my first meeting

Hi I am Debra, 48 yrs old, 5'3", 313# BMI 62 , live just East of Oskaloosa IA. in a little one horse town, Rose Hill. I have been heavy all my life, seen pictures of me at age 5, I was chubby -- Then at 7 I guess I discovered food. By the time I was ready for JR High I was 220 pds at 5'2". Married to wonderful man who is so supportive, he is my ROCK. I had my first consultation with Dr. Schwartz the 5th of Oct. that went great, but wow the huddles came into play. Two weeks before my consult I had asked my fam doc to send up all required documents, showing that I had done the Doctor supervised diets etc. When I got to the appt with Dr. Schwartz that is when I learned my fam doc had not sent up the paper work yet, my paperwork from the pysc was there... But all in all had a great talk with Schwartz. Come to find out that my fam doc had sent the documents by fax, I waited till the following Tuesday to see if the documents were indeed there. NOPE!!. By this time I am done fuming and going into melt down. Called my doc office again the girl said she'll resend them. I called Grinnell next day and still no fax. So Wednesday afternoon I went into the doctors office got copies of my records and hand delivered the things myself. Thank Goodness I am just 1 1/2hr. drive from Grinnell. Now to wait on medicare approval. 4 to 6 weeks I hear. BUMMER!!! Well as hubby says, you have been heavy all your life, what is a few more weeks. I know he is right, but knowing that in a few short months my health is going to greatly improve, and have to admit, go into a store and buy clothes off the racks, not out of a catalog (lane bryant, romans) etc.,, and to be able to go horseback riding again. OH there is so many more things I want to be able to do. But health is main reason, a lot of health problems in my side of the family, and I have an L5Factor which I take coumadin for, and I have DVT's. That is one of the things Dr. Schwartz and I talked about, I will have to have a greenfield filter placed first, three days prior gastric open ryn. I am so ready for this. at 48 yrs of age and I feel like a teenager waiting for this special gift to arrive. Wished I could snap my fingers WELL we get the picture. LOL

Welcome to the board and congrats on starting your journey to the thinner you. I hope everything moves along quickly for you, it seemed like it took forever to jump through the hoops, but now that I have been post-op for 2 1/2 years, it feels like just yesterday that I started on this journey. If you ever have any questions or just need some support, make sure to post. Take care! Julie

Hi Debra, Welcome to the board! Who knows, maybe you won't have to wait that long for approval, it could happen sooner. I started my journey in April 2004 at age 49 so welcome to the 40's club!! And yes, I feel like a teen looking at clothes now! I still go to the fat ladies section first looking at those 3 & 4 x clothes then duh it dawns on me don't need those anymore! Started at 30/32 now am an 18 (almost) to a 16 or XL in clothing. Who would have ever thought? Can even find clothes at the Goodwill! Before long you will be on the losing side! Keep us posted Carolyn

When you want something so bad, it does seem to take forever!!! But the 4-6 weeks will fly by!!! Pretty soon you will be getting ready for surgery and wondering how the time flew by so fast!!!! I am also really short......5'2 and I too had a high BMI.....I was at 293, and now 10 short months later I am at 165!! I haven't weighed this little in as long as I can remember!!! It truly is an amazing journey well worth all the wait and hurdels!!! Take Care and I will be watching to see about the approval!!! Take Care Jesi