ObesityHelp

I have three young children ages 6,4,and 2.
On 3/25 I went for a consolation at Bariatric Treatment Center. I met with Dr. Eric T. Vaughn. I thought he was great. I would have loved for him to perform my surgery. Today (3/31) I found out that he is out of network and I have no out of network out of pocket maxim. So I will not be using him as I had hoped.

I have made an appointment with Jay B. Prystowsky for June 17th. The lady who I talked to on the phone to make the appointment was very short with me and not helpful at all. I am really discouraged right now. I had waited a month for my first appointment with Dr. Vaughn and now I have to wait another 2 1/2 months for this doctor. Only god knows how long before I can have surgery. It sucks. Now I am wondering if he is going to be one of these doctors that make you jump though hoops to get the surgery. If anyone has used Jay B. Prystowsky for their surgery please contact me and let me know how your consultation went please.

4/11/05
After a bit of digging around I have found that North Westerns program may not be for me. You have to do a lot of stuff before you have surgery about 7 months of stuff. I am just not interested in waiting 7 months. So I have made an appointment with Dr. Gerald Cahill after reading a bunch of profiles about him. I will be seeing him April 18th. I will also be attending a seminar this wedsday. I am so excited.

I forgot to mention one little bit of good news…….. I am approved by my insurance. Dr. Eric T. Vaughn office had filed it with my insurance after meeting with him. I really wish I could have Dr. Eric T. Vaughn do my surgery but I cannot afford it with out putting strain on my family. My insurance said they would change the provider for the approval if I like Dr. Gerald Cahill. So please wish my luck.

4/19

I meet Dr. Cahill tomorrow. I am a bit nervous but I am sure things will go fine. I just wonder if I will get a surgery date or not (if I like him). I already made my psychiatric evaluation appointment for the 26th of this month so everything is in place. Well, I will post after I meet with him.

P.S.
I also wanted to let everyone know that this board has been so helpful to me. Thank you to everyone who contributes to it.

4/19
Today went great. I met with Dr. Cahill. He thinks I am a good candidate for RNY. I did not have too many questions because I have been researching this for what seems like forever but he did answer what questions I did have with ease. Donna is such a nice person. I had already met Tony at the seminar. I did not get to speak with him one on one but he seems great too. Tiffany has also been very helpful. So basically they are a group of great people.
Tomorrow I have to call the insurance to switch the provider to Dr. Cahill, I that it is as easy as they have made it sound. If all goes well I could have surgery on 5/23 but Donna said Dr. might be going on vacation so if that were the case my surgery would be 6/2, which is fine with me. I will update when I hear something new. Bye.

5/1
I went for the class on Friday. I met some other ladies who are having surgery this month. I also had to do some pre-op stuff. It was all long day. I was just so tired because my 4 year old kept me up all night but hey that’s life.
Anyway I loged on today and saw my name under “surgery dates this month” it kind of freaked me out. I can’t believe that the time is coming. It’s surreal. I can’t even imagine what I will be like the night before surgery. I sure this feelings are all normal and they will pass or maybe get worse. I just thought I would update while I had a minute. Bye.

5/12
I went for a bunch of my pre-surgery testing. What a long day. The breathing test is extremely weird. I am just glad it is all out of the way. I am getting so nervous. I cannot be believe that it is happening. I am scared and happy all at the same time.

I just feel like if something goes wrong there is about half of my family that will say, “I told you so”. That really pisses me off. I saw my uncle the other day and he was really rude out the surgery. I was talking to my cousins in another room about it and he just walked in the room and tells me that he thought I was making the biggest mistake of my life. He also made the comment that I could just do it on my own if I would eat small portions. I felt like I was being attacked so I did not hear much of what he said.

I told him that I would have no problem discussing the pros and the cons of WLS surgery with if he only knew what he was talking about. I told him to do the research that I have done and talk to the doctors that I have and then come talk to me. If he had just expressed his concern in a caring way it would not have made me mad. Oh well.

I want to thanks to everyone who has wished me luck and kept me in their prayers. Bye for now.

5/22/05

Tomorrow is the big day. I am so scared. The hardest thing will be to leave my kids in the morning. I am on a clear liquid diet today. I finished the magnesium citrate, it was gross and that is an understatement. It made me sick to my stomach. Oh well it’s the cost of getting skinny. I have to be at the hospital at 8 am but surgery is not until 10 am. Next time I post I will b e on the losing side. Bye


5/22/05
I know I said that I was not going to post until after surgery but all of the sudden this tremendous fear of dieing came over me. What if I die? Who will be a mother to my kids? Maybe I am being selfish by having this surgery, maybe I am not thinking about my family first. A million things are running through my head. I don’t think I will be able to walk away from their sweet faces in the morning. It is going to be tough.

I keep thinking that if I do die my sons will remember me but my daughter is too young. I sit here writing in tears crying quietly so I don’t alarm my husband. I want to be brave but every time at think of my kids I fall apart. This may all sound so dumb but I felt it was important to add this because it is so real. It is what I am feeling at this moment. I pray to god I will update after surgery.
5/27/05
I will update later because it hurts to sit in this chair. I am writting everything in a journal.
5/29/05
I am finally able to sit at the computer desk so I can update. Surgery went great no problems. I must say that the pain after surgery was worse than I had expected but it was not too bad. The drain is really a pain in the butt. It is now the reason for my discomfort.
The hospital was great. The nurses were great. Everything has been uneventful so far. I have lost 16 pounds so far, I am very happy about that. Well I am going to cut this short because it still kind of hurts to sit like this. Bye

6/09/05
I am very discouraged right now. I have not lost any weight in about 6 days. I know that this will pass and I should be happy with 24 pounds. I have not had a BM in 6 days either. Dr. thinks it is the iron in my vitamin so now I am looking for a new vitamin.
I go tomorrow to get the rest of my staples out they are driving me crazy. So tomorrow I will be able to talk to the doctor about everything.
The food thing has not been to tough for me but I have my moments when I want to eat like I used too. This surgery is no joke. The mental part is harder than the actual surgery. I do not regret having the surgery because I know if I didn’t I would continue to gain weight.
I am now realizing how much of an eating disorder I had. I did not eat to live I lived to eat. It was all I thought about, first thing in the morning and last thing at night. I just had myself fooled. I would actually wonder why I was so fat, duh I ate anything I wanted whenever I wanted. Although I liked to eat by myself or around people who would not judge me. That’s all for now. Bye

11/11/05
God it has been so long since I updated. My computer has been acting up. Well anyway I am doing great. I have lost right over 100 pounds and I feel like a new person. If anyone has emailed me and gotten no response it is because I can’t get my emails. So feel free to call me @708-299-1794. I would love to be some help to someone one else. Life is great. I love the new me. I can wear a size 11 in juniors. How cool is that! I still want to lose 30 pounds and I will get there. I can’t believe I have lost so much in less than 6 months.
My sister is going to have the surgery the 29th of this month. Dr. Cahill will be doing so I am not worried. Wish her luck in her journey. I will post pictures as soon as I can get my own computer working. Bye for now.