phranny19
***If you are in Arizona and are looking for a GREAT Surgeon Contact :
Dr. William Arnold
6036 N. 19th ave Ste 505
Phoenix, Arizona 85015
602-433-5586
fax: 602-433-7230
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4/3/06- I just finishe reading the WLS memorials and it was a little scary. I have an appt on tuesday with my PCP to get a referrel since it's required. i am still at the gym every morning and have started my eating for life diet again. just because i'm wanting to have this surgery does not mean i am going to ease up at the gym. So every morning at 5:30 i am there on the treadmill. One of the things i'm concerned about tomorrow is that my PCP is not pro WLS she was not helpful when my mom had the surgery and i'm hoping after seeing how well my mom has done she would have changed her stance.
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4/4/06-I'm back from my appt with my PCP and to my surprise it wa not as much of a battle as i thought. She was totally understanding. She didnt ask about the different kinds of diets i've already tried or how long i was on them. She asked about my daily routine, how much i eat out, and my eating habits. She said i have a healthy heart and my blood pressure is great but in the future i may be at risk for diabetes, heart disease, etc... She is sending me to get my blood drawn ( ouch!) to test for diabetes, cholesteral and then she was going to write me the referal once the results came back to her. At one point sh asked if i was really aware of the kind of risks and lifestyle change it was and i was young why was i thinking about it. I just simply explained because i want to live. Live without worrying about getting diabetes, dying from a heart attack. I want to live my life the fullest and my weight is holding me back! She was impressed by the fact i had done my research and she said i seemed ready for it. Yay!!
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4/7/06- Just got a call from my PCP she has the results of my blood test. She said everything looks good excpt my cholesteral is high. She is submitting the referrel today to the ins company so i called Dr arnolds offic and set up my inital consultation with Dr. arnold for this wednesday (4/12/06).
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4/13/06- I had my inital Consult with Dr. arnold yesterday and everything went great! He is worried about my cholesteral and after looking at my chart he really feels that a lot of my weight ha to do with genetics. He thinks i'm ready and will do very well. I didnt have any questions about the surgery but did ask him to go over the procedure with me. He is super nice and i felt really comfortable talking to him.He is such a sweethart! he really cares about his patients and i can tell he is going to have incredible bed side manner! depending on my ins i could get the surgery done by this summer! So now i'm just waiting for a call from Karen (prgm coordinater) so she can help me submitt any and all paper work to the insurance. I'm excited and feel fortunate to have found a great Doctor.
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4/17/06- So this past weekend it finally made sense. I now realizehow i got this way. So this past weekend was easter and we went o our annual easter camping trip and you know what we did the entire time we were there? WE ATE! I have come to realize that all of our family functions are like this. I have a huge family and we are always getting together and eating. For example My grandma loves to cook and feed everyone that comes to her house. So if we go over there she is always offering me food and if i don't eat she is offended and will continue to ask me to eat something. Even if i tell her i just ate she still insist i eat again. It's become so normal for my family to do this and it's hard to break that habit on my own. I never learned how to eat right and eating the way my family does it's become natural. So it's not that i have a lack of will power it's just all that i've known. Does that make sense?
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4/20/06- today i just felt like crying, not because of anything bad but because of the amazing people God has put in my life! I was talking to one of my dear friends about the surgery and her reaction to it wa just so wonderful. She's already jumping ahead of me wanting to know when so he could take the day off work to be with me. I feel so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life
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4/26/06- I'm losing my mind! i'm getting so anxious about things. I have been waiting to submitt everything to the inurance company and it seems that karen the prgm director) and my self have been playin phone tag. i feel lost about this whole insurance process and i hate the fact that i am not in control of it! (i can be some what of a control freak) On top of my feeling anxious i think i'm coming down with something. I have been so fatigued lately that i am wanting to sleep all th time. I have not taken my vitamins in a while so today i started to take them again, hopefully it will help I have also been feeling sharp pains in my kidney area and yesterday i had sharp pains in my chest.
