srmuras
10/27/05
Well....I just got a call today from the surgeon's office. They had to postpone my surgery to 11/11/05. There was a scheduling conflict. It just adds a couple more days to my wait time. It will be here soon. I will be ready. This will not knock me down.
10/13/05
I'm 32 years old, 5'8", 350lbs. I have been obese for as long as I can remember. I haven't always been this obese but I was always overweight. Once I hit puberty, my weight just started increasing. By the time I was in high school, I weighed over 200lbs. I have tried every diet known including all the diet pills. Sure some things would work for a little while but then I got discouraged because the weight loss would just stop. I just couldn't get all the extra weight off. It would always come back along with extra pounds. My mom was always trying to sabatoge my effort. I don't think she would do it intentionally but it always seemed to happen. Once I moved out on my own, I started losing weight. But it wasn't healthy because I wasn't eating. I could barely pay my bills much less food. I finally got on my feet with a good paying job. I was able to pay my bills and buy food. The weight started creeping back on. Of course my mom was still trying to dictate everything in my life. I thought I got away from that when I moved out. Since that didn't work I moved Florida. I had to start all over again. My weight stayed the same for the two years I lived in Florida. Then I met my husband, Paul. He lived here in Texas so I moved back to be with him. My dad was happy that I was close by again. I was happy too. I missed seeing him. He has always been so supportive of me. He never tried to run my life.
Paul and I got married in May 1998. He didn't care that I was obese. He loved me anyway. I got comfortable with him. My weight started going up again. I would always try to diet but of course they would fail. When my weight reached 300, I decided I needed to do something more drastic. I began researching WLS. It was just so expensive. I had too much going on with my life to be able to fork out that much money. So it went to the back of my head.
I have always thought that I would do the surgery if given the chance. I thought my chance was here when the hospital I work for decided to start up a WLS program. I knew for sure I could get the approval I needed. Of course our insurance wouldn't pay for it. The insurance companies would rather pay for all of the co-morbid problems than pay for something cheaper in the long run. After the Associates started talking about wanting the surgery but couldn't get approval, the CEO decided to it was time to make sure the Associates were taken care of. After all, our facility offered the service, why couldn't the Associates take advantage of it? When our renewal came up, the approval for the WLS was added. Finally, I'm able to have the surgery with only a small co-pay.
So when January 2005 rolled around, I was ready. My paper work was submitted again. I just knew it would be approved. I was ready. Everything was falling into place. Then I got the news, I had to have 6 months of doctor supervised diets within the past 2 years. I was devistated again. I hadn't seen a doctor in 4 years (other than the GYN). I work for the Director of the Emergency Room. I have doctors at my disposal if I get sick. After that news, I thought about it for about a month and decided to see a doctor. I found one that would work with me. He wasn't supportive at first. I think it was because he didn't know much about the surgery. He did his research. And now, he couldn't be more supportive. He sent me to every specialist to cover everything. I was diagnosed with diabetes, hypertension, high cholestrol, and obstructive sleep apnea. It has been a very expensive and long 6 months.
My 6 months of visits were over last month. He wrote my letter to the insurance company. He finished it pretty quick. I told him I wanted to get in for the November surgeries since my husband had most of his vacation at that time. He's a deer hunter. He always has his vacation at the end of the year.
Everything finally was sent to the insurance company. I didn't hear from them for a whole week. It was driving me crazy. My husband was driving me crazy. I was pulling my hair out because I was going crazy. Then finally......I got the call yesterday (10/12/05)
I'M APPROVED!!!!!!!!
I'm scheduled to have my surgery on 11/8/05. I'm soooo excited. I can't believe that everything is finally falling into place. In less than 4 weeks I will be a loser. I'm ready for this new tool. I know I won't be able to just have the surgery if I don't change my eating habits. I know I'm going to have to "Eat to live not live to eat".
I'm ready for my lifesaving tool.