SURGERY DATE!!!!!!!!

Surgery is scheduled for August 12th @ 8:00 am!!!

I'm so excited I think I'm gonna pass out!! :)

Yeahoo!!! :)

APPROVED!!

Oh yeah!! I'm doin the dance!! :) Waiting on hold right now to schedule surgery date!! I'll update when I get it! :)

Wednesday's Update

I talked to the insurance company today and they said they are reviewing my pre-authorization request... so hopefully we'll have an answer soon! :)

• ** Updated : Doctor's office called me this afternoon to let me know that they had also called the insurance company, and that it was in the last step of approval and they felt it would be fast from this point... Thursday or Friday (hopefully).. So now we just have to pray for the perfect surgery date! :) (Can we say next week??) Well.. I guess we pray for "Approved" and then the perfect surgery date!

Update

Okay, I talked to the insurance company today, they said that they show they received the fax from my doctor, but they haven't built "a case" in the system for it yet... so that means its sitting on the nurses desk waiting for reading. Apparently, once the nurse reads the file, they build a case and send approval to the doctor.

The agent I talked to today said that it should be done this week, and that I should call back for update on Thursday! :)

Praying for favor!

Pouch Rules for Dummies

I am impatiently waiting for my insurance approval... and while searching for things about the surgery to pass the time, I found this great article and HAD to share!

It talks about the mis-conceptions associated with the pouch, the rules to follow, liquid vs. solids, etc... it's an excellent source. If it wasn't so long, I would just post it on here, but it's rather lengthy.... I would recommend anyone that has had or is considering having Gastric Bypass to read it though.. it's an excellent article! (Both for immediately after, and for years after)

Pouch Rules for Dummies

Dear God,

Please help the insurance company to give us approval soon! (Monday would be good!)

Okay.. I admit, I'm feeling impatient...

I don't do well with limbo....

Please help me with that, too!!

Amen.

Just waiting for approval now...

Just got word that all information has been faxed to the insurance company, and now we just have to wait for their reply!

I'm soooo excited!!! :)

Last step..

Okay, I just got the call that my medical clearance letter has been faxed to the surgeon... so they should be submitting to Blue Cross for approval first thing tomorrow!!

I had to call and "light a fire" today, because they didn't seem in any hurry.. they said "sometime this week"... (are you kidding me? LOL)

So... needless to say, they decided to get it done today after all (no I wasn't mean, just insistent).

So now we wait some more! :)

Patience

Okay.. the picture is sort of true...

Still waiting on the primary care doctor to finish the clearance letter, so they can send it off to the insurance company... ey-yi-yi... can he hurry up already?? LOL!!!

Interesting Article

While reading a blog (about a girls bariatric surgery progress) shared with me by a friend of mine, I stumbled on to this article (see link below), and boy did it hit home.

Please don't get me wrong, by posting this, I don't want to give off the impression that I think every thin person sits around and quietly judges obese people.. but we all know someone who does. Am I right? This post is not meant to offend in anyway.... it's more a matter of pre-reflexion (Is that a word?), due to emotions I already feel and dreams I already find myself having about being "gloriously" and "ideally" thin.... ahhh... :)

This is a very interesting article written by someone who had surgery and lost the weight, and is now part of the "thin crowd". She writes about the fact that she hasn't forgotten what it was like to be obese, but now finds herself privy to the judgment passed on those that are just like she once was...

I don't want to forget... you'll know what I mean when you read it! My Secret History

The Chin/Neck Issue Solved!!!

On another blog that I enjoy reading, the subject of toning was being discussed and this was posted on there for a way to tone the neck and chin area....

Does anyone know if this works?? (I'm being serious!)

Health Clearance

Well.. I had my doctor's appointment today (Primary Care Physician) and he cleared me for the surgery!! Yeahoo!

This part of the process was necessary for both the insurance company and the surgeon. He needed to look at my labs, verify that I don't have any health risks that would cause me to die in surgery, or after! :) I'm told they checked for any heart conditions, anemia, lung issues, etc....

