jvolker
10-15-05
Like anyone trolling the board, lifelong battles with weight, some
victories, too many defeats to count. Had I all the money spent on bigger
clothes and better diets over the years, I'd be retired and laying in
the sun on a beach somewhere!
I'm a business owner, fire chief, volunteer firefighter for 23 years,
heavily involved in my church and will be ordained a minister in 2
years. Yet another swell reason to beat my weight finally.
I have my first consult scheduled for next week at which I hope to know
more about the chances for insurance coverage and perhaps be able to
make a better educated decision on which type of surgery I want to
persue.
10-18-05
After long nights spent in front of the computer reading the message
boards, profile, anything I can find to educate myself on the wonderful
world of WLS..not the radio station, I noticed the dreaded phrase
"EXCLUSION" and thought "uh oh, I better read my policy word for word". Sure
enough I'm excluded from choosing to participate in a surgical effort
that I belive is needed to save my life! However I don't appear on
first glance to be excluded from voluntarily not paying them...hmm.
I've spoken with Barix Clinics where I have still decided to keep my
consult for now, and didn't get much better news there. Now it's a call
to the insurance company's agent to get the low-down, so again I
weight...oops sorry, wait. As a store owner I at least hold the power to
change my insurance company to one a tad more WLS friendly if it comes to
that. Film at 11:00
10-26-05
On the insurance front, I asked for and received a copy of insurance
claim reps manual pages dealing with how they would process a WLS claim.
The heartening news is even though it says "excluded" in my
policy...there are in fact a series of steps laid out by where one can gain
approval. On the Doctor front...bummer, he cancelled on me the night
before!! So I've now had time to find a different practice, verify they are
indeed in my plans "network" of providers, and have a new consult
scheduled for Nov 18th. I know I'm going to have to adjust to the waiting
game but it doesn't mean I can't hope I'm one of the lucky ones and will
receive the go-ahead from the insurance folks without the expected
hassles! Ok, so I'm a dreamer!
11-13-05
More hassles with my insurance company...the surgeon I intend(ed) to
see this week mailed me a long list of "things to do" before we met. One
was to call and verify coverage. Well now I'm not even sure I should
keep the appointment, the insurance company will not even consider
coverage until after I can document an 18 month long PCP supervised weight
loss effort. Crap, if I could maintain an 18 month effort I wouldn't be
on this board looking for help would I?
I'm back to thinking banding is the way I will go and that's only based
on the fact that it looks as if I'm going to have to pay for either out
of pocket. As a store owner, I pay my insurance company over $2000 a
month for group coverage for myself and my employees...you'd think I
could get a little help here!!
11-18-05
It's like a tennis match in my head..and I hate tennis!
We just returned from my consult with Dr. Spitz at Central Dupage
Hospital's Bariatric Center. I'm fairly impressed...wonderful, patient
people to deal with, none of that "oh it's another fat guy" vibe. Patient
with questions, even leading some when I might not have entered a topic
area he felt we needed to cover. He was upbeat about all the insurance
woes and I left with hope (ok, slight hope) that I could find a way to
be "approved" for surgery. So, we begin the process. I'm to expect
paperwork within a week detailing my next steps for pre-op testing with
my PCP, and when those are completed...it's time to get that first
letter written for approval. If my fingers weren't so darn pudgie...I'd
cross them!
12-04-05
Like I said, it's nice at times to be the "boss"...I decided to look
into a couple of other insurance providers and I've got some quotes back.
One of the companies that is exceptionally close to what I'm paying in
health care premiums for my guys right now is United Healthcare...every
Doc. every nurse, and even quiet a few of the folks in these forums
have a lot of good things to say about their experiences with UHC so I do
believe I'll be switching my insurance provider before the end of the
year.
I am proceeding with my plans for WLS through Dr. Spitz at Central
Dupage Hospital, but will move so we have the new insurance in place before
my next step. I'm still holding on to the dream of being one of those
"lucky" ones approved on the first try! It would be beyond belief if I
were able to have my surgery before spring so I can be back at the
store for our "busy season", and fully recoved by the time the weather
turns nice....for gulp, walking! There, I've said it...yes, exercise.
