Melissa D.

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WELL I'M OFFICALLY 2O DAYS POST-OP AND DING PRETT,Y GOOD. THAT FIRST 7 DAYS I LOST 16 POUNDS!! BUT ALL THIS WEEK NOTHING, WELL UNTIL THIS EVENING AND I AM DOWN 2 POUNDS.......I CANT BELEIF YOU LOSS SO MUCH AT FIRST THEN IT A STALL SO QUICKLY. I DONT KNOW IF ITS BECAUSE WITH SCHOOL AND ALL MORE THAN A FEW DAYS I FORGOT MY VITAMINS AND STUFF AND I DONT GET EVEN CLOSE TO THE AMOUNT OF FLUIDS I NEED. I DO FEEL BETTER BUT AT IU MOST OF THE TEACHERS WONT LET U HAVE DRINKS IN CLASS AND IM THERE 2;30PM-9PM SO THATS A LONG STRECH TO NOT BE ALLOWED TO HAVE FLUIDS I DIITH ALL THE PAST DIETS THEY DIDD NOTICE ON THE FORUM SEVERAL NEW POST-OP PEOPLE ARE HAVING THE SAME ISSUE. MAYBE IT AINT SO BAD IT JUST FREAKS ME OUT WHITH ALL THE DIET I'VE DONE THEY WOULD DO THE SAME THING THEN AFTER A WHILE IT SHOULD START BACK UP..HOPEFULLY!!!

Well sorry first off i havent been on here keeping things updated, first off they cancelled my surgery on August 14 because of my blood work....truth be told he was not happy i had a high nicotine level but was cool and we where going ahead with it But then the "Nurses" at the Bariatric center called him concerned suppositly that with a high nicotine level, a morphine pump , COPD and sleep apnea they felt my surgery should be delayed...OMG the respitory theripist that did my pulm function test said it showed i have minimal asthma...i was pissed anyway He did agree to Aug 20 if i could come up and repeat my nicotine level in time well they send it to Virgina so i couldnt get a ride to Indy in time so we did in AUGUST 28, 2009 Thats my new birthday!!! I did pretty well Dr Huse was amazing and he was able to do it Laperscopicly even though I have that Morphine pump in my right upper abdomen Im home of course still on my full liquids I have no luck what so ever getting my meals let alone fluids in seems with all the meds there isnt enough time in the day the first week I lost a whooping 16 pounds but the second week Ive stayed the same????? It has to be because i'm not getting the fluids and protein I'm trying but I started my Jr year of my masters degree 3 days before surgery and i only stayed out the first week (Last week) you CANT aford to miss that many classes and trying to accomadate a fluid liquid diet and high protein is impossible on campus at least at IU it is weell i always said i wouldnt be one of those people who disappear from the site after having surgery so I'll talk to you soon

HELLO EVERYONE! WEEL I GO TO MY NUTRITION CLASS ON TUESDAY(AUG 11TH) AT ST. VINCENT CARAMEL..THIS PAST WEEK I'VE HAD MORE THAN ONE PERSON GIVE ME THEIR OPINION ON WHY I DONT NEED THIS SURGERY...UUGH. IT GETS SO CRAZY ONE GIRL SAID HEY THATS REALLY DANGER, YOU DONT NEED IT" SHE SAID " I USED TO WEIGH 210 I WAS ALWAYS A BIG GIRL IF I GET YOU ON THE POWER GYM ALL THAT WEIGHT WILL DISAPPER" WELL I REMINDED HER OF MY NUMEROUS BACK SURGERY AND MY RIGHT LEG FROM THE KNEE DOWN IS PARALYSIZED SO HOW DO I GET ON THE GYM MACHINES?? HELL I CAN'T EVEN DO THE REGULAR STRESS TEST FOR PRE-OP.SHE ACTUALLY HAD THE NERVE TO SAY "WELL YOU COULD DO VARIOUS ARM EXERCISES" WELL HELLO JUST USING YOURE ARMS DOES NOTHING. IN A WAY I'M GLAD WE HAD THAT CONVERSATION. I WAS STARTING TO GET PRE SURGERY NERVES, WONDERING IF I WAS REALLY DOING THE RIGHT THING, DID I REALLY NEED THIS DRASTIC STEP? HELL YES I HAD TO LOOK BACK THRU MY JOURNALS WHERE I TALKED ABOUT HOW I FELT HEALTH WISE, EMOTIONAL WISE, EVERYTHING HOW IT FEELS TO HAVE YOUG KIDS AND TEENAGERS POINT AN MAKE SMART AZZ COMMENTS AND JUST FEELING SO UNCOMFORTABLE IN MY OWN SKIN. BEING EMBARRESTED TO GO ANYWHERE IN PUBLIC BECAUSE YOU FEEL EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT HOW FAT YOU ARE UNDER THEIR BREATH. ANYWAY I'M MORE DETERMINED THAN EVER IT'S TUESDAY MORNING 2:30 AM SO MY SURGERY IS JUST 3 DAYS AWAY!!!! AUG 14 WILL BE MY NEW BIRTHDAY! GOD BLESS YOU ALL