So now we just have to hope that he can get his letter of approval to the surgeon today or tomorrow morning (he said he'd hurry! :)) , and then the surgeon's office will be faxing all information to the insurance company, and then Wa-la.. we wait for approval and a surgery date!! (Still hoping for first week of August.. think we can make it?)

I'm praying hard now... there's always the fear that since I'm a newly insured with this company, they possibly might feel it's too soon for them to be paying out for a surgery (though I did verify that I didn't have any pre-existing "hold" flags on my account/ID) And according to the surgeon's office, they usually see "my scenario" breeze through in a weeks time! So we are now praying for favor in that area...

Oh and this too... at the doctors office this morning I weighed in slightly below the BMI requirement (should have drank more water).. but the primary dr.'s letter of approval doesn't include those #'s ... the surgeons #'s are used... so we are also praying that the insurance company doesn't request the primary's chart information!! (Primary Dr. says he has never had to submit his chart for this kind of clearance)

So now for the most difficult part... WAITING!!

Any of you that know me... you know I'm not very good at this part... so we are praying about this too! :)

Lots of prayer in this post!! (Please join me!) :)

YEA!!

Just got a call from the primary care physician that has to sign off on my surgery (saying that the labs show that I'm healthy enough)...

I have an appointment at 10am on Monday morning!!! :) Yipee!!

After that appointment, only 2 more steps:

1) Insurance approval (which takes about a week)
2) Schedule Surgery Date.

Oh yeah... I'm doin the dance! :)

Protein Drinks/Shakes

After attending my nutrition class on Tuesday, and learning all about the issue of protein difficiency after this surgery, I took thier suggestion and started shopping protein drinks/shakes. This is one constant thing that I have heard from the doctors and friends that have had this surgery, most people HATE the protein shakes, and usually have trouble keeping up with them, thus not able to get enough protein into thier diet.

So, since I do not want to start out on the wrong foot, and I really want to preserve as much of my hair as possible... I've been shopping away and BOY am I ever glad I did! The nutritionist explained to us that, with a stomach that can hold only about 1 oz in the beginning, you sure don't want to wait until after to start the process of trying to find a protein drink you like. (Apparently, from what I hear, you take one sip and you are full.. sure not a time to be "testing" alot of different things)

So I tried her suggestion first... Isopure pre-mixed..

shudder....and though it does have a whopping 40g per bottle... I can tell you that I would go bald before being forced to drink that stuff! (okay, maybe not really.. but needed to express just how badly that stuff tasted and you could visibly see the "snot-like" stuff floating around in it) Again... <<<<<>>>>

Then I remembered talking to a friend who tried alot and found one she liked after several years.... Muscle Milk...

Low in carbs (12), Lower sugar than most (5) and 22g protein! It comes in Chocolate and Vanilla... (and apparently other flavors from what I see online) I like that one alot and will probably become a frequent drinker of this one.. But I do know that the "heaviness" might not do well with me in the beginning since they say only clear liquids for a while and adding in "full liquids" slowly... so I needed to keep shopping for a clear-liquid type of drink.

At the suggestion of another friend, I went to Flex Factory and told them my needs and they suggested "Nectar" which is a koolaid type of consistency and a large variety of flavors... 21g protein/scoop, No Carbs, No Sugar, only 90 calories. AND they even opened my flavor of choice (for a first try, at least) and mixed me up a glass and allowed me to try it before buying! (I was impressed) I did like it alot and bought a jug of the powder and I think at least for now, I am set (at least for protein) for a little while.

Another friend told me about one at Target that is pretty cheap and yummy... so next time I'm at Target, I'll have to pick up one of those. I am just really trying to find a few that I like (to change it up) BEFORE I'm eating like a bird.. :)

Until then... Yea for my hair!! :)

Labs - Update!

Labs have been faxed to the doctor.. WOW they are quick! :) (They told me it would be a couple of days) So now just waiting for my primary care physician to call me and schedule a small appointment to go over the labs and clear me for surgery. :)

Yeahoo! I'm getting really excited!

Labs are done!

One more step in the process is complete!