See, now that it's down on "paper"..I'm forced to follow through!! I have
to add, that I would love to be all "recovered" and on the losers side
when my folks followed the snow-birds back up from their Florida
hide-away. That'd be cool.
1-19-06
Well, still no closer to knowing I have insurance coverage in the bag,
but I went ahead and started all the pre-op testing required by my
surgeon. There's still that darn 18 month doctor supervised nonsense
looming out there but I'm proceeding with the testing and will file for
approval, then I guess see what happens.
My attempt to switch our store insurance policy to United Healthcare
seems to be snagged up. They picked a FINE time to renegotiate all their
Illinois providers and just about all my local doctors as well as my
local primary care hospital are as of yet....not in their plan! Won't
really do me much good to purchase them for my surgery if they aren't any
use for all the rest of our employees. sigh...we'll just keep plugging
along!
02-08-06
The saga continues...I made an appointment with a bariatric center
close to home. Still not with my insurance program but I'm looking at them
as a possible place to just to a self-pay on the Lap Band. I DO NOT
want to wait out 18 months just so the insurance company has time to
alter their policy again. I still know that if the Band turns out to be
not an option for me, I will finish the remaining 3 tests required
pre-approval, and submit it to make them deny me for the 18 month diet deal.
Then we can decide to fight or flight I suppose. For now, even having
to choke up the funds myself over the next 5 years or so seems better
than doing nothing!! It will be up to me to make sure I'm not one of
the "average" Banders that only loses 45% or so of their excess baggage!!
02-09-06
Ok..it's decided. I am going with the LapBand, self-pay, and will have
surgery March 21st. There...it's done, that's one more thing out of my
way!!!
03-22-06
Whew..that's over. Surgery was yesterday, our entire area was under a
winter storm warning with 6-8 inches of snow and 30MPH winds forecast.
Lisa and I decided to make the drive to Clinton on Monday night and got
a room...just in case.
I got wheeled into surgery around 11AM finally and was kicked back out
of the hospital around 6PM. Not a bad day. John Warner in Clinton IL
is a very small hospital, I'd swear I was one of 2 or 3 folks there
which means I got some superior attention from my new favorite nurse
Betty.
Surgery was uneventful, recovery about what I had expected...would have
asked for more morphine if I could get my lips to work! But by the time
I was back in my room the pain had settled down. Actually the only
"sore" spot is the left side where the port is stitched. I'm managing
with the Lortab we picked up and hope to try to get to the store for at
least a bit tomorrow morning, then back full-time by Monday.
04-22-06
Time for a one month "surgiversary" update! The time is simply flying
by. Yesterday for my one month weigh in I was finally able to use my
own scale...it tops out at 350 and hadn't seen the bottoms of my feet on
it for a long long time. I started this "journey" at 384 and yesterday
30 days out, with no restriction in my band yet...I hopped the scale at
348!
Everybody claps...I bow!
For those of you lurking through "guy" profiles to see how it will be
for you....don't worry about it! (make sure you also stop by the Men's
forum ) My recovery was fantastic. Surgery was on a Tuesday, stayed
home from the store on Wednesday, went in for 3 hours on Thursday, could
have worked a full day on Friday but heck...I'm the boss! I've been
back full-time since the next Monday and have had no real issues. My
incisions healed up nicely, I cheated and pulled, (gently) what was left
of the steri-strips off at about day 7 only because they weren't
looking very "steri" anymore if you get my drift.
I used my Lortab all day Wednesday but Thursday only took a dose in the
morning. The rest of the bottle is held in reserve for some special
occasion. I was fortunate I guess in that I never developed the shoulder
gas bubble so many do. I did however enjoy a couple days of
most-excellent gasal rejections...and I'm not too proud to say it felt great!
The first 2 -3 weeks post-op I slowly moved from the all liquid, to
pureed, to where now I pretty much eat "real food" without trouble. I
still have not had a fill, won't till May 4th and truthfully I'm anxiously
looking forward to it! I can certainly tell I have a quanity
restriction...but I haven't found anything I can't handle without care. I'm
just ready to get it cranked up a notch!
The best part of this whole trip so far is, even at 1 month out I'm
already down from my size 58 jeans and 6XL shirts to 54 jeans and my old
3X & 4X shirts! I won't have to go and shop a bunch though because I
put away all my "too small" clothes as I became more and more obese,
knowing I suppose that it was only a temporary condition. yeah, right. But
now, I've literally got a whole extra closet stuffed with jeans down to
size 40 I think. I'll be covered.
