juicyprincess

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I am also now scheduled for my surgery 5/13/09 which is about 2 weeks from now. boy this is happening so fast now.
Brace yourself Martha (hahah, if you get that joke, you are a perv).
FREAKING OUT!!!
they said to start the clear liquids with protein shakes NOW...omg...i am freaking out!

After about 4 weeks of fighting with my insurance company, I got my approval yesterday.
I didnt realize how happy i would be, but i am! I was telling the lady on the phone "i love u, and u rock" haha.I am still in shock a little.  I dont think it will really hit me till i get my surgery date. I am so glad my bestfriend encouraged me to take it all into my own hands, instead of leaving it to the office billing! I am so glad i am so organized and take such good notes (documentation), it all made it go much more smoothly.
Last night, i had a bowl of cereal (the sugary kind) and i had my first little moment "I am not supposed to be eating this, what am i doing? what am i gonna do after surgery when i want this?" Which brought on a new and profound awareness of what i am actually going to do, and how hard it is actually going to be. I am a little scared in all honesty. what if i fail? what if i cant control myself and i eat junk? what if it hurts? but for now, since i still dont have a date, i can look away a little.
I feel like a race car drive pulling out of the pit and up to the starting line, i havent started to rev my engine yet, but i am started to get psyched about it and think it through a little in my head, checking all systems still before all my focus is on the road ahead...strange analogy since i hate race cars (well, if i could drive them i wouldnt..hehehe).
ok much love and thanks for listening!
 

Ok, more insurance hell going on. I have gotten 3 rejections so far and all for dumb reasons (missing paperwork). Yesterday i faxed them the entire packet of info myself so if they say they are missing something i can honestly argue knowing i sent it all. Hope to get approval sometime next week. Really glad i have been proactive in this, otherwise i would still be waiting for my first rejection letter to come (seriously).
Looking more like June for surgery then May...ugh! Just want to get this over with, dont want to chicken out, ya know. Also, i really want a break from work, i am needing a vacation from the people here and since i have saved all my time off for surgery, i am totally ready! 
Pray please, that i get in soon, i want to enjoy my summer with weight loss!
xoxoxo

I have completed all my preauth work for insurance and submitted to my surgeon. They say it takes 2 weeks to hear back but my friend told me to call my insurance after 4 days and they will actually have processed the info and have a result. I can then have the insurance fax it to me or the doctor directly and bypass that 2 weeks wait.

I faxed my papers to surgeon on Friday (27th) and called surgeon office on Tuesday (31st) to confirm they faxed, they said they faxed on the 30th and will wait to hear back. I then called my insurance yesterday (4/2) and they had a denial letter written dated the 27th (which predates my having all paperwork in. I called surgeon back because i was totally confused. turned out the biller sent only half of my stuff in because she didnt read my paperwork to notice i needed my pcp visits also. Surgeon office is going to fax all stuff in today so i will call my insurance again next week mid week. this doesnt make my surgeons billing lady happy but i am glad i did it, otherwise i still wouldnt know she sent the stuff in wrong and would have to wait 2 weeks to get my denial letter and they do all this to fix it, it saved me 2 weeks already! When she said, i needed to just wait i said "I work in healthcare and I believe i should be my own advocate!" she stopped short.

My husband says i should let this happend naturally but i have made up my mind and now i want it to happen, i want it over with and i will do what ever i can do help myself get there, is that so wrong?

I am sure some of it is normal nerves, but i am begining to freak out a little. I have finished my chest xray, ekg, stress test, gi swallow, and labs. The results were that my back is wearing a little early (from a car accident), i have a small hiatal hernia, my iron has dropped from where it was (not low, but ferritin is a little down), my vitamin d is really bad, my tsh (thyroid) is just a tad low and doctor said it wasnt of concern to her. Been fighting my migraines again (10 days of bad stuff) and my neurologist said we will increase use of the toradol, and percocet. These thoughts bring me to yet more concern...what if my back or migraines get worse and increase my needs for nsaids (or create one)? The surgeon knows about the toradol 2x/mo but we might be increasing that and i will need to ask him. And if my iron and vitamin d are low now, and those are things i will malabosorb after surgery...i dont want to be making myself sicker with a surgery to make me better??? I dont want to need iron infusions! I will spend more time in the sun, even if it kills me (to increase my vitamin d) but the iron??
I am scared, but then when i think about not having surgery, it makes me sad. when i think about the weight loss, i get happy and i almost think my hubby might even be getting excited about that part. He has said a few things about how i wont be overweight soon.
Ugh, i just feel so torn and conflicted about this all

Well my pre op appointments are quickly coming and stressing me a little, just because its time consuming and this is all becoming real. I had my cardiologist echo, still to do stress test, but heart looks good. I wondered about that one since a lot of migraine pts have whats called PFO and i thought, gee if i have that, they could fix it and rid my migraines so when they said everything looked "Perfect" i hate to say i was a tiny bit bummed (I know, crazy right). I did my radiology stuff today (fasting blood (10 HUGE tubes!), EKG, Spirometry (breath real dang hard into this mouth piece several times), chest xray and GI swallow). the GI swallow was the most memorable...UCK! I totally thought after 14hrs of fasting trying to drink the pop rocks and then the elmers glue, i would just puke all over the place, but i didnt. I did have an awful taste and feeling all day, but has passed now, Was worried that i would throw a migraine because i had just gotten over a 2 day one this morning, but did OK, if anything just a slight head pressure.
I left st francis thinking....WTF am i doing? Am i crazy, this is crazy, i should stop now. then GOD had an idea, I ran into a former co-worker who is definately into natural things, i thought "Great, she will ask why i am here, what will i say...I dont wanna hear her slam this choice" But i told her the truth and my reasons for it and admitted i was having second thoughts. She surprised the heck out of me, when she said she was proud of me for making this decision and thought i sounded like i was on the right track. We laughted because we know how pts get nervous right before a procedure, and i am no different and GOD would see me tnought, that calmed me right down, the LORD IS GREAT!
The second gal even went as far as to say, why not lapband and i told her my reasons (including but not only "all the lapbanders i know still carry too much weight for me to be happy") and she then shot "Al/ l the gastric bypass pts i know, have died early". That one is still bugging me...Is it true or did she just retort out of anger? I have long wondered about your health as you get on in years with rny...???