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5/4/06- Well i really thought i was on my death bed for a couple days. I felt so SICK! Seen my PCP and she gave me some antibiotics. I'm all better now. Turns out the sharp pain in my kidney area was a strained muscle. And the sharp pain in my chest was my esophagus trying to heal after a few episodes of acid reflux. i finally have been able to get a hold of Karen and she gave me a list of things that i need to do.
- See a dietician
- Get the Psych Eval
- See My PCP to get letter of neccesity.
- Get my List of Diet and excercise put in letter form
I'm really worried about the last one. When i got my referel i didn't see my PCP because she was out of town i seen another Dr in her office. Now i actually HAVE to see her. looks like i'm gonna have to get ready to fight for this letter! Oh and i found out that my INS co does not require a 6 mo diet plan. So Yay! Now i gotta do some calling around and get everything set up.
Just an update from earlier today. I spent most of the day on the phone today trying to get Dr's appt for next week. The Ins company sent me on an adventure telling me to call all these different numbers to get a referel for the psych eval only to find out that my plan is a self refer all i needed was the name of a Dr in my network and his number. So i have an appt with my PCP on tuesday, the dietitican on wednesday (dermotology appt on wednesday too) and hopefully i can get in to do my psych eval next week too. It's gonna be a busy week but i'm glad things are starting to happen again.
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5/5/06- Happy Cinco De Mayo everyone! I keep looking at the before and after pictures and rading people profiles and i get so happy because i know that someday that will be me! I wish it was now tho! LOL! i guess i'll just have to be patient. :sigh:
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5/8/06- Gosh this site is amazing and it has so much information and help availabe. i was TRYING to write a letter to send to my PCP and InS co but i was not having very good luck on my own. THen i remembered i seen a sample letter on here. So i just used that letter as my starting point and changed it for my personal needs. I'm very grateful!
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5/11/06- YAY! things are going great! God is truely amazing! I seen my PCP this past tuesday so i could get a letter of medical necessity and i was totally scared , thinking that she would not give it to me. After all she gave my mother a hard time when she had her surgery. She was totally against the surgery. So i went in ready to "fight". She did not say one negative thing, she was all for it and thought i would do really well. She was very impresesd with the letter i faxed to her. ( i told her i had great help from this site) She said i will have the letter in a week! i'm so psyched! I also had an appt with the dietician and that went really well. She was very n ice and i enjoyed talking with her and asking questions. So next week i got an appt for my psych evaluation and then after i get the results from that i will be able to submit everything to the insurance company!
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5/16/06- Just got back from my Psych evaluation. It went really well it was supposed to take 3 hours but it actually only took 2. He didnt get too much in depth on any subject he just asked me some very broad questions and then had me do the mmpi test with like 560 some odd questions. He says that i am ready and will give the clearance for the surgery. So now i'm just waiting to reciecve the letter from my PCP and then everything will get turned in. Yay i'm excited!
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5/17/06- Well something that i am so excited about that i did not mention before is that my aunt is also wanting to have the surgery as well and we are wanting to do it at the same time. Well today she had her inital consult with dr. Arnold and she stopped by my office to tell me how everything went. She loved Dr Arnold! She is ready to move forward with h er WLS Journey and is actually going to be self-pay so she only needs to see a dietician and a Psychologist and she will be ready to go. Dr Arnold is such a sweetheart he really cares about his patients and is very flexable. He says that he can schedule both our surgeries on the same day. His first priority is our happiness he told my aunt that only he and the head nurse will be taking care of us. He won't send somebody he dosent know or trust to take care of us. Both my aunt and i feel very comfortable with him and we are both very excited!