If you're thinking "is this for me?" Only YOU can answer that.
Study, research, ask, ask ask...and you'll come to your answer!
05-07-06
Had my first "fill" last Thursday. Everything went fine, well that is
after sitting in the waiting room for close to 2 hours..seems they
forgot to pull my chart so I got to see the whole room change over twice!
Oh well...I was still away from work so it wasn't all bad.
I weighed in at 343! Down 41 from my pre-surgery weigh in. Now just 3
days later I'm at 341 and that's with a parish picnic and a meeting my
oldest son and his fiance for supper last night.
Anyway...for those squimish about the "needle" and letting that keep
them away from the Band..."GET OVER IT"! My surgeon had a bit of a time
locating the port, no pain from me though as he move in and out trying
to find it. The whole process was perhaps 10 minutes from start to
finish, and when he inserted the needle, they sat me up, sipped some water
as they inserted 5cc's at first, then slowly pulled back till the water
was moving as it should. Odd sensation perhaps, but absolutely no pain,
not even the needle prick.
I was SO ready to get some added restriction. It's normal I know, but
I still didn't like the ability to eat "too" much in the last week or
so as my original swelling went down. With even my first fill my
portioning has been NO problem to control again. Last night we went to our
favorite Mexican place, I ordered my usual fajita mixture and stopped
after just 1 8" tortilla load, plus a few random pickings at the meats on
the skillet. I brought home enough for at least 4 meals, in fact I had
one just a bit ago for lunch.
For those guys that are worried they'll never go out to eat again, I
want you to know I too worried about that. But I will honestly tell you
that my life post-surgery has been great! We've been out 3 or 4 times
already and there is NO PROBLEM ordering and having a great time. In
fact I find life as a postie so much better becuase now the food is not
the main attraction it's the conversation, the ability to just be with
my wife and hold a nice conversation is such a blessing. Please do not
fear not being able to live a "normal" life post!!
My next appointment is for June 15th, I'm supposed to call earlier if I
get to a point where I'm hungry between meals even with a proper snack
or if I just plan stop loosing for a week or so. This is all so cool!
6-03-06
Called in early for another fill and went down on the 1st. It wasn't
like I was running apelike through the buffet line or anything, I just
noticed that I was able to consume more than I needed to, and certainly
more than I wanted to be able to right now.
I had another 2cc's inserted so I'm now at 5.5cc in two adjustments.
This one was totally different from the first in the way my body
reacted, or better, adjusted to it. First one, plenty tight right away in the
office then no problem by the time I got home about an hour later.
This time, no problem with the water test during the fill...but man, on
the way home. To be blunt,(and after all that's why you're reading this
right?) I had to fashion a spitton out of a floral vase in the car. I
got a severe case of the slimes...
By the time I got home that had all settled down but other than
sip...and I mean SIP some water I wasn't able to get anything through till
Friday night when I was able to down some chicken noodle soup broth.
Today, yard work day...managed about 2 tblsp of yougart for "lunch" and
just this evening had about a 1/2 cup of a slop I mixed up that sounded
good. A bit of browned up hamburger with a can of diced tomatoes and
chilies, with a can of refried beans and some cheese mixed in. Sounds
disgusting I know..but pretty darn tasty!
The greatest part is...the added restriction has to be working on that
silly Vargus nerve because even with barely eating since Thursday
morning, I've not really been "hungry". So cool.
I weighed in at the office at 337, small gain from my previous low last
Sunday of 334. But this morning I weighed in for my Fitday log and
viola...329. yep...55 pounds gone. And THEN...after a day of yardwork and
little to eat, I thought, what the heck, it's my scale...I'll see how I
did today. {drum roll } 328! After my supper and some water intake!
My personal goal is to hit 284 for a 100 pound loss by my 6 month
surgiversary on September 21st. That's plenty doable by paying attention to
details, keeping the water intake up which is not a problem for me, and
by exercise....yeah I said it...exercising is your best friend. For me
it's my new bike...no not my Yamahawg, this time I mean my Cannondale.
