~ 7 October 2001 ~ Although I have not been overweight my entire life, I have been obsessing over my weight for years. However, since I have been looking into WLS (since November of last year) it's gotten worse. I read all the wonderful success stories and while I am very happy for everyone, I am also jealous! I feel like my turn will NEVER happen! My husband does not have insurance through his work and so I have no hope of surgery without that. I'm praying things will look up.

At the moment, I'm a 37 year old housewife and mother of five children. My oldest, Aaron, is 19--Jaclyn is 17--Caleb is 14--Jared is 5--and Olivia is 16 months. She's still nursing and I have had some reservations as to whether or not I will be able to still breastfeed her after surgery, but I have had some great support in that area via an online breastfeeding support group named OSSG-breastfeeding. Julia Moseley (now Ziobro) started this group in July and her AMOS profile can be found here.

~ 15 November 2001 ~ Well, I'm not really any closer to getting weight loss surgery...and I have loads of stress right now. My hubby has been gone to Georgia all this last week due to a job change. Thank God he's coming back tomorrow! I started school online and my courses are heavier than I expected and with that and dealing with 2 small children everyday...I'm really stressed. One good thing though is the move. I'll be looking into using Dr. Procter as I hear that he is an excellent Doctor.

~ 28 February 2001 ~ Well, we came through the move okay...and now we're in Georgia! Here, at least, we have all 4 seasons and we had a great snow after we got here. We have been here since the beginning of December 2001, and I think we are going to like it here. This town is so beautiful!

~ 30 January 2002 ~ My husband has started working as a contractor for our local cable company..and while he likes it...and that IS important...we still do not have insurance! I came so close to getting what I wanted. While we still lived in Florida, we had gotten approval for Medicaid and there was a really great doctor in Pembroke Pines that accepted it. I called right away to set up a consultation and was given a date that was 2 months away...on December 6th. We left on December 3rd. There was NO WAY I could have stayed and went to this appointment. Even if I had, there was no way to come back for surgery...and I was counseled that if I did see a doctor in Florida concerning weight loss, and then Medicaid is canceled because of moving to Georgia, I could be turned down on a new policy because of a pre-existing condition. WOW...what a trip! So, I began this journey over a year ago and still am not any closer today that I was when I started. How depressing :-(

~ 12 June 2002 ~ Well, it's been a while since I have updated. I have some GOOD NEWS!!!!!! My hubby worked for a company called Crown Fiber, who was contracted through Charter Communications and so was a contractor and not hired directly through Charter...thus no benefits. Well, he recently was approached by someone at Charter telling him what an outstanding job he was doing and that after interviewing him and several others for a Data Tech position, they thought he was the most qualified since he knew about installing cable AND installing cable modems! So, they hired him and benefits start the first of July!!!!! WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I have officially begun my journey! I decided some time ago to go with Dr. Duncan in Atlanta mainly because he transects the pouch. I have heard of too many people having to have revisions because of stapleline disruptions. May as well head that one off at the pass! So, I have faxed in my application to the Peachtree Surgical Associates office, and Joyce called me this morning telling me that an appointment is open for 1 August and I told her to go for it so she put me down!! I ACTUALLY have a consultation appointment! I'm so psyched! After all this time, I'm finally on my way :-)

~ 12 August 2002 ~ Today I had my appointment with my future PCP. I got very lucky and found him on the first try! I called The Longstreet Clinic in Gainesville (they have the BEST healthcare facilities and doctors) and asked about Dr. Phillip Marler. His was the first name in the book under that clinic and I was determined to go through them all till I found one who was WLS-friendly! Anyway, I found out from the receptionist, that he has about 15 patients that he has referred for WLS. Most of those (if not all) have been referred to Dr. Proctor and has BC/BS so I was his first CIGNA patient requesting someone other than the local WL surgeon :-) This appointment went very well. We talked about the labs that his office would need to order for me in the future and he seems to be savvy about those issues. I feel so blessed to have found him! Before I left, his office assured me that they would fax the referral before my consultation date with Dr. Duncan's office on the 15th.

