Inkfreak

Send Message

Block

Add Friend

As usual its been a long time I have updated here so here it goes. I have all my authorization for surgery. I was laid off for a while but have new employment that is more stable and pays better than my last job. The work is ok though most times not challenging. I put down my deposit with the surgeons office. 4k to be exact. They recieved my signed paperwork this week and I can expect a call from the coordinator next week to schedule my surgery. That call made this real. Very real. Its a little unnearving. I spoke with my boss and he is ok with me taking the time off for this. I will have to schedule out to October though. I was hoping to have this done while still 29, but that is the way things go. I am nervous. Very nervous. As a matter of fact im scared shitless but this is what i have been studying for the last 3 years and pushing for for the last 10 months. I am looking foreward to the opportunites being normal weight may bring. I am also scared that I will have a lot of identity issues with the weight gone. I have always been the big guy. Always. It has been a part of my life since 6th grade. 1990. Thats a long time to get used to something. Now that I am on the cusp of a whole new life I cannot see the paths I am used to traveling. Everything that was so clear for a long time is now past and I am in new uncharted territory. I am glad that I have a support group in place. My family and a few very good friends as well as my shrink. There is no real way to be prepared for this event past the actual surgery. At least I can put it out of my mind for a few more months barring anything that may turn up in pre-op testing.

From the coordinator at the bariatric office. She stated to me that due to being approved from surgery from the NUT all I needed to do was follow up with the counselor that I need to see per the shrink at the clinic. As soon as they get the info that I am seeing one, I am fully approved to have surgery. I told her that I had already faxed them this information. Seems that it may have been misplaced. She said they would call me back if they did not find it that day. I never recieved a call so I assume that they have it and put it in my file. I am going to follow up with them on monday morning to verify it is there and to start scheduling whatever appointments I need to. I am not completely sure what this all entails, but I am sure that they will explain it. I hope this means that I will get a date somewhat soon. Barring any issue with the insurance I will be on the loser bench! W00t. Im getting a lil nervous about this. I thought I would be one of those ppl that end up waiting a million years to have this done. Guess I need to get my mindset to this is happening sooner rather than later.

This was a good day. According to my NUT all I need to do now is quit smoking and work on increasing my exercise. She has approved me for surgery. On the other hand I still need to get an ok from my Shrink. I was not aware that the counselor that I am seeing has the power to ok me or not. I have only seen him for the consult. I start seeing him on a regular basis friday. Hopefully this will not take a long time because he is only there to help me with my stress issues. Better ways to handle them besides eating and smoking (cigz). I feel better with the  weight gone. Its a lot easier to move now. Im looking foreward to the release from the shrink to have surgery. I think that I am going with the DS. Seems like it is the one for me. When I meet the surgeon we will discuss it.

Well, i can tell you that was interesting. If it wasnt for the sleeping aid I would never have slept at all. Having a shaved head made getting the sensors on there a bit difficult as well as uncomfortable. They did not use the cpap on me during sleep. I couldnt get anything from the tech that was watching me so I have to wait for the results to get to my PCP. That should be around this weekend. Guess well see how bad I am.

I have my sleep study tonight. It will be wierd to not sleep in my own bed, not used to that. They had me get 2 5mg tabs of Ambien to help me sleep. We shall see how this goes. I will update this when I know what the study shows.
On another note I have my next meeting with my NUT on March 5th. The way I feel I will not be too surprised if I lost weight. I went down 2 belt notches since I started following the rules set forth by my NUT. I have not kept a food journal for the first 1.5 weeks after the first meeting as I should have. Work and home life (and a lil last supper action) made it difficult. After that lil mess up I have kept them up to date, even on the days I did not do as well as I would have liked to. Hopefully this does not negatively impact the journey here. Guess I will know next Wednesday.

On February 5th  I met with my NUT and the counselor at the center of excellence.
The meeting with the counselor was good. I was not nervous and open about things. It went well. To continue my journey I need to see a counselor on a regular basis to help deal with my stress eating. Nothing bad. I am looking forward to it. Another tool in my arsenal to get past my issues that cause me to eat is a good thing. I also need to have a sleep study done to see what they see with my night breating.
Directly afterwards that meeting I met my NUT. She had some good literature for me, but the guidelines were not the best. I felt like I was extracting that information the hard way. In the end I got what I needed from her. I now have a guideline to what my daily eating habits need to be. A good thing.

This started for me on Dec. 5th at Siani hospital in Milwaukee WI. We had the meet and greet (the information conference) and I knew this was something that I needed to do. I have tried other weight loss programs before. I was in WW. I had a personal trainer @ Bally's. I started an exercise program that I could do that included swimming for up to two hours a day six days a week. None of these things helped with the weight loss. After I moved to a new place far from where I grew up and quit smoking the weight really started to compound the issues that I had before. My doc suggested I look into WLS to help with the issues that I have. I am asmatic, high blood pressure, bad cholestrol that I am now on meds for as well as a few other things. Scary to me. I am only 29. 

I took my second step today the 11th with my primary phy. I got the paperwork filled out from him as well as the referrals. Next step is to get the correct info from the insurance. I talked with them twice already and have not gotten the info that I need. I think I will be talking with a supervisor there to get the list of qualifications for surgery.