Love to ride a route around town with my wife. We try to get in our 4
miles several times a week. Now I think it's time to plot a new course
and increase some milage!
We'er hosting a gathering on July 8th for my Diaconate class...most
weren't really officially told of my surgery, not for any reason it just
didn't come up. I'm looking forward to seeing them and being about 65
pounds less to look at!
I've got my next adjustment appointment scheduled for June 29th. Again
the PA said if I needed to come in the week before to not hesitate
about calling down. They have been real good to work with and recognize
that I'm wanting to get this thing well on the road!
07-04-06
Third fill went in last Thursday. Wow...tight, tight, tight! We only
added 1cc but that's been great! I know I'm maybe pushing it a bit
right now but I doubt that I've eaten more than 2000 calories since
Thursday morning.
The intake is slow enough that I've reached that spot where it
literally takes me at least a half-hour to consume 8oz of food. Nice.
I'm still getting my waters in, slowly...and it's not like I couldn't
get more food in mind you...it's just I'M NOT HUNGRY!! I know the
restriction on this fill will lessen over the next couple of weeks, ( unless
6cc's in my band is "my sweet spot") but to not be hungry...and on top
of that to not be able to snack! Hooah! I've found what I need to help
me at this point in the process!!
My pattern with the band has been to see no weight lost the week or two
leading up to a fill, then the 3 or 4 days after a fill I'll drop like
10 pounds. Amazing to me. As of today nearly 5 days out I've dropped
13 from my weigh in last Thursday. I've hit and held 314 for 3 days,
making my total loss since I started this life 70 pounds in around 3.5
months. I'm still pushing it for a 100 pound drop by my six month
surgiversary on September 21st 2006. That's RNY territory without the
risks!
Mind you, at the same time I have upped my exercise. We bike, and I'm
starting to add in a cal. program to help tighten things up. The
exercise is as important or more so than the intake at this point.
So, life is good in the corn!
September 15 2006
Life continues to march forward...just with less of me attached to it!
Since my last post I have completed the sale of our store! yeah, WOO
HOO! It became evident that a small town retailer just wasn't going to
continue to be profitable without attaching to a group of stores for
the buying power that afforded. Add to that my Dianconate schooling and
ordination pending in just one short year and many many things started
to point that selling was the right move for us at this time.
The beauty of it is we sold out to an orgainization that wants to hold
10 stores by the end of next year, we're still here as managment, no
lose in pay, benefits, etc. so it's as if I'm still running things, I
just don't have to sweat the bills and the taxes and the insurance..well,
you get the idea. A lovely little side-effect is my inclination to
resort to "stress-eating" has greatly diminshed with the sale! At least my
excuse for it has I guess.
On the WLS front, I postponed my Aug 3rd fill appointment, I was just
too tight to think about juicing up anymore at that point. I have
admittedly had to struggle a bit after this last fill with eating properly,
slowly, the right stuf etc.. I guess the honeymoon phase is over and
now it's like they expect ME to do the weight loss :^)
I will probably call for an appointment mid October, I'd go sooner but
I have a class scheduled out in KS that I don't want to be struggling
with eating during.
Weight wise I've FINALLY dropped out of the THREES!!! That's a major
milestone for folks like me! I weigh in around 298-299 right now and I
know by the bagginess in my pants that it's still very much "working"!
I've mentioned before that I tend to see stalls in weight loss for 3-4
weeks at a time some months...then, boom, it all starts up again just
when I'm starting to wonder "damn, is this it"?@!&%^&
So, life in the corn continues to be great! I have a couple of buddies
and friends that have decided to plow ahead with their own
surgeries...I have cautioned "hey, don't let MY story dictate YOUR story"...we're
all going to react differently but I've thrilled if I can serve as a
guide to anyone through this process!!!
BTW...My "Army Brat", Andy our middle son (23) will be heading back to
a base outside of Baghdad come Sept. 21st. Can't wait till this year
is up when he can come home and try to pick his skinny old man out of
the crowd at the airport!!!!
April 1st 2007
No April Fool's Day for me this year! I made it to my first mini-goal a couple weeks back....celebrated my 1st "surgiversary" with stepping off the scales at exactly 100 pounds less than when I started this little dog and pony show! Now the real trick...get that SECOND HUNDRED off!