Well hello everyone...I'm going to try this again I typed up a note a few days again filling in EVERYTHING that had been going on and it was pretty long ,then I lost connection and it was all erased!!! and I had been typing like 45 minute( I type with one finger).So anyway I drove up to Indianapolis(2 hours) on the 23rd of July to get my history and physical that I need before surgery. Well Fran from Dr.Huse's office called a day or two before and told me I needed to be at the hospital at 6:30 am to register and have some tests done. So I had to leave home by 4:15 am !!!!!My friend Bonnie was driving up with me and I felt so bad for her and guilty cause she's a night owl not a morning person.well I had  like 6 vials of blood taken,chest xray ray,urine test, pulmanary function test,gallbladder ultra sound and a upper GI which I thought would kill me!!!! after drinking that nasty chalk smoothy you have to roll a round to coat ur stomach and mine wouldnt move right or something probably because of that hiatal hernia we found out I had when I did that endoscopy for the other surgeon in December I started feeling REALLY sick and dizzy but I managed to hold it together but as soon as she said they we're going to check the films I had to bolt to the bathroom and well you know what  happened next Then she tells me if the pictures arent clear we will have to redo them....So I would have to drink another glass of the crap since I just lost it all in the toilet.I seriously considered " Do I really want to go through this again?" & "should I just say piss on it" luckely my logic kicked in and said "Hell ya I'll do it again" my Lord it been 15 months, I've just jumped through hoops and stood on my head to have this done, I guess it was just because I felt soooo sick and dizzy then burning up hot, my friend told my she had pretty much the same reaction and they told her she was allergic to the contrast they had her drink, so maybe I'm allergic ? that is the first time I've had a UGI done and drank that stuff. well after all morning of testing @ the hospital, I had to go to Dr Paige Huls office for my history and physical but my appointment wasn't until 1:30 pm so I had 3 hours to blow while feeling like I wanted to just curl up into a ball and sleep or die( forgot to mention people were over at the house the night before and it was after 1 am before I could get them to leave, even though I said more than once that I had to be up by 3 am to go to Indy.) we went ahead and went to Dr Huls office and she agreed to see me early so she saw me at 11:45 and I really liked her she was really nice and a "open" person if ya know what I mean you can talk to her and not be intimadated. If I lived in Indy I would absolutely have her as my primary care doctor in a second..anyway my next and last appointment is the nutrition class on Aug 11 then *~SURGERY~* on Aug. 14th!!! yeah Ive started the count down 15 DATES UNTIL SURGERY!!!!!!!!!!

