Robert L.

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Insurance Woes:
I lost my job in a round of layoffs in the beginning of December.  As a result I unfortunately lost my insurance.  Part of the severance package was that the COBRA was paid for the first three months.  I delayed sending in the check for the COBRA because the paperwork said that I have 90 days to submit payment.  Well, when I went for my pre-op testing last week, the insurance of course came up on the computer as canceled.  The Hospital then informed me that if it does not say active by next Wednesday (the 16th) they are going to postpone or cancel my surgery.  I overnighted the check and I am hopeful that it will be ok, but I remain doubtful.

Pre-op Tests:
I had my pre-op tests last Wednesday (the 9th) and they said that everything looked good at that time.  Well, Today, I got a telephone call that the Dr. was looking at my test results and that my blood sugar was 201.  He will not operate unless it shows up under 200.  They suggested calling my PCP and asking for a prescription for a glucho somthin somthin.  I got a call back from his nurse.  He wanted to see me on Wednesday.

Well... You know the rest.

New Years Eve, 2007.  I can't say that 2007 was a particularly a bad year, because it wasn’t all bad, but I am HAPPY to be putting it behind me and I am looking forward to 2008.

Three weeks from today I will be having the surgery that will give me a tool to help me gain my life back.  I wish that I could sit here and say that I am ready to face that future head on, with NO reservations, but I'd be lying.  I'M scared, I am definitely fearful of what the future hold, but I am excited at the same time.

New Years Resolutions for 2008:
Have a smooth surgery
Use the Tool that Dr.  Schram gives me to the best of my ability

And... See below for the rest!

What a day!  Here I was thinking I was going to enjoy some time off for the holidays before I start my job search and today after three days of being unemployed, I got a job offer.  I listened to the offer and told them i would get back with them tomorrow.  About 10 minutes later the phone rings again, and it the hospital, I am on the surgery schedule for January 21st.  Holy Crap, This is really happening!

Here I am, on my usual Sunday posting.  This turned out to be a pretty good week all in all.  I found out from the Barix Insurance department this week that I had been approved.  Wooo Hooo!!!  So I am just waiting to hear the next steps in that front.

This past Friday was my last day of work due to my permanent layoff.  I am not going to let it get me down.  I have a second interview tomorrow for a job in the same building I was working in and I am pretty nervous about that.  I am very concerned about the unknown at this point.  It's weird because I need to get a job, but if I get a job and start immediately, then I will have to delay the surgery for a while.  I can't start a job only to ask for 6 weeks off to have open RNY shortly after starting. 

  WHAT WILL I DO?  WHAT A DILEMMA!!!!

What a Week!!!! 
I don't even know where to begin.  I found out on Monday that I was getting laid off from my job next week.  I think that I have felt every possible emotion this week and from resentment, to anger, to acceptance, and back to anger.

I am still trying to figure out what is going to happen with the surgery.  I can use the Cobra for my insurance and have the surgery but then I need to think about my deductible, my co-pay and whatever "Out-of-Pocket" expenses I may have since it is doubtful at this point that I can get in for this calendar year

But... I still have not even heard if i was approved by my insurance becasue they are still waiting for one document.  Arrrgggg!  I hate the waiting and the "Not Knowing"

Just thought I would take a minute to update this blog with the WLS progress for the week. 

I spoke with the nurse at my PCP first thing on Monday morning.  She was so cool and got back to me within a few hours to let me know that the new letter would be ready for me to pick up that afternoon. 

i faxed the letter to the Barix clinic on Wednesday and called them to follow up on Thursday to make sure that they have everything that they need up to this point.  They are waiting for the report on my psych exam and then it would be submitted to the insurance for approval. 

Keep you fingers crossed, I hope that my next entry here will include a surgery date.

The Holiday Season is now Upon us!!!  Yesterday was Thanksgiving, it was quiet which is nice.  Just hung out and watched football, put up the tree, cooked a terrific meal and enjoyed my family.

Well, it's been almost 2 weeks since I last updated this thing so here it goes.  On the good news side of things here, today marks the 2 week point that I quit smoking.  It was harder to do than I expected it to be, but soooo worth it.  I am using pretzel sticks as my crutch, and that’s probably not a good thing but I would like to think that it's better than smoking.

I went for my Psych Eval last week and I really think that went well.  I felt really comfortable in how things went.  However, when I got home from that, there was a letter in the mail from the Barix clinic saying that the letter from my PCP was not acceptable because it did not say "12 months continuous care" in those exact words.  I called the Dr's office this past Monday to speak to the nurse that helped me last time but I was called back by another nurse because the one that I wanted to speak with was off this week.  I opted to wait and speak to her instead of trying to explain the whole situation to her from the beginning. 

I will write more when I have more after I speak to the nurse and hopefully get the letter to say exactly what I need it to say.

This was s good week.  I spent the whole week struggling to quit smoking.  As each day passed, I smoked less and struggled with it more and more.  Today is my second smoke free day and I feel really good about it.  I'm Jonzing, but I'm happy!!!   That was a big hurdle in my way.

I received the letter from my PCP earlier in the week and immediately faxed it over to the Barix clinic to put into my file.

I scheduled the appointment with the person for the Psych evaluation and I am going to do that this coming Friday.

I spent a fair amount of time this week doing a little more research and I think that I'm going into "Research Overload."  I think I am going to ease up on the research for a while and see what the next few weeks bring.

 

This has been a pretty eventful week for this whole process.  I weighed the pros and cons of the DS and the RNY and I have decided that the RNY would be the right tool for me moving forward.  I met with two different surgeons at two different places.  Both programs were vastly different.  That allowed me to make my decision that much easier so it's going to be... (drum roll please) Dr. Schram at the Barix clinic.  I felt extremely comfortable with him and his surgical record is excellent.  I have a friend that used him and she was extremely happy with her results.

I will call the Barix clinic tomorrow and get this ball rolling, so the official journey begins....NOW!!!

So my journey through this experience began a long time ago.  I have been looking into this process for some time and convinced myself that I can lose the weight on my own.  Then reality set in.  I decided to look into the Lap Band procedure and soon realized that probably be the procedure that fits me, and my life style the best.  I am now weighing the options between the RNY and the DS.  I have an appointment with a surgeon for the RNY next week (10/30/2007) and I am anxious to see how that goes.