schriej1974
01/09/06
I am married with three children. I have been obese all of my life and have done the yo yo dieting. I really want more in my life and so I am looking into the WLS. I have looked into it before and decided against it, but my best friend had it done 3 yrs ago and has done WONDERFUL with it and LOOKS great and FEELS even better!!
01/13/06
Well I finally figured out how to do a "blog" type of thing on here. I wanted to keep a blog for my thoughts and adventures through my process of becoming thin. This week has overwhelmed me a little more than I should let me. I am trying to absorb WAY too much information in a short time period.
I've been busy this week trying to figure out which doctor I wanted to perform the surgery. First off I wanted Dr. Kyle Ver Steeg because that is who did my friends surgery. Unfortnately, he does not accept my insurance plan. Then I was going to go with Dr. Hardy in Ames, as he was suggested by my physician. I wasn't sure if I wanted an Open or a Lap and Dr. Hardy only does Open. Well yesterday I finally decided who it was I wanted to preform the surgery. I have an appointment with Dr. Todd Eibes here in Wdsm on 1/26/06. I go next week for my informational meeting and then the following week talk to him.
I went to see my physician this last week (Wed night) and he agreed to the gastric bypass and asked about my dieting. I told him I have been on and off Weight Watchers for over the past 3 1/2 yrs (almost 4) and also tried Atkins, Green Tea, Slimfast, etc. He thought that would be sufficient for my insurance company.
My insurance company requires a request from my physician, 3 yrs worth of supervised dieting, and I must fit in the criteria of being morbidly obese (which I am currently at 43 BMI). So I guess now is to just wait and let things ride out.
01/17/06
Well I think I"m going to drive all my coworkers crazy. I cant seem to decide on a doctor. I thought I had finalized my decision today with Dr. Hardy and then I hear more good things about Mercy Capital and so I changed my mind again. The surgeons there do the laproscopic and that is what I have wanted to do from day one so I am going to look into it. Feb 4th is their next informational meeting, so I have some time to wait. (UGH). I guess that's okay though. So I'll just sit back and continue with my life until these things come upon me. (appointments that is). I guess I would like to have it over with NOW, but I can wait..I've waited 31 yrs what is another 6 mos - a year.
I DID have a really weird dream last night. It had to do with the surgery. I dreamt I went into the surgery (open) and I remember seeing them putting the gas mask over me and then I was out and the next thing that happened was I woke up and I looked around and I was in my house and my husband was there and my best friend. The windows were gone and it was pitch black outside. I remember my friend crying...and my husband pacing around. Then IN my dream I woke up and was in the ICU and everything was fine. REALLY WIERD...of course I had a chocolate kiss before i went to bed and someone told me if you have chocolate before bed you'll have nightmares!!
Okay, I will update more later...
1/23/06
Well its a new week. I went and saw my best friend this weekend and she looks good. She was telling me more about the surgery and things I could eat afterwards and the vitamins she had to take, etc. She had me try this Calcium Caltrate. It wasn't too bad. Tasted like Big Red gum.
I'm really looking forward to Feb. 4th for my informational meeting. I'm very excited about the surgery, and am not really thinking about it. The thing that is worrying me is the insurance approval. I don't want to go through a bunch of stuff and get my hopes up and then have it crushed by the ins company. The only thing I'm worried about is the 3 yrs of supervised diet. I have been on and off weight watchers the past couple of years but my doctor never really supervised me. I have some books from the meetings, but that is all. I wasn't on it 365 days throughout the year either..I wonder how the outcome will be. I'm trying to stick with in the WW guidelines right now, but can't afford to go to the meetings, etc. I'm saving up for my deductible, etc. on the surgery.
Well I guess I'll just sit back and relax and see what happens.
2/5/06
Well I went to the informational meeting. It was pretty kewl. Most of the stuff Dr. Smolik talked about I already knew from research and talking to my friend. I got my packet and my questionaire. I filled out the questionaire already and will send it in tomorrow. I have my psych appt on Thursday in Ames. Thats one of the things that Mercy requires (along with a sleep study). I'm going to wait to set that one up. I dont want to get my hopes up too high if I'm shot down by my insurance.
