grandmaree

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My surgery date is rapidly approaching, I know the time will fly by.  Next week I have my nutritional class and pre-op visit with Dr. Gornichec.  I start my liquid diet in 11 days....not really looking forward to that much, but I will look at it as the beginning of my new life.  I am sure it will help mentally prepare me for what I must do post-op diet-wise.  I have met many wonderful people and have read many stories here on OH, and I am encouraged by all the fascinating before and after photos.  I am somewhat nervous about how much loose skin I am going to have afterwards, since I already have a large pannus to begin with.....and very large saggy boobs.  I don't know if is even possible that perhaps alot of this will shrink and maybe I won't need plastic surgery too badly.  I will not have insurance to cover plastics later, so I am just going to hope for the best.  I plan on joining tan and tone (they don't have a contract), and I hope that will help.

I have met a couple of very wonderful ladies on here, one of whom is having her surgery next week, and I hope and pray all goes well for her!!!  I plan on visiting her in the hospital.  She is my mentor, as she is a few weeks ahead of me in this journey, having the same procedure by the same surgeon.

I continue to monitor my blood sugars regularly, I think I have a handle on it at this point.  I will be curious to see how quickly my blood sugar problem is rectified after surgery...they say it usually happens right away, which is quite interesting, and proves there is something in the rearrangement of the intestines rather than the weight loss that seems to "cure" the type II diabetes in a big majority of people.  Can't wait!!

Well, my blood sugars are doing really good so far.  119 before bed last night and 110 this morning, a little higher than I would like, but still acceptable.  This afternoon, after work it was 89.  If I can keep this up until my next appointment on Nov. 26 we may just get to schedule surgery!!  (That is, if my insurance approves it).  I am having an ultrasound of my liver/gallbladder next Wednesday, and then the following Wednesday I will have my EGD.  I guess if nothing else, I am getting a good head to toe check up!!  I am going to a birthday party tonight of an ex-coworker, and his wife had  lap RNY last November, and they say she is skinny skinny skinny.  I am excited to see her, but have to admit I will be a bit jealous, especially if I don't get approved.  She is one that didn't have to do anything prior to having surgery....she just had to say she wanted it and be obese.  Here I am jumping through hoops, spending hundreds of dollars on testing, and I still may not get approved.....and I am more overweight than she ever was!!

My husband and I met with Dr. Gornichec yesterday, and I have to say that I really like him!!  He is definitely not going to leave any stones unturned.  He discussed my blood sugar and that I have to have my a1c down to an 8 before he will do surgery.  They will draw blood in a month and I see him again the day before Thanksgiving.  He says he is doubtful I can have it down low enough by that time, but if it is we can make that my pre-op visit.  I am going to really try hard to keep my blood sugar down!!  It was 108 last night, 106 this morning, and 98 this afternoon.  I will check again before bed, but I think I can keep it down to get my a1c down to 8....that is a daily average of 209 I think, and I am way under that.  But, they still haven't sent my paperwork to insurance yet....still don't know if I am even approved!!  I will have an ultrasound of my gallbladder sometime in the next few weeks and an EGD because he said this will be the last chance to take a peek into my stomach.  Last night I attended a support meeting.  There were several there who had already had surgery and several like me and a few who were on their 10 day pre-op liquid diet.  It was very informative! 

I completed my 6 month supervised diet in July, so I called Dr. Gornichec's office and made an appointment with the coordinator.  I wanted to have everything in order, so I spent the next week gathering all the documents that I would need to take.  I went to my pcp office and obtained all the medical records they had received from my requests, I poured over them, and finally was able to piece together 5 consecutive years (boy was I getting nervous!!), I even had my sleep study results, lab results, and mri results, all proving my sleep apnea, diabetes, and arthritis.  I included all of this; didn't think it would hurt one bit.  So, I had my 5 years of M.O. proof, I had my 6 month supervised weight loss records, next I had to fill out the packet of paperwork from Dr. Gornichecs' office.  This took quite some time, but it wasn't horrible.  I had to write a  letter of why I wanted this surgery...and what I really wanted to stress was that not only did I want this surgery, I need this surgery.  I filled out the packet for the psych evaluation, that made me think about things I never really though about.  Anyway, I had this all organized and ready to go.  I  go to meet with Kim, the coordinator, and she tells me that the doctor's notes have to include "continues diet and exercise" at each visit....so I go back to my doctor and ask her to add that, she didn't have a problem with it, because that is what I had seen her for the past 6 months.  We just didn't know the exact wording that needed to be on the records.  Got that fixed, got the letter of medical necessity from my pcp and got all this back to Dr. Gornichec's office.  I had to pay them $300 for their work that they do as far as dealing with the insurance, etc.....and I got scheduled for all my testing.  The next Monday I had a chest x-ray, an echocardiogram, fasting labwork, a pulmonary function test, a stress test, and an EKG.  Got a phone call the next day from Dr. Gornichec's office, and my blood sugar was very high and I would need to work on that.  Had my psych evel on Thursday that same week....Dr. Ivy was very nice and the eval wasn't what I expected at all.  He just wanted to make sure I had support at home, that everyone was willing to make changes to help me, even at work (I told him that might be difficult, but I knew they would be supportive), he stressed that with this surgery, and since you eat so little, you have to find something to fill the void, so that you don't fall back into bad habits, or become depressed.  He was really informative, and he said I could come back anytime I needed encouragement.

At this point, I am out $600 out of my pocket.  If I don't get approved, I am so screwed!!

So, I think I have done EVERYthing that BCBSTX requires for approval.  Now, I am just waiting to see Dr. Gornichec this Tuesday with my husband, and attend a support meeting Tuesday night.  I am not sure they have submitted my paperwork to insurance yet, but I hope they have!!  I waited so long and I have worked so hard for this!!  I have even dropped my fasting blood sugar from 286 to 150 in 4 days by watching my carb and calorie intake.  I am trying to not drink 30 min-1 hour before and after I eat, and yesterday, we went to a small local tiger reserve, and my husband needs a wheelchair or scooter to get around those places had to rent a golf cart, and instead of riding, I walked.  I really am trying to change my lifestyle so that when (and if) I have surgery, it won't be so hard.

So, I switched insurance companies at our last enrollment time, just hoping and praying that this insurance will cover surgery.  My insurance has never covered WLS.  I made the phone call in January, and I couldn't believe it!!  My insurance plan actually had coverage!!  I got all the details....such as what all is required for approval.  For approval, they require:  6 months supervised diet, 5 year morbid obesity history with medical records to prove it, co-morbidities, a letter of medical necessity by my doctor, and a psych evaluation.  So, I called my family doctor and asked if she would help, and she was more than happy to oblige!!  So began my journey.

This is just a continuation of my previous entry....I just ran out of room!!  Anyway, this girl had surgery after just saying she wanted it....and I am a much bigger girl than she ever was!!  I just couldn't hardly stand it that she had WLS surgery and I outweighed her by at least 50 pounds, and her insurance didn't require anything!!  I was doing Atkins at the time, and I did lose 30 pounds, but here the weight was just melting off her and I was, once again struggling!!  She has done great!!  She looks good, her life is good, she got married, she had a tummy tuck, went to nursing school, had a baby, and she STILL looks great!!  Makes me all the more want this surgery....I want to be healthy, too!!  I am more determined than ever, now!!