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5/22/06- Well i found out this past friday evening that all my Ins info was going to be submitted today (monday) morning. I'm happy it's finally been submitted and now i just have to wait for an approval. Karen (prgm coordinater) said they hope to have an approval by the end of the week. I hate waiting tho, gosh i'm so impatient and i getm so anxious about it. So i'll be doing a lot of extra praying that I will be able to surrender all my worries to God
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5/25/06-Yesterday i got a call from the Doctors offcie saying that my request for approval would be denied because My Psych eval was not turned in. So i called Dr. Walter (the Psychologist) to see what the deal was and he said he has not finished with the results yet. It's been over a week and he said it probably would only take him a couple days. he didnt seem like he cared to much and i politely told him that we were waiting on his results so that we can submit it to the Ins Co. and that was the only thing we were missing. Ugh! i still don't think he cared. So i called Karen and asked her if she would call him for me and she did so hopefully she put a little fire under his butt to get him going. I'm not too worried about it Dr walter assured me that he was going to write the approval i just wish he would hurry up and do it already!
Well as soon as i wrote this i got a call from Dr Walter saying that he had just faxed over the approval to Dr. Arnolds office. Then i called Karen and she sent it right out!. God is good! he has taken care of me through this whole process. Now I'm Just playing the waiting game...
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6/2/06- I turned 21 yesterday! i had such a wonderful birthday. I got so many birthday wishes and had a faboulus dinner with family and friends. And even went to the casino afterwards. I'm not much of a drinker but I enjoyed a couple drinks last nite
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6/6/06- Yea I'm Approved I Just got a call from Karen And after being on the phone all day with the insurance co she called to let me know that i had been approved. I'm so excited!
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6/14/06- Yay! I finally got my surgery Date. It's next Thursday the 22nd @ Phoenix Baptist Hospital! Can you believe it?!? I'm Excited and nervous at the same time! Surgery is scheduled at 7:30 am
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6/16/06-:Sigh: just got a call from my surgeons office and my surgery has been pushed back to the 26th... Oh well the 26th it is!
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6/22/06- Well today was supposed to be my surgery but as you know it was pushed back to MOnday. I had my Preop Appt with Dr. Arnold yesterday and he could tell i was a little nervous. I just asked him some last minute questions and he told me some info on his surgical assit and anestesiologist ( totally spelled that wrong LOL!) and was telling me that the bariatric rooms in the hospital was completely redone with state of teh art equipment. Everything is voice activated which is cool cuz i always like new gadgets to mess around with. I'm excited to check it out. I totally feel comfortable with Dr. Arnold. I am the only one having surgery on monday so he said that i will have all of his attention and care. I'm Excited and nervous at the same time. Right now i'm more excited than nervous but i'm sure by sunday night i will be so freaking nervous
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7/9/06-The surgery went well I don't remember being nervous maybe a little scared. I actually don't remember much. I remember being in the Pre-op room and getting stabbed like 100x to get the IV in. Doctor Arnold the nurse and Anesthesiolgist came in talked for a little bit. I remember being rolled into the OR and falling asleep. I think i feel asleep before i recived the anestisha. When i woke up all i could think is "thank you God I'm alive" I don't remember anybody talking to me right after. I was in the Recovery room for 3 hours before they put me in my room and once i was settled in and awake they told me that i had been in Surgery for 5 Hours! Dr Arnold said he was taking his time checking and Double checking everything. He also mentioned that i have a very small frame and didnt have a lot of room to work in. I was pretty psyched because i never thought that I would be a small framed person. As soon as I woke up i felt pain and numbness in my feet it was really weird. It slowly went away and only remained in my small toes up until a couple days ago. I ended up staying in the hospital for 5 days because i was having trouble breathing. I was excited to finally go home. The pain wasnt too bad and i quickly got off my pain meds. I was very impressed by Dr Arnolds bedside manner. He was there everyday without fail. Making sure i was comfortable and doing well. He does not leave anything to chance.
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7/10/06- Well I'm back at work and i am actually excited about it. Sitting at home can be so boring! I see Dr. Arnold on Thursday and can't wait to advance my diet. I'm tired of the jello, soup and the other crap i eat.
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7/14/06- Well i had my 2 wk post -op visit with Dr. Arnold Yesterday and guess what?... I lost 20 lbs! He was very happy with where i'm at. He was glad that i am not rushing to advance my diet but said it was ok for me to start eating soft/ blenderized foods. so last night i had a hard boiled egg and really enjoyed every bite. It took me about an hour to eat it but it was good
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7/31/06- Well everything is still going great. Today i am 6 wks post op which means no food restrictions! I'm still taking it very slow and introducing things to my diet very slowly. It has been very hard to get in all my protien and water but i still work at it everyday.
