krhodes
***A P P R O V E D*** Y A Y!!!!!!
May 29, 2007
Well, I FINALLY got the call! Y A Y!!! I am so excited. Now the way I understand it....the next step is to go to a nutrition class (which I know the next one is on June 5) and then have a final preop visit with Dr. Wheeler to get my surgery date. I can't believe this is finally going to happen!!! I am SO ready.
Just a lil update..
May 17, 2007
Just got a call from my case manager, Teresa, from Anthem. She said she was reviewing my file and everything seemed to be in order and looked good. She has to do a mandatory team review with her "people" *gotta love insurance* and I will get the official word via a phone call from her next Friday. Ok....one week down, one to go AND things look good with my insurance! Y A Y!! I freakin hate waiting. LOL It's a good thing I have three kids to run me ragged or I am sure I would do nothing but obsess about this! SO...I need everyone's good thoughts on Friday so I can KARMA this thing to happen!!! Hope everyone enjoys the weekend......
Submitted to insurance for approval!
May 15, 2007
Last two tests completed......
May 08, 2007
Sleep study....WOW, was that fun. It actually wasn't that bad. The worst part was the stuff they put in your hair to hold the leads in place. I went to the Cannonsburg center and it was very nice, sort of hotel-ish (cheap hotel-ish), but not hospital like at all, very comfortable. After I was checked in and settled in my room, my nurse Angie, who was awesome, came to get me to "hook me up." I swear it seemed like a hundred lines were hooked up to me. I know my kids would have loved to have a picture of that! The worst was the oxygen tubing in your nose, I got used to it after a while, but it did bug the crap out of me at first. After they got all my leads on, probably about 8 in your hair attached with some goop, YUK, EKG leads, O2 sat lead on your finger, something around your ankle, two bands around your middle to hold everything into place, a snore mic (that was my favorite) attached to your neck, THEN they send you back to your room and tell you to sleep. HA! I had to watch TV for a little bit and much to my surprise I actually got to sleep. Before you doze off you have to do this little "test" to make sure all your leads are working, look to the left, look to the right, open your mouth, breathe through your nose, stuff like that. I actually slept about 6 hours. Angie told me the next morning that I should not have to come back for a second study. Lord I hope not. After they took all my leads out, which left me looking like something out of a scary movie with the hair everywhere, they let me go. It really wasn't that bad, it is kinda funny when I think about it now. I did miss my boys though. With a one-year-old who is STILL up at least once most nights, the 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep was actually a nice little surprise.
My last test was the EGD and to tell you the truth, I don't remember a thing. I was sedated for the test so I have no real details to tell. It was an outpatient procedure, I didn't really even have to wait to be taken back. I got changed and my IV started and within about 15 minutes I was wheeled back into the EGD suite and sedated. The whole thing start to finish took less than 2 hours. The EGD actually only took 10 minutes. Painless.....I love those kinds of tests!
So hopefully thats it! I have a call in to Rayetta at KDMC to see if there is anything else I need to do. From what I understand, as soon as all the results are in I am ready to submit to insurance. Last week she told me she needed my sleep study results and EGD results and she was working on getting those. I hate to be a pain, but I will be bugging the crap out of anyone I can until this gets submitted.
The best advice I can give anyone out there reading this who is starting this journey is to be proactive during this process. It has saved me a lot of headache and a lot of time. I wouldn't even have had my sleep study yet if I hadn't been on the phone pushing for an appointment two weeks ago. They hadn't got to my file yet, but since I kept calling they went ahead and scheduled my study. Lesson learned. The squeaky wheel really does get the grease!
Be well....I'll post again soon.
Testing details.......
Apr 13, 2007
ECHO...the ECHO was just like an ultrasound of my heart. It took about 30 minutes and it was nothing. All you do is lay there and let them do the ultrasound.
Gallbladder ultrasound...this took about 15-20 minutes and was painless. They said they were looking for stones and sludge in the gallbladder because it could complicate surgery. Piece of cake.
