Cynthia R.

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As I was sitting in church tonight (in a metal folding chair), I felt so out of place.  I am a youth sponsor and I am one of the only ones who is morbidly obese.  I really felt self-conscious.  More so than usual.  I happened to look down at my stomach and it was nice & round.  I could easily hold an object with it.  The thought crossed my mind that in 6 months it would not be that way.  I am really looking forward to this surgery, but I am so worried about the liquid only part of it.  I can't imagine not eating anything for weeks.  Even if you're not hungry, won't your mind want you to physically eat something?  I think I'm stressed out about the first 4 weeks...more so than maybe I should be.  I just don't want to fail at this!!!

On the up side, I am finding more & more people I know that have had this surgery.  Some have done really well and others haven't.  I just want to be a "normal" size.  I don't care if I'm a size 2...I'll never be a 2 - too tall & too big of bones.  I would love to be a size 12 and happy in a 14.  If I settle in at 170 I will be thrilled!  Dr. said 160.  We'll see.

Guess for now I'll go.  God Bless!

Since I got my date confirmed Friday, I felt I should go ahead and tell my mom.  It went very much as expected.  Timing is horrible because she is still grieving the loss of her mother.  I felt bad adding to her stress level, but I knew I couldn't hold off any longer.  She is worried about me dying, which I knew she would be.  I explained to her all the reasons I wanted to do this.  She still doesn't want me to do this.  I love her and don't want to hurt her but I feel for quality of life it is a necessity for me.

I feel so unprepared for this surgery, but yet in another sense I feel very prepared...guess the reason I feel unprepared is I don't have some of the stuff I'm going to need post op...sugar free popsicles, sf pudding, protein mix, chicken broth, etc.  I also want to get one of the silver bullet things I've heard about on here.  From what I gather it helps mix the protein powder. 

Well, for now, guess I'm going to go.  One day closer to the other side!

God Bless!
Cynthia

Wow!  It's amazing at how fast things are moving.  I was prepared for months of waiting, but insurance approved very quickly and now I'm only days away from surgery!!!  Jackie from Dr. Williams office confirmed March 5th as surgery day.  I'll be pre-oping the day before.  I'll have surgery at Emory @ Johns Creek.  From what I've heard it is a wonderful hospital. 

This past week has been very productive.  A dear friend had a daughter who had the surgery 6 years ago. I'm meeting her next week just to talk about surgery and life afterwards.  I'm really looking forward to that visit!  I also scheduled an appointment with a counselor..I'll see him prior to surgery and afterwards.   My supervisor suggested it, she reminded me of the EAP we have at work...what a wonderful idea!  I went ahead and told people at work.  Figured I needed to now since surgery is so close. 

I haven't told my mom yet.  I'm worried about doing that. She's not going to be happy and will worry herself sick.  So when do I tell her?  She just lost her mom last week so the timing stinks for her, but I need to do this.  I'm tired of being trapped in this big body.  I'm tired of aches & pains, knee problems, sugar issues, clothes that don't fit because the stores don't have my size..unless I go to a specialty store like Catherines.  It's bad when you can't even find clothes that fit in the Womens Department.  Oh well, that's about to change. 

That's all for now.  God Bless!!!

Wow!  What a whirlwind the last few weeks have been.  It has been a few weeks since going to my consult appointment and it seems like forever, but yet it seems like it just happened.  Since the appointment, my grandmother passed away from Leukemia.  The last 2 weeks have actually been very difficult and I didn't think much about insurance approval.  Today I decided I would call and check with Anthem BC BS to see if they had received all the paper work they needed.  The guy I spoke with said they had received the paperwork and the request has been approved!!!  I called the surgeons office and Jackie told me we could schedule any Thursday in March!  Since I've read so many horror stories about being approved and then getting a denial letter, I called BC BS back and asked if they could fax me something showing the approval.  She said they mailed it on 2/13/09!  To double check, I said, "So, it has been approved?" and she said definitely!  It has been approved!!!!  From 2 people there!  AWESOME!  I verified with my boss that the dates are ok and she is so excited for me.  That makes it easier...

Well, for now I must go.  I'll keep you posted.

