BrookLayne
My name is Brook and I am a 33 yr old married momma of two. I was not heavy until after I graduated from highschool. My highschool diet of Dr Pepper and Doritos stuck around even after I stopped the activity level that I had in highschool. Most of my jobs since highschool have involved sitting: insurance claims processing, 9-1-1 dispatch and medical scheduling. That combined with carb packed eating habits has led to my decision (after trying everything else under the sun) to have RNY WLS. I started researching WLS just before a friend had the surgery a few years ago. I was concerned about her and wanted to know what she was in for. What I found out was that RNY LAP surgery has come a long way and that it was the best thing she could have done for herself. At that time, it was not something that I thought I would do for myself. I was 230 lbs at 5'7" and felt I was not a canidate for WLS. But over the last year or so, I have crept up to 278 lbs, my blood pressure is going up, my cholesterol is going up, and I hurt. My back hurts. My feet hurt. My legs hurt. I have headaches all the time. And my energy level is that of someone twice my age. I want to PLAY with my kids before they dont want to play with me anymore.
I started the process of finding a surgeon in June. I finally chose to go to an informational seminar in October of 2007. I immediately felt comfortable with Dr Machado. She seemed real and confident and professional. I knew before the end of the evening that I would have Dr Machado do my surgery and I was ready right now! It took less than 6 weeks to get my preop testing: EKG, Chest XRAY, lab work, nutrionist consultation and psych eval. I have BC insurance and my surgeons office took care of getting the authorization. My PCP was supportive but I did not need a letter from her to gain approval from BC. Yeah BLUE CROSS! From submission of request to approval was about 9 days. My surgery date is set for 1-14-08 and I am so excited to get it over with and get on with this life. :)
I have to say that the before and after photos on this site have been such an inspiration! I dont want to be a Barbie doll...I just wanna sit criss cross applesauce with my 6 yr old and do a little skateboarding with my 10 year old :)