I will keep you posted...
2/9/06
Well yesterday I got a call from Mercy Capital telling me to call them back to set up my RN interview. I called them back and got it set up for 3 p.m. today. I have my psych appt at 2 and then will call them at 3 p.m. She said it takes about 20 minutes. I keep thinking this is probably not going to happen because of my insurance. I sure will be shocked if they actually let me go through with it.
3/2/06
Well today I'm suppose to have my RN interview. The schedule on 2/9 was a mess up so they rescheduled me for today. My psych appt went well and she was going to write a letter of recommendation for my surgery. I haven't been doing much as in thinking about the surgery. if its out of my mind I do not stress as much. I really want it to happen, but I'm not going to get excited about it until I have the approval letter from my insurance company.
I haven't been doing very well the past couple of weeks on my diet. I have gained 4 lbs and so I am going the wrong way..UGHHH. Well I'll keep everyone posted as how things are going....
3/2/06 11:27 a.m.
Okay well I'm done with my first call- talk to the RN. Susan (SUPER NICE PERSON) told me that they have to wait until April 26th to submit anything to my insurance due to my preexclusion clause (started new job last August). I told her that was fine as I do not want to rush anything. She told me I needed the following..
1. Psych test (done on 2/9/06..but they havent received the results)
2. Sleep Study (she said I should contact my PCP and see if he can order it now for snoring and drowsiness and not the sleep study since it wouldnt be covered by my insurance yet).
3. Echo (since I had taken the Phen Phen a few years back to make sure there is nothing wrong with my valves)
3. RN Visit (scheduled for 5/3/06)
So I'm on track I guess. I picked Dr. Smolik to be my doctor. If my insurance goes through I'm assuming it will be middle summer or so before my surgery. That kind of bites, but I guess anytime is a good time!
Well there is my update!!!
Janine
3/3/06
Well I forgot to update yesterday that I have an appt with my PCP on Wed 3/8 to discuss my snoring and daily drowsiness and see if he will recommend a sleep study. (keepin fingers crossed)
3/9/06
I had my appt with my PCP last night and he suggested having the sleep study done and they will call me in a week to schedule my appointment. YEAHHHH So that should happen in a couple of weeks and that is another thing off of my list of requirements!! Oh yeah..with the Echo..I can use the one taht was done 1/2001 so i don't have to go through that again.
3/12/06
Well I got my call tonight from Mary Greeley's Medical Center. They got me in April 14th for my sleep study. Very excited!!! I'm hoping things come back okay..(hoping for no CPAP).
3/23/06
I only have 4 weeks left until my sleep study. DANG that seems like FOREVER away!! Oh well, I dont have anything else going on I guess. I hate this waiting. I weighed myself on Monday and I was up to 310. GOOD GOD. I couldn't believe it! I took some water pills (my ankles are huge) and I lost 4 lbs over night. I know I'm retaining alot of water so I need to get exercising..I just am so tired at the end of the day. I told my husband to push me out of the house to walk if he has too. I wished I would have brought my tennis shoes to work today as I would love to walk during my lunch hour. Sometimes I bring them, but then forget to go walking. I need a pair to keep here I think. Well just wanted to drop in. Nothing else going on ..(well there is..I am going back to school in June to major in Legal Assistant, but other than that..nothing)
4/10/06
Really quick I'm gonna update. My sleep study is on Friday (DANG THAT WHEN FAST). I'm really hoping I do not have sleep apnea just because it will drive me nuts to have to wear something on my face at night. I've been sleeping really well lately too. My insurance paperwork can be submitted after 4/26/06 so its not much longer now. YEAH...
I enrolled in classes for Legal Assistant. That should keep my mind off of food! I'm excited about going back to school as well.
Now that the days are nicer out I'm getting my butt outside to go biking with my kids. I really enjoy that, but of course my legs are not in shape and they are sore when I'm done. I do have to stop once in a while (luckily I can blame it on my middle child who can't quite keep up with me). hehehe
Well I will post more when I know more...
