153 lbs

So I had my 3rd fill on Tuesday in Mexicali. I have had 2 previous fills in North Dakota and I can say that I won't ever be back to my local Dr. for a fill - Mexicali is the ONLY place I will go. My first fill was completely painless, the surgeon did it in 2 seconds the standard 1cc fill and out the door. My second fill was from the "new girl" and it was horrible, I was telling her to please use a new needle each time she stuck me, 1/2 way through she had to numb the area I was so sore, she dug and dug and dug and finally found the port, it was scary. She also completely lied to me when I asked how she knew she wasn't hitting the tubing and she said the tubing is self-sealing and if she did hit it, it would "fix" itself, HA Wouldn't that be great. So this 3rd fill I was able to get back to the people we know and love in Mexicali. I again met great resistance from my family, but did what I knew to be best for me. Ernesto picked me up from the airport, it was just the two of us, I had a great ride to Mexicali. We arrived at Almatar about 1:15, by 1:30pm I was with Dr. Compos. Dr. Compos started to do fluro and said I had a nice fill, I agreed and that I was just looking for about .4 more. He laughed and said we were thinking the same thing. He put in .4 and said no, I'm going to do .3. I laughed and said "no .4" :) He then showed me the difference between .3 and .4 He explained that with .4 I would eating mostly liquids and PBing, .3 was perfect. So tell me folks if I had gone back to North Dakota and a nurse that doesn't use fluro, what would have stopped them from putting in .4??? NOTHING, I would have pushed for the .4 and been miserable and PBing and possibly causing more damage than good, then AFTER the holidays some time I would have gone back and gotten a lot more than .1 taken out to try and fix the horrible cycle our bodies get in when they aren't being feed properly. Nope, no one can tell me anymore that a fill w/out fluro is safe. I ran into Dr. A on the way out and he chatted with me for a minute. Everyone kept telling me how good I looked and asking about my success. Dr. A asked if he could have a before and after pic, I laughed and told him he even has before and afters of my scars on the group site :) I had a great ride back with Juan Jose and then off to my sisters in San Deigo. It was a great trip and I would and will do it again whenever the need arises.

151 lbs

I'm ready for my next fill! I have been lingering here for about a month or so now and I want to be at goal (150lbs) and now I want a new goal of 145lbs. Just 6 more lbs total! I have a fill scheduled for Dec 11th in Mexicali. I haven't had a fill there before and I know it will be good. I'm definitely not nervous about it, like I am when I have a fill in the states. Dr. Aceves uses Fluro and they don't here in North Dakota. My husband and I leave on Dec 7th for Las Vegas. Our boss is paying for us to come visit their home in Las Vegas, we are excited about it for sure! I'm excited to not be worked up about having to wear a swim suit :) From Las Vegas, I'm going to fly into San Diego, hop a ride with Ernesto in the van and then get a fill. Deborah and I are going to ride back to San Diego together and I will stay with my sister there for one night and then back to my hubby in Vegas. We will fly home the next day. I'll let you know how our trip goes and then the fill.

152lbs Today

Another 2lbs gone!!! Finally "that time of the month" is over and I can enjoy a few pound loss again! I'm 2lbs to goal as of today!!! Today is Halloween though, I will have to be careful not to over-do it on candy :)

154lbs

154lbs

Another 2 lbs gone. I don't get it, but I will take every one!! I'm 4lbs from my goal! I was really tight during "that time of the month" this week, so I'm feeling unsure of where I should get my next fill. I don't ever want to be too tight, that is so bad for your body and your band. I also, don't want to be eating like a horse for 4 weeks out of the month either. I will see what I feel like this week and then decide on the fill. I hope to make it to goal by December!!

156lbs

Yep, you read that right, no fill and I lost another couple of pounds. I don't get it, every time I think this is it, I have to get another fill, I lose a few more pounds. I still have one scheduled in Bismarck on November 6th and I will keep that appt unless something major happens :)

159lbs

Do I need a fill????