I cant believe it after saying it would be Thurs or Friday (16th) Fran called and said if I could get one of the 3 Doctors names she gave me to see me no later than next week for my history and physical my surgery would be Aug.14th!!! OMG OMFG!!!!!!!!! I am kinda in shock it seems unreal actually that this almost year and a half long fight maybe almost over! I hit the phones hard cause it was almost 3pm already I had strong doubts that I would find a dr that would see me that soon most arebooked up at least a month or two in advance next surgery date available she said was the 20 of Aug. and thats 4 days befor school starts back for my masters in Psychology,I cant afford to miss any of those classes...ANYWAY I will see a Dr.Huls on July 23 @1:30pm but I have to be at ST.Vincent @6:30am for "pre-ops" nothing to eat or drink after midnight etc..etc.. So I called fran and gave her that info. she told me I needed to schedule my all day nutrition class That is tomorrow the 16th starting @ 8:30am-4-4:30pm but I'. also scheduled to have my morphine pump filled so I'll just hang out up there until 6pm and kill 2 birds with one stone. It will be a super long stressful day but I have to get it done..Im so excited!!!! 30 das and counting Pray for me

OMG...I cant believe it, finally after 14 months the beginning to the end of this journey is in site. Renee called on June 28 and said she had all my paper work together and would be giving it to Fran to set up pre-ops, nutrition class etc and Fran would give me a surgery date by the end of the week which I didnt realize was 4th of July so I called her on Monday but just got a machine so i left a message.well she called back Tuesday morning and said she was going thru papers and it may be NEXT Thurs or Fri before she calls which would be July 16th!...uugh this whole process will drive you crazy if you let it..but we just have to remember it it will be worth it when you finally do get that date and have the surgery that will give you a whole new life that we so badely want and need..keep ur fingers crossed and pray for me..untill next time

Well Renee called my back the next day,May29th, and said my medicaid didnt go thru I explained how I got a letter in April saying I didnt file a renewal way back in Sept!! after talking for a minute and telling her I would rather move forward with just my Medicare and pay the 20% they dont cover..We knew back in Oct of last year when I was seeing that "other" Dr. that I met Medicares criteria without any problems. she said if I reapplied for medicaid we could file as soon as it was back in effect which takes about 45 days, No way do I want to wait that long Dr Huse is already scheduling surgeries into July and August If I wait for medicaid I'll already be well into the fall semester at school and cant afford to be missing 1-2 wks of class room and thats pushing it to be able to get back to school that fast post-op. So I finally conviced her to just go forward with Medicare only. In the fall (Aug) I will get a pell grant and a stanford loan for school but I only have to buy books out of it so i should be able to make a good size dent in that percentage I have to pay. From reading other members posts seems like I have to pay the deductable which is under a $1000 then sign a agreement with the hospital to make monthly payments to have balance paid off in 12 months or less It was like 3-5 yrs ago so maybe its changed I know the deductables have went up. I wish more people would post on the insurance page almost ALL of those posts are 2001-2003....6 years old!!! come on guys us newbies need some input! anyway I told Renee we would go that way and god forbid if I cant get arrangments made or come up with enough money for the down payment THEN I will reapply for medicaid( I know I'll get it cause of disability) wait for it to take affect and submit for approval then..But please keep your fingers crossed for me that we can go forward with just Medicare I dont care about paying $3000-5000 out of pocket to get this done sooner just wish it was over already!!

   Well I've been really bad and not been on here for 2 months AGAIN.I just finished school, well finished the first degree anyway now I have a vacation until August then I start working on my Masters Degree in Psychology. I must love to punish myself is the only thing I can figure.LOL. I finally called Dr Huses office today to speak to Renee,I was supposed to call 4 wks after my psych eval but was to busy with final exams. She pretty much told me they had been really busy and nothing had even been submitted to insurance yet! 2 months and nothing had been done with my paperwork, Lord help me here we go again!! But I have to give Dr Huse and Renee props, once she realized all my stuff was done and had been she assured me she would submit it tonight and for me to call her back in exactely 2 weeks from today if I hadnt recieved a call from insurance or her with approval or denial, but she assured me if for some reason it is denied Dr Huse will resubmit along with a letter to them explaining why I must have a bypass. She was really nice and apoligized a couple times. I'm so glad I changed to Dr Huse in January, He has got more done in 6 months than the Dr in Louisville did by far. I cant believe I've been in this process for a year now ! OMG it was May 13 of last year when I started seeing that other Dr.
              Not alot of anything going on otherwise. I did have to go see a foot Dr  about my left foot not wanting to stay in alignment. He said because of the brace I wear on my other leg( I have foot drop from the back surgeries)I always balance all my weight on my left foot so the strain and of course extra weight has caused alot of problems in the bone structure Long story short they need to put metal rods in 2 of my toes down into my foot to prevent total loss of use of my good leg OMG when will this crap stop?? when I lose weight or am in a wheelchair I guess. I told them I want to wait and see if the bypass goes through, it will be so much easier to recover and be less painful trying to walk if I'm even 50 pounds lighter and I'll be alot healthier too. well guess I'm going to try to start exercising again, I've really not exercised at all in like 4 months and I stopped taking the prenatal vitamin and protein powder. The local YMCA has a great aqua program and a brand new building and equipment a friend from school has been bugging me to join with her. But like every heavy person I am so self conscious about going out in public in shorts(I havent for yrs) let alone in a swim suit well guess that is a issue I'll have to work on. well I'm done talking your ear off.I dont know why I dont post more often being about to get these things off my chest really helps I LOVE MY OH FAMILY