~ 15 August 2002 ~ My husband and I drove to Atlanta today for my 12:30pm appointment at Dr. Duncan's office. Actually, it was a class. There were about 10 of us. Most of the time there are only about 3-5 people, so they were all pleased to see such a good turn-out. It turns out that I have the most knowledge about WLS and have been researching longer than anyone that attended the meeting. We discussed a number of things that the others were not aware of and in the end, exchanged email addresses. I'm very excited to have helped someone in this way and have now been thinking of starting a support group here in Gainesville for people just like me who are seeing a surgeon who is not in their immediate area, but need somewhere to go for support. So, please keep me in mind about that :-)

~ 27 August 2002 ~ Well, today was my psych eval at Dr. Gary Santivicca's office. He is the one Dr. Duncan's office refers for this particular test. After the results are forwarded to Joyce at Dr. D's office, she will then send the entire packet (that also includes a LOMN from my PCP) to Cigna. Dr. Santavicca said it normally takes his office 2 days to do that, but if not, a week at the most. So, I'm trying, in the meantime, to wait patiently! I have started to have worries about Cigna. According to Dr. Santavicca, Cigna is not very pleasent to deal with. He said at one time they were not approving the surgery AT ALL, but then someone who used to weigh a LOT came in looking svelte and healthy and BAM!! Suddenly, they're for the surgery!! LOL I don't care what happened, as long as they approve me!! In the beginning, I told God that if this is what he wanted for me, then it would all turn out. So, that is what I am believing in. Till next time.....Jeralyn

~ 10 September 2002 ~ Yesterday I got a call from Dr. Duncan's office telling me that Cigna denied me on the basis that I have not had any recent "physician supervised diets". So, I called my PCP's office and told them what's going on. Joyce, at Dr. D's, said that I would need to be on a diet for at least 90 days before we could re-submit. *sigh* So, I guess that's what I'll do. I'm disappointed, but I've waited this long....won't hurt to wait some more.

I read some AWFUL news last weekend! The surgeon I was going to use in Florida (Dr. Trivedi) has quit practicing and is moving back up north to New Jersey. He may even be gone already. Apparently, one of his patients died after some complications with her intestines getting twisted. How sad is that?! She was a mother with 3 children. I read this on a profile at the AMOS site and the story I read was that she had been telling him something was wrong and he passed it off until it was too late. I'm so thankful that I didn't have my surgery with him! I know things can happen anywhere, but it sounds like he was just neglectful and everything does happen for a reason. There was a reason that I moved here and didn't go to him. If I had just been a few weeks earlier with getting in to see him, I might have already had my surgery and now that I am here, if something were to happen to me, I wouldn't know what to do.

I've also had some personal things going on in my life that have me upset. I'm trying to just forget the whole thing, but it's not easy. Basically, my husband has been charged with stalking! Since he works on computers and is the "troubleshooter" for Charter's cable modems, he gets lots of calls and works mostly inside people's houses. Well, this lady called about problems with her computer back in the beginning of July and they sent my husband....luck of the draw I guess. Anyway, he is the type of person who goes out of their way to help when someone needs help and this lady and her boyfriend were having problems with their email...setting it up...getting their mail...getting and staying online...etc. and so he went out there several times to try and solve the problem, which, by the way, he does with all his customers. As a matter of fact, so does the rest of the guys that he works with! It's called "courtesy". Well, she interpreted his friendliness for flirting and believes he has a "crush" on her and filed a restraining order against him!! I couldn't believe it! Anyone who knows my husband knows that he is just not that kind of person. By the way....this chick is like 50. HELLOOOO?! Why would he be interested in some wrinkled up old lady?Anyway, we went to court today for the hearing so the judge could decide whether or not to issue the restraining order. She decided NOT....which means WE WON!!! According to Georgia law, skalking is defined as someone who is intentionally trying to harrass or intimidate you...and these acts of harrassment have to make you fearful for your life. He was doing his job for goodness sake! Anyway, the judge saw through it and now it's over. What a relief! You know what they say.............in every situation there has to a be a L O S E R.......and she was none too happy that she lost either LOL. (Do I sound just a little TOO happy?? HAHA)