God Bless!

Today I realized how much support OH is going to be.  Yesterday (and most of today) I was so stressed out about the paperwork part of the insurance approval.  Another patient of Dr. Williams, Tonia, encouraged me so much!  I need to sit back, take a deep breath, and just wait patiently to hear back from Jackie.  She was so nice when I met with her and she does this all the time...I'm new at this so why stress.  Let the ones who know what they're doing do their thing!  So for today, I am going to try to put it out of my mind and wait to hear from Jackie. 

Today I also decided to go ahead and give up my diet soda and sweets.  Why wait until pre-op diet to do it?  Might as well go ahead and prepare for my life changes.  I don't really eat a ton of sweets so I'm not worried about that, but I am going to struggle with the diet soda.  I love diet sprite!!!  Oh well, I'd rather be healthy & thin.

As always, more to come!  God Bless!!!

I called Dr. Williams office today to see if they found out any requirements from my insurance company.  Unfortunately they didn't seem to know any more than I did.  I'm a little concerned about that.  My consult was yesterday morning and it was my understanding the letter was going to be sent that afternoon.  However, when I talked to them around 5 pm today I found out the letter was going to be faxed tomorrow.  When they asked if I gave them a copy of my insurance card yesterday, that told me they haven't even checked with my carrier...you can't get specific info from the insurance company if you don't have the group number.  Then I was asked if my insurance company had a website...there again....makes me anxious!  I really hope my initial concerns with the paperwork mix up and scheduling mishap aren't a sign of worse things to come.  All I can do is trust they know what they're doing and that they'll get the best letter possible to the insurance company.  If I don't get approved I don't know what I'm going to do.  My husband & I both felt very comfortable with the doctor, but the paperwork part of it is very important and without that surgery isn't a possibility.

For now, that's all.  I'll be posting again soon.  It's all a day in the life of a pre-op.  :)

Today was my first visit with Dr. Williams.  It was a great visit.  My husband went with me and we both left feeling comfortable with the decision to proceed.  Originally I thought I wanted to go with VSG, but then I started doing research on both VSG and RNY.  When I went today I wasn't positive which route to go. Dr. Williams went through both options and answered all of our questions.  Due to PCOS and the posibility of a reversal should there ever be a need, I chose to go with RNY.  He confirmed what the research I did said....RNY is better for me since I have PCOS.  Jackie, who has been great, is sending the letter to my insurance company (Anthem BC BS).  I pray everything goes well!  Best case scenerio is surgery in as little as 4 weeks!  We'll not talk about worst case.   The journey has officially begun and I'm really looking forward to being post-op!  Maybe it will help my knee.  (That appointment this afternoon didn't go so well....horrible is more like it. Basically nothing they can do, but physical therapy and time...oh, and lose weight! duh) 

I almost forgot!  The doctor said he would like to see me around 160 pounds, which is 10 pounds MORE than I was thinking.  He said my ideal weight is 140, but he would like me to get to 160.  So, I guess for me my personal goal will be 150 and he'll be happy with 160! I did weigh in 2 pounds heavier, which I wasn't crazy about. 

Anyway, for now I'm going to sign off.  I'll be posting often! 

God Bless!!!

I'm still trying to get my ducks in a row for my first visit with the doctor on Wednesday.  Today I finally got the courage to talk to my insurance company (Anthem BC BS) to see if VSG is covered and see exactly what the requirements are.  The lady I talked to was so wonderful!  During our conversation she mentioned she had considered WLS...of course I suggested she check out this awesome website!  She couldn't find VSG specifically listed, but did say that doesn't necessarily mean it will be excluded from coverage.  That was encouraging.  I also found out that the insurance will cover abdominalplasty after WLS "if medically necessary".  That was cool to find out.  RNY and VBG is covered, as well as the lap band.  She also said the only requirement she was aware of to qualify for surgery was 12 months of documented weight loss attempts.  I've tried to lose weight off & on for 17 years....that shouldn't be a problem.  I just hope it is documented enough.  Guess we'll see. 

I am really looking forward to my doctors visit Wednesday.  I'm so ready to get the ball officially rolling!  Guess that's all for now...more to come!