I've been at the gym almost everyday (except sat and sun) I try to stay active. People tell me that they can see the difference in my face and butt. I can feel it in my clothes but to me i still look the same. oh well i'm excited either way my next appt with Dr. Arnold is on the 17th so i'll update then
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8/7/06- I went to Las Vegas this weekend and it was awesome. I am very sore today because we did A LOT of walking. I was pretty good about drinking water everyday but I was only eating like once a day and maybe had a small snack. I was eating healthy but not enough. Tho i think i got my excersice for the week LOL! It was a good weekend. This morning i got a little curious about how much i've lost so i jumped on the scale and so far i've lost 40 lb!!! I try to stay off the scale so i don't drive my self nuts but yay! i'm excited!
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8/17/06- I went to see Dr. Arnold Yesterday and he said everything was perfect. HE was very proud of how I've been doing so far and said he wished all his patients were like me. He encouraged me to not be afraid to add things to my diet. He expects me to be at goal in no time! He ordered a full panel blood test and will call me with the results. I'm very excited and can't wait for my next visit.
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8/30/06- so kind of a wow moment today. Before my surgery i went and bought some shirts in anticipation of my weightloss. Before i wore XXL and today i am wearing a L! No more x's for me! It's a little tight around my arms but fits perfectly everywhere else. Also my size 18 jeans are starting to get loose. My fingers, wrists, ankles and neck have also gotten smaller. It's Exciting!!! !
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9/1/06- So i got my results back from the labs and was actually surprised that all my levels were above normal or normal. Olivia was laughing at me and said that usually they have to call and tell people that they need to up their vitamins not slow them down. I was surprised that my iron was fine i was thinking it would be low because i've been really fatigued but she reminded me that i did just have a major operation combined with the heat, school, work, and social life it's normal to be tired. I see Dr Arnold again on 10/17/06 so hopefully I'll have more to report then!
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9/12/06- According to my scale at home I'm down 50lbs! I'm gonna have to start taking pictures and posting them. I should have done it from the begining but i'm an idiot and didnt take any. Still no problem with food i don't really dump unless i eat too much too fast. The only food that bothers my stomach is fruit. It's too sweet and it hurts my pouch. It's a major bummer because i LOVE fruit
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9/13/06- So i'm hoping to start meeting with a personal trainer this week or next. I"m going to the gym everyday but i need to be pushed a little bit. Hopefully this will help me lose weight faster. I do the same thing everyday and it gets a little boring so i need some help
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9/18/06- I went out dancing this past weekend and i had a blast. I had a lot more energy, it was great. Before i would get tired and my back would start huting but not this time! I got a lot mre attention from guys then i usually do. I wasn't interested in dancing with any of them cuz i was there to hang out with my girls but it was good to know that a lot mre people are finding me attractive. I Find my self smiling more and i feel more confident. I feel great now i can't imagine how great i'll feel when I'm at goal!
Here's a pic from that night:
I can tell you that my confidence level has sky rocketed! People keep coming up to me and telling me how great I look. I'm not used to that kind of attention. Even when i go to the gym i have a lot more energy and i'm more excited about working out. It's great except i have no clothes to wear they are all too big! I guess that's a good thing to have a problem with.
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9/25/06- Lost some Pounds over the weekend:
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10/5/06- another 5 lbs!!!!!
Oh man this past week has been difficult! Every where i go people are telling me how great I look and to keep up the good work but I have such a hard time taking compliments I'm such an insecure person and i'm not used to hearing people tell me i look beautiful or great. I'm happy that they notice and are encouraging me but it's so hard for me to take their compliments with out feeling insecure. People have been asking me what i'm doing to lose weight and they are being really nice about it but it's so hard!!!