4/18/06
I had my sleep study done on 4/15/06 and the technician said he thinks everything is fine. I did do some snoring when I slept on my back but other wise I should be fine (no sleep apnea) YEAH! On the other hand...
I messed up my ankle on 4/16/06. I fell off a chair (standing on it to clean the top of my entertainment center). The specialist thinks I ripped my tendon from my bone which means I have to have surgery to repair it. Not so good news. I'm so close to having the gastric (yeah I know I'm not even sure if I'm approved yet), but I only had so much time this year (sick/vacation) and now I'm going to have to use it for this stinking ankle injury. I'm so mad at myself for falling. UGHHHHH.
I find out tomorrow exactly what the doctor found out as I had some MRI's done today and he will give me the low down tomorrow...
6/5/06
Well it has been a while since I logged in. I figured my weight loss surgery is on hold for a while because of my ankle. I ended up having surgery on it 4/20 and was on bedrest for a couple of weeks and then to a cast. I have one week left of the cast and then I go on to a walking boot. I'm not sure how long I will have that on.
I had to reschedule my nurse visit for June 14th. I guess after they see me and talk to me is when they send the information to the insurance company. So I guess I wont know for a while. Oh well! Well I just had to pop in for a few seconds and will give a better update next week after my nurse visit.
6/20/06
Okay I went to the Pre Op Diet and Exercise class today and got tons of good info on what my diet is going to be! I also got my doc appt scheduled with Dr. Smolik for next Wednesday! YEAH!! After that they can submit everything to my insurance company so I can finally figure out if I can be approved or not.
6/29/06
Just really quick, but I wanted to update that I got a call late last week that they had to reschedule my surgeon visit as Dr. Smolik was going to be out of the office. I am now scheduled for July 5th at 10 a.m. Also I had to go in and redo my ECHO last Monday. It wasn't bad, but they had to shoot some liquid in my vein to show more contrast to the heart as they were unable to get a good picture of one of its sides. I guess I will find out next week what the doctor thinks, etc.
I went on my first bike ride last night since my fall! I fell April 15th and ripped my achilles tendon. Well yesterday I took my walking boot off and went for a bike ride. It was great! Of course my leg muscles are killing me today, but no pain, no gain! I'm going to try to go for another ride tonight with my kids.
Well I better get back to work!
7/5/06
Well I've now completed all the steps for them to submit the insurance papework. I met with Dr. Smolik today and he is very nice! The meeting was very quick and he went over all the information that I had already known, but it was nice to have him repeat it, etc. I didn't have any questions so the whole procedure only lasted about 15 -20 minutes. I did get weighed though and had gained one pound. It kind of made me nervous so I need to make sure to watch what is going on. Granted it is that time of the month and so I naturally gain weight, but I need to start biking a little more often. My oldest is pretty adament about asking me so I don't need to worry about having someone to go with!
Well now I just sit and wait to see what the insurance company says. I am sure I will know something by the end of the month. :) Until then..I will be around!
Janine
7/13/06
Well it has been just over a week since I met with Dr. Smolik. In the back of my mind I think about the surgery every now and then, but I try not too. I guess I mainly think about it when I'm eating. According to my scale I have gained weight and that depresses me. I keep telling myself, if I get approved for this surgery than I am going to buckle down and lose the weight (HAVE too). According to my scale I'm up 8 lbs since I was weighed in the first time at my Diet meeting. I dont know what it is with me lately, but it's like a binge. I feel awful. My esteem has really gone down lately too. I can tell as I hate looking in the mirror, I'm not enjoying going out with my friends, etc. I have even hated having sex (which is REALLY unusual for me). When I have sex now..I picture myself thin and keep my eyes closed. How pathetic.
Well just a few thoughts on my daily life. I think I might give Melanie a call today to see how she is coming with submitting my insurance information.
Until next time...
Janine
7/14/06
Well I called Melanie today at Mercy Capitol and she said they sent all my paperwork on July 11th so it should only be a couple of weeks now until I know the status. YEAHHH. (keep your fingers crossed for a approve ok!!). Melanie wanted to reassure me that they are completely booked up through the month of August and I said that was fine as I couldn't schedule anything until after August 26th (FMLA will kick in). Just wanted to post that..now back to work!!!
