Let's Start This Over Again...

I tried Blogging once before when I was trying to lose weight. If you saw my history, you know I have been battling weight all my life. The one thing I have discovered about myself is that I can succeed at losing weight, but at the same time, I can't keep the weight off.

For quite awhile now, I've been having issues with my knees giving me lots of pain, and I've gone to different specialists to see what could be done to alleviate the pain.

There was one question that came up in all the appointments I made with these specialists. "Have you ever considered weight loss surgery? My Response was always the same..."Yes, unfortunately my health insurance won't cover it."

Each made it a point to say they would go out of their way to write letters if it would help, but again, the insurance company made it clear in the policy: We will not cover weight loss surgery, or weight loss management under any circumstances.

I could never understand why they wouldn't allow it, when it meant better health after the surgery was performed.

It was my primary care doctor that pointed out, the insurance companies know eventually I will have a major health issue, but they are betting I will be with a different company, by the time it happens.

So...having pointed out why I couldn't get the surgery in the past, I'm happy to say, that Kimberly's health insurance WOULD cover it! We made the decision to change our health insurance with her company, the YMCA, from the health insurance I had with my company, National Express. It wasn't just the surgery option, but they also had better deductibles and co-pays.

At this point, I want to give you an example of how large I had become.

This picture was taken in January, 2016. In about 7 months, I had gained back almost all the weight I had lost in a year's time. As some of you know, I hate having my picture taken, and it was really hard to post this. But I want you to see what I'm up against, and to remind me, that I never want to be this large again!


Well, I made my first appointment to see a bariatric surgeon, on March 9. I chose to go with two of the doctors that have a practice in Cincinnati, only 4 miles from where I work. They have multiple names for the facility, www.CurryWeightloss.com, www.journeylite.com, and also the Center for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. The two doctors are Dr. Trace Curry and Dr. Tracy Pitt.

When I made my appointment, I was told to be ready to spend at least a couple of hours at their facility. I was there for 3 1/2 hours!

The first item of business was to be weighed. The starting weight for this journey was 585 lbs. When I stepped on the scale, I kept thinking, well, at least I didn't gain back all my weight! I also knew though, that I was going to have to listen to their recommendations and FOLLOW them!

After taking my vitals, I was put in a room to see a dietitian first, and she made recommendations of what type of diet I could go on to help me get weight off before the surgery. I was told to try the Fast Track 3/2 plan. The premise is to have 3 dietary supplements high in protein, and low in carbs, such as a slim fast drink, or an Atkins bar, and then 2 lean and green meals. The lean and green meals refer to 6 ounces of a very lean meat, and vegetables low in starch, such as lettuce.

She told me that she wanted to see if I could lose at least 20 lbs the first month on this plan, which is also about 1200 calories a day. She also said it would help if I could find an exercise to help burn calories.

I then talked with the Insurance specialist that they employ, who told me that my insurance company required that I be on a controlled diet for a 6 month period before having the surgery. That meant the earliest I would be able to get the surgery would be September.

I met next with Dr. Pitt, who will be doing the surgery, when I have met all the requirements. He has done thousands of surgeries, and we agreed that in my case it would be best for me to go with the Gastric Sleeve method of surgery. It removes a large portion of the stomach without re-routing the intestines, making it less invasive than the Gastric By-pass.

He and I hit it off immediately, and I feel real comfortable with him being my surgeon. He also prescribed a tool for me to use in my weight loss tool box. Belviq works on the brain to keep you from thinking about food. It's not covered by insurance, but thankfully the drug's website has coupons that bring the price down to $75.00 a month, which is about a $100.00 discount per month!

My final visit of the day, was to see a psychologist, to see if I had the right frame of mind for this surgery. He feels confident that I will succeed once and for all on losing the weight, and getting down to a healthy weight.

I should mention that as I waited for each of my visits, I was given paperwork to fill out, as well as a 375 true/false questionnaire dealing with physical and psychological statements. By the time I left I was worn out.

The first appointment was March 9, and today, it's April 6, a month later, and time for my next visit with the dietitian and to get my weigh in to see how I did. I'm happy to say, my weight today, is 538 lbs. A loss of 47 lbs! Thank you Lord!

Rebecca, the dietitian, was shocked at how much I lost, and was afraid I was starving myself. I made it clear that wasn't the case, but that I was doing my best to follow the plan completely.
Dr. Pitt came in, and said he was happy with my loss, and gave me a goal of 30 lbs for this month to lose. By the time my 6 month controlled diet is done, I have to be down to 475 lbs, before I can have the surgery. I hope I can be down more than that before I go in.

So...I know this has been long, and I apologize for it, but I wanted you to see the complete picture. I want to thank all the folks that have reached out to me through email and Facebook messages that they would be praying for me and supporting me in this endeavor. This is one life change I want to make, and NEED to make! I realize I can't do this on my own, and I'm asking you to pray that God will give me the ability to meet my goals coming up to the surgery.


(I want to thank my good friend, Lisa S. for helping me fine tune this blog. She has given me great advice in helping me to organize the content, as well as my thoughts!)