kristi M.
Food and Insomnia
Jun 05, 2009
It's 4:30 a.m. and I've been up for two hours. This isn't unusual but still very annoying. What's odd is that this is the first time that I've been awake like this all week.
Since I had insomnia, I had to have a sleep study to rule out apnea before WLS. The results were pretty much that I don't have significant apnea and that I wake up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep. It seems like I could have found this out for less than $10,000 but it was nice to have a night away with room service! The doctor prescribed sleep medication that works sometimes. Everything works...sometimes. (So I quit using it.)
This week, I decided to put myself on a liquid diet. Mainly I wanted to prove to myself that I could do this and get ready for the dreaded weeks 4-6 (before the first fill). It was hard, obviously. The carb withdrawal headaches were pretty rough. By Friday (day 6), I was starting to feel the effects. Because I'm cleared for surgery, the liquid diet may be overkill and I decided to have one solid meal per day for three days (Friday through Sunday). It's been weird not having dinner time with the family and I wanted to get us all back together. We went out last night and I thought I did reasonably okay but not great.
And insomnia is back.
As frustrating as it is to be awake right now, I'm excited to think that there may be a link between having a heavy meal before sleep and insomnia because that means that I may be moving towards sleeping all night! Hooray!
On another happy note, I worked out with a friend yesterday morning. It was different and I hope we do it regularly. We just did an hour on elliptical then abs. We shared what we had learned for our respective trainers. It was actually fun to be in the gym talking instead of with my head down watching bad TV on my iPhone!
0 comments
Since I had insomnia, I had to have a sleep study to rule out apnea before WLS. The results were pretty much that I don't have significant apnea and that I wake up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep. It seems like I could have found this out for less than $10,000 but it was nice to have a night away with room service! The doctor prescribed sleep medication that works sometimes. Everything works...sometimes. (So I quit using it.)
This week, I decided to put myself on a liquid diet. Mainly I wanted to prove to myself that I could do this and get ready for the dreaded weeks 4-6 (before the first fill). It was hard, obviously. The carb withdrawal headaches were pretty rough. By Friday (day 6), I was starting to feel the effects. Because I'm cleared for surgery, the liquid diet may be overkill and I decided to have one solid meal per day for three days (Friday through Sunday). It's been weird not having dinner time with the family and I wanted to get us all back together. We went out last night and I thought I did reasonably okay but not great.
And insomnia is back.
As frustrating as it is to be awake right now, I'm excited to think that there may be a link between having a heavy meal before sleep and insomnia because that means that I may be moving towards sleeping all night! Hooray!
On another happy note, I worked out with a friend yesterday morning. It was different and I hope we do it regularly. We just did an hour on elliptical then abs. We shared what we had learned for our respective trainers. It was actually fun to be in the gym talking instead of with my head down watching bad TV on my iPhone!
Two weeks to go
Jun 03, 2009
In retrospect, yesterday was a very good day. I received an odd call at 11:30 from my doctor's office letting me know that bariatric surgery was excluded from my policy. It's still so amazing to me that I've been really preparing for this for six months and I just now find out that it's not covered. I understand where it fell apart, I think. When I left my full time job in February (to finally work for myself), we switched to my husband's insurance. Aetna has a really clear bariatric surgery program. Because I started with my insurance (which covered it) then switched to James', it took a while to clear everything up.
Okay, it's not covered. I hadn't expected this.
I have many uses for $13,500 that don't involve surgery. I'm sure Tyler would really enjoy $13,500 towards a car (instead of the $4,000 that we have set aside - but he's 16, he doesn't need anything nicer than that!) We could take a vacation, remodel the bathroom. So many things.
When I found out, I cried. I just whole-heartedly gut-wrenching cried. I talked to James and he said I should come get him from work. (Cursed cycling days when he's not at my beck and call.) I decided to skip a lunch meeting that I just couldn't face and we went to Arboretum and walked by the pond. I asked what he thought and he said that it doesn't seem like really anything has changed except it will cost more money. This is weird for him because he's the thrify one.
The whole time I was anguishing, the thought of not having surgery didn't really make sense. I thought how I would look back on this setback. In five years, would I rather have $13,500 or my health. I think I needed that shock to make me realize that I really really want this. The liquid pre-op is worth it. The gym is worth it. And if I run it through my AmEx card, I can get points - and it's like half a plane ticket.
Today, it feels real again. I'm about to head to the gym with Ty. It's the first day of summer and everyone is sleeping. I have a lot of work today but I've gotten alot done already this morning.
0 comments
Okay, it's not covered. I hadn't expected this.
I have many uses for $13,500 that don't involve surgery. I'm sure Tyler would really enjoy $13,500 towards a car (instead of the $4,000 that we have set aside - but he's 16, he doesn't need anything nicer than that!) We could take a vacation, remodel the bathroom. So many things.
When I found out, I cried. I just whole-heartedly gut-wrenching cried. I talked to James and he said I should come get him from work. (Cursed cycling days when he's not at my beck and call.) I decided to skip a lunch meeting that I just couldn't face and we went to Arboretum and walked by the pond. I asked what he thought and he said that it doesn't seem like really anything has changed except it will cost more money. This is weird for him because he's the thrify one.
The whole time I was anguishing, the thought of not having surgery didn't really make sense. I thought how I would look back on this setback. In five years, would I rather have $13,500 or my health. I think I needed that shock to make me realize that I really really want this. The liquid pre-op is worth it. The gym is worth it. And if I run it through my AmEx card, I can get points - and it's like half a plane ticket.
Today, it feels real again. I'm about to head to the gym with Ty. It's the first day of summer and everyone is sleeping. I have a lot of work today but I've gotten alot done already this morning.