7/17/06
Just wanted to quickly update that I sent an email to Wellmark's bariatric surgeries insurance department. They were able to verify that they received everything they needed and that they should know by the end of the week and would give me a call at work or on my cell phone of what the outcome is. :) can you say ANTSY!!! hehehe
7/21/06
Well I sent an email yesterday to my insurance company and she came back today apologizing as she found out the approval department is running about 2 weeks behind. She stated it will probably be the first week of August before they review my account. What a bummer. Thats okay. I'm just going to continue on with life and not think about it. I have a bunch of stuff going on the next couple of weeks so my time should go by pretty quickly. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for a big fat APPROVAL
I've also been thinking about hosting a foreign exchange student. I have the approval from the husband and so we are doing the paperwork, etc that is required.
Well that is enough for now. Until next week...
7/26/06
It has FINALLY happened! I got the call just a few minutes ago while I am at work. They told me that I have been approved for the surgery! I am so happy! I wanted to cry but then I realized I was at work and had to relax as I didn't want to cause a scene:) I called Mercy Capital right away and realized no one was there as it was their lunch hour. So I called them back after 1 and found out that Melanie is on vacation until Monday. I guess that doesn't really matter as there isn't much else I can do since I know they can't book me for a surgery until September if not October. I am so happy!! NOW..I need to get back on my diet. I have gained 7 lbs since I got my cast removed. That is RIDICULOUS!! I am going to start walking at work as well. I HAVE to get below my weight that I was weighed in at so the doctor will do the surgery! I couldn't wait to call Denise and let her know my good news! Okay I better get back to work!
7/30/06
Well I was just sitting here and looking over some more profiles. its hard to believe that I am approved. Its going to be a long painful wait for them to call me with a date. I can do it though! Well I got on the scale a few times last week and I was up to 310. How disappointing. I got on the scale this morning and I was at 306.4. WOW..it was awesome..but then of course i got on it again a few hours later and I was up to 308. WHAT THE HECK??? Still I havent' been doing any exercise...and I need to. Its so stinkin hot out though..maybe later tonight I can get my lazy ass up and go for a walk. I know I need to finish up a test for my criminal law class and study for my intro to law class tomorrow night. So when am i gonna walk?? Who knows..well my son is up so i have to get him out of his crib..just thought I'd post a lil about my weight...
7/31/06
Okay well I finally got my butt out and went walking last night. I got out of class a little early so I drove home and got my 17 mos old son ready and we headed out for a walk/stroll. It was about 8:30 and it was still kind of muggy with a little breeze. I got home around 9:15 and I felt great!!! Of course than I was wide awake so I got on the computer and played around after the kids went to bed. When I finally laid down at 11:00 p.m. I thought hmmm I should get up at 4:30 and go for a walk again. WHAT WAS I THNKING!! Well guess who DID NOT GET UP at 4:30!! ME I am going to head to our inside track at lunch time today and walk around that. I need to start getting more motivated. We have two big buildings here at FB and I think everytime I get up to go to the bathroom I am going to make a couple of laps around my building. Its not real big but should take about 5-10 minutes if I do it every time I use the bathroom.
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8/1/06
Okay so I broke down and called Melanie to see about progress on a date. She said that she has to have my sleep study reviewed by Dr. Flegal(sp?) and he on vacation til Monday. So she has it on his desk for review on Monday. Then she said it goes to the Manager to have a date picked for me. I asked for September/early October because after that my job gets really busy and I would like to be here for it (boss would appreciate it as well). She said she would make a note of it for me. She also said that there is a waiting list for September..:( Oh well, I KNOW its going to happen so I will just be patient.
