kalisomer

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Tonight I went to the Lapband pre-op class.  I did learn a little, but I already knew the majority of the information that they discussed just by visiting this website.  The NP said to expect to have restriction up to 2-3 months after surgery.  I already know that's a joke.  Other people in the class seemed impressed with this little tidbit of information.  They are just teaching what the books have taught them.  it's nothing like talking to people that have been through the surgery.  I will be sending Sandy a PM to have her send me a copy of the LSD.  Their LSD was pretty vauge.  In addition, I need to e-mail Briget for another copy of her recipe book.  I think I deleted it from my inbox.  Today I also signed all my consent forms.  I am still not really nervous, just ready to get on with my new lifestyle.  I will write again closer to the surgery date. 

So the wait goes on.  People have been asking me if I feel excited about the surgery and right now I have been telling them no.  My date seems so far away so this whole thing is a little anti-climatic right now.  I am definatley happy about the surgery but no feeling super excited.  I suppose that will come as the date gets closer.  

On Monday I am supposed to go on the same diet that Beyonce went on.  Supposedly she lost 22 pounds in 10 days.  I don't think that it hurts to try.  I will have to see how the whole thing goes.  I was planning on starting to try to lose weight on Monday anyway but hopefully this will jumpstart the loss. 

Until next time.....

I am so happy that today I finally got a date for my surgery.  Apparently my docs office only does the Lap Band 2x per month.  One time for each doctor.  So I won't be having surgery until April 20.  That gives me time to prepare, mentally and physically.  I am planning on starting to watch what I eat on 3/1/07 (the same day that I quit smoking 3 years ago).  I will update my profile with some small goals to meet pre-op.  I finally feel like I can celebrate!

I finally got my approval letter today.  I had to call the insurance company and ask them to fax the letter since they were taking forever to mail it.  I promptly faxed a copy over to my doctors office and now I am waiting again.  The nurse practioner has to review my file (she was not in today) and then give it to the scheduler (who won't be in tomorrow).  Then I can get my surgery date scheduled.  So after all of this waiting, I have to wait again until Monday to find out my date!  I am still very excited but feel that this approval has been a little anti-climatic.  I assume that I am feeling this way because I still don't have a date yet. Or maybe because I had to do most of the work and the follow up with the insurance company and the doctors office.  A word to the wise if you feel like you aren't getting the results that you think you should be getting harrass the $hit of out of your docs office and insurance company.  I could have had approval in less than a week.  The process started on 1/10/07.  There was a letter that needed to be mailed to the insurance company that they did not receive.  I finally urged my docs office to fax the letter on 1/25/07.  They approved me on 1/26/07 and typed up a letter on 1/30/07.  So in essence it took the insurance company all of 5 days to actually approve the surgery and get a letter typed up.  When in actuality it took me until today to actually get a letter in my hand.   Hopefully on Monday I can change the surgery date on my profile.  Wish me luck!

This whole approval process is pissing me off.  On 2/7/07 it will be exactly one month since the docs office put in for approval.  This process is not taking long because of the insurance company it's the docs office and their level of follow up for sure.  Finally on 1/24 the docs office faxed over the freakin letter to the insurance company.  By 1/26 the insurance company said that I was ok for out patient surgery.  Now here it is a week later and the next step is to have the third party approval company approve me for in-patient (just in case anything goes wrong).  So this is where I am now.  So I called the docs office on Thursday to let them know what they needed to do next.  So the lady calls the insurance company and they are closed due to weather.  So she can't call back until Monday because she is off every Friday.  Boy I am getting pissed.  I wanted to avoid having to take time off work this Wednesday just to go in the docs office to get weighed and talk to the nutrionist for 2 minutes.  If I would have approval by now they told me that I could cancel that appointment and schedule my pre-op appointment instead.  So I will call again on Monday and hopefully they can have everything wrapped up before Wednesday.  Plus I need to know when my surgery is going to be so that I can take off from work.  Hopefully (again) the next time I write I will have only good news!