I hate this place of wondering if a fill is what I need. I have been stuck at 163-161lbs for a month now, I have 2 x's hit 159 only to gain those few pounds back again. A fill costs $100 so its not like I couldn't find the money but the fear that comes with a fill that isn't done under fluro. What if on this fill they puncture my port, the tubing or whatever else could go wrong!!??!! If I could just head to Mexicali and know that all will be safe I would do it in a heart beat, but that turns the cost of a fill into around $700, plus time off work and time away from the kids. I just don't know what to do. I just got over the flu which brought my weight down to 159lbs, I will see how long that lasts. :) Till then...

159 lbs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

159lbs

Yep, I hit the 150's!!! I'm going to start exercising now so I can try and tone up some of this "stuff" but man, I'm happy with where I am!!

I was a size 20 in January and now I'm in a size 10! I love my band!!

September 12, 2007

161lbs

I went shopping this weekend. I was going out to dinner with my boss and her friend from Las Vegas and I had a feeling after our fancy dinner she would want to go out and I had better have a pair of jeans with me. So I went shopping for jeans, I had about 10 pairs of size 12 jeans in my dressing room trying to find just the right pair, all of them were a little big, guess what... I'm in a size 10!!!! I loved it!! I went out to eat with my boss and then, like I thought, she said, let's go change out of these dress clothes and go out for a drink. I put on my size 10 jeans and a new shirt I bought. I said, "what was I thinking buying a long sleeve shirt??" She said, "Oh, here I have a shirt and jacket you could wear!!" I about died, she is a skinny woman, guess what... her shirt and little jean jacket fit me!!!! I would have died if this would have happened to me in January, I would have been crying and nervous about having to put on jeans etc etc. But not anymore!!! I want everyone to feel like this!! I love my band!!!

(240) 230/161/150
DOB: 1/19/07

Entry for August 4, 2007

168lbs

Well, life has been hectic as ever. We are successfully running a bed and breakfast, check us out at www.moriverlodge.com I have been wonderfully successful with my weight loss and happy as ever. Today I walked a trail that I swear was 90 degree angle. It was funny because we had driven up to it and my 2yr old wasn't wearing shoes. So we got to this trail and thought we would walk it, I put my son on my back and about died, I was exhausted. I set him down and thought oh that is better. Then I started laughing to myself, I have lost almost 2 of HIM in the last 8 months!! 2 of him!! He is 40 lbs and I have lost 72 lbs in 8 months!!! I couldn't be happier with my results!!!

Entry for June 22, 2007

178 lbs

I took my kids to an outdoor swimming pool today. Guess what, I SWAM. I got in a bathing suit and my little shorts that go over them and I swam and went down the water slide, the WHOLE Nine-yards. I had a blast!!! In a swim suit!!!! My two yr old kept me hopping from baby pool to big pool to water slide and I had the energy, the stamina and the desire to go. Last yr I fought my kids all summer that I didn't want to go swimming! This yr, it was MY idea. No I didn't look like a model in my swimsuit and it was same one from last yr, but man did I enjoy myself.

Once again, Here's to love'n life w/the band!!

Yesterday my NSV was that we recently moved and I just found a fun little park for my 2 yr old to play at. While we were there, I did my normal, sat at a picnic table while that wild little man ran and played and jumped. Finally he came over to me and said "play, play" I got up and climbed the ladder to the playland and laughed - 60lb's ago I wouldn't have been able to climb the ladder, then the best part... I went down the slide and my BUTT FIT!!! Did you hear that, my size 14 butt fit in the slide - again, my size 20 butt wouldn't have!! This was sooo much fun, I got on the swing next to him for a while, I did the slide again, we had a blast! This was worth every penny I spent on my band!!!

Entry for June 16, 2007

180 lbs

Yep, you read that right - 180lbs - 60lbs gone for good!! I haven't done anything different than I have been doing, except quit my job, my husband quit his job, moved 9 miles North of a small town and running a Bed and Breakfast! LOL Ok, so a few changes have taken place and while I would LOVE to write more right now, so many things are going on and I have guests about to check in. I promise to write more in the next couple of days and give you the scoop on what I have been doing.