She gave me an idea of what I can start to do now to get a little more comfortalbe after the surgery. Drink my water (HOW DO I MEASURE THAT!! I currently fill my 19 oz mug with ice and then fill it up and drink 3-4 of these a day, but with the ice..how do I know how much I am getting??), take small bites of food and chew to almost a paste like texture. She also said to get my vitamins and proteins. She suggested getting the Isopure off of ebay as it is the cheapest route to go. She also stated Dr. Smolik is very adament about losing 10 lbs from the date I was weighed. OUCH..that might hurt me. I'm already 5 lbs above weight and to lose 10 more (15)..I CAN DO IT! I KNOW I CAN!! I have plenty of time!
Well I went for a 25 min walk at lunch and bought a small salad (with lots of pickles and a low fat muffin) for my lunch. I might have to go for a walk tonight too (if its not too hot or rainy).
Well there you go..thats my update for now..J
8/8/06
Hi there! Well its been a couple of days so I thought I would pop in and update whats been going on. Well last week I was at my highest weight in a long time! I was at 311. I went walking every day last week and decided not to eat any breads, pastas, rice, potatoes, and limited my sweets to almost nothing. I lost 6 lbs! On Friday I was at 304.9! Well over the weekend I went to my best friends house and had some beer and went out for pizza hut (breadsticks and personal pan pizza). I had a lot of fun and did some eating. Yesterday though I did not eat very much at all. I had a slice of pizza for breakfast and a couple of diet pepsi's. For lunch/supper I had a BBop's chicken sandwich, small fries, and a chocolate shake. I know..not on my diet plan, but still it was all I had. I got on the scale today and I am down to 302.7!! YEAHH I am below the weight I weighed in at!! I'm going to continue to monitor it as i now have 9 lbs to lose by my surgery date. For breakfast today I'm having an egg scrambler and water. Lunch will be a salad and supper grilled chicken. I'm so happy that I'm losing this weight!
I am going to call Mercy today to see the status of my surgery date. I'm hoping to get the date soon! Well I better get back to work!
Janine
8/11/06
Well I talked to Susan for the 3rd time this week and still no date for the surgery. It's like all "hearsay" there. She called me back from my message that I left her this morning "to call me". She said, the last she heard was that Dr. Flegal (sp?) needed to talk to me regarding something about my sleep study and she was suppose to call me (I doubt SHE calls me..maybe an assistant). So I am frustrated. Susan said she will contact Patty again to see what the scoop is. I think I might just say screw it and stop stressing and let the date get here when it does. The only reason I was stressing is because my job gets extremely busy in Oct - end of the year and one of my associates is leaving for her honeymoon. I just dont want my boss to get upset if I cant have the surgery until October or hell even later like November (I will be mad then).
8/13/06
Well just thought I would pop in. I'm having a great morning so far! I got on the scale today and I am at 300.7!! I have lost 11 lbs in less than two weeks. I feel awesome! I havent been doing a whole lot of exercising this week (and I am sure if I did I would lose more weight) but eating only proteins is so helpful! Yesterday my friend took me to Perkins for breakfast and I ordered an heartland omelette with pancakes and breakfast potatoes. I am proud to say I only ate half the omelette, 4 bites of a pancake and about 10 of my breakfast potatoes. I did have a hot chocolate though. Normally I would have eaten all of it, but I was actually full!! WOW. :)
Well tomorrow I am going to see if i can get a hold of someone at Dr. Fleugals office to see what the hold up is with my sleep study. It shouldnt take this long to have reviewed. OKay..I better quit my whining. TTYL
8/21/06
Finally a sleep study consult!!!
ALRIGHTY we are moving along again! I have a sleep study consult on Sept 6th at 3 p.m. with Dr. Burrows. Dr. Fleugal is so booked up that they wouldnt be able to get me in with her until October and so the office manager gave the approval for me to see Dr. Burrows. YEAHHHHH.
9/6/06
I went to the sleep study consult today with Dr. Burrows and he gave me the clearance to have the surgery! He said he would have the request faxed over to Mercy Capital by Friday afternoon. Well at 4:55 tonight I got a call from Patty. She has the date of Sept 26th at 7:30 for me!! YEAHHHHH. I will be getting a call from Tracy tomorrow to tell me about my pre-op appointment which should be the 14th. YEAHHHHH. I can't wait! I see the end in sight!!!
