Nicole H.

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Well, I know it's been several months since I was last here.  So in August I got everything finished and they sent my request to the insurance company.  That same day the nurse from the insurance company called me and we had a nice little discussion.  The very next day I had my approval. However, on that same day I got a job.  I had been looking for more than a year.  So I put off the surgery until Nov. 3.  Then after working for a few weeks found I really didn't like the job but thought I'll wait until after my surgery to find a new one.  Then my husband came home and told me a friend of his works for this great company and they had an opening.  I said ok what is the pay and the hours.  He said $2 more an hour and I only have to work Mon., Tues., Thurs. and Fri. 4am - 2p.  I was  like no way.  Mind you my current job I was working Wed. through Sunday on second shift.  So I couldn't pass it up.  I applied for the job and got it.  I was to start on Oct. 20.  Well you know what came next.  I canceled surgery.  I love my job but then my husband and I realized my new insurance had an exclusion for WLS and his employer was changing insurance also.  So now I had to decide. Job or take the chance new insurance wouldn't approve and Dr already said I would have to start process all over which also meant about $1000 out the window.  So talked to insurance and they would allow approval until end of year.  So called Dr office and we rescheduled for Dec. 10. 
So now my date was set and I was so very excited.  I told everyone I came into contact with and of course I got the why don't try this or this. and are you sure you are doing this for the right reasons. Well, as many of you know at this point in the game we have tried this or that. And there are several reasons why we choose this path.  There is no one reason.  And we don't all have the same reason.  So to me there is no right or wrong reason only yours.  Most however are like wow that's so exciting, I'm so happy for you.  And some are even you know I've thought about WLS but don't know where to start. I start by telling them to come to this website and then I tell them about my wonderful DR.
So on Dec. 3 I start my low carb all liquid diet.  YUCK on the creamy chicken soup.  I stuck with the drinks, broth and water.  It wasn't easy but I made it.  Then the night before surgery my husband and I headed to Columbus.  Riverside gave a hotel room for the night because when you live more then 50 miles out they provide this for you free of charge.  It was a very nice room.  Oh and they serve and all you can full breakfast buffet.  Which by the way my husband somewhat enjoyed.  I think it was hard for him to eat in front of me.  LOL.....So 8am and we're off to the hospital.  We went to the surgical/family waiting area and checked in.  We waited about 1/2 hour so then they called my name and off I went.  They weighed me in, took all of my vitals and then it was of course time to get undressed and put the dreaded IV in.  OMG  I really do not like that part.  Well 2 nurses and a supervisor later they got the IV in.  It was then time for my husband to leave and time for me to head to the OR.  Once in the they administered a spinal block and some good medicine.  Honestly, I don't even remember them laying back down on the bed.  What I do remember next was being in my room and seeing my husband.  I tried really hard to stay awake to talk to him, but just couldn't so I told him to go on home because the roads were getting nasty.  I think I finally started to wake around 5 or so.  My nurses were absolutely wonderful.  At 7p I asked if I could walk and they were like ok sure.  So the tech came to help me up.  But when I sat up I was really dizzy.  So I sat for a few moments and tried standing.  Uhhh wrong thing to do I virtually passed out and couldn't breath.  Had several folks come in to try to draw blood.  No Luck.  About 9 or so they finally got an IV specialist  with her ultrasound to draw blood.  I still couldn't get out of bed.  At around the shift change (11p) the phone rang the nurse said that it was probably my Dr. Sure enough it was.  Apparently my blood count was way low and I needed a blood transfusion.  Dr. Myer was calling to explain this to me and to make sure it was ok.  Well, of course I was ok with it.  So around 1am the blood was there and so was Dr Myers. The first unit was in and because no one else other than the IV specialist was able to draw blood Dr. Myers drew it himself.  Now in comes the second unit.  By this time it's 3am.  I still can't get out of bed and my blood pressure was still really low. Dr Myers was back @ 6am and so was 2 more cold units of blood.  I guess there was  a rush job on these they didn't even have time to warm up. and they went in in an hour versus 3 hours.  Ok now my blood count is up and my BP was slowly but surely coming up.  Dr. Myers sent me down for an MRI to make sure nothing major was going on.  The MRI showed a small pool of blood had collected along my staple line.  He thought it may have happened when I moved. But that all bleeding had stopped.  However the wonderful Dr he is he canceled a trip to Cincinnati to stay in Columbus just in case anything were to happen.  He said I could start bleeding again or infection, but more than likely I would just reabsorb it. Of course this also meant at least 1 or maybe 2 extra days in the hospital. My transfusion also afforded me another IV in the other arm. So now I have two, of course they were only using the one but wanted to keep the other in just in case because I was such a hard stick.
I was finally able to get out of bed Thurs. night oh but when I did apparently broke open one of my incisions.  eeekkkk  I finally got something to drink and eat(well drink).  LOL  I made several trips through out the floor over the next 2 days.  I finally got to go home Saturday afternoon. Yeah!
Over the next few days I felt very sick to my stomach.  Seen the Dr. and nutritionist on Tues. at that point was down to 266. BP a bit low so off of all BP meds.  Still on full liquids. and to be honest with you it is very hard.  I feel like I could eat a pizza, cheeseburger, pork chop, stuffing. wow it all sounds good and the TV doesn't help matters any.  you know every commercial is a food commercial.  gosh darn it. 
I making it through.  Tues. DEC. 23 had another visit with Dr. now down to 255 and BP back up. but only back on 1 or the 3 meds that I was on preop. So definitely better than before.  Still feel a bit queasy every now and again.  couple more days of the full liquids then off to the blended food where i get to add some meat and veggie and fruit.  It's been a rough couple of weeks but I just remind myself that the end result will be worth it.
So now that I've put 10 months into one entry, I'll stop for now and promise to keep it up.