Entry for May 25, 2007

192lbs

I have been continuing doing the same as always. Eating less than I used to. The weight has really been coming off. I've gone from a size 20 in January to a size 16 now. I got my size 14 jeans on but not zipped yet :)

We are in the middle of moving to a small town and it seems the stress is causing me to lose weight, rather than my normal 10lbs I put on during stressful times. I will take a loss any way I get it :) My one fear about our new job is that we will be running a bed & breakfast and cooking all the meals. I'm afraid my ususal protein shake for breakfast and lunch may not seem so appealing when I have quiche made :) I'll let you know how the transition is going in about 2 weeks.

Entry for May 14, 2007

195 lbs

It seems that patience pays off. I have been doing the same thing I always do, eating less, walking everyday, getting my water in and I am down 45lbs!! That is 1/2 way to my goal!!! 1/2 way in 4 months!!! I'm excited.

Stress may have a little to do with it too. My husband and I are taking on a new career and moving our little family of 4 to a new town (very small town). It has been very stressful negotiating compensation etc, but today we finally accepted it! I'm very excited but I have a lot to do in 3 short weeks!! Next weekend will be a rummage sale. UGH! Oh well, maybe all this will mean more weight loss :)

Entry for May 8, 2007

198lbs

I have been feeling like I need to get a fill, but then I make an appt and everything starts getting stuck. I figured out last night that my issue is, I'm taking too big of bites and not chewing enough. I'm not sure that was a good thing to figure out, because now I can eat everything I have put in my mouth. I know that I'm still eating less than I "normally" would have, but the scale is just not moving as fast and I want it to. One thing an "old time" bandster had said was that she wished she would have not worried so much about the scale and just enjoyed the journey more. I guess I need to remember that. I have gone from a size 20 in January to a size 16 now. That is success in my book, no matter what the scale says :)

On Friday, my 14 yr old and I went to premiere of Spider Man 3 on Friday. We went with a large group of people and had a blast. I can't remember the last movie I went to. When I sat down, I actually had room on both sides of me in my seat. It was a great feeling. My son and I stood in line for an hour to get the best seats. By the time we had fought off the crowd and got 10 people in seats by each other my head was pounding. I was looking around for any woman who had a purse with them and begging for a Tylenol. I live in a small city that kind of thing is acceptable here  I was sooo thirsty and all I could think about was getting a great big drink and taking my Tylenol. I was so relieved to see they had Root Beer (no caffeine). So I ordered an XL root beer and small popcorn. After ½ an hour in line for food and drinks, I sat down in my comfy movie seat and sucked down my drink w/my Tylenol. I took another drink, and another, trying to quench my thirst. I thought to myself, "Man this is really filling me up." I got a pain in my left shoulder and DUHHHH! It hits me; I'm not supposed to drink POP!!! I just laughed to myself and thought, you know it takes a while before you "remember" all the bandster rules. Well, the good part is I didn't die. I gave my XL pop to my son and about ½ way through the movie, my headache went away and I had burped enough that my shoulder pain went away! Oh, how easy we forget.

Entry for April 24, 2007

199 lbs

YEA, YEA, What a sweet taste of success!! I reached my first goal of 40lbs and my second goal of reaching ONEDERLAND - Now if your thinking, hello is her spell check not working??? Well it is, but Onederland is when the scale is finally reading One hundred something, doesn't matter that it is 199 but it is in the one hundreds. Happy Happy Happy!

Entry for April 23, 2007

201 lbs

Well everyone, I had my first slime yesterday! I was starting to think I had outsmarted my band and wasn't going to have to experience something so disgusting, but needless to say, didn't happen. I was eating a turkey wrap and I was in a hurry, problem number one! Now I had eaten the first half of this wrap the day before and it kept getting stuck so I was trying to be extra careful. I chewed lots and took little bites. But then I realized I had an appt and had to hurry up. I took one bite too many. It was sitting in the back of my throat. I kept stretching and sitting up taller and taller hoping that would help - no help!! I had to get to my appt, I thought it would be easier to get rid of this than work and work to get it down. I leaned over the porcelain god and out it came, along w/ A LOT of saliva - very different from throwing up! No wrenching of the tummy just open up and come on out! HA HA

Sorry for the disgusting post but it wasn't near the horrible experience I thought it would be. :)

March 29, 2007

206lbs

I lost 2 lbs since my fill on Monday. I have definate restriction, but I'm not PBing or any bad side effects! This is great.

