ObesityHelp

Looks like I'm sheduled for May 10th.  So, gotta diet for the next few weeks - can't weigh more than I did when I went in for my first appointment. 

Since the surgery is in El Paso, which is about a four hour drive, my grandma's gonna drive me there, stay for the surgery, and then go back home after I come out okay.  Then my husband will come down when I'm released from the hospital.  We're going to stay in El Paso in a hotel that night, then the next day head to Ruidoso, which is about halfway between home and El Paso.  That way if there's any complications, we can get to the hospital a little bit faster.  Our neighbors have rental property out there that they're going to let us use.

Everyone keeps asking if I'm nervous.  Is it normal to not be?  I think I'm just so excited, nervousness hasn't hit me yet.

So.....  I started this process back in September with my insurance company, Presbyterian.  Presbyterian made me do this big long 3 month diet, nutritionist meetings, psych eval, the whole thing.  I realize it's pretty standard, but you have to do all this before you can even TALK to the surgeon.  So, passed it all, even though it ended up taking two months longer than it was supposed to.

I schedule to meet Dr. Lara on March 2, and he tells me he only needs three things - new labs (since the ones from October were now too old), a chest X-Ray, and an EKG.  Del Sol gives me a letter with a page attached where my PCP is supposed to check "OK" to all the tests.  So, I call my PCP, and I go in THE NEXT DAY and get it all done.  Doc says she's gonna send my stuff the following Tuesday when she got my results from the lab. 

So I wait a week.  I don't want to be a pest.  I call Del Sol, and they didn't get it.  I call my PCP, and she's out that week!  Gotta call next week. 

So, three weeks pass when I get in touch with my PCP and she sends it.  I give Del Sol a couple days, then call.  They tell me they don't need the form they gave me, they need the actual TEST RESULTS.  Would have been nice to know before this point, but whatever.  Call the PCP, she sends.

So, I call Del Sol on Tuesday (the surgeon only works on Wednesday) to make sure they have everything the doc needs.  They tell me they have everything and the nurse is reveiwing and will call if she has any questions.  Don't hear anything.

So I call Friday.  Ask for a status update - lady says they're waiting on my EKG and X-Ray!  I lost it!  I went off - I said, wait, earlier this week, you had it.  How do you not have it now?  Then she tells me she found it, and NOW she's gonna give it to the nurse.  I thought the nurse already was reviewing?!?

So.... all in all, I'm getting pretty frustrated.  My benefit certification runs out in three weeks.  They only schedule on Wednesday, and only perform surgery on us Albuquerque patients on Tuesday.  So....  if he doesn't schedule me next week or the week after, who knows what kind of insurance hoops I'm going to have to jump through again....

Sorry....  had to vent.