Well, I had my full day evaluation on Friday.  It really wasn't that bad.  I got there and the first thing they did was draw blood.  For me that in and of itself is a lovely chore.  So after a few prick, by the supervisor, she finally got it.  They couldn't get enough for all the tubes but it was close and said they could work with it. 
Then it was off to the other side where I started my psych tests.  Hundreds of questions, some of them repeated several times.  And in between I met with the different staff members.  First I met with Dr. Myers' surgeon assistant, very nice guy.  He weighed me and we talked about my health history.  Back to the testing.  In came his nurse practitioner, who by the way also had the surgery.  We talked about my health history and my weight history.  Very nice gal.  Back to the more testing.  Then in came Teresa, the dietician.  And we all know what her and I talked about, yep you guessed my diet.  We talked about me getting into the habit of changing my eating habits before surgery.  So starting today I start my new exercise regimen and keeping my daily food record.  Back to the testing.  When I was finished with the testing I spoke with Dr. Tell, she is the psychologist.  She and I talked for about an hour or so.
I can honestly say that I really enjoyed speaking with each of the staff memebers.

Well this is my first blog so bare with me a bit....

Last July I attended one of Dr. Myers' seminars and it was very informative.  I like the fact that Dr. Myers had a patient there to tell her story and that he personally talked with each of us.  At that time my insurance wasn't accepted.  I could have probably tried another Dr. but really didn't want to as I have a really good feeling about Dr. Myers and his staff.  So I waited and my husband changed jobs and so we got new insurance and yep you guessed they do cover it and Dr. Myers and Riverside are in my network....YEAH!!!
So I contacted Annie and she had me mail everything to her about three weeks ago.  Last Saturday she called me from her home and left me a message with her cell number to call her to set up my first appt.  I called her first thing Monday morning, didn't feel right calling her at home, and she got me in yesterday (2-13-08) and also scheduled my all day evaluation for tomorrow(2-15-08).  That was fast.  So the first appt was to go over my out of pocket expenses.  She pretty much gave me everything except the hospital.  So right now my out of pocket is $2630.  It may be less once I submitt bills to my insurance for the assistant surgeon and the psychologist.  She said that the insurance said those were non covered expenses but she had suggested I try anyway to submit them and maybe I can get reimbursed.  The total may also go down once the bill for the dietician is submitted.  So I had to pay $250 yesterday which leaves a balance of $2380. Now tomorrow I will have to pay $500 to the psychologist.  I also have all my bloodwork and other lab tests, then I also see the dietician and psychologist.  Could be a long day. 
I'm a bit nervous because  in the back of my mind I have this little voice that says "this is not going to happen" over and over again.  Annie has reassured me that I shouldn't have any problems being approved, but I still have the little voice saying "ain't gonna happen." 
I will be back tomorrow to let you know how the evaluation goes.  So TTFN