So my docs office put in for approval last Wednesday 1/10/07.  When I think about it, it seems like a month ago.  I basically called the insurance company everyday this week. I called last Friday and they said that they forwarded my information to a 3rd party for approval.  I called the third party and they said that my file was closed because they were waiting for my docs office to send a letter of medical necessisty.  So I called my docs office to find out if they sent the letter.  They said they sent it but the insurance company would not accept a fax and they had to mail it.  So on Monday of this week  I called the insurance company to find out if they had the mailed letter.  They were closed on Monday for the MLK holiday.  I called Tuesday....no letter.  I called Wednesday.....still no letter.  I skipped Thursday because my plan was to wait until next Friday to start calling.  Of course I couldn't wait another week so I called again today.  The lady that I spoke to was rude so I asked to speak to a supervisor.  She just transferred me to a voicemail without even telling that is what she was going to do. I hung up and called back and asked to immediatley speak to a supervisor.  I got a supervisor that was SUPER helpful.  I told him my situation, I didn't understand while mail was taking so long.  He said that I could go ahead and fax the letter in and he would see to it that it got to the right department. "Yes, I'm getting somewhere"  So I thought.  I called the docs office to give them the fax number and guess what the finiancial coordinator was out of the office today.  So I have to wait until Monday afternoon.  Give her some time to check her messages and respond before I call back again on Monday afternoon.  I feel like they will get sick of me and put my file on the bottom of the pile so I don't want to make anyone mad but I hate this waiting game and nothing is really going anywhere.  Hopefully next time I post there will be good things to say such as a surgery date????  Hang on tight guys, this looks it's going to be wild ride!!!!

So today I had five appointments:  A follow up with my nutrionist, Abdomnial sonogram, Upper GI, Chest x-ray, and a physical with my PCP.  Not too bad for a days work.  I must say that everything went according to plan.  At my nutrionist I found out that I gained two pounds since the last time that I was there exactly a month ago.  Again, not too bad considering it was right before the holidays that I last got weighed in.  She really doesn't give me any information that I need, except to continue to follow weight watchers.  I also met with the NP and she said that they are going to submit for approval.  Hopefully she said that we will here something in a few weeks. She said that sometimes the insurance company may want another test or two done, but for the most part I am done with testing.  Now the waiting game really starts.  I was in and out of there in 30 minutes.  I went on to special imaging to have all of my special imaging procedures done.  The sonogram was first which took the longest about 30 minutes of pressing, turning on this side, turning on that side.  The chest x-ray was a piece of cake.  "Press your chest against here, now turn to the side and lift your arms."  Then on to the worst part the upper GI.  Usually when people say how awful something is, I feel that I expect the absolute worse and am pleasantly surprised that it is not as bad as people made it out to be.  So I start drinking my Barium liquid.  It has a little, hmmm lemme see lemon taste to it but not too bad I think.  So drink the first cup with no problem.  The 2nd cup is the kicker.  This time I start to understand how thick and disgusting this liquid is and to top it off I couldn't eat before the test so that added to the disgust of the whole thing.  At one point I feel that if I start to concentrate too hard on how nasty this stuff is, then I will definatley barf.  I made it through.  The rest of the procedure is quick and painless.  They take pictures of your stomach and you can see EVERYTHING.  It's neat.  

Then I went to my PCP for a physical.  That was pretty much routine.  I told him about how I was looking into the Lapband and asked his thougths on it.  He said that he knows that it works and would be a good idea for anyone trying to lose a substantial amount of weight and keep it off.  He said that is a challenge for health care providers for people to just diet and excercise and keep their weight off.  He said that the number of people that are able to keep their weight off is rare.  So he thought it would be a good idea.  I feel happy that I have his blessings.  Hopefully all of my test come back fine and I get a surgery date soon.  Wish me luck.....

Today I had my psych evaluation with Dr. Geiger.  He was a older man and very skinny looking.  He was really nice though.  I was not sure what to expect today.  Some people said that they had a 500 question, questionnare that they had to complete, not me.  When I walked into his office I expected to see a couch somewhere.  There was no coach.  Just an old looking leather chair that was really comfortable.  When I sat in the chair I started to feel nervous.  Dr. Geiger explained to me that he was going to ask me some questions in regards to the surgery.  He asked me everything from what did they do in the surgery, what did I expect after, why was I doing this, to how's work life, family life, and life growing up.  At one point I felt like I was taking a test and if I didn't know the answer then I would fail.  I was there for about 45 minutes and at the end he said that he thought that I had done my homework on this surgery, had the right support in place, and that he would have no problem letting my doctor know that I was mentally prepared for surgery.  I felt extremely happy about that.  From what I understand is that now that Dr. Moein has this information then he would send off for approval for surgery.  I have one last set of test to go, Upper GI, Ultrasound of Abdomen, and chest x-ray.  All of these test are next Wednesday.  So I plan to be at the docs office all day.  Hopefully everything turns out fine and then I can find out the next step in my journey.  Till next time....

