Please Welcome

[Guest guest]

Hi,

My name is and I've been poking my head around and replying to

a few posts here and there for a little over a week. I just realised

I never introduced myself and thought that I was being rather rude!

I apologize, and here's my introduction.

1.Name:

D.

2. City and state:

Navarre, Ohio

3. Email address:

oceanfaye@...

4. Obesity Help Profile name and/or OH URL:

oceanrayne

http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/members/profile.php?

N=D1132895823

5. Are you: Considering Surgery, Pre Op or Post Op..

Post Op!!

6. Date of WLS:

6/13/2006

7. Surgeon's Name: Dr. Quinlin -

UPMC St Margarets Pittsburg, PA

8. Type of Surgery:

RNY

9. Highest Pre Surgery Weight:

350 on July 4, 2005

10. Insurance or self pay:

Insurance

11. What is the name of your insurance company that covered your

WLS: Aultcare Primary, Medicare Secondary. Both approved the surgery.

12.Birthdate:

October 18, 1968

13.Occupation:

Disabled Currently. Used to be an Advanced EMT/Firefighter and last

job was Service Rep for a health insurance company

14.Hobbies:

Reading, Writing, Computers

15.Anything you would like the other members to know about you?

Married with a 18 yr old daughter. I love just being able to laugh

and live life.

I have rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia which both led to my

massive weight gain. A lot of it was due to medications that I was

put on at my initial diagnosis of the RA in 1993, to help control

the inflamation and progression of the disease. I never worried

about my weight before I was diagnosed.

As the years passed, the weight kept going up and up and up.

Finally, I got to the point that I was just miserable and my body

was starting to fail me. My blood pressure started to get higher and

higher, my cholesterol levels kept going up, and I started to snore

so badly that my family was ready to smother me in my sleep. I

actually found out that sleep apnea was the cause of the horrible

snoring. Also, as I'm getting older, I started to worry about my

family history of heart disease. My father, who was extremely

morbidly obese, died of a massive heart attack at age 55. I didn't

want to see the same fate. Last July, I went to a family reunion and

saw people I hadn't seen in 10 years. I saw in their eyes the

concern, and knew they saw my father in me. I was so embarassed, and

knew that I had to do something. I was dying and I love life too

much for that!

My high was 350 and with some diet modifications, I was down to 297

at surgery. I've lost well over 30 lbs at this point but don't know

the exact number until I go to the surgeon next week. I feel better

and am wearing clothing I haven't worn in 5 years. When I get

frustrated, I stop and realise I've lost over 80 lbs in the last

year and that makes me perk up and realise that I've done well.

As my journey progressed, I've learned a lot of things. I've

discovered a lot about myself. It's not been easy. I had many

challenges just getting to the surgery, and now that I'm post op..

the challenges have just changed but are still there.

I'm glad to have found this group and look forward to being an

active participant!

I've posted photos in the photo section under D.!

Hugs