well its been a while ...sorry... well I just had my psy eval( my 3rd) this one with Dr Stote at St Vincent Bariatric Center my 1st one wasn't a licensed psychologist so medicaid said Nope the 2nd one didn't usually do evaluations for bariatric surgery so Dr Huse said he would rather I see their psychologist.So I talked to Dr Stote for about 45 minutes he said he was impressed!! I was already doing everything they usually tell patients they need to do like behavior modification as far as eating habits(4=6 small meals VS 3 big ones not drinking or limiting drinking during meal, that's really hard!) He asked me to explain to him exactly what they Dr was going to do to my internal organs, which being a nurse I had a unfair advantage but all in all he said I was a great candidate he's not even going to recommend classes on nutrition but he does recommend the support group of course EVERYONE needs a little support....while I was in Indy I went by Dr Huses office and dropped off my 6 months worth of supervised diet forms and a 2nd copy of my letter of medical clearance the original one I turned in with all my paper work at the seminar got misplaced.Renee at Dr Huses office is great she said as soon as she gets my psych report she will submit to insurance (Please pray for me everyone) and we should have a answer in 30 days or less...on another note school is going well I graduate in May with an associate degree in criminal Justice but under the transfer pardner ship my school has I will transfer to Indiana University Southeast in august to complete my Baccalaureate I will go in as a Junior instead of having to start over which saves me several thousand dollars..plus great news for the Criminal Justice Honors Program I can do a year internship at the Prosecutors Office get class credit AND get paid too!! Thank goodness I was diligent with my grades !!!!!!!
One problem I have noticed is since I've been slacking off on the protein drinks and vitamins I am actually starting to gain again :~( I've got to do better I see my family Dr on April 3rd and she will not be happy at all but by doing a 8 week algebra class *instead of the full 16 weeks the work load is doubled and I have no real time to go the YMCA for aquatic exercise sooooo I've let it slide I'm going to get back on track next week thats all for now  ^~^ Missy^~^

Well it's been quite a week with the weather ain't it? Nothing really going on I did stop by my PCP's office Friday and pick up my medical clearance letter,I had tried for 2 days but her office was closed because of the storm anyway after I got home I couldnt wait to read what she had written after seeing the great job she did on the medical necessity letter...wellllll the gave me the same letter againand of course by the time i got home it was after 4:00pm so the office was closed so i left a voice mail for her medical assistant,Carrie trying to explain the mix up..Dr Dharashivkar has been great threw all of this ,she is doing everything she can to help me get this done.She originally recommended Rodriguiz cause she new him from school or something,when i found out he only did open Laps I asked to see a Dr Lankford in New Albany so she referred me,come to find out Dr Lankford hadnt been doing them a year yet so she wasnt a "center of excellence" which Medicare requires so that was a no go.so I was back to Dr Rodriguiz...Now I'm kinda afraid to tell her I want to go to yet another surgeon in Indy...I'm sure she'll do it but I'm I dont know "ashamed to ask" i guess even though the Dr Lankford thing wasn't my fault I dont want her to think I'm flighty.Luckly I dont have to reqest records again I made copies for myself of everything I've gotten or had done just wanted to vent alittle I'm going to visit my grandbaby now ttyl ~*Missy*~