Dr. William Arnold
6036 N. 19th ave Ste 505
Phoenix, Arizona 85015
602-433-5586
fax: 602-433-7230
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4/3/06- I just finishe reading the WLS memorials and it was a little scary. I have an appt on tuesday with my PCP to get a referrel since it's required. i am still at the gym every morning and have started my eating for life diet again. just because i'm wanting to have this surgery does not mean i am going to ease up at the gym. So every morning at 5:30 i am there on the treadmill. One of the things i'm concerned about tomorrow is that my PCP is not pro WLS she was not helpful when my mom had the surgery and i'm hoping after seeing how well my mom has done she would have changed her stance.
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4/4/06-I'm back from my appt with my PCP and to my surprise it wa not as much of a battle as i thought. She was totally understanding. She didnt ask about the different kinds of diets i've already tried or how long i was on them. She asked about my daily routine, how much i eat out, and my eating habits. She said i have a healthy heart and my blood pressure is great but in the future i may be at risk for diabetes, heart disease, etc... She is sending me to get my blood drawn ( ouch!) to test for diabetes, cholesteral and then she was going to write me the referal once the results came back to her. At one point sh asked if i was really aware of the kind of risks and lifestyle change it was and i was young why was i thinking about it. I just simply explained because i want to live. Live without worrying about getting diabetes, dying from a heart attack. I want to live my life the fullest and my weight is holding me back! She was impressed by the fact i had done my research and she said i seemed ready for it. Yay!!
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4/7/06- Just got a call from my PCP she has the results of my blood test. She said everything looks good excpt my cholesteral is high. She is submitting the referrel today to the ins company so i called Dr arnolds offic and set up my inital consultation with Dr. arnold for this wednesday (4/12/06).
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4/13/06- I had my inital Consult with Dr. arnold yesterday and everything went great! He is worried about my cholesteral and after looking at my chart he really feels that a lot of my weight ha to do with genetics. He thinks i'm ready and will do very well. I didnt have any questions about the surgery but did ask him to go over the procedure with me. He is super nice and i felt really comfortable talking to him.He is such a sweethart! he really cares about his patients and i can tell he is going to have incredible bed side manner! depending on my ins i could get the surgery done by this summer! So now i'm just waiting for a call from Karen (prgm coordinater) so she can help me submitt any and all paper work to the insurance. I'm excited and feel fortunate to have found a great Doctor.
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4/17/06- So this past weekend it finally made sense. I now realizehow i got this way. So this past weekend was easter and we went o our annual easter camping trip and you know what we did the entire time we were there? WE ATE! I have come to realize that all of our family functions are like this. I have a huge family and we are always getting together and eating. For example My grandma loves to cook and feed everyone that comes to her house. So if we go over there she is always offering me food and if i don't eat she is offended and will continue to ask me to eat something. Even if i tell her i just ate she still insist i eat again. It's become so normal for my family to do this and it's hard to break that habit on my own. I never learned how to eat right and eating the way my family does it's become natural. So it's not that i have a lack of will power it's just all that i've known. Does that make sense?
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4/20/06- today i just felt like crying, not because of anything bad but because of the amazing people God has put in my life! I was talking to one of my dear friends about the surgery and her reaction to it wa just so wonderful. She's already jumping ahead of me wanting to know when so he could take the day off work to be with me. I feel so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life
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4/26/06- I'm losing my mind! i'm getting so anxious about things. I have been waiting to submitt everything to the inurance company and it seems that karen the prgm director) and my self have been playin phone tag. i feel lost about this whole insurance process and i hate the fact that i am not in control of it! (i can be some what of a control freak) On top of my feeling anxious i think i'm coming down with something. I have been so fatigued lately that i am wanting to sleep all th time. I have not taken my vitamins in a while so today i started to take them again, hopefully it will help I have also been feeling sharp pains in my kidney area and yesterday i had sharp pains in my chest.