Stress test...took about 2-1/2 hours, which shocked me. There are just several steps to the test. Just let me tell you....this one SUCKS! First you get an injection of some sort of dye that aids in the taking pictures of your heart part. You have to wait about 20 minutes and they told me to drink several cups of water and walk around to get the dye circulating. They put you on the table and take the initial pictures of your heart, which takes about 20 minutes. Then the fun begins. They hook you up and put you on the treadmill. I'm thinkin no big deal, it is going very slow and I can handle this. Then it speeds up....and inclines. The treadmill continues to speed up and incline every few minutes until I literally think I am going to die and fall right in the floor. I tell them how bad this sucks and they tell me to let them know when I have about a minute left in me. When I told them I had a minute left they injected me again and I walked for the final minute. After they slow the treadmill and lower it down they let you get off and sit down for a few minutes to rest. After that they put you back on the table and take pictures of your heart again, another 20 minutes. THIS SUCKED SO BAD! I really thought I was dying on that treadmill! I was SO glad this over.
Nutritional evaluation...this was actually VERY informative. The dietician went over the pre and post op diet. We also talked about results of not getting your protein in....HAIR FALLING OUT??? I did not know that. It was just really helpful and a lot of the things we covered were things I had been wondering about from the beginning. It became very apparent to me that if you do not follow the rules you can and will gain back every pound. I always wondered how people did that. I would guess this took 45 minutes to an hour. You also get weighed and discuss all the different diets you have been on and go over a 24 hour food recall. I wasn't as bad as I thought! Be ready to answer why you think surgery will work for you when the diets in the past have not....that one caught me off guard.
Psychiatric evaluation...I was worried to death about this for nothing. It was a piece of cake. Lisa was SO nice. I had to answer this RIDICULOUS questionnaire and then we talked about the standard psych questions....what was your childhood like....how is your marriage....do you have a support system....blah, blah, blah. We talked about the surgery and whether or not I was ready for the lifestyle changes I would have to make. I also had to explain the surgery and the possible complications. This was an important question and make sure you go into this appointment well-informed about the surgery/complications. Then you take a mental status exam, which is just more questions. She will explain that she will write up a report based on your answers and submit it to the surgeon. It was really nothing and Lisa is great. I was worried for nothing. This one was 30-45 minutes tops.
Exercise evaluation...basically they go over the stages of the post op exercise plan you should be preparing for. They take your resting heart rate and then you walk around the room three times and take your heart rate again. 20 minutes at the most. No big deal at all.
The nutritional eval and exercise evals will give you booklets to go over all of the information so you can look back at it.
I sure hope this information helps someone out there! The only thing I have left to do is the sleep study and the EGD that is scheduled for May 2. I am waiting on a call to schedule the sleep study. I will be sure to post all the details! Again, hope this helps.
God bless you all on this journey......
F I N A L L Y........
Apr 04, 2007
I finally got my first appointment with Dr. Wheeler out of the way today. Y A Y!!! It feels so good to know this process is officially started. I have three appointments scheduled for this Friday; a stress test, an EKG, and a gall bladder ultrasound. Next Wednesday I have to go back to Dr. Wheeler's office for my psych eval, my nutritional eval, and my exercise eval. I have never been so excited about going to the doctor!!! The only other two things I have to do are the EGD, scheduled for May 2, and my sleep study will be scheduled later. I have to say, a bit overwhelming but I am glad I will be getting all the required testing over with rather quickly. I must say, I was very impressed with Dr. Wheeler's staff. Everyone was just wonderful. I also to meet my friend Stephanie from on here.....that was cool. So it finally begins.....I am so excited just to get the ball rolling!!!!! Dr. Wheeler said he felt like I was a perfect candidate for this surgery and felt like I would have great results. Today is my best friend's birthday and she, too, is hoping to have surgery. She said me having my first appointment and getting this process started was the best birthday gift she could have gotten. I LOVE HER!
Can you relate???
Mar 15, 2007
The waiting game....
Mar 12, 2007
Seminar
Mar 07, 2007
Bringing you up to speed.....
Feb 12, 2007
In the meantime, I had a visit with my PCP. She is great. I have been going to her for at least 10 years and she knows all about my weight loss struggle. She has documented it all along the way and my caseworker said that will be a huge advantage. Dr. Simpson drafted a letter of recommendation in case I needed it and got my file ready so when they call and want it, it is ready to go! She said she did not see any reason why I would be denied, but I'm still very nervous. I don't want to get ready in my mind just to be denied. That would SO suck.
I'll get some pictures on here soon. I don't have ANY pictures of myself. As I am sure many of you can understand, I always hide when the camera comes out, but I will get something on here soon.
Anyway....that's it for now. Until next time.......