shannonmcgee

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Tijuana here we come. Surgery date is scheduled and flight tickets are paid for Mom and I are heading to Tiajuana Mexico to have surgery with Dr Sergio Quinones. I feel so happy and blessed that my mom has been able to help me with the cost. When she told me I broke down and cried. We are leaving on 12/8/2013 so we are there the day before. I feel safe that she is going with me because she is a nurse and will make sure that I am taken care of.

I called my surgeons office to see if BCBS of Fla approved my surgery. I spoke to April in his office who said that she had not heard anything yet which is a good thing. She said if they were going to deny it it would happen the first few days. She submitted it last Monday. 30 min later she called saying they denied it. She said that my Florida Blue policy does not cover WLS. I called them before I started this and they said it was a case by case basis. They said under no circumstance would they cover it because it is not in my policy. I asked about appealing but April said that thy would most likely deny again since its a non covered surgery. SO NOW WHAT????? Where do I go what do I do? Ugggggh I am an emotional wreck now.

Well today started out great. I drank 10 oz of hot tea (no sugar or honey). I drank my atkins strawberry shake. I took my multivitamin along with it as I do every day. All of a sudden about 2 hours later I became very nauseous and felt like I had to throw up. My stomach is gurgling and I feel lousy. I have only drank 32 oz of water today because my stomach is so icky. Usually I would drink broth or eat a piece of dry toast. But since I cant I am dealing with it. On a lighter note I made it to day 5. I am so excited that I have not strayed 1 time. I did eat a cheese stick today around 2pm to give my tummy something. Oh well tomorrow is another day.

I have to say that today way a little bit better than yesterday. Yesterday I think my blood sugar dropped in the evening. I had all the signs of hypoglycemia. I was somewhat better by the time I ate.....THANK GOD!!! Today I was able to get in 60 oz of water. That is a huge deal because I would normally only drink about 16-20. Just finished dinner and I feel full and content. I wont lie, I think about dinner all day but I know this is a good thing. I am 2 days into this and looking ahead.

Well on Nov 1 I paid my COBRA insurance. I thought it would be immediately activated but I was wrong. I paid a company who sent the money to my former employer who had it on their desk to pay BCBS. Every time April tried to submit my referral to BCBS they would kick it back saying I was not active. I was told that it could take several weeks to become reactivated again. I really tried to get this all taken care of before Nov 1 so this wouldn't happen but they would not let me. Well Friday I checked and it was active :) so she submitted it today to BCBS. I have begun the 2 week pre op diet because I would like to be sleeved in Nov. So day 1 of the the liquid diet and I am already hungry. I am allowed 3 meals daily. 2 have to be protein shakes and the last is a high protein low carb meal. I do this for 2 weeks. I am getting a head start on it. So no date yet but 1 step closer :)

I had my EGD done yesterday. Dr. Gordon said everything looked ok except a small hernia. I dont have any symptoms so I dont think it will cause a problem. I will call Monday to see if the office submitted my paperwork for approval. COBRA premium has been paid for this month so nothing should hold it up.

I saw the cardiologist yesterday. he cleared me with low rick for surgery. I took the clearance form to the surgeons office and gave it to the scheduler. She told me that they submitted the paperwork for approval but was told that my policy terms on 10/31/2013. I told her that is correct because I am going on COBRA which will kick in 11/1/2013. She said Blue Cross will not even talk to them until Nov. I was hoping to have an answer by Nov so I could begin my 2 week pre op diet. She also said she was not sure that COBRA would approve it. I don't see why not because its the exact insurance I had while working full time. The sooner I get the surgery the sooner I can go back to full time. Ahhh the waiting begins.

I saw the surgeon today. He was impressed with all the stuff that I have already done. I have to have cardiology and pulmonary clearance. I have calls into both their office to schedule hopefully within the next week. I have an EGD scheduled for 10/31. My surgery scheduler Jan said she would submit all the paperwork to the insurance. She said it can take up to 2 weeks to find out a decision. Im excited but nervous. I don't want to be denied and I don't want to wait months to get this done.  Ill keep updating as I get more info.

Today I met with Lori who is my nutritionist. I enjoyed meeting her because I learned a lot of eating habits that I need to fix. I already knew them but it was  good to hear that I am not a bad person for choosing bad foods.  She also went over the pre op diet as well as the post op diet. Because I eat a lot of carbs, she wanted me to try to cut back during the next week. 

I also met with Tonya who is a personal trainer. She is going to meet with me personally in a few days to give me a tour of the wellness center and help devise a plan for me. She will be with me through the end. Once I have the sleeve she will be able to tailor my fitness routine around that.

I finally met with Dr. Baum. He is a psychologist. He cleared me as well. So far so good. Now I have to meet with the surgeon next week. Maybe I can have the surgery within the first few weeks of Nov.

Today was the first day that I got a little nervous. This is getting real and exciting. hoping all goes well.