Introduction

So I posted once already but I thought I would give a bit more info on myself and try to make some friends.

 I am Angela,  almost 34 and I am married to a great man, and I have a beautiful 13 year old daughter.

 I have struggled with my weight since puberty, and all the people on my mother's side of the family are very, very obese. 

 I was an active teenager and 20something, however weight kept creeping on and after I settled down to work and family I really started packing it on. Finally, at 25 and 180 lbs I decided to join the Army, I had to loose 40 lbs to qualify. I did that on slim fast.

 

I used to joke about it, but I never thought it was funny, I was the only person in basic training to actually gain weight.  The whole time I was in the Army I was flagged as overweight, and had to weigh in and be tape measured every month.

 

When I got out of service, of course I put on even more weight, I tried Weigh****chers, exercise, the diabetic diet, ediets, and Nutra System (for a year on NS) and every time I gained it all back plus 5 or 10 friends.

Last year I lost 50 lbs on NS...it to 10 months to loose and 3 months to put it back on.

 Now I have trouble breathing, and sometimes I snort, I have trouble getting in and out of my car , trouble breathing, asthma, high blood pressure (I even had chest pains, and that is what decided me on WLS) I suffer from depression, I snore and snore and snore, and I am so tired all the time. I want to live again.

Some might call me a light weight, I guess. I am 230 lbs and 5'3" , my BMI is 40.8.

 As I said I am a Vet, and I work at the Department of Veterans Affairs, I graduated from Belmont University in May.

 

I guess that's me in a nutshell. I'm glad to meet everyone, and so happy this forum is here. 

Good Morning Angela and Welcome to the board!   We are a great bunch of people here.  I too know the yo-yo syndrome, but hope that now that I have had the RNY it is over.  Ask any question and you will probably receive a plethora of answers.   Good Luck on your journey. Beth

Thanks Beth! I'm glad to finally be here!

Hi Angela,   My name is Elena and I am also a Vet (Navy, four years).  And I work at the Nashville VA Hospital.  You will find that the people on this board can feel your pain (and joys) and understand anything you need bring to them.  Good luck on your new journey and we will save you a seat on the "Loser's Bench"!

Thanks for your reply also, I too work at the hospital. Do you have Federal BCBS? Did you have any problem taking the time for test and such off work? Can youtell me about your process if you do have FBCBS? Thanks, Angela

Hey Angela, I do have Federal BCBS.  I was told at my orientation meeting at Baptist that it is the easiest insurance to get approval from!  FBCBS does not cover lap band though.  It will cover lap RNY (bypass).  I had very minimal cost.  I think a total of $200 for hospital (100/night) and less than $100 for the surgeon.  Once I did the orientation, support group and psych eval, the approval process took less than 30 days.  So, you've got good insurance to decide to do this with!   I work nights, so getting to my appointments was never a problem.  I have to work every other weekend, so I scheduled the surgery for the Tuesday before my weekend off.  That way I only had to take two or three days of AL.  I also worked my second week schedule so that I worked at the end of the week.  (I might have called out a couple extra days, I don't remember).  I was out for just under two weeks.  I was really lucky and had absolutely no complications.   I work on 2N, 1930-0800.  If you have any questions, look me up.  I don't know everything, but I'll give it a shot!  lol  Good luck!

Glad to have you on the boards!  Welcome Kim

Welcom Angela! You will find lots of friends here, we are always glad to see new faces.

Hey there Angela, I am a newbie here too. As far as you getting approved, just hang in there and fight fight fight if you have too. It took me a little over two years to get everything in order, but  I finally did. Just don't give up. This board is great, I don't get on a whole lot, but allready have several friends and can't wait to get more. This is a good place to come and vent or whatever, everyone listens. God Bless....Cheryl:)

Angela, Welcome to our little family.  Glad to have you here and just ask anything, we will give you the true stories as they have happened to us.  The good, the bad and the ugly.   Good luck with you insurance it sounds like you have good insurance to be on this journey with. Darlene