Picture of Me

I don't let anyone take many pictures of me but I got brave this week and asked a friend to take a picture of me and my daughter together. I don't like the look of my pale flabby arms, but what a special picture to be taken with my daughter with my arms around her to show my love to her. No matter what my arms look like, these are the arms that I love my babies with and that is good enough for them so it is good enough for me. So I am proudly posting this pic.

Waiting for 6 Months

So I got some bad news last week.....It will definately be later than sooner for the surgery. One of the requirements for insurance approval is to meet with a nutritionist once a month for 6 months. I have been meeting with one since January so I thought the process would be sped up for me. But the part of the requirement I did not know about is that in those same 6 months I had to see my primary care dr. once a month as well. I had seen my dr. 3 out of the 6 months.....urghh!!!! So it really will be 6 months and now I have to meet with a different nutritionist, one from the bariatric dr's clinic. I really liked my nutritionist Karen too. I will miss her. She was great....very patient with me and gave me a lot of her time. She was the one that recommended the surgery....thank you Karen. So I have all of my appointments set up with the bariatric nutritionist one for every month through to December and now I just have to make sure that I make it to my dr. every month or I have to start all over.

The Steps To The Band....so far

So are you thinking about the band? How did I go about it and what put the idea in my mind.....
I started having hip and back problems in December. So I knew I needed to get some weight off. I was seeing a Dr. about my hip and asked for a referral to a nutritionist to help with the weight lose. So I started seeing a nutritionist in January. We met once a week, when I could make it. Some times by back pain was so bad that I could not make it into her office. She is a very nice lady. I have enjoyed meeting with her weekly. Even though I was stuck in bed most of the time I was losing one to two pounds a week. I was feeling pretty good. I remember our first meeting....
She asked me what was my weakness when it came to food. At the time I had an addiction to Soda and Popcorn. She told me that I need to stop eating it. Or if I did, I need to switch to diet soda in moderation and light popcorn. So my next appointment she ask me how the break up was going. I thought maybe she had me confused with another patient because my marriage was just fine. She meant my break up with Pop Corn and Soda.....it made me laugh, but it truely was a break up! I had to break up with those foods. We stayed seperated for a little while, but I am sad to say that we are back together.
I continued to drop a pound a week until April. I started to gain all of the weight back. She suggested that I needed to get the weight off and keep it off and recommended a lap band procedure. My insurance just started covering the procedure in January of this year. So she suggested I see my primary care physician and I did and got a referral for a consult with a surgeon.
So once you have your referral for consultation the next thing to do is register for a seminar. I went to a seminar about bariatric surgeries. It helped me to decide on the lap band vs. gastric bypass (too serious for me!). So then after the seminar you can get a consult with the Doctor.
My initial consult. I scheduled it for May 28th but when looking back at my piece of scratch paper the 28th looked like the 23rd. So I went in on Friday the 23rd. I was glad I did though. The dr. was not in. He was in surgery all day. But the receptionist did all of my checking in so I would be ready for Wednesday to meet with the dr. We discovered that I was a little under weight for the surger...just a few pounds. She asked if I thought I would be able to gain a few pounds over the weekend.....I said "in my sleep!" So I went back Wednesday, met the weight requirement (I had a really fun weekend of eating foods that I have been avoiding for some time....tacos, burritos, pizza, and cheesecake. If you had to gain a few pounds what would some of your fav foods be?)The dr. meet with me and gave me a huge binder to read. I have to take a quiz and I have to have a bunch of lab work done and get my paper work in order to get my referral now from the insurance company.....it will all happen some time in the next 6 months.

When Food Is Love

"When I was eleven, I began dieting, and for the next seventeen years I spent the largest part of my every day thinking about what I wasnted to eat that I shouldn't eat that I didn't want. As I began spinning a world in which there were only two players, food and me...By the time I was twenty-eight, nothing mattered to me exept being thin..After reaching my natural weight...I discovered that it wasn't being thin I wanted, it was getting thin."

These are not my words, but they might as well be! I am reading a book called "When Food Is Love" by Geneen Roth. She has been battling weight her entire life and has written many books on the subject of emotional struggles with food. This book was recommended to me by my Therapist, Helen. I have been seeing a therapist since the end of March for my emotional eating patterns.

So why am I writing this blog about such a private matter? Number one reason is because I am not alone in this! I know others struggle the same way I do. And the number #2 reason is because I am getting what is called a lap-band procedure done some time this year....hopefully if the insurance company approves it. I met with the Dr. last week and I plan to use this Blog as my journal about my band...hence the title of the blog..Channon's Band..My lap band and my band on all food issues.