Anna E.

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OK, so I finally reached Medicare about their guidelines and they do cover the lap-band and the fills are covered but coded in a weird way.  I also finally got in touch with the Bariatric Coordinator (been trying for over a week!) and she explained that they do the Medicare covere lap-band but they don't bill for the fills, you are supposed to pay up front and send in to get reimbursed.  That's not gonna happen!  So we're officially going for the RNY.  We discussed what info she has received from me so far and all she has is my psych consult, she never received the hosp. paperwork.  I called the hosp and they said it was shipped on the 24th so she should be receiving it anyday.  She told me to look into getting another EGD, one to see if the ulcer had healed up and she scheuled me with Dr. Pehrsson on June 4th at 11:45am.  She also scheduled me with the NUT on May22nd from 10-12:30pm.  I have to come up with $100 for that but she said I don't have to pay the "Program fee" of $500, that's GREAT news.  She said the only thing that I needed to be worried about right now is the EGD and getting my ulcer fixed, so I've got a call in to see about that.  Guess that's it for now, I'll post more later.

but I'm not sure where to!  I had my visit w/my pulmonologist today and he is requesting lots of testing.  He has me going in for an upated bloodgas, a Lung Function Test, and then he wants to check out my heart with an Echocardiogram and a stress test, they do both of these in their office which is helpful.  I talked to the medical records dept. of the hospital and they were waiting for the doctor to finish the chart.  Now it's done and they are sending out the records by Wednesday.  I am still smokefree, Four weeks and 2 days so far, but still taking it one day at a time. I talked to my insurance co today and they said since they were a medicare replacement that they follow Medicare guidelines about coverages.  They cover the WLS if deemed medically necessary (no problem) but they told me to call Medicare to find out about the Lap Band so I will do that tomorrow.  Guess I'm still pretty much in limbo, but things are getting done!  That's a good thing right?

So, here it is March 31st, and I am in limbo.  I am going in to my pcp on Monday to get the results of my sleep study.  I am on medication for the esophageal stuff.  I have just received a letter from my surgeons office that I am to fill out and send to the hospital I was just in so he can see all of my records for the last two stays and make a determination from that as to whether or not I am a god candidate for the RNY (he already ruled me out of the Lap-Band).  I also am still not smoking although I had a couple of days in there where I had a couple of cigarettes, but I never bought a pack, so I am still at it, day by day.  I am trying to not concentrate on it to hard or I will obsess until I have one.  I am just trying to keep myself busy.  Thats all for now, talk to you soon!

Well, I am out of the hospital.  I was in from the 16th through the 19th.  They ran a few tests, mostly the same ones they ran six weeks ago.  Only, this time, they seem to feel that it is not my gall bladder.  As far as they can see, it is fine.  They have definitely found serious esophagitis (grade C out of 4 grades) and an esophageal stricture.  I may still be in for a stress test at a diffeent hosital because I am too large for the machines at this hospital.

On a positive note, I have quit smoking and so far I have one week smoke free, hopefully I can keepit up!  I guess that's all for now, talk to you later!

Well, where do I start, I guess with the fact that I just can't seem to quit smoking, I am trying, but obviously not hard enough.  I just don't know what to do about that.  My gallbladder is acting up again, has been for about a week.  At first I had a fever, now no fever but but I have to eat blandly and and it lets me know if I haven't, that's for sure.  I am waiting for a bed at the local hospital to have it removed.  I was going to wait til I had the Gastric Bypass but my doctor felt that it would be smarter to get it out now and be healthy for that surgery in a couple of months, I guess that makes sense.  In regards to being lonely and depressed, I am stuck in my home and don't talk to anyone very often.  I have the computer and thank god for that cuz it's my only contact with the outside world, I don't know what I would do without it.  I miss the Lap Band Board, guess I could lurk there sometime and see how everyone is doing.  My Bi Polar is acting up over the past week or two so I am up, then down and when I am up it's and aggravated, sarcastic up, not a nice fluffy up so that's hard.  Guess I just wanted to update in case anyone was wondering and if not for my own records.

I last posted that I was bummed and after a couple of days of reading the RNY Board and talking to my mom and a friend I guess the RNY isn't such a bad option, at least I have an option, right?!?  I went in for the lung function test and he didn't have the right mouthpiece and when I asked them to fax the EKG he said that they would want one a lot closer to the actual surgery date to be current.  Oh well, 0 for 2.  I did get my Lithium level checked though and they faxed the results to my Psychiatrist today so she'll get them next week when she comes in.  Also, he requested me to have a sleep study done, so because I have PPO insurance they can do it in my home, so that's what I'll be doing tomorrow night!  I am pretty sure that I need a C-PAP machine because I have been told many times that I snore loudly and wake myself up often by not breathing.  This is another test that I was going to need to have done anyway so better to get it done now.   In regards to the smoking, the Chantix is making me ill to my stomach frequently after smoking so I am resigned to try and stop tonight and begin being smoke-free on March 3rd instead of March 15th.  We'll see how it goes!  I'll post again with my progress later.