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5/4/06- Well i really thought i was on my death bed for a couple days. I felt so SICK! Seen my PCP and she gave me some antibiotics. I'm all better now. Turns out the sharp pain in my kidney area was a strained muscle. And the sharp pain in my chest was my esophagus trying to heal after a few episodes of acid reflux. i finally have been able to get a hold of Karen and she gave me a list of things that i need to do.
- See a dietician
- Get the Psych Eval
- See My PCP to get letter of neccesity.
- Get my List of Diet and excercise put in letter form
I'm really worried about the last one. When i got my referel i didn't see my PCP because she was out of town i seen another Dr in her office. Now i actually HAVE to see her. looks like i'm gonna have to get ready to fight for this letter! Oh and i found out that my INS co does not require a 6 mo diet plan. So Yay! Now i gotta do some calling around and get everything set up.
Just an update from earlier today. I spent most of the day on the phone today trying to get Dr's appt for next week. The Ins company sent me on an adventure telling me to call all these different numbers to get a referel for the psych eval only to find out that my plan is a self refer all i needed was the name of a Dr in my network and his number. So i have an appt with my PCP on tuesday, the dietitican on wednesday (dermotology appt on wednesday too) and hopefully i can get in to do my psych eval next week too. It's gonna be a busy week but i'm glad things are starting to happen again.
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5/5/06- Happy Cinco De Mayo everyone! I keep looking at the before and after pictures and rading people profiles and i get so happy because i know that someday that will be me! I wish it was now tho! LOL! i guess i'll just have to be patient. :sigh:
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5/8/06- Gosh this site is amazing and it has so much information and help availabe. i was TRYING to write a letter to send to my PCP and InS co but i was not having very good luck on my own. THen i remembered i seen a sample letter on here. So i just used that letter as my starting point and changed it for my personal needs. I'm very grateful!
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5/11/06- YAY! things are going great! God is truely amazing! I seen my PCP this past tuesday so i could get a letter of medical necessity and i was totally scared , thinking that she would not give it to me. After all she gave my mother a hard time when she had her surgery. She was totally against the surgery. So i went in ready to "fight". She did not say one negative thing, she was all for it and thought i would do really well. She was very impresesd with the letter i faxed to her. ( i told her i had great help from this site) She said i will have the letter in a week! i'm so psyched! I also had an appt with the dietician and that went really well. She was very n ice and i enjoyed talking with her and asking questions. So next week i got an appt for my psych evaluation and then after i get the results from that i will be able to submit everything to the insurance company!
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5/16/06- Just got back from my Psych evaluation. It went really well it was supposed to take 3 hours but it actually only took 2. He didnt get too much in depth on any subject he just asked me some very broad questions and then had me do the mmpi test with like 560 some odd questions. He says that i am ready and will give the clearance for the surgery. So now i'm just waiting to reciecve the letter from my PCP and then everything will get turned in. Yay i'm excited!
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5/17/06- Well something that i am so excited about that i did not mention before is that my aunt is also wanting to have the surgery as well and we are wanting to do it at the same time. Well today she had her inital consult with dr. Arnold and she stopped by my office to tell me how everything went. She loved Dr Arnold! She is ready to move forward with h er WLS Journey and is actually going to be self-pay so she only needs to see a dietician and a Psychologist and she will be ready to go. Dr Arnold is such a sweetheart he really cares about his patients and is very flexable. He says that he can schedule both our surgeries on the same day. His first priority is our happiness he told my aunt that only he and the head nurse will be taking care of us. He won't send somebody he dosent know or trust to take care of us. Both my aunt and i feel very comfortable with him and we are both very excited!
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5/22/06- Well i found out this past friday evening that all my Ins info was going to be submitted today (monday) morning. I'm happy it's finally been submitted and now i just have to wait for an approval. Karen (prgm coordinater) said they hope to have an approval by the end of the week. I hate waiting tho, gosh i'm so impatient and i getm so anxious about it. So i'll be doing a lot of extra praying that I will be able to surrender all my worries to God
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5/25/06-Yesterday i got a call from the Doctors offcie saying that my request for approval would be denied because My Psych eval was not turned in. So i called Dr. Walter (the Psychologist) to see what the deal was and he said he has not finished with the results yet. It's been over a week and he said it probably would only take him a couple days. he didnt seem like he cared to much and i politely told him that we were waiting on his results so that we can submit it to the Ins Co. and that was the only thing we were missing. Ugh! i still don't think he cared. So i called Karen and asked her if she would call him for me and she did so hopefully she put a little fire under his butt to get him going. I'm not too worried about it Dr walter assured me that he was going to write the approval i just wish he would hurry up and do it already!
