Three H: Holy, Healthy, Happy

The staff at the surgeon's office told me it would be about a 4-8 week wait until they heard from the insurance company. I've waited only about 5 and a half weeks. That's not bad.  When I saw that ECU was calling I realized it must be about whether or not I was approved for gastric sleeve and I felt a little nervous; part afraid I'd be denied, and part afraid that surgery is now out of the abstract and into the concrete. I'm approved for surgery! So now I'm excited and afraid at the same time. I was told I must pay a $600 fee, I guess to show that I truly want it done and I'm not going to back out, and then they would schedule the surgery. Typically, surgery is scheduled for about a month after the payment is made, although it can sometimes be as soon as two weeks. This is where things get trickier. On the same day I had my "decision visit" with the surgeon, my boss gave birth to her first baby! I had been cruising along, trying to gradually m...

I have had great success recently and I couldn't be happier. Truly, this time I am going to do it!  I weighed in at 269.0 this morning! Not only have I escaped the 280's, I have outrun the 270's! This achievement, however small it may seem, is monumental to me.  I am also feeling tremendously better overall. My energy levels and stamina have both greatly improved. I think I'm also sleeping much better, and that is just based upon dietary changes alone. Since I mentioned sleeping better, this is also a good time to confess that I have sleep apnea. Sleep apnea gets a bad rap as being something only really fat old guys get, but really, anyone can have it. Carrying around extra fat on your body can make it worse, but you don't have to be fat to have it. In fact, in one episode of Mythbusters, Adam Savage couldn't complete the sleep study needed for testing the myth because he wasn't sleeping well enough. He was having apnea episodes.  What is sleep apnea? In sim...