9/30/06
Well I'm on the losing side finally. I had my surgery on 9/26. The surgery itself went off very well and that day went pretty quickly. They were able to do a lap which I am glad for. That night was awful though. I had alot of pain medicine and I wanted to kill my nurse at 11 when he wanted me to stand along side the bed. It hurt so much!!! However, the next day I was so much better! I was up walking and drinking and even eating a lil bit. I was moved from the ICU down to the regular surgercal floor around 12:00. I did more walking and relaxing and they said I would be able to go home on Thursday. I left Thursday afternoon feeling just wonderful! However, on Friday I did too much! I got up and started doing my morning ritual of vitamins and water, etc. Went for a nice walk and then in the afternoon my friend and son and I went to Americana and bought a washer and dryer for my new place. Then at 3:00 we went to Madrid to pick up my girls from school. We also went by my ex's to pick up some more belongings that needed to come back to our new place. I didnt feel too terribly bad yesterday, stuck with the pain medicine and I was okay. Well than last night we ran to the Dollar General store and did some shopping and then I went to Lowes to get my dryer vent. I wasnt feelling good by this time. It was more like I had a gas bubble that was hurting. I also hadnt eaten anything for a long time so I'm not sure if that had something to do with it. I got home and my friends unloaded my washer and dryer and I ate my chicken broth and potassium (GROSS) and lots of liquids. I had to take a couple of my tests for school last night so I stayed up til almost midnigt doing this. Well i woke up today and OH MY GOD I HURT! I couldnt even walk all the way into the kitchen to get more pain medicine. I dont know if all the activity is what caused it or what but I was in so much pain. I barely made it back to my bed and my friend got me an ice pack to put on my belly to help the pain. Its still sore (an hour later) but I was able to get up and use the bathroom. I'm also discharging alot of drainage from my JP Drain. Its red and doesnt look funny but its alot! So today I'm not doing much of anything but lay in bed. I know I need to walk, but I think it will just be locally around the house and maybe around the block once or twice.
I will continue to try to update as often as I can....
October 6th
Well I went to the ER today via ambulance. I had been having some drastic pain in my JP drain area. So I got to the hospital and found out I had fever 101.6, blood pressure high, and pulse WAY over 100. They did a CT scan and couldnt find anything. They did some other tests and nothing. Since I had a feverthey were gonna keep me over night so I headed up stairs after 5 1/2 hours in the ER. Finally around noon on Saturday Dr. Smolik came in and pulled out the tube. It was so tender around it and it hurt so bad to get up and move out of bed. He put this wick in it to keep it open in case of any discharge that he needed to look at. Well that made it WORSE. Instead of a stabbing pain I had a BURNING pain whenever I tried to move. This was much worse than the stabbing. It took 3 nurses to help me stand up out of bed to go to the bathroom and I was getting the morphine about every hour.
My fever kept going up and down but my white blood count was going down so they werent concerned until morning. My morning blood draw showed my white blood count went from 8000 to 18000 so Dr. Smolik called and said he wanted to go in and look around. So Sunday morning around 9:45 I was zonking out on the table again. I woke up and around 1:30 was heading backc to my room. They found an infection where the JP tube was. They checked for leaks and didnt see any so I got a new JP tube on my right side and the G tube for nourishment. I was very drugged up most of Sunday. BUT when I got up Sun night I felt soooo good! Today was even better!!! I got up all by myself and I feel SOOO much better!
I unfortnately cant eat or drink anything for a week via my mouth. I have to put everything through my G tube. Its gonna suck..but I know I can do it. Now that I'm not in so much pain I know there is a light at the end of the tunnel!!!!
YEAHH
My ongoing weight loss record
6/05/06 303.4lbs (date weighed in for diet and exercise class)
9/26/06 295.6lbs (day of surgery)
9/28/06 295.4lbs (day I left hospital)
10/2/06 285.5lbs (6 days from surgery)
About Me
Perry, IA
Location
28.3
BMI
Surgery
09/26/2006
Surgery Date
Jan 09, 2006
Member Since
