance company wants me to have an appointment with a dietary consultant, apparently something that's required for approval. I asked if there was anything else that I needed to do or it there was anything else that the insurance co needed and was told no. So, far so good, no denial yet! I called the dietitian straight away and left a message for an appointment. Hopefully I will be able to make an appointment for tomorrow. We shall see.

07/28/2006

I had my appointment with the dietitian today at 10:00am. My friend Wanda went with me for support. It went great and lasted for about 30 minutes or so. We talked about which surgery I wanted and went from there. We discussed the size of my new stomach, how much food/liquid it will hold - roughly 4 oz or 1/2 cup. Also that I need to eat regularly during the day to get in the nutients that I need, including a multi-vitamin, calcium and B12 everyday. 7 days b4 the surgery I have to do a clear liquid diet to shrink my liver. It helps the doctor to have a better view of my stomach for the surgery since it will be laproscopic. The first week post-op I will have to do more clear liquids, 2cnd week soup like foods, 3rd and 4th weeks soft foods and the 5th week more of a regular diet, but without a lot of fat and sugar. They say that if I follow this to the letter I shouldn't get sick, dump or throw up. Let's hope not cause I hate throwing up! The nutritionist will give me a book that outlines what to eat and buy for each week so that I'm not left in the dark at anytime and said that I could call for help anytime, which was nice. So all in all the meeting went great and was very informative and she said that she would get the info to my doctors that day so they can pass it on to the insurance company. Hope thats all they need.

08/07/2006

Well, I broke down and called my surgeons office today, just to make sure that all of my paperwork has been filed and to see if they'd heard anything. And of course, nothing yet--- dang! Waiting for this approval is really hard, I can't stop thinking about it - OMG! Also, I think I'm addicted to this website! There is so much good info and encouragement in the profiles and forums. Hopefully I can contribute something worthwhile too! I've been so depressed about my weight lately, that I've been in the house, so I made myself go to the movies. Saw the one with 'Rickybobby' - that made me laugh and get on a better plane of existence.... although I really hate squeezing in those little movie seats..;-)

09/15/2006

A few things, my original insurance(Healthlink Open Access III- Principal Life) denied me, at least for now, they want me to have 6 months supervised diet(see doc once a month, dietitian 3x's a month) is that crazy or what??? Sounds like torture to me. So I decided to give my other insurance a try and they said I'm approved! I will now be using Dr. Norbert Richardson. I don't need to do a lot of leg work, just have a BMI of 35 or more, 1 co-morbidity and attend the new doctors seminar and I'm good. So the plan is to go to the New Start seminar Tuesday @ 7pm. I'm taking my buddy Wanda with me, she's interested in surgery too. Once I go to the seminar I have an appointment with the doctor, then go for a day of pre-ops, start my week or two liquid diet and surgery. Hopefully it will be that smooth and simple! Waiting for the official letter of approval before I get too excited.

09/17/2006

I went to a OH BAF Meet and Greet close to St. Louis. It was wonderful, loads of fun and felt very close-knit. I learned a lot from all of the post-ops. Everyone was so nice! Look at the pics in my photo album. That's me with the hat.

9/19/2006

Well my friend Wanda and I went to the New Start seminar this evening. It was very new and informative for her and really like a refresher course to me. So now I have all of my papers in. Just have to have an appointment with the new surgeon and get a date. There were some really weird people at the seminar this time, asking really weird questions. Research on this makes a world of diffference!

9/28/2006

I went to see my favorite Jazz Pianist 'Jamie Cullum' Tuesday night. I didn't let my weight stop me from enjoying myself at all this time. It was a blast. See Pics of that glorious evening:

10/12/2006

Well finally something more is happening. My two-year doctors records had somehow been lost for the last almost 3 weeks! So I've been back and forth with my PCP and New Start a couple times a week and it was really starting to work my nerves. So finally today I went to the doctors office and picked up the paperwork and faxed it myself. I had to pay for the records and to fax it , but what the heck, it's done! Now finally the doctor will look at it when he comes in on Tuesday. So hopefully my appointment with him will follow shortly. I would like to have my surgery before the end of the year.

I love to sing! Have a listen to some of my Singing below. More to come

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Photos
308 08/05Me with my favorite actor Peter Williams (Stargate), happy, yet sad because of weight

308 03/06Me with my favorite jazz pianist Jamie Cullum