StephieD

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1-19-12

Well I have finally been cleared for surgery. It has been a long thought out process for me. I attended my first bariatric seminar in 2009. I researched and read countless articles and blogs from various forums and sites. I revisited it again in July of 2011 and made the decision to go through the process. I started with all my appointments in August and finished in December. It took a little longer bc I had to pay a lot of my co-pays up front and some were hundreds of dollars despite my "great" insurance. The last hurdle was Pulmonology. I thought I was good to go based on my conversation with the Dr. I found out later that wasn't the case  I had called my surgical group and informed me that I was done. I completed everything. They pulled my chart and delivered a blow  They said the the doctor wouldn't clear me until I had another sleep study done! I was diagnosed with sleep apnea in 2009 and because I answered her question honestly regarding the use of my C-PAP machine she wouldn't clear me. I refused to pay any more money for any more testing just bc I don't use my machine every night. I was able to work through it with the medical company that issued me my machine without having to pay any more money. I did everything I was asked to do, finally I would be cleared. WRONG! The doctor then wanting my machine checked to see if it was calibrated based on the test I had to complete. Did I mention that my stats from the titration test were exactly the same as my original sleep study! go figure, nothing changed I just DONT USE THE MACHINE ! So, I got that taken care of on12/23/11. My machine was fine, pressure was the same again, no change I just DONT USE THE MACHINE You have to laugh! I hand delivered all the paperwork from the medical company to the pulmonologist because I was going to make sure that it ended up in the right person's hands and not sit on the fax machine. Approximately 2 weeks later the surgical group calls me to tell me the pulmonologist still did not clear me and did not receive any paperwork. Are you FN kidding me? If that didn't send me into a tizy! I made a phone call to the office manager where the doctor is employed at 4:15 pm. I had to leave a message of course. I was like "great, no telling how long it is going to take for him to call me back." He called me at 4:35 pm and I explained my frustration with the pulmonologist and everything I had to go through and how this was the LAST hurdle and I was not going to jump through anymore hoops . He was extremely nice and apologetic and agreed that I should not have had to endure some of the headache. He said I was expressing myself in a very calm manner despite how frustrated I kept saying I was. That is because he listened to me and seemed genuinely concerned. He said he would investigate and get back to me in a few days. He called me the very next morning and informed me that the doctor would be clearing me provided I am C-PAP compliant. In which I responded "ABSOLUTELY I'M COMPLIANT! I wear that darn thing every night!"

My surgical group called me a few days later and scheduled my appointment for Feb 1st to meet with my surgeon. Praise God!

Now that I have completed everything, I would be lying if I said I am ready and I know what procedure I want. Truth is I'm scared that I'm going to make the wrong decision. It doesn't matter how many articles or blogs you read or how many people you talk to, bottom line is everybody's body is different. There is no way to truly know what your outcome is until you have gone through it. So with that said, I am going to wait until I meet the surgeon and hear what he has to say based on the results of all my testing. I have prepared a lists of questions and have even printed a few things to take with me. It doesn't hurt to pray either :)