meredith_123

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I'm so happy!!  My insurance nightmare has been taken care of.  They have decided to waive the $25,000 lifetime limit and re-process my claim.  What a relief that is!! 

I called them last year in December to find out what my benefits were. They told me the rules and that I would have a $1,000 co-insurance that I'd have to pay and then it was covered at 100%.  They didn't mention any limit on the benefits that would be paid.  But when they processed the surgery claim, all of a suddon there's a $25,000 lifetime limit on obesity treatment that I had never been made aware of.
I went through the required 6 month diet from December to June.  I got approved for surgery in July and had surgery in September.  Come November I received the EOB from Priority Health and they had rejected several charges from the surgery.  I was shocked that I was getting a huge bill which I really can't afford to pay.  I had just received a bill from the hospital last week for the $5,700 the insurance had rejected.

Well I did pretty good for Thanksgiving.  Did enjoy a small slice of apple pie, but the rest of the day was all pretty low carb.
Then we went out for our black Friday adventure (my sister & I)  We get to Walmart at 9:30 pm and shopped until 7:30 am.  So I'm thinking 10 hours of shopping counts as a pretty good workout. 

So far this journey has been great.  People are starting to notice that I'm losing the weight.
I've lost:

20 pounds in the 6 month weight loss diet, but gained back 10 while waiting for approval - so net 10 pounds
20 pounds in the 2 week pre-op diet
20 pounds in the 1st month
10 pounds in the 2nd month

60 pounts total lost since last December

Today, I'm going to join Planet Fitness so I can start getting in more exercise.  I have been walking, but it's getting pretty cold out here in Michigan.  Plus it's usually dark out by the time I get home from work, so the gym will be easier to work into the day.  Plan to keep my workout clothes in the car and stop on my way home from work at least a few days a week.  They offer group classes, I think I may like those to help keep me motivated. I can't believe I'm actually excited about joining a gym.  I've already changed so much.

I weighed in at 232.5.  The weight is coming off nicely, 13.5 pounds since surgery just over 2 weeks ago plus lost 20 pounds on the 2 week pre-op.  I'm so excited to start fitting into smaller clothes soon. Starting to see my face is thinning, and my shirts are getting a little big. 
I'm so excited that I get to start eating more foods.  Have a feeling after these 2 weeks, I'll be so sick of cottage cheese, but at least I get to eat it now.  Also found out that the Health Wise Ranch crunch protein chips are really good.  Got a few bags of those for snacks. 
Also found out that I had got the 100 cm common channel.  He had suggested that with my weight 125 cm would possibly help with nutrient absorption.  That sounded good, but I was worried that if I did that I might not lose as much weight.  
I wasn't sure what he had done. We discussed it before surgery, but he had me give him my final decision in the operating room. Only thing I remember about the operating room was moving from 1 bed to another and seeing some lights over me.  Apparently I told him that I wanted the best chance at loosing all the weight, so that was a relief to me.  I've been wondering this for 2 weeks now.   

I had my DS on Monday the 12th.  I arrived at the at St. Mary's at 10:30 for a surgery scheduled at 12:30.  They quickly had me in a gown, gave me a pill that prevents nausea which takes a while for the body to absorb.  Then I received my IV, which went really well.  They numbed my hand first, that just stung a little and then she had it in on the 1st try.  Amazing to me since I got poked 4 times last time I had a blood draw cause the nurse couldn't find a vein.  The surgery before mine was running a little behind, so I was taken back to the operating room at about 1:30.   All went well, surgery lasted about 4 hours.  Then I spent 2 hours in the recovery room coming out of anesthesia.  The next thing I remember was being moved from the very uncomfortable bed that was hurting my back into a bed in my room.
The nurses were great at the hospital.  The bed was really annoying because it keeps adjusting on it's own, usually as soon as you get comfy, it moves again. 
I arrived in my room about 8:00pm.  I slept a lot, but kept waking up ever 10- 15 minutes all night, was told this is normal.  It was so weird because it would feel like I slept for a long time, but only 10 minutes would go by, it was a very long night. 
They got me up to walk at around midnight.  I made it out of my room, across the hall and got really dizzy and nauseous so we went back to my bed.  Then around 4 in the morning, I walked again, that time I made it out into the hall in a short circle around the elevators.  There were many people in checking my vitals, incisions, and making me get up to walk.  I had a nice pain pump that you could push every 10 minutes to get some more.  I was on that until the 1st night and part of Tuesday.  Then they switched me to a liquid pain med called Lortab.  It tastes awful, but it works well.  They also had me taking Valium to help with pain and a couple different meds for nausea. 
By Wednesday morning, I was doing really well, walking every few hours, getting in enough fluids and they released me by noon.  I was glad to be home, I think the worst part of the stay was the annoying hospital bed. 
All in all, the whole process went really well.  I'm so thankful there were no complications.  I think picking a great surgeon has a lot to do with why it went so well. Dr. Kemmeter is wonderful. 

