jenihig

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I have jumped through two more hoops and I am that much closer to my ultimate goal of becoming healthy. The Psych. said I should get to 125 lbs. That would be wonderful, although I truly cannot imagine it.

She had surgery 9 years ago and today was the 1st time I saw a before pic of her. She has come such a long way. I really like that she can give you actual personal experience. I learned a lot from her and she gave me some good tips. Her report should be done Monday.

I have my nutrition evaluation on the 30th. I am still waiting on the upper endoscopy to be scheduled. I think that will be the final appointment before we can submit to insurance for approval.

I am not great at updating this blog right after something happens. I know how helpful it was for me to read other people's blogs about their experiences so I want to give a run down on how the consult with Dr. Lord went.

He is truly an awesome person with a strong compassion for his patients. I love that. I feel so blessed to have him as my surgeon. I know I have said that a million times and I will say it a million more.

Everyone on staff was very nice and I felt very at home. I paid my 425.00 program fee + by choice I paid them 300.00 for my yearly deductable. That way I would not have to pay more than 1000.00 pre-op because my max oop is 1300.00 for the year (the 425.00 doesn't count toward any of that). Dr. Lord took his time looking at my chart, asking questions and taking notes. He took my picture and felt my tummy. He told me I have to do a 5 day liquid diet pre-op and gave me a huge list of things to do after surgery including actigall and I think pepcid or something along with all of the other vitamins, protein & water.

He took his time drawing and explaining how things would be done. Then he told me how beautiful I was and how georgous I would be post-op. He had my hubby & I both in tears when he left the room. He put me on cloud 9. He did tell me that I would probably want a tummy tuck when all of this is over but for us to focus on getting my weight down and getting healthy first. Jan (nurse) & April (insurance/ financial) were very thorough. 

I went that afternoon and had my EKG & my chest x-ray done. I fasted that night and did my bloodwork the next morning. I found out the next day that I have H-Pilori (don't know how to spell it) bacteria and that I had to take the Prev pack. It is a 14 day treatment. It consists of 4 pills in the AM & 4 in the PM. I started those yesterday. Without insurance the meds would have cost 355.00. They cost me 40.00. Thank goodness for insurance.

I have my Nutrition (group) appt. & my Psychological Eval. on Thursday, Jan. 25th. Then my individual nut appt. is Jan. 30th.  The only other thing I have to do is my upper endoscopy, which they will call me to schedule once they get authorization from the insurance company and the results from my EKG & chest x-ray.

I am soooo excited to be on my way. I thank God every day for preparing the way before me. He has brought me this far and He is going to complete fulfilling the promise of giving me the desires of my heart. It is all in His hands and I am leaving it there. He can do so much more than I can. All of the worries about insurance approval and everything else seems so major to us, yet it is only a minor detail to Him. I am so glad that I have God on my side.

I am typing all of this after the fact so I will just summarize what happened with the sleep study. I had it done on December 20th, 2006. It was very hard to sleep. The wires were terrible to deal with, the room was hot- even with the ceiling fan on high, and I think I woke up every 30 minutes or so. It was not fun. The rooms were very nice and the staff was super, but it didn't make up for all of the differences.

So, on December 27th I got a phone call from the sleep center. The way the person I spoke with made it sound, I had the worst case she had ever seen. She didn't say that exactly, it was just the way she seemed so shocked at my results. I kept thinking, ok, she sees a ton of these a week and yet she is reacting so strongly to mine. She had me scared to death. I was truly scared to go to sleep that night without the machine. Of course I couldn't get it that day and I am still waiting to get it but anyways...

She scheduled me for December 29th for the fitting/ follow up sleep study. I tried the "nose pillows" for about 30 seconds and couldn't handle it. I went to the small mask and I only woke up twice that night. Once because I opened my mouth-  not a good idea and the 2nd time because I had to use the restroom. I slept so soundly. It was almost a weird thing because I don't recall ever sleeping that soundly unless I was knocked out for surgery for something.

I can't wait to see how much better I feel once I get the machine and don't have all of those wires attached to me. I was shocked at the results but relieved that I know why I have no energy and that there is something that can be done about it.

