gollygoobernickles

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Okay another day and STILL we dont have stuff from PCP! GAH! So Im calling today to schedule an appointment in which I will have her sign the papers and give them to me so I can fax them. Im at the point were we are just wasting time right now and I need to get this done! Its like pulling teeth sometimes. Good Lord!
Anywho, thats all for now!
Shelley

My PCP sucks. Im still waiting on her to just sign the freaking papers she already agreed to sign. All she has to do is SIGN THEM! GOSH! And thne I went there today to get her to do so while I was there and she wasnt even there. I think I will go tomorrow and schedule an appointment and get her to sign them in my appointment and I will just deliver them myself to my surgeon!
Wish me luck!

So today I met with Dr. Ferrari and his staff. I really like the staff alot. Dr. Ferrari seemed to know a lot as well. The only thing that was a little difficult for me was understanding him through his accent. Its very thick and took me a second to process. But otherwise he was very kind!
Since they are out of network and that would generally cost me a fortune, they have a special plan where I will only be responsible for $1000 to him. I paid $170 today for my visit and it counts towards that $1000. Thats always a good thing. 
All they are waiting on is for my PCP to get the diet and letter to them and they will be ready to send it in. I spoke with BCBS again today to make sure that was all they needed and they confirmed it. They also said they try to make a decision within 24-48 hours on each case. Lets pray mines a quick one!
Blanca gave me my pre-op orders, which I chose not to do until I get my approval (why spend all that money to get denied???) then I will do them. They are:

Bloodwork:
CBC
Comprehensive metabolic
t3 t4 tsh
lipid profile
helicobacter Pylori IGG Qualative

An Echocardiogram and an ultrasound of my gallbladder.
Not too bad for preop. I do miss living with mom and dad though since I they always paid for this stuff....who knew things could be so freaking expensive!? GOOD LORD!
I know that God works in His own way and that this will all be taken care of!
Anywho, enough of that for now. I need to go clean out my fridge because Im getting a new one tonight and they are taking my old one from me and will use it for drinks.
CIAO!

I am sitting here with the hiccups, wondering....

When I get this surgery and I have a new poucy-poo....and I get the hiccups, will it hurt even more than it already does when I hiccup?
 Anyway, Im just wondering.........

So my PCP (after waiting for almost 3 hours past my appointment time to see her) signed the diet history (supervised for 7months) and is very happy to write a letter of medical necessity!!! She said she also feels this is the best thing for me and that it would prevent a considerable amount of co-morbidities from becoming serious and permanent. She does however want me to do a 12-lead EKG and get some blood work done, but in all the excitement I forgot to get the orders! LOL!
Thanks for the prayers everyone! I am sooo ready to get this done! Now I just need to find a way to get the money to pay the physician up front! Pray on that too! God is definatly working with me on this!

The surgeons office now has my psych evaluation, my nutrition evaluation, my letter from the gyno, and all they are waiting on is a letter from my PCP and Suppervised diet stuff. I am going to see PCP tomorrow so hopefully will get half of that tomorrow to fax although I imagine I will need to wait for the letter till friday afternoon. 
So lets pray that God will move my PCP to sign and write letters!!!
Yay!

Dear Doctor Hyde,

I am asking for your assistance in obtaining weight-loss surgery, It is difficult and embarrassing for me to come to you asking for your help, yet I know and feel that my health has and continues to deteriorate because of my obesity. We have discussed before my changing my eating habits and I have definatly worked on this are of my health. I actually am at a point where I no longer crave sweets and carbohydrates like I used to.

I have tried many weight-loss plans including, Atkins, Weight Watchers,Michael Thurmond, Quick Weightloss Centers, Vegetarian, Low Calorie, Cabbage Soup, Grapefruit, South Beach, Sugar Busters, and Slim Fast etc. I have also worked diligently on the prescribed diet you gave me several months ago and have lost a bit of weight but am finding it very hard to keep it off.