5 days to go on this pre-op diet and then I will finally get my surgery next Monday. 
It has been hard, the first few days I was pretty hungry.  Now I'm not as hungry as I was, but not being able to eat the yummy foods everyone else has been eating around me had been really tough.  I'm so proud of myself for not cheating this weekend when I went up north for the holiday weekend.  My dad had so many of my favorites for us & I couldn't eat any of it. 
I did cheat twice last week, I had a salad at lunch with a tiny bit of dressing.  I was just so hungry. 
Had my last pre-op check in today.  I'm already down 12 pounds, so I guess this diet is working pretty well. 
Had my labs, that was not fun.  She poked me 4 times, once in the arm, twice in my right hand & finally got a vein in my left hand.  Both of my hands are bruised and sore.

Had my pre-surgery nutrition class today.  Thanks to Elixir for the donation of her left over product, saved me a lot of money.  Came at the perfect time since we just got back from a trip to Philly for a checkup with his specialist.  His appointment went great.  We turned his trip into a mini vacation and spent 1 night in Atlantic City with the kids at the beach & went to the aquarium.  The trip cost a lot, so the cost of today's appointment was a little overwhelming.  Had to pay the $1,000 co-pay that the insurance required. 
So the dreaded diet starts next week.  14 days on a 800 - 900 calorie diet.  I had to purchase enough product from the surgeons office to cover the 2 weeks before & after.  Came to about $140, but would have probably been more than double that without all the stuff Elixir gave to me, she's so sweet for doing that. 
Then then my surgery will be on the 12th.  Getting so excited.

I'm so excited!!  I just called the insurance and found out I was approved.  She said they just approved it today.  That's pretty quick, they received the request last Thursday.  I called the scheduler, but shedidn't have a record of the approval yet & couldnt' see it online.  Called insurance back to find out why, she said they just entered it today, so that could be why there is a delay.  So she gave me the authorization number & told me that's all they need.  To bad by the time I got that it was 5 and the doc's office is closed. 

So I expect tomorrow I should have my date, finally. 

I got a call from Nettie today from GHP.  She said my info was submitted to insurance this morning.  I thought they were submitting it a week ago, so that was a bit frustrating.  I was thinking I'd have a decision this week, now it looks like next week is more likely.  She did say that my labs were back and my levels are good, so that won't cause any delays. 
She said they have openings the 1st week of September, but they won't schedule me a day until they get the insurance approval.  I just need to know the date, I'm so excited, I just need to know.  I did talk to my boss today and told him the guestimate on the date, but that I should know for sure next week.  It's so hard to plan my work schedule around this when I don't have a date.  I'm really trying not to worry about it, I'm just going to assume the earliest possible date and it it's later, I will work around it.  Oh, I feel like a little kid waiting for Christmas to get here. 

I got to meet with Dr. Kemmeter today.  I'm getting so close.  I also had the appointment with the behaviorist.  He cleared me for surgery.  I'm so excited to get my DS. 
They will be submitting for final approval to my insurance company in the next day or 2.  Dr. Kemmetter said it usually takes about 2 weeks to get the insurance approval.  Then they will schedule my surgery date.  He's scheduling out about 4 weeks, so if all goes well, my date should be in about 6 weeks.  I'm so happy today, it's getting so close.