Freckles72

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I've done almost all the pre-op stuff that has to be done.  I'll have my sleep study next week, and the follow-up two weeks after that, then I'll be able to get the surgery scheduled!  I'm excited but aprehensive.  I've been reading a lot of other blogs on here and there are some definite ups and downs.  Even several years down the road.  I know that when I lose my excess weight I'm going to be wrinkly and flabby - I'm going to have to start saving immediately for plastic surgery.  I just wish my insurance company would foot some of this bill - then I'd be better off for the plastics, which I'm sure I'll have to pay for.  Oh well.  I'm rambling.  I just want to fast-forward a year and see how I'm doing then...

Well, I met with my Doctor and we talked about the surgery.  Hearing about all the stuff that might go wrong is not fun!  But I figure that staying at my current weight is just as dangerous in the long run, so I'll take that small risk and forge ahead.

I have to have a sleep study done, then do labs, then I'll be officially approved and we can set a date!  Woohoo! 

Meanwhile - if I can lose 65 lbs by the date of surgery I can have the sleeve done as outpatient instead of having to stay overnight in the hospital.  That would save me a good bit of money, since I'm self-paying.  So I meet with a nutritionist on Friday to start a supervised diet.  No Cadbury Mini-Eggs for me this year! 

I was going to delete my previous posts.  It's discouraging to think that I was that excited about WLS five years ago, and what did I do with that exictement?  Nothing.  I haven't had surgery.  I weigh more now than I did then. 

But - I'm pursing the surgery once again.  And I'm excited about it again.  I actually have a one-on-one appointment with the surgeon tomorrow.  I really hope that he is encouraging about my prospects, and that he doesn't tell me I have to lose 100 lbs or something before I can have the surgery.  I am totally and completely ready NOW!  I'm not going to bother with my stupid insurance company, I'm going to pay cash and get it done.

Hopefully I'll have more updates soon!

Hi all! In case anyone out there is checking back on my blog, wondering how it's going for me, wondering if I've started doing all the stuff I need to get done before being able to schedule my surgery...well, I haven't. (I'm not really so vain as to think that people are waiting with bated breath to see what I have to write, I just feel guilty because part of the reason that I joined this site and started writing this blog was to keep myself on track. And now it's been almost a month and I haven't really done anything, and I have written anything! Gah!) Well, here's why. My insurance company requires that a person go through NINE MONTHS of a special diet and exercise program--only their program will do, of course--before being approved for surgery. In order to "successfully complete" the program I have to lose 5% of my weight and attend a certain number of meetings with a behavioral modification person and more meetings with a nutritionist and of course three sessions a week with at the gym. And hey - those are the rules, they're going to be giving me lots of money, so I'll do whatever they require. The problem is, they are based in a city that's about 90 miles away from me. I can't be running down there three or four days a week! They have promised an online version of their program that will be starting soon. Middle of July. Hopefully early August. Maybe at the end of August. Ugh. So I'm just waiting to start the 9 month countdown. I wish I had the money to pay cash up front and get it done. In the meantime, I need to be starting a regular exercise program. Maybe in my next post I will be able to report progress in that area at least. Bye.

Well, my vacation is over. It's time to get serious about contacting the insurance company, a doctor, and doing all that stuff that has to be done. My parents were visiting last week (they live in Michigan, I'm in Washington) and we talked a little about the surgery. They are very supportive and just want me to be healthy and happy. To everyone else on this site who has posted the details of pre-op processes and exactly what you go through afterward, let me say THANK YOU! It is so very helpful for someone like me to get a feel for exactly what's going to happen. I'm reading all the posts that I can!