Entry for March 27, 2007

208 lbs.

Yesterday was my 2nd fill. I have a lot of swelling and a huge hematoma on my port site. I can see 5 spots where it looks like she poked me, I thought it was only 3 but it must have been more. I called the Dr.'s nurse and asked what I should do. She said to just watch it for infection and go in immediately if I notice any infection. I knew that some people get a hematoma but I more so wanted to let them know what the "new gal" did to me. :)

I do have more restriction so I hope to see the scale moving now. Wish me luck.

Entry for March 26, 2007

209 lb's

2nd fill today. I have a total of 1.6 cc in my 4 cc band. I couldn't get in with the gal that has been doing the fills for a while now, so I opted for the new girl. I won' t make that mistake again! She dug and dug and dug and then had to numb the area because I was so sore. Then she dug and dug and dug and dug! It was miserable. I told her I was not opposed to fluro if she wanted to go do that (it isn't what they regularly do). She took the needle out and I asked her to change needles, she was shocked but did it. She asked why and I told her that is what leads to infection in the port, is using a needle twice. Surprised she hadn't heard that. Then I told her I did have more restriction with my period and again she was surprised. Who is surprised by that!!! She said, well it must be hormonal. I said no it's the swelling in your body during that time. UGH! Anyway, lesson learned I won't compromise because of time, I will wait until I can get into the gal that always does fills!

Entry for March 22, 2007

211lbs

My fill didn't seem to make a big difference in restriction. I have my period right now and that is supposed to increase swelling and give more restriction also. I tried to eat a fresh home-made bun but that didn't go down very well. That is about the only difference I have noticed, oh and the 2lbs of water weight :( I scheduled another fill for Monday, March 26. Maybe that will help.

Entry for March 15, 2007

208.2 lbs

I haven't had a lot of restriction from the fill I had 3 days ago, but more than I had before it :) I had a hard time eating a soft shell taco, so I opened it up and just ate the meat and cheese out of it. I can still drink quite a bit at a time. Right now, I'm drinking a protein shake in the morning, having some fruit at lunch and a regular supper. I took my kids to McDonalds yesterday afternoon for a snack and I tried to eat some french fries. I had about 4 of them and then they felt stuck in my throat so I stopped. I tried to drink some iced tea to get them to go down but that only made it worse. Then I really felt like I needed to throw up. So I just stopped and then it all went down. No more fries, I don't think that is a bad thing :)

Entry for March 12, 2007

211.8

I had my first fill done today. I was so nervous because I was having it done in the US. How funny is that, if I was going to Mexicali I would have had complete peace!! :) The surgeon did the fill and THEN did fluro. I didn't understand that but at least I got to see the band again and watch the liquid flow through it. He poked me twice w/the same needled before I could lecture him on the dangers of increasing infection by using the same needle - yup I did it, I confronted someone (in authority) when it came to my well being - if you can't tell, that would be a new one to me :) He explained that he stayed in the port both times so there was nothing to worry about. I don't know about all that, but I will be grateful for some restriction and subsequent weight loss.

DOB: 1/19/07
(240) 230/211/140
1 fill - 1CC in my 4CC band

Entry for March 8, 2007

211lbs

I know it has been a while since I updated this, each day I think "I gotta get that done", but I haven't had any change in weight so I haven't done any updating. Bad excuse I know. :(

I lost 20lbs (30 total w/the pre-op diet) while I was on liquids, when I started mushies and solids, the weight loss stopped. I can eat ANYTHING right now, meat, bread, etc all the things you read about that people can't eat, I can. The ironic part, is that I haven't gained a pound of that 30 back. Of course I eat less than I would before I had the band, so that must be why I haven't gained.

It is weird to listen to the "full" signal in my body. I'm very much a boredom eater and I have walked around the kitchen and tried to find something to eat and then I ask myself, "Am I hungry?" When I know that I'm not, I go read a book or pick up my crocheting, anything to get out of the kitchen. The other thing I have to watch is eatting while doing something else. My husband and I have been doing a bible study that takes about an hour a night to do the homework. I'm really good at trying to work on that while I eat. If I do that, I can easily put more food into my body than I need because I'm not enjoying the food and I'm not listening to my body. I really recommend, if you are going to eat, then only eat. :) My new "full signal" is that I get a pain in my left shoulder in the front. Sergio, one of Dr. A's personal staff, actually told me to watch for that and he was right, that is exaclty what happens to me.