I quit breathing 358 x's and my oxygen fell to 78%

Give God Your Hand & 
Let Him Take Care Of The Details!

HEY... IT'S ALMOST AS GOOD AS A "DATE"! Jan 16th

It means I am on my way (less than 2 months to go). I should have the last of my 6 month appointments sometime around Jan 8th so I am definitely getting closer and closer. I cannot wait. This is truly one of the most exciting things I have ever done. It is still an emotional roller coaster but I always end the night with the excitement of checking out the before and after pictures to keep that excitement going. It just reminds me what I have to look forward to.

It's my birthday (actually it is in 57 minutes and then it is over 3 minutes later.. thank goodness we have all day to celebrate and that it isn't just based on the actual time you were born because being that I was born at 11:57 pm that just would not be fair!) I am 35. That sounds so old to me. It is just another step closer to 40, haha.

I changed my insurance to BCBS of Arkansas, PPO today. I was having a hard time deciding between them and another choice that we had but I had to choose the one I was most comfortable with based on how confident I was they would pay for the surgery. I did not want to take the chance of getting close to surgery and being turned down or having to go through a crap load of appeals. It'll cost me a little more in the long run but the peace of mind will be worth it and I know that God will provide the money when it is needed.

My husband & I were looking through B4 & After pics tonight and that always makes me so excited. I want to cry every time I see someone who has been successful at finding the skinnier person they have always desired to be.

It is absolutely amazing to think that in a matter of a few months to a year I could be buying cute clothes and being "one hot mamma!"

I returned home yesterday from our church Ladies Retreat. We had an awesome weekend and although I had a few obstacles that almost got in the way of going, I am glad that I didn't let those things stop me.

While I was at the retreat I learned that one of the ladies there has just had surgery (with Dr. Lord!!!) in July. Her name is Nancy. She was so sweet and very informative. She had gastric bypass and she had nothing but good things to say about Dr. Lord, his staff & her surgery experience. After talking to her, I feel that God is telling me that I need to do the gastric bypass instead of the lap band. I have been so torn between which surgery to do.

I orginally wanted the bypass, but the more I explored the risk with the bypass I changed my mind and decided to pursue the lap band instead. Nancy is the 3rd person I have talked to that had the bypass and looks great. Each of those 3 people have encouraged me to reconsider doing the lapband and go with the bypass. Also, my insurance specifically says it covers the gastric bypass. It doesn't mention anything about the lap band so I don't know if they will cover the lap band or not.

Anyway, while I was talking to Nancy she brought up a very good point when I mentioned the risks of the bypass versus the lap band. She said something like this: Remember that you have God on your side so you need to focus on Him and His direction, not on the risks. Then during our praise & worship service the next morning at the retreat this was said:

"God said- Trust me- Give me your hand. That is all I need. I don't need you to do anything but trust me- It may get tough at times but I am holding you."

Our whole theme this weekend was HOPE and learning to trust God and trust that He has a plan for you and that He is standing with you through everything. Even at times when it seems that He isn't there or when you don't understand why things happened the way they did He has not left you. You have to love Him through it all and look for ways to minister to others with the experiences you have walked through. Life still happens even when you are serving God. The point was brought up this weekend about how each of the Bible characters endured some loss and dissapointment, but God never left them. Keep your focus on God & not on your situation.

Have HOPE!

HOPE= To wish for something with expectation of its fulfillment.

               To look forward with confidence or expectation.

I just wanted to document where I am in this journey right now. On October 4th I had the 3rd of my 6 month required weight loss monitoring appointments with my PCP. My Sister-In-Law & I also attended are 1st support group meeting that night. It was so nice to hear about people's stories in person and to actually get to meet others that are going through or have experienced all of the things that I am just getting started with.

I cannot wait to get this thing moving a little faster. January is right around the corner but it seems so far away.

I discovered a goal for myself to reach by losing weight and I thought I would share it with you guys. Maybe you will get a good laugh out of it.

Here it is: I will be so glad when I can actually see my belly button again instead of staring into a deep dark hole