Well as soon as i wrote this i got a call from Dr Walter saying that he had just faxed over the approval to Dr. Arnolds office. Then i called Karen and she sent it right out!. God is good! he has taken care of me through this whole process. Now I'm Just playing the waiting game...
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6/2/06- I turned 21 yesterday! i had such a wonderful birthday. I got so many birthday wishes and had a faboulus dinner with family and friends. And even went to the casino afterwards. I'm not much of a drinker but I enjoyed a couple drinks last nite
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6/6/06- Yea I'm Approved I Just got a call from Karen And after being on the phone all day with the insurance co she called to let me know that i had been approved. I'm so excited!
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6/14/06- Yay! I finally got my surgery Date. It's next Thursday the 22nd @ Phoenix Baptist Hospital! Can you believe it?!? I'm Excited and nervous at the same time! Surgery is scheduled at 7:30 am
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6/16/06-:Sigh: just got a call from my surgeons office and my surgery has been pushed back to the 26th... Oh well the 26th it is!
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6/22/06- Well today was supposed to be my surgery but as you know it was pushed back to MOnday. I had my Preop Appt with Dr. Arnold yesterday and he could tell i was a little nervous. I just asked him some last minute questions and he told me some info on his surgical assit and anestesiologist ( totally spelled that wrong LOL!) and was telling me that the bariatric rooms in the hospital was completely redone with state of teh art equipment. Everything is voice activated which is cool cuz i always like new gadgets to mess around with. I'm excited to check it out. I totally feel comfortable with Dr. Arnold. I am the only one having surgery on monday so he said that i will have all of his attention and care. I'm Excited and nervous at the same time. Right now i'm more excited than nervous but i'm sure by sunday night i will be so freaking nervous
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7/9/06-The surgery went well I don't remember being nervous maybe a little scared. I actually don't remember much. I remember being in the Pre-op room and getting stabbed like 100x to get the IV in. Doctor Arnold the nurse and Anesthesiolgist came in talked for a little bit. I remember being rolled into the OR and falling asleep. I think i feel asleep before i recived the anestisha. When i woke up all i could think is "thank you God I'm alive" I don't remember anybody talking to me right after. I was in the Recovery room for 3 hours before they put me in my room and once i was settled in and awake they told me that i had been in Surgery for 5 Hours! Dr Arnold said he was taking his time checking and Double checking everything. He also mentioned that i have a very small frame and didnt have a lot of room to work in. I was pretty psyched because i never thought that I would be a small framed person. As soon as I woke up i felt pain and numbness in my feet it was really weird. It slowly went away and only remained in my small toes up until a couple days ago. I ended up staying in the hospital for 5 days because i was having trouble breathing. I was excited to finally go home. The pain wasnt too bad and i quickly got off my pain meds. I was very impressed by Dr Arnolds bedside manner. He was there everyday without fail. Making sure i was comfortable and doing well. He does not leave anything to chance.
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7/10/06- Well I'm back at work and i am actually excited about it. Sitting at home can be so boring! I see Dr. Arnold on Thursday and can't wait to advance my diet. I'm tired of the jello, soup and the other crap i eat.
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7/14/06- Well i had my 2 wk post -op visit with Dr. Arnold Yesterday and guess what?... I lost 20 lbs! He was very happy with where i'm at. He was glad that i am not rushing to advance my diet but said it was ok for me to start eating soft/ blenderized foods. so last night i had a hard boiled egg and really enjoyed every bite. It took me about an hour to eat it but it was good
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7/31/06- Well everything is still going great. Today i am 6 wks post op which means no food restrictions! I'm still taking it very slow and introducing things to my diet very slowly. It has been very hard to get in all my protien and water but i still work at it everyday.