I've been for a little fill, think I need to go back pretty quick as I'm sure they did the math wrong and I'm actually at 1cc less than when I started! Anyway...I've managed to get my head back in the portioning game..mostly. I've managed to get my head out of the cookies and stuff...mostly. It's all about the day to day to day to day battle sometimes. The end result is I'm in shirts 3X instead of 6X...into pants that are 48 instead of 58 & 60! And I can actually "DO" stuff!
Speaking of which...it's time to go do right now! I'll write more later!
August 17th 2008
Damn, when I say "I'll write more later..." I guess I meant it!
Ok, here's my soul bared for all to read...Yes, I did make my goal of dropping my first 100 pounds by my first year on the band...but my mistake, I hadn't set my 2nd goal! If you're reading through my profile...LISTEN CAREFULLY.
Remember when everyone likes to point out that "this band is only a tool"...please please, take that to heart. This band, is but a piece of silicon tubing you've bought and had installed...YOU must be the one that does the lifestyle changes that this silicone band will give you the chance to acheive.
I did not "own" that advise and now I'm paying. I lost my 100...then STOPPED. I stopped exercising...I stopped maintaining proper portion controls, I stopped not snacking, I stopped staying on top of my adjustments, I just plain stopped EVERYTHING, except one. I started to gain back my weight.
How oh how does someone, especially someone that pays for this process out of his own damn pocket do that? One mistake at a time. Then, out of frustration with myself I willed myself to drag back up onto that wagon. I made that call after very nearly a year without a "fill"...and went to the Dr. ready I think in my head to get back in charge.
But there's a hitch...I happen to be one of the very small percentage of folks who have experienced a band "blow-out" it seems. I've had 3 fills since May...but didn't think I was maintaining my "tightness" properly after the very first one...I was hungry the very next day and if you're Banded you know, that's not normal. At my last appointment for a fill just last week the PA believes that I have a blow out near the port where the tubing connects....she pushed in 7cc...only .5 came back after a 1:00 "hold".
So now I'm playing a waiting game, praying that my insurance will cover a repair/revision...I was a self-pay back in 2006, but simply can not afford to pay again. I'm fighting hard right now to keep my head up, to trust that God will see this work for me if that's His will...but I have also put back in nearly 40 of those ugly fat pounds that I had so proudly shed....
moral of the story so far...never stop.
September 26th 2008
Hanging in there...ok, hanging over the belt again too, but we're going to be working on that real real soon.
Had my revision surgery "pre-op" meeting with Dr. Rohrscheib and his (wonderful) staff yesterday...I asked the good Doc to come sit, "let's chat". He was in the mood, so I did get him to double check my stuff...we're both 99% convinced that there is a problem, not so much with the port itself in his mind, but with the tubing. I'm going to have another full-blown lap done Oct 10th where I'll get an upgraded port, and he'll reroute all the tubing, give me a once over while I'm all lit up, and hopefully we'll put this thing behind me and allow me to get it back in the game.
Of course, I'll be leaving my $3000 friggin' deductable behind me too but hey, the only time we've EVER met our deductable is when we had a new baby and Lisa said 'NO" so I guess this is the only way. 
I feel "good" about this all again, I am very much ready to get this done, and get back on the losing track. I'll probably be the only one that can start out at 384...lose 250 pounds...and still be 200!! I'm ready.
October 10th 2008
Owie! And to think, I PAID for this pain. God, I hope you allow this memory to serve to keep my feet on the right path..or should I say mouth?
Freshly back from Provena Medical Center today with a brand-new "port". My surgeon was correct, (why would I assume differently?) and I have my old port as a souvenior proving there was a kinked tube that had "split" from the back and forth wear. He repositioned the port this time to (hopefully) eliminate the same thing from occuring again.
No insurance coverage to speak of since our deductible is so high...but with all the great financial news of late, any job that carries my family is considered a good job!! So, to those peeving on my posts...KEEP my on the path....NO drinking (even "sipping") with my meals...PROPER size portions...and that damn dreaded EXERCISE that has to become ROUTINE! All the things that helped me be successful in the first place. This time I simply MUST not concentrate on simply dropping the weight, THIS time it has to be all about changing my LIFE!
Thanks for your prayers!!
