***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

I got my letter today from KDMC saying my file was submitted for insurance approval on Friday, 5/11.  Of course I have insurance that takes 2 weeks to approve/deny, so I should know either way by 5/25.  Rayetta said everything looked good and if all goes well I should be scheduled for surgery in mid/late June.  Keep your fingers crossed for me and send up a prayer!  Now comes my favorite part of this whole thing.......WAITING!!!  *wink*

Last two tests completed......

May 08, 2007

Well...all my testing is complete!  Y A Y!!!  I am so glad to get that out of the way.  Now, for the gory details...LOL...

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

I thought I would post the details of all the testing/evaluations I have done so far for anyone who is interrested.  I know I wanted to know EXACTLY what I was in for before I went, so here goes for anyone wanting to know all the gory details...LOL...

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

First I should say I did get a call back from Dr. Wheeler's office and have an appointment scheduled for 4/4.  YAY!!  Now...I just have to say I have been feeling very weird lately about this whole surgery thing.  Weird is not the right word.  I just feel like my life is on hold until I have this done.  Does that make sense?  That sounds so silly to me when I read it back to myself.  I have wanted this for so long, that I have been happy just thinking about the end results.  Now that it is in the process of actually happening, it's as though I want to put everything off until after the surgery.  I mean EVERYTHING.  I don't even want to schedule our vacation this year.  I don't want to go anywhere else in this body.  I don't know if that is "normal"!  It just sounds so ridiculous to me.  I have been doing everything in this body for years, and now it's like I see the prize and that makes everything different.  I dunno.....just wondering if anybody out there can relate or if I am truly, finally, losing my mind....officially!  Take care....until next time............

The waiting game....

Mar 12, 2007

I'm still waiting on an appointment.  I called the office yesterday and they are waiting on my insurance to confirm coverage.  So....we wait.  The one thing I know for sure from reading everyone's pages on here is that this is a very SLOW process.  I'm just not very good at slow!  Until next time......

Seminar

Mar 07, 2007

I attended the required informational seminar on 3/1/07 at KDMC.  It was very informative, but I have to say they didn't tell me anything I didn't already know.  They go over basically what the surgery is, LapBand and RNY, the differences between the two, the risks, benefits, and side effects, and tell you the process for being approved by insurance carriers.  You do get to meet both doctors, at least we did.  There were at least 50-60 people there.  Now I have to wait for Dr. Wheeler's office to call me for an appointment with him.  They said we should get a call within two weeks.  It has been one week today and I have not heard anything, so, being Ms. Impatient, I called the office this morning.  I was told that they have been short staffed and that I should be getting a call today or tomorrow.  So the waiting game/phone tag game/drive me crazy game begins! 

Bringing you up to speed.....

Feb 12, 2007

Once I decided to have the surgery, I contacted my insurance carrier (Anthem BC/BS) to see how to start the process.  They put me in touch with King's Daughters Medical Center in Ashland, KY.  That is about 35 minutes from me and it is an approved program.  I have my informational seminar on 3/1 and that will officially start the process.  My insurance company already assigned me a caseworker, who is an RN, and she took some history over the phone and said that I sounded like a perfect candidate and that she did not see any problem so far.  She contacted KDMC and as soon as I get the seminar on 3/1 in, my paperwork will be started and any necessary testing will be scheduled.  

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.......

About Me
Wayne, WV
Location
32.6
BMI
RNY
Surgery
07/12/2007
Surgery Date
Feb 19, 2004
Member Since

Friends 24

Latest Blog 30
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