Hi! New to the board!!! :-)

Hi There everyone!! I am new to this and am extremely nervous about posting for some odd reason. My name is Bethany and I am 21 yrs old. I have been overweight pretty much all of my life. I weigh 355 lbs and am 5'4. I have tried diet after diet (weigh****chers, atkins, Xenical, and my own calorie counting, etc...) and to no avail! It is really scary each time I go to my PCP and he sees I gained yet ANOTHER 5 lbs!! My problems consist of high blood pressure, HIGH risk of diabetes, (although lucky to not have it yet but it runs crazy in my family) sleep apnea, I can barely walk up stairs which is HORRIBLE because that is where my bedroom and the bathroom is haha. So many people have told me to reconsider this surgery because I am so young and "I have my whole life ahead of me" ; however, the truth remains, unless I do something NOW I do not have my whole life. I want to accomplish so much in my life such as having my children, walking around freely without pain while I am a nurse, biking and hiking as my husband loves to do. I want this surgery to regain my life back!! I live in Maryland and have Dr. Averbach. If anyone knows about him, please let me know. I hope this is a place where I can come to for support. It looks that way! My first letter has been sent and I am awaiting approval. I have Carefirst Blue Choice. Does anyone know how they work?? I hope to hear from anyone soon. Thanks a lot and good luck to ALL those who are about to go through this!!

Hello, and welcome to the board. You sound to me like you have your head on pretty straight. It is cool that you have set your goals and they sound pretty attainable. I want to wish you a fast and safe journey to the losing side. I hope to see more posts from you. What will be will be, it is all part of the journey Dana

Welcome to the group, Bethany(that's the name of my church). I waited till I am 54 to take a final step that will forever take away my diabetes, I'm on the pills right now but my PCP says that in less than a year, I will be on insulin if I don't do something. I also have sleep apnea and use a CPAP to breathe at night. I have high cholesterol and B/P. I also have problems with my feet(developed heel spurs due to the heavy load on the little guys) You are doing the right thing! don't let anyone keep you from what you want and need, I hear all kinds of negatives from my co-workers but I have researched this surgery for 3 years and know that the risks don't outweigh the definates that will lessen my quality of life or even send me to an early grave. Thinking of you and praying for all my pre-op peers