I went to the hospital and did my preliminary labs this morning.. and I thank God for favor... I got in and out in less than an hour!!! Wow.. that's usually not the case, especially at the hospital. But I went there so that I could get them all done in one place (bloodwork, EKG, and Chest X-ray)

So now we hope for speedy lab results so I can get my physicians sign-off for surgery. Once that's done, they wait for the insurance okay.. then we schedule surgery.

The Doctors office says Blue Cross is their easiest approval... so I hope for favor there too!!

Initial appointments..

Tuesday, July 14th was a fun day! :)

I started out at 9am attending the nutrition class that's manditory before having the surgery. They explained all that I would need to know about how to eat during those first days, weeks, months, and then for a lifetime.. Of course I know I'm going to need ALOT more of those classes, because my head was spinning when I left there! :) But I at least got a great overview about what to expect when it comes to the new way of eating!

It was great to see 3 people in that class, coming in for a refresher, they had just had the surgery 5 days earlier and they looked like they were doing and feeling great! I must admit I was shocked, because every surgery I've ever had, I sure didn't look like that 5 days later.. but this one is apparently so minimally invasive, since it's done laproscopic, that you really don't have alot of pain afterwards.

I learned all about the amounts that we would be able to eat for the first little while... wow.. amazing! I guess I should stock up in these:

We learned all about the "Dumping Syndrom", where you become extremely sick when you eat too fast, or too much sugar, etc.... Apparently that is your friend... it will slap your hand (to put it nicely) if you don't eat right! I don't look forward to experiencing this, but hopefull I won't have to go through it too much, because I want to learn to eat RIGHT!

I also got to see the clinical phsycologist, to do my Psych Evaluation (also required)... she said I'm not crazy! :) (Brian said he wants a do-over!) LOL!


Then I got to weigh in, measure my height, and take an AWFUL picture (apparently the camera is set up to make you look really bad, so that you'll be even more happy with your final self at the end of the journey.... that's my story and I'm sticking to it!) :) :)


After that I got to see Dr. Felix, go over health history and chat a bit about the outcome of the surgery. He assured me that my infertility will be a thing of the past if ovulation (PCOS) is my only problem (which according to OBGYN, it is)... so that's good.... :)


I am completely stoked about this whole thing, and I'm learning quickly that alot of people have a very strong opinion about this surgery... but opinions are like armpits, right?? We all have them, and sometimes they stink! :) I am doing this for me... for my family (and the hopes of future members of our family)... and for my health! So I don't care about negativity anymore... it's my life and I plan to live it! :) :)

Next step: Labs required for health clearance, and sign-off from MD... then insurance approval, then scheduled surgery date.... Yipee...

We are shooting for first or second week of August! Hopefully we can get it all to go through that fast!

Seminar..

Tuesday, July 7th, I started my journey!

I attended the seminar at the office of Dr. Felix here in Fresno, CA! I loved the staff and learned so much from the seminar taught by his partner-surgeon Dr. Schwartz.

The seminar solidified my decision of course...

I learned all about BMI, and how that # can affect every area of your life.
I learned that I did qualify for the surgery, though barely... qualified is all I need!! :)

I learned about each type of surgery: Lap-band, Sleeve, and Gastric Bypass and decided that the results I need will only be achieved by the gastric-bypass.

I learned all about the metabolic diseases and how they are almost immediately improved if not cured due to the part of the stomach that they bypass. This part of the stomach holds all of the hormones that trigger those metabolic diseases (diabetes, high blood pressure, infertility, etc).

I was ready to get started that day! The next week about killed me (I'm not very patient) as I waited for my next appointment! :)

Here I go...

Well.... it's decided. I've been thinking about for quite some time now, due to some of the health issues and infertility that I live with, and now we're going forward.... I'm going to have gastric-bypass surgery!

I am so incredibly excited, simply because of the proven outcomes that I can expect. (God willing, of course) I have picked the brains of all of my friends that I know have had this surgery, and the one common thing that I get from all of them (along with lots of useful information, of course LOL) is that they can't remember much about the daily, weekly, monthly process.. just the highlights! They all say that they have no regrets and would do it all over again in a heartbeat, so that's wonderful.. but I'm a details girl. So I've decided to blog during my journey so that I will never forget!

Happy Reading... :) I look forward to sharing each milestone with you!