I get my first fill on Monday, March 12th. I'm excited for that and a little nervous to be going to a new Dr. and I know that he doesn't use floro for his fills. I also know, once I have restriction I will start losing weight again. I kind of got the run around w/my Dr.'s office when I was trying to schedule my fill so that is why it is a 9 weeks instead of 6-8 weeks. My appt was supposed to be the 19th but I kept calling their office everyday to see if there was a cancellation and get in sooner.

I will post again after the fill and give you my experience there.

Entry for February 16, 2007

210lbs

My weight loss has slowed down a lot and I'm able to eat WHATEVER I want. That is not a good thing. I can't get a fill until March 19th. I hope I can have some self control until then and not gain everything I lost in the liquid phase.

February 8, 2007

210lbs

Yesterday marked a 30lb loss since I started the Pre-op diet. A few people at work have mentioned that I look like I'm losing. It is always fun to get a compliment.

February 2, 2007

214lbs

I have been losing about 2lbs a day. I understand what the old time bandsters (people who have been banded) mean by head hunger now. I have no desire in my stomach to eat, I’m not physically hungry, but I could eat ANYTHING right now! I made little pizzas for my family last night and it took everything I had not to devour the leftovers. It wasn’t because I was hungry, my mind just said, “Go ahead, it will be great!” My son quickly threw away the leftovers. It took me a little while, but I thanked him.

January 31, 2007

218lbs

I have been eating about 300 calories a day – supposed to be getting about 800/day. It is so hard to push myself to drink anything more that I have. I drink 1 Isopure (clear protein) shakes/day, but it takes ALL day to get that one drink in. At supper I try to have some broth, it feels good to have something warm. I like a cup of decaf tea too, just for warmth. I have absolutely no hunger at all. I have had diarrhea since the beginning of this and that is getting a little annoying. :(

January 24, 2007

Today was our first night back at church. I pushed myself a little too much trying to pretend like nothing had happen – Didn’t just have surgery or anything :) I picked up my 2yr old a lot and then picked up some of the kids in the class I teach. They serve a meal there before the service so I just drank my broth before I got there and no one even asked me why I wasn’t eating.

January 21, 2007

Ernesto came to the hospital to pick us up at 7:30 AM. We loaded into the van and away we went. We were stopped at the boarder and told to go over to the next lane where they did more intense searches. The person that was questioning us, didn’t seem to know Ernesto. Another man walked by and waived at him and said, “more surgery???” Ernesto just gave him a nod and laughed. We were stuck in that area for over an hour, while they questioned one of our passengers that was born Greek and had done quite a bit of traveling. It was a little unnerving as we weren’t sure what was going to happen, but eventually they let us go through and we were on our way back to CA. We arrived at the airport around 11:00 AM Ernesto had another van load of people to pick up and we were happy to be headed home. The rest of my trip becomes a big ugly mess, with airport delays, a stay over night in Denver airport and then home a day late and $100 short HA HA I pushed myself too hard at the airport trying to make our connecting flight and got very sick, I thought I was going to throw up but was able to keep all my liquids down and rest for a while. I don’t recommend running a day after surgery!!