Well, I just got home from my consult w/Dr. Pehrsson and I am bummed.  At first they told me that my insurance won't cover the Lap-Band for anyone over a 50 BMI (As of today mine is 60).  When I asked her to double check it because I had personally called the insurance co. and they told me they covered it.  She asked if I asked them about the lap-band specifically or just bariatric surgery, I said the latter.  She then had the ins girl call again, just to be sure, and it came back that they would cover the installation and removal but not the fills and their fills are $300 apiece.  The RNY they cover in full.  So then I got weighed 254.6, and measured 5'4 1/2" (I thought I was 5'7" since high school, go figure!).  I then spoke with the Dr. who was very kind and he explained that I was a high surgery risk due to my BMI and other co-morbidities and that I would have to quit smoking before he would go any further with surgery.  I knew that was coming but he asked how soon could I be quit and I told him March 31st.  I am on Chantix right now and I want to give myself until March 15th to fully quit and then be fully quit at least two weeks when I go back in.  We discussed the surgery a little and the risks.  I was then sent to Linda who is the program co-ordinator.  She set me up to see the nutritionist with my friend who I had gone to the appointment with who is also getting the RNY.  We see the NUT on March 10th and I have to have $100 for that, yikes!  Other than that they are sending letters to my PCP, Psychiatrist and Therapist.  I was also already scheduled for a lung function test tomorrow so I will have those results and the results of my EKG two weeks ago sent to her.  Now I am at a point of doing more research on the RNY.  I had done basic research to make a decision between the two and when I chose lap-band I went head over heels into it and learned everything I could about it and made friends along the way.  Now its on to a different board and new people, but I hope I don't lose the friends I have already made.  I'll update again soon!

Well, I went to see my psychiatrist on wed 2-14 and she is increasing my meds a little due to being out of control for a while.  I then saw my therapist and we had a good session.  I hadn't been able to see her in 3 weeks so it was a looooong overdue meeting.  The next day 2-15 I went back for a follow-up w/my dr from the hospital last week.  On the good news front, my biopsies came back fine - no cancer!  Whew!  Then he told me that the tests did show an esophageal ulcer but that the esophagitis was mild to moderate.  He increased my meds, kept me on strict bedrest and confirmed a few things I am supposed to not eat on my bland diet.  I asked about the gall bladder and he asked when was I ready to have it come out and I said "today".  He said I needed a breathing test/lung function test due to my COPD before  he could clear me for surgery.  No problem.  I asked about the fact that I was trying for the lap-band and heard they could remove the gall bladder at the same time.  He told me that yes, that was very common.  So, I have my consult w/Dr. Pehrsson on mon 2-26 and I will ask him then about it.  Then I have my lung test scheduled on 2-27 regardless of who is going to do the gall bladder surgery or both surgeries.  What I don't want to do is wait 6 mos to have the gall bladder surgery with  the lap-band cuz I am getting tired of the pain, bedrest, and bland foods (even though I cheat sometimes!).  We'll see in a litle over a week!  Oh, one more thing!  I asked my psychiatrist if she would recommend Chantix to help me stop smoking and she said it was fine with her, just get it cleared by my regular dr.  I checked with him the next day 2-15, and he said yes, but didn't think my ins would cover it.  I thought I would go ahead and bite the bullet anyway cuz if I don't spend it on Chantix, I'll spend it on cigs anyway!  So when the pharmacy called me to tell me how much it was before they delivered it, I was THRILLED to find out that my insurance covered it and my copay was only $14.  So that's good news! More later!

I haven't posted in a while cuz I have been in the hospital since Jan 30th.  Throughout my lovely stay they tested me for everything they could and finally found that I have an enlarged gall bladder that needs to be removed in a couple of weeks, I also have Esphogitis and an Esophageal ulcer.  So now I am home trying to recover.  I am on bed rest and bland diet and three meds.  My next apt with the dr. is Feb15th and hopefully I will find out more of what is happening.  Meanwhile I am supposed to have my consult with my lap-band surgeon on Feb26th.  Should I stay or go?  Should I contact them and let them know what is happening and fing out their suggestions?  I have lost about 15lbs in the last two weeks, but what a rough way to lose it!  I am very confused and very frustrated, does anyone out the have any suggestions?

I know that I am fat.  I know that I am very fat even.  But I don't know about you but I guess I have held myself in an image based on who I am inside, not outside.  I've been with friends and seen someone extremely heavy go by and asked if I look like that, most of the time they say no way, but I realize they were lying to be kind to me. They accept me, wow, even as I am.
What brought this on was my decision to get pics of myself as I am now so I will have before pics.  My neighbor took the photos using a cheapy camera and I uploaded them.  I almost died of shock!  In one photo I wasn't wearing a bra , I was home sick by myself so why? - I will NEVER go out in public without one again!  I have gone back several times since putting them in my photo album and I look horrible, I know that's the idea of a before picture, but I have realized what I have subjected my family and friends to.
As if that wasn't enough eye opening, my neighbor's brother stopped by to pick up his sisters key.  He'd been drinking oviously, but they say that drunks can be quite brutally honest, he was.  I have two photos up from my wedding in '97 (now divorced, a real wonder?)  He kept looking at the pics and then me and then the pics.  I said I looked good then, he said "you looked really better then. damn!!"  That's all I needed to realize how out of control I am (at least just as far as looks go in the very least!).I need a lot of things to happen in my life and they all hinge on each other.  I need to lose weight, so I need surgery at this point, so I have to pass the tests of the dr which will include being approved even tho I have COPD and live on oxygen 24/7/365 and to get off the oxygen I have to lose weight and stop smoking.  I also have to pass the psych eval, but they are tweaking my meds for my bi-polar.
I just keep seeing a darker and darker horizon.  I may as well give up now, why flog a dead horse you know?