Tomorrow is my BDAY and I am excited!

Well, tomorrow is my birthday (and Jesi's too!) hehe. we both turn 28~!!!! I havent been on here much lately. I had gotten really frustrated with myself. I had not been following the diet very well, and over the winter months got down on myself quite a bit. At any rate, I had a bad experience with a plastic surgeon last fall, I thought I was finally going to get my legs done (I have about 10-15 lbs of extra skin per leg) and I thought I had found the best to get it done. WRONG! Apparently this surgeon had not dealt with many patients that were post-gastric bypass and was crude, rude, and insensitive. It was horrible! I couldnt believe it! He told me I needed to lose another 50-75 lbs, or go thru 2 rounds (at minimum)of liposuciton first. ughhhhH!! So I kind of gave up this winter and just got thru every day. I got 2 beagle puppies, and they tookup all my time !! It was a good time, but I had kind of given up on surgeries etc. I had attempted to call Grinnell back, as they were the ones that did my bypass and belt lipectomy. (well, Dr. EIbes did it) I had talked with his new place in DM and had thought about going there. But I wasnt sure what to do. So, one day a cpl months ago I had gotten a call at my parents house from Grinnell. THey had been trying to get a hold of me for a recheck of my tummy tuck. I talked to them, and found out that they now took my insurance!! woohooo!! so I could go back and talk to them! After thinking some I told them I wanted to see Dr. Coster. I knew he had been there from the beginning and he would be a great doc for me. He had dealt with the most bypass patients and he would take good care of me! I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO RIGHT!! He completely and TOTALLY understood me. IT was WONDERFUL. and his new PA Stefanie was great too! They both understood that I needed this excess skin off before I could even exercise! Literally, I cant even walk that far because of the excess skin bouncing around, etc, and no grip on my extra skin to hold in my muscle mass. He said he wanted to do it in 2 stages though. the inside and let them heal, then the outside. (actually he wanted to do the outside first and I begged and pleded for the inside) I told him I hadnt seen my privates in so long it would be exciting !! So anyhow. after reading my whole little story, They sent off the pics. and I have been waiting. Its only been about 2 weeks, but I am impatient! So, I called the insurance company today, and I guess yesterday they got a hold of Grinnel and want them to send the pictures by mail. They couldnt see them well enough from the faxed pictures (duh) sooooo... thats a GOOD sign!! that means they are truly considering it!! it is WONDERFUL!! Anyhow, just wanted to share that news;.. hope things are well with everyone... and hope all the Moms have a great Mothers day!! Hugs!! Judi

Judi, First off Happy Birthday to you!! That is exciting new about the surgery and waiting to get the approval from the insurance company. It is a wonderful sign that they are considering your request. Hugs~ Deanne

Congratulations on your birthday, Judi & I'm wishing you all the best luck to get your surgery apporved. I asked my plastic surgeon if he ever got approval to fix thighs & he said that he hadn't. However, I suspect that he doesn't have his staff work hard at it. I agree that floppy skin on the thighs hinders movement & if that is the case, insurance should pay for it. In my case, to be honest, it's just ugly & I hate it but it doesn't hinder my activity. Last summer when I was trying to decide what to do with my thighs, I consulted with a PS *****commended that I go to the ones in IA City because of the amount of work involved. I never did because I heard they don't accept insurance payment and I also got scared when I read some of the horror stories of healing problems in that area. I decided that since, in my case, it's just cosmetic, I'd skip it. I don't want to scare you but if you haven't already, check out the plastic surgery message board here at Obesityhelp. Several people have had the surgery to fix the thighs. Most have had good results but others have had complications, which happens with any plastic surgery, not just this one. It's not an easy surgery to recover from & it won't hurt to know what could happen. I have to admit though that I've seen some of the before & after pictures & they are very impressive. Again, Good luck! Please be sure to let us know what you hear from the insurance company. I'm routing for you. Dixie

Hello Long time no see! I hope this new deal works out for ya....I remember how bummed you were with the last guys reccomendations. Hoe have you been? How is the new life in southern Iowa? Whatcha been up too? Are you holding steady with your weightloss? Fill us in, we haven't seen ya around in forever! Plus, I hope you had a good birthday Take Care jesi

Hello Judi Happy belated bday I hope you had a good one. I hope you can get the surgey im thinking about having my legs done too I have so much skin I had the tummy and I was so much in pain so im scared plus im on medicaid so I dont know if they will pay for it. Good luck to you keep us updated. Laurie