January 20, 2007

I woke up this AM and was excited to have my fluoroscope done so I could see my band. I had two separate people from home tell me that someone had gone to Mexico to get lab band and came home with holes in their stomach but no band. That would be impossible to happen at Dr. A’s when you get x-rays of your band and it’s placement to take home with you! My fluoroscope was great, I got to see the barium go right down. Next I went back to my room and waited for my first meal – Liquids – Broth – Jello – Hot Tea!!! YEA!! I was trying to eat all of my food and just couldn’t do it. Then Sergio explained to me that I shouldn’t be trying to eat it all. They put enough portions on everyone’s plate so that no one will go hungry. That doesn’t mean that what is on your plate is the right portion for you. He said to slow down when I ate and when I feel pain in my upper left shoulder, it is my body saying I’m done. I loved that advice as it is still working for me 10 days later. I was able to take a shower that night and that felt soo good. They cover each of the incisions with a tape that WON’T come off, even in water :) I spent the rest of the day walking the halls. Every time I didn’t feel good, I got up and walked the halls and then it was better. Sergio and Lucy came to visit that night before they left for the weekend and wished us all well. Their staff is top notch! Dr. A came by to check on each of us before he left for the day. Yolanda came by too. I asked her about the heat in my room and with in minutes she had someone there checking on it and fixing it! She is great. My friend was dieing for soda. We had walked around the parking lot a number of times, it was a beautiful day. During our walk we saw a pop machine across the parking lot from the hospital parking lot. We went back to our room to get some cash and asked at the nurse’s station if it was safe to cross the street and get a pop. They were all speaking Spanish to each other and one said, no they didn’t have any pop there. Then one of them asked if the pop was for me. I laughed and said, No that it was for my friend. Immediately they all started chattering again and I heard Yolanda’s name said about 3 times. They told us not to go across the street but that we could go around the corner to the pharmacy, then they said, no just wait here and with in 5 minutes someone had brought my friend 2 Cokes and 2 Diet Cokes. It was pretty funny.

January 19, 2007

Ernesto picked us up at the hotel at 7:00 AM. They had a computer in the lobby so I was able to email everyone that was praying for me and give them an update. We arrived at the hospital. Yolanda greeted us and showed us to our rooms. My room happened to be the hottest room in the hospital!! This for the woman who hates being hot and who brought a friend that can’t stand being hot! :( Even when we complained enough about the heat and got someone to adjust it, my room was the ONLY one to stay hot, cool air blew threw everyone else’s rooms. UGH.

They brought me a gown and said they would be back shortly. Around 1PM they brought in a sleepy pill and anti-nausea medication. After waiting the entire day, OK, not the entire day – I went down for surgery at 3:30 PM – I was the last one. My surgery took 35 minutes and I was under the anesthesia for 50 minutes. Everything went perfect! By 5:00 PM I was up in bed calling my family telling them everything was perfect. Soon after I was up and around a maintenance man came by to fix my bed and we begged for a fan, he seemed to be the first person who understood what we were asking for and within 5 minutes we had a wonderful fan blowing the 80 degree heat around :)

I spent the rest of the day sipping water and just reading a book. That night I wanted a sleeping pill and it took a little bit to get through to the nurse what I was asking for, but with some creative sign language she got it. I tossed and turned most of the night but not from pain, just uncomfortable.

January 18, 2007

230lbs

I met my friend at the San Diego Airport. Together we went in search of Ernesto, our driver. A few minutes later we met up with Ernesto, he loaded our luggage in the van and met a couple of people that were headed to Mexico with us. There were some flight delays so we waited about 1 ½ hrs before we could leave town but then we were on our way. The drive was about 2 hours long. We arrived at the hospital around 3:30 pm. They started processes our lab work for each of us. One of the gals traveling with us had developed a rash on her stomach so she was unable to have the surgery. I felt so bad for her, keep her in your prayers.

I needed to be fasting for the tests so I was a little hungry when we started. I started with giving a urine sample in the little cup. Then on to blood work. After that an EKG. Followed by a Chest X-ray. After the 3 of us had all those tests done we met with Yolanda. She is a wonderful woman, Nina’s mom actually! J She explained what was going to happen the next day, where we would be staying (Lucerna Hotel), paperwork we needed to sign that night. Then she sent us on our way with Ernesto to go to the hotel. The hotel was about a 5-10 minute drive from the hospital and our cell phones didn’t work there. The hotel had 2 different restaurants in it. We went for the one that had Steak on the menu J We had a great meal, steak, mashed potatoes, finished off with an excellent desert and coffee, MMMMM. The dinner cost about $30, it was excellent service and well worth it! The rooms were OK, only one washcloth; I don’t think they believe in washcloths in Mexico. LOL Yolanda had given me a sleeping pill and an antibiotic to take before bed. It had been a long day and we went to bed by 9:00 PM.

