I forgot to update my experience with the psych eval & the nutritional class. Oppps ! 
I had both appointments on June 26th. That was a crazy day, I would really recommend spacing those bad boys out a lil more. My psych eval was in Orlando, then I had to go to Ocala for the nutritional class. Bleh!

Overall the psych eval wasn't too bad. I really liked the counselor I finally ended up meeting with. One thing that would have helped is if the office actually DID pre op evals! When I called to make the appt; that was my first question & I was told, "Yea, no problem. We will take care of that for you and you will get a letter to give to your surgeon." Aces! Sign me up.

Well google maps gave me half assed directions & it ended up taking me 2 hrs (during Orlando's morning rush hour) to make it to the office. Then I get called back, sit down with the first counselor & when I tell her why I'm there she just sits there stuck on stupid & tells me, "I don't do those." Uhm ... 'Xcuse me? Yea ... all she would/could do is a general psych assessment & then she refused to even do that b/c of liability. I call bs on that point but whatever. There was a second counselor there w/an opening an hr later & she agreed to see me & do a general assessment. The office staff really felt bad & ended up doing right by me.

Since it wasn't a traditional pre op eval; I didn't have the ginormous questionaire. I basically led the whole session with her asking a few probing questions here & there to draw out more detail. We talked about the anatomical, physical & dietary changes that would take place, my weight loss history, my support group & why I felt this time would be different. The weirdest part were the questions that go along with the general assessment. Things like; "Are you suicidal, have you had homicidal thoughts (Uh hello? I just drove 2 hrs in rush hour just for yall to tell me; opps nope we can't help you. Yea... I've had a few lol), do you have a history of eating disorders, addictions & what meds I was currently on." Not a big deal. My appt was on a Tues & she had my authorization letter written & submitted to my surgeon by Friday.

So after the psych appt; I dashed to Ocala so I could make it to the 3:30 nutritional class.
Turns out ... I was the only one to show up. Hmm ok. I was looking forward to meeting others that were going through this process with me but it turns out everyone was there the previous week. Ok. Fine. Be that way lol.

My dietician is soooo sweet & he is from a small town too so we kinda clicked. For anyone going through Dr. Hoddinott's office; his name is Daniel & I would recommend him to anyone. We sat down with the "plan" & went over every page in a lot of detail. He was great to answer questions and didn't make me feel like an idiot.

Here's a general run down on Dr. H's diet plan:
The first 4 wks consists of 3 meals (1c over 60 mins) & 3 snacks (4oz protein shake over 30 mins). Personally, I don't think it will fit & we will probably be on much smaller portions but I think the point is we are supposed to take the entire time frame to eat/drink ... so basically as much as you can get in at 30 or 60 mins. 

Wks 1-2: Full Liquids
Wks 3-4: Everything from Full Liquids + Pureed

Oh & Dr. H's rule on water is to drink right up to the meal & then wait 30 mins after your last bite to start drinking again.

So yea ... That was my big take away from the day. All in all not bad.

I just talked to Madaline today & my coverage was screwed up so we are going to hit the ground running on Aug 1st & hopefully I will have my surgery by the end of August. That leaves me NO time before classes start but it's only 2 classes a week & I only really have to have my laptop w/me. ::Sigh:: I can't wait for my spot on the loser's bench to open up. Soon though.

Welp let's start here ... I am 28, overweight and a single mom.

I have been overweight my whole life and want to keep that lifestyle away from my daughter.
So I have set out to change things.

I have been interested in WLS for a few years now but kept convincing myself that I wasn't "that big" and that I could just buckle down and lose the weight.

I did really good on Atkins a couple years ago and lost 50 lbs. Then I got pregnant and gained 35 (granted a lot was water weight due to pg induced high bp). Within 2 wks I have lost ALL of my baby weight. (Woot!) Now my daughter is 2 and I am pushing my pregnancy weight ... eek! 

So I have gotten the ball rollling to meet with a surgeon. I have attended a seminar to learn about my option. I had gone in thinking I wanted lap-band but the results are less than stellar. So now I am pushing the RNY. I have found an excellen surgeon, who is close to home & has a great reputation.

I had to get pre-approval on my referral from the PCP before I could even schedule a consultation; so that has added a lot of time to my wait. My PCP submitted the referral on March 9 - it was approved on April 12th. After I had to play phone tag between the PCP and Ins Comp. So now that it was approved and sent to the surgeon I called today to schedule my consultation. The first appt is May 11.

I have been checking out his patients comments on the boards and he seems to get his patients in and out of the process pretty quickly. Most that I have seen have had their initial consultation and surgery 4-6 wks apart.

So here's to hoping right?

I know for a fact he has 8 other patients from my dr's office that also have the same insurance. So I would assume it would be a very streamline process. The only thing that is concerning me right now is my dr mentioned my ins requires 6 mths of diet plans. I have been going to this dr for a yr & have been almost every mth for follow ups. On my visit breakdown sheet it always says to follow a low cholesteral diet ... So not sure if that counts. But my dr also said they now have a "medical neccessity" letter that will bypass the 6 mth diet plan.

The only reason I'm in a time crunch is that I am also a full time student; working toward my Paralegal degree. It is uber demanding and I am out of class from May - Aug and would loooooove to be able to have the surgery during my break from class.

Time will tell.