OK, I went to the cardiologist yesterday for surgery clearance (my surgeon requires clearance from a specialist depending on your risk factos, my are cardiac). I will have to go back 3 more times (2 day stress test (yuck) and an echocardiogram with bubble which actually might show me if i have PFO which is where your heart didnt completely form sealed shut as a baby and might actually be related to my migraines, it shouldtn increase my risk of surgey the cardiologist said, he just wants to see if i have it since it might benefit my migraines to know and treat).
So today i started looking through the packet of stuff i still have left to do and then i thought, this sure is a lot, then i realized i have 2 1/2 months to do it in, not a lot since i dont like to have appointment too close together and make me miss work (rememeber i already see my neurologist quite a bit). And i am a little worried about the expense of all these things pre op, but gotta do them!
Now i am getting a little nervous, do i have enough PTO (time off) saved from work? Is my hubby ready to take care of the house? Will he come to the hospital or just my best friend since we really dont have child care, or i could have my other son stay home from school the day or 2 i am hopsitalized? WOW...it sort of freaks me out. then i think, well they are going to find a way to reject me (insurance) anyway OR something will go wrong and this wont happen. What is that last thought all about???

 

The gastric bypass operation help you to lose weight by 4 different mechanisms:

• Restriction: The stomach pouch is only 15 to 30 mL in size -- that's just 1 or 2 tablespoons! The pouch fills up very quickly after eating only a small amount of food, and provides a sensation of fullness. Thus, the small pouch places a physical restriction on the amount of food you are able to eat (or want to eat) at one sitting.

• Malabsorption: While not primarily a malabsorptive operation, the gastric bypass does decrease absorption of some nutrients. Because of this, it will be necessary to talk vitamin and mineral supplements after the operation.

• "Dumping Syndrome" This occurs if you eat concentrated sweets or carbohydrates after the operation. While everyone experiences dumping a little differently, patients may feed hot and sweaty, cold and clammy, or like they're going to faint. Dumping syndrome is an intentional side effect of the operation! It has been called the "postop police officer" since it strongly discourages sweet eating. It is important to remember that most people do not experience dumping on a regular basis, since they very quickly learn to avoid the sweet foods that cause it.

• Hormonal Changes: Ghrelin is a hormone produced by the stomach that causes you to feel hungry at mealtimes. Some recent research suggests that gastric bypass may substantially reduce ghrelin levels, resulting in decreased feelings of hunger.

OK, I got the final word at my consult yesterday and can finally just focus on what surgery I am going to have. I will be having RNY after all, even though i have a medical need for toradol injections, the surgeon says that shouldnt be a problem, I got specific and asked about ulcer and toradol and he assured me, not a problem "your use is minimal and you dont put it in your stomach, you inject it see". Ok, if you didnt get that, its how he speaks, he is i think indian and cute as can be and sweet as pie. It is actually what i wanted but thought i couldnt have, so i started research ds, then i got excited about ds but it turns out that my insurance wont cover ds (its investigational in their opinion). So we are on track to rny me. I need a cardiac clearance because of an infant case of murmur (not found since i was like 3 yrs old) AND some chest pains i have had over the past few years. My PCP worked me up and felt i was fine, but the surgeon is playing it safe, that makes me feel good too.
He did break the news to me that he expects me to give up carbohydrates until surgery (yes, that includes fruit) and after surgery, I only get fruit back (no grains of any kid...rice, bread, tortilla etc). I am tyring to imagine life without them, i will try and find recipies i guess...it does feel hard though, i dont know how some do it. He wants me to start attending wls support groups ASAP, and get all my testing done. If all goes well, it should be april-May surgery. I asked about my c-sections being a problem for laproscopic and he said no!
WEll, wish me luck, drop me a line and give me some help because VVVVRRRRRMMMMMM its almost launch time (no, not lunch time silly).

OK, if you pay really stalkerish close attention, you will have noticed that I changed surgeons. Long story if you want to hear, pm me and I will tell you, but its something that I feel even more comfortable with! So they called and scheduled my consult for Jan 15 (just a little over a week away). I am excited because that is finally a step toward doing this. I am nervous about what he (surgeon) will say about having RNY with my toradol or DS instead (I would feel better RNY). I am nervous about having it in April since that is my birthday month and there is a trend someone once told me about, people often die near their birthdays. I am trying to pretend that doesnt scare me, but it does a little. I dont want to wait longer to have it because I want to get it over, because it would be risky since my job (and therefore medical insurance) might be in jeopordy this summer and because i want to start school after surgery and once feeling better (have evergy back).
I dont know if I should ask my hubby to come with me, it would be  hard since we have a 4 yr old and no sitter (as in ever never). So I guess I wont...I would like someone there, yet I would like to be alone too...
Wish me luck, say a prayer, light a candle, here we GOOOO!