I now suffer from hypertension, irregular menstrual cycles, infertility, pain in my weight-bearing joints, and sometimes extreme back and hip pain due to the weight (or "extra person") I am carrying around on me.

I also have a family history of diabetes, heart disease, obesity, hypertension, and that is just my parents!

I have researched bariatric surgery in depth and I am well informed. Both of my parents were morbidly obese as well. My mother and father both had the gastric bypass and while my mother was successful, my father wasnt. I have seen what happens when you dont comply, and I understand that this is not a miracle surgery but a tool. The slimmer body is just a perk along with the health benefits. I know there are risks associated with gastric bypass surgery, just as there are with any type of surgery. I realize that a lifestyle change and exercise are major components of bariatric surgery and I have already started making those changes.

The experts at ObesityHelp for instance, say bariatric surgery is necessary because it is the only proven method of achieving long term weight control for the morbidly obese. Bariatric surgery is not a cosmetic procedure. Surgical treatment of morbid obesity does not involve the removal of adipose tissue (fat) by suction or excision. What it accomplishes is reducing the size of the gastric resevoir, with or without some degree of associated malabsorption. This reduces caloric intake and ensures that the patient eats small amounts of food very slowly, while chewing each mouthful well. Success of surgical treatment begins with th patient setting realistic goals and progresses through the surgery and lifelong follow-up by the bariatric surgeon. The different, accepted surgeries have been worked out over the last 30 years, and are now standardized, clearly defined, procedures, with well recognized and documented outcome results.

Prevention of secondary complications of morbid obesity is an important goal of management. Therefore, the option of surgical treatment is a rational one. Morbid obesity is a disease, not a disorder of willpower. The physiologic, biochemical, and genetic evidence is overwhlming that clinically morbid obesity is a complex disorder. Contributing causes are inheritance, environmental, cultural, socioeconmic and psychological.

I have a couple of interesting and informative handouts form ObesityHelp.com. I have taken the time to print them out fr you. I ask that you take a few minutes, at your leisure, and read them. Thank you for helping me.

Sincerely,


Shelly

Goals For What I Want To Do When I Lose Weight:

Cross legs comfortably (not like a man)
Walk a marathon (March of Dimes or MS)
Shop in Gap and Old Navy Stores
Get my Career going (not just a job)
Get pregnant and have another baby (without fertility drugs)
Go camping somewhere beautiful and HIKE!
Look good in a swimsuit and not have to wear a shirt over it!
Walk up 3 flights of stairs and not feel like dying.
Garden
Go Dancing
Take Ballroom Dancing Lessons

My Gyno wrote me a letter of medical neccessity today. It reads:

I am writing this letter in reference to my patient Mrs. Shelly _________. She is a 22 year old pleasant female who weighs 296lbs. and is 5'9" tall, catagorizing her as morbidly obese.

I am her gynecologist and have been for approximatly one year, although she has been a patient of our group for a little over 2 yrs. She has a hisotry of borderline ovarian cancer in April 2003, but did not need any follow-up treatment and recent pelvic sonogram in December 2005 was normal.

In addition she has a history of mentrual irregularity and infertility, and is borderline hypertensive.

She has tried unsuccessfully to lose weight with various diets. Given her morbid obesity, co-existing medical problems, and failure to lose weight with other methods, I feel that having gastric bypass surgery is now a medical necessity and her only option to loose weight. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Jennifer Everson M.D.

So tonight I made the almost 2 hour trek into Houston to go to a seminar hosted by Dr. Naaman. It was at the Memorial City Memorial Hermann hospital which is also the only hospital he has surgery rights in.
I thought the seminar was rather informative, although I had already done most of the research long before now and therefore much of the information wasnt new to me. I liked that they even spaced the chairs farther apart so we wouldnt all be rubbing elbows. Anywho it was nice. I met several ladies who are also hoping to get surgery and they were very nice. I spoke to the insurance lady there and she seems to think that we will be able to get an approval rather quickly.
Bah, nothing much else going on. So good night!!