With a head full of knowledge and a heart full of hope

Hi Lucy,

Congratulations!
I'm moving to Port Lincoln next week for work. Hopefully I can make it to the next get together. 3rd Sept is my appt with Dr France to book the surgery in...... Fingers Crossed it wont take that long to get a spot, I have been waiting long enough.
I'm with Medibank private on one of their corporate covers.

Hi Adam

What a sincere first post. I was wondering how I had missed it until now, and when I looked at the date and time you posted at it was the exact minute that I was going in for my surgery with Dr France. I only came home on Friday, and have been trying to catch up.
I can completely understand everything you wrote about, I think most people on here can.
Where are you moving to? It would be great if you can make it to a get together.
Can I ask who your health fund is with?
Is September your consult with Micheal or your surgery date?

Lucy i

Adam trust me it will be the very best decision you will ever make there will be little bumps and tiny hurdles lol along the way but if you have ever stood at the bottom of the pit of depression and self loathing and thought you will never claw your way out then this life changing awesome procedure will make you feel what it is like to stand on the edge and look down at where you have come from with confidence and pride in yourself.

Thanks everyone for such a great welcome! Every day I read a bit more on the site - VERY excting stuff! I am having trouble containing myself and not telling anyone, only one person knows of my venture (apart from a great group of people I have just met)

Looking forward to getting to know you all better and of course sharing my journey

Thanks again!

welcome Adam
yes health insurance is very costly but remember that this op would cost heaps more with out it and it is onlt 12 months or should I say 14 to have all the bills paid before getting out.
good luck and chat soon

*Lib* wrote:

Wow Adam, what a grerat first post! You had me welling up!

Oh god...me too, I felt everything you said mate **hugs**

Well you and I will be September buddies, I know its a long way away but now I have someone waiting with me and goddamn we shall live a much better life after this happens

Oops i forgot to say welcome...lol so WELCOME

Hi Adam- good to have another fella on the forum. I am so glad for you that you have a surgery date. I wish you every success with it and with your goals afterwards.

Welcome Adam. I haven't had surgery yet - waiting on a date and finances to be sorted. I am within my 12 months waiting period so I am hoping to use my super to pay for the surgery. I thought about waiting the 12 months but decided against it as I need the surgery now and a shutter to think of the damage I can do in 12 months.

Hi Adam, and welcome to the forum
I'm glad that you didn't take the health fund's "no" as definitive, and decided to do something about it.
If it makes you feel any better, we pay $275 a month for just the 2 of us.
Several people on the forum have used Dr France, and I believe that he'll look after you very well.
Best wishes
Chris

Wow Adam, what a grerat first post! You had me welling up!

I am 3 weeks post op, and I am down 10.4kg! The first few days after surgery were tough, but now that I am past that, I wouldn't go back.

Hang in there september isn't too far away!! Read up this site has been a god send for me!!

Welcome Adam,

this is a terrific site, some of the stories are truly inspirational..The results are really outstanding..I am 10 weeks post surgery, and you are so lucky to be able to have this surgery at your young age and unlike me have to wait till you are almost 60..Can you imagine what it would be like for you to have to be the way you are for another 34 years?? A lot of us here have had to endure this trip for a very long time..

If people think obesity is self inflicted, they should think again and read articles like the one from Dr George Fielding, it is a long article, but I think everyone should read it, both fat and thin people, it might put obesity into perspective.

http://thinforlife.med.nyu.edu/news/stories/georgefieldingeveryonedreams.html

This surgery is not a cure all, you do have to work at it, you have to change you feeling towards food, BUT when you are thin, there are so many other things to do other than eating, I think eating has consumed our lives for so long, we don't realize there are many other things to do in this life..

Best of luck to you, September will come around very quickly..

Cya
Greg

Hi Adam and welcome aboard.

I'm so pleased you found this site. What a wonderful and heart touching first post. I think all of us have thought much the same about ourselves so you are definitely in the right place with people "who get you".

I'm so sorry to hear that you were let down badly last year. It must have been devastating.

Good on you for taking the necessary steps so that it doesn't happen again. That extra money will be the best investment you have ever made.

I wish you every success and do become a regular poster on here because we all care and are very interested to hear what you have to say. You will learn heaps between now and your surgery.

Cheers,

With a head full of knowledge and a heart full of hope I sit here and digest the last 26 years of my life. That is something I have done extremely well over this time - digest. It took my recent 26th birthday to realise I was at my heaviest I have ever been 123kg and counting. It was not the fact that suddenly I woke up and realised I was "obese" but the fact that I did not want to celebrate my birthday with even the closest of friends, this meant I would be the centre of attention again (something I dreaded)

For the best part of my now adult life I have battled the bulge, something that no matter how hard I close my eyes and wish, it never goes away. I have dieted, I have completed medical studies, I have tried the "I'm going to eat less today" approach, none of it works. Finally I got the courage to see a Doctor specialising in Weight-loss surgery. Everything was set, the date 13th October 2008. 5 weeks out I got the phone call that anyone dreads, the surgery needs to be cancelled - your health fund wont pay! They called it cosmetic surgery - but I am not making myself look beautiful, if i wanted that i would have booked in for a breast reduction and a face lift. Then it was reconstructive - no nothing to rebuild here, then it was just a plain no.

My one shot of happiness, my shot at making a better life for myself, shot down in one phone call. Depression filled me for weeks after that, I increased my health cover to an astounding $100 a month for single person! Almost a year later, a good friend of mine sugested I look into the VSG.

I have now made an appointment with Dr Michael France in Adelaide - the date is 3rd September 2009 - the starting date of something great - a chance to feel more confident in who I am, a chance to finally put 26 years of misery behind me and start a wonderful thin life.

My friends, family and work colleagues have never known how much my weight has gotten to me, they have never woken up and stood next to me in the mirror and thought "what if". I'm glad I have come across your site and read of so many experiences and so much information.

I now sit here, with a head full of knowledge and a heart full of hope to one day be thin and happy.

Adam.