January 5, 2007

240lbs

Started the pre-op diet… 2 protein shakes a day and one meal of 3-4oz chicken or other lean meat, ½-1cup of vegetables.

January 2007

Everyone in my family has made it clear that Mexico is the worst idea ever. It has made me not want to discuss it with anyone. That is very difficult for me because I'm used to being able to talk, talk, talk about everything in my life. My husband recently came to terms with the idea of Mexico when my dearest friend agreed that she would travel with me. I was planning on going alone and my husband was not comfortable with that idea.

October 2006

240lbs

I called about 10 people on Dr. Aceves’s referral list. Every one that I spoke to had a VERY good experience! Dr. A was so highly recommended, one gal I spoke to had the band herself, then her husband went, then her sister-in-law, and when I called her she was on the van headed down to Mexicali with her daughter and 3 other gals to have the band.

I had tried every possible place I could think of to get financing for the Band in the US. When I decided on Dr. Aceves, I applied for funding with 2 of the companies he had listed on his website www.mexicolapband.com . Within hours I had heard back that I was approved by both companies. I called Nina at Dr. A’s office and set a date of January 19, 2007. I needed to wait for my new years flex dollars to start and that was the only reason I waited that long.

I continued to read up on Dr. A and everyone else’s questions on Dr. Aceves’ Yahoo Bandster site http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Dr-Aceves-bandsters/

July 2006

243lbs

Went to a neurologist to discuss my Meralgia parenthetica and see if he would write a letter to Bc/Bs to get them to cover Lap Band Surgery for me. My insurance – Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota – will cover the band if your BMI is above 40 for 3-5 years or if your BMI is between 35-40 for one year and have two co-morbidities. My BMI had just reached 40 so I wasn’t sure if they would cover it. After a LONG process and many letters from a number of Doctors, the pre-authorization was denied. My Doctors office called Bc/Bs and filed an appeal on the decision. That was denied. I went to another Dr. and received another letter recommending weight loss and filed an appeal with that documentation, again denied.

I had become very frustrated and not sure of what the next move should be. During my researching the band I had seen many websites on having the surgery in Mexico. I began to research the different Dr.’s in Mexico. One Dr. was in Tijuana, when I talked to my sister who leaves in CA about that Dr, she said she wouldn’t allow me to get a t-shirt in Mexico, much less SURGERY! HA HA. So that left Monterrey and Mexicali. The Dr. in Monterrey cost as much as having the surgery here in North Dakota. So I began to aggressively research Dr. Aceves.

January 2006

243lbs

I began researching Lap Band Surgery. A friend of mine had the surgery done and she looks amazing!! This surgery allowed her body to being ovulation and gave her hopes of being a mom one day!

This will be the beginning of what I hope will be a very successful weight loss journey.

I have been overweight most of my life. I remember being in the 8th grade and 4 foot 11 inches tall and 190 lbs. During the summer before my 9th grade year, I started Weight Watchers, stayed with my sister and got home sick and the stomach flu, and grew 3 inches. Through my 9th & 10th grade years I was 5 foot 4 inches and 120 lbs. I still thought I was fat.

I was on the dance team and remember thinking "why would they ever pick out spandex for such a big girl to wear!" I can look back now and see that I was very healthy and beautiful. :)

I had my first son when I was in college, at that time I weighed 150 lbs and was still thinking I was overweight. I never really lost the baby weight.

I've spent most of my adult life at around 185-195 lbs, 5 foot 4 inches. I got pregnant through IVF and it was very hard on my body. I also developed Gestational Diabetes during my pregnancy. I landed at 210 lbs.

Being overweight runs in my family, along with diabetes and heart disease. Those are a couple of the reasons I wanted to lose weight now. Another reason is that I want to get pregnant again and I don’t know what a pregnancy would be like at a healthy weight. I developed Gestational Diabetes 2 ½ yrs ago with my last pregnancy which we conceived through IVF. That increases my chances by 80% that I will develop diabetes in the next 5 years. Not a statistic that I take lightly.

Thank you for reading my blog and I hope you are able to get encouragement and good info from it. Please post a comment or email me if you have questions or concerns.