I've been at the gym almost everyday (except sat and sun) I try to stay active. People tell me that they can see the difference in my face and butt. I can feel it in my clothes but to me i still look the same. oh well i'm excited either way my next appt with Dr. Arnold is on the 17th so i'll update then
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8/7/06- I went to Las Vegas this weekend and it was awesome. I am very sore today because we did A LOT of walking. I was pretty good about drinking water everyday but I was only eating like once a day and maybe had a small snack. I was eating healthy but not enough. Tho i think i got my excersice for the week LOL! It was a good weekend. This morning i got a little curious about how much i've lost so i jumped on the scale and so far i've lost 40 lb!!! I try to stay off the scale so i don't drive my self nuts but yay! i'm excited!
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8/17/06- I went to see Dr. Arnold Yesterday and he said everything was perfect. HE was very proud of how I've been doing so far and said he wished all his patients were like me. He encouraged me to not be afraid to add things to my diet. He expects me to be at goal in no time! He ordered a full panel blood test and will call me with the results. I'm very excited and can't wait for my next visit.
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8/30/06- so kind of a wow moment today. Before my surgery i went and bought some shirts in anticipation of my weightloss. Before i wore XXL and today i am wearing a L! No more x's for me! It's a little tight around my arms but fits perfectly everywhere else. Also my size 18 jeans are starting to get loose. My fingers, wrists, ankles and neck have also gotten smaller. It's Exciting!!! !
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9/1/06- So i got my results back from the labs and was actually surprised that all my levels were above normal or normal. Olivia was laughing at me and said that usually they have to call and tell people that they need to up their vitamins not slow them down. I was surprised that my iron was fine i was thinking it would be low because i've been really fatigued but she reminded me that i did just have a major operation combined with the heat, school, work, and social life it's normal to be tired. I see Dr Arnold again on 10/17/06 so hopefully I'll have more to report then!
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9/12/06- According to my scale at home I'm down 50lbs! I'm gonna have to start taking pictures and posting them. I should have done it from the begining but i'm an idiot and didnt take any. Still no problem with food i don't really dump unless i eat too much too fast. The only food that bothers my stomach is fruit. It's too sweet and it hurts my pouch. It's a major bummer because i LOVE fruit
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9/13/06- So i'm hoping to start meeting with a personal trainer this week or next. I"m going to the gym everyday but i need to be pushed a little bit. Hopefully this will help me lose weight faster. I do the same thing everyday and it gets a little boring so i need some help
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9/18/06- I went out dancing this past weekend and i had a blast. I had a lot more energy, it was great. Before i would get tired and my back would start huting but not this time! I got a lot mre attention from guys then i usually do. I wasn't interested in dancing with any of them cuz i was there to hang out with my girls but it was good to know that a lot mre people are finding me attractive. I Find my self smiling more and i feel more confident. I feel great now i can't imagine how great i'll feel when I'm at goal!
Here's a pic from that night:
I can tell you that my confidence level has sky rocketed! People keep coming up to me and telling me how great I look. I'm not used to that kind of attention. Even when i go to the gym i have a lot more energy and i'm more excited about working out. It's great except i have no clothes to wear they are all too big! I guess that's a good thing to have a problem with.
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9/25/06- Lost some Pounds over the weekend:
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10/5/06- another 5 lbs!!!!!
Oh man this past week has been difficult! Every where i go people are telling me how great I look and to keep up the good work but I have such a hard time taking compliments I'm such an insecure person and i'm not used to hearing people tell me i look beautiful or great. I'm happy that they notice and are encouraging me but it's so hard for me to take their compliments with out feeling insecure. People have been asking me what i'm doing to lose weight and they are being really nice about it but it's so hard!!!
About Me
phoenix, AZ
Location
32.6
BMI
Surgery
06/26/2006
Surgery Date
Surgeon
Mar 20, 2006
Member Since