I went to WW today and lost a grand total of....drum roll please.....a measley 2.2 pounds.  I could have sworn that I lost more.  That's the kind of $hit that gets me frustrated and has me eating.  We will see this coming week how I do.  I am planning on working out at least 4 days.  I got the first day out of the way today.  I did 50 minutes of cardio.  I am going back to the gym tomorrow and Tuesday at the very least.  I will probably go on Wednesday or Thursday when I get off work.  That will give me four days for the week.  Besides Christmas I have no other excuse to overeat.  So hopefully I can lose at least another 3 pounds this week.  I have to lose the 6 pounds that I gained plus at least about 3 pounds before going back to the doctor.  I am sure that I can do it, I just have to step everything up. 

I went and got my bloodwork done on Tuesday of this week.  I am glad that is out of the way.  I woke up at 5:30 this time and was done by 6:25.  Now I only have 2 more pre-op appointments to go to.  I am feeling good about Christmas.  All of my shopping is done.  Tonight DH and I are wrapping presents.  So tomorrow I am working out, cooking dinner and do my baking.  I am not feeling the pressure of the holidays at this point. 

I did get into a car accident yesterday.  I am glad that it wasn't serious.  DH was worried and usually jokes that he really wasn't.  He is so supportive and loving.  That kind of stuff helps me realize our love for one another.  Well I guess that's all for now.  I will write again on 1/3/07 to report how my physch eval went.  One more thing let me update the goals that I set for this week in my ealier entry. 

 1) Stick to Weight Watchers -yes 2) Stop drinking anything carbonated and replacing my carbonated drinks with tea or Crystal Light-yes had a soda tonight for the first time this week 3) Stop drinking wine-didn't drink any during the week but did have some this weekend 4) Drink my full fluid intake per day-yes 5) Take my multi-vitamin each day-yes.

So it looks like I am right on track.  Let me keep up the good work and keep trying to fight this journey! I will re-evaluate after writing on 1/3.  Till next time.....

I've been thinking about some NSV and SV goals that I would like to accomplish after my band:

NSVs

Wear a matching bra and panty set, Fit in a size 10 jeans, Run 1 mile on the treadmill without stopping, not be the fattest person in my step aerobics class, get compliments from guys again, Fit in a size 14 jeans, Walk up all three flights of stairs in my house without being winded, to wear a coat while I drive and not feel like a stuff sausage in the drivers seat, to wear jeans that don't leave marks on my stomach because they are so tight, to wear high heels without my feet puffing out like baked bread.

SVs

Down by 13 pounds (5% and 253#): I will buy myself $35.00 worth of Bath and Body works products, Down by 26 pounds (10% and 240#): I will buy myself a new watch, Down by 39.9 (15% and 226#): Buy a new outfit, down to 199 (26% of weight lost): A new Coach purse is in order.....$225 minumum purchase, down to 175 (35% weight lost): Buy a wallet to match the Coach purse, 150 pounds (56% of weight lost and at goal):  Will revisist after reaching previous goal

Ok it's official.  I am at the highest weight ever in my life 266.  I found this out today when I went to WW.  I am trying to get back on track this week and follow the 5 things listed on my last journal entry.  I guess I need to chance my ticker.  I will be going to lunch tomorrow to finish some last minute Christmas shopping and picking up vitamins.   I did manage to also make it to the gym this morning and do 45 minutes of cardio.  For the next two weeks I am going to excercise 45 minutes 3x.  Then I will increase it by one day until I get up to 6 days a week.  I am really feeling motivated right now.  I am just trying to figure out how I am going to make it through the next week.  I have potluck scheduled at work on Friday and Christmas is on Monday.  Some how I will have to work it out.  Maybe I should work out 4 days this week just in case.  Today's workout was hard.  I felt like I have never worked out before.  When really I have been to the gym about 4 weeks ago.  I guess it's a combination of this heavy weight plus not having worked out lately that has me feeling spent.  Tomorrow I am planning on working out in the evening.  Till next time.....