gmoxley
My name is Michael Oxley and I live in Fredericksburg, Virginia. I work at Inova Fair Oaks Hospital in Fairfax, Virginia where I am the Director of Environmental Services.
My present health is not good, with diabetes (type II), asthma, sleep apnea, high BP, high cholesteral, GERD, fibromyalgia, gout and a heart stint. I've already had two minor and one major stroke.
I began looking at Bariatric Surgery back when I worked at the University of Virginia Medical Center around 1997. However my wife was just starting her Masters Degree and it would have been too much to handle both that and my surgery. Then in 2004 I was certified for RNY surgery for about Christmas time. Due to family issues I had to postpone the surgery until January. I called my insurance company and they assured me that my policy would not change for the coming year. However in January just before my surgery they called me and let me know that my coverage for the surgery had been changed from 85% to 50%. That was money we did not have and I had to cancel the surgery.
Earlier this year some amazing friends, that I work with, came to me and said that they wanted to help me get the surgery. They were willing to pay whatever my insurance would not cover for my hospital bill. I still had to cover what my insurance would not cover for the surgeon, anesthesiologist and other tests, which I borrowed from my 401K. But what a gift. I thank God for such wonderful friends and co-workers.
So now I've been through all the exams, ie., cardiac stress test, pulmonary function test, blood work, x-rays, upper endoscopy and colonoscopy. Been through all my classes on nutrition and life after surgery. And next Tuesday, July 10, 2007, I will have my surgery.
I had my son take my "before" pictures tonight and posted them on this profile. I look sooooooooo fat and disgusting. I can't wait for the time when I will be able to post my "after" pictures.
