BlondeOne

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FIFTH WEEK - I'm down 27 lbs.  I'm going to stay away from bread... it fills me up too fast.  Tried an apple this week, it was kind of hard to get down, as it was kind of dry, but I made sure that I chewed it up really good.  I still have not thrown up or even upheaved at all since the operation.  I do find that I eat too fast, so I'm working on that.  It takes me like 15 minutes to finish my meal.  I am married to a military man, who has been trained to eat his meal in 5 mintues, so that's what I'm used to.

I've been able to eat some veggies and chili with hamburger in it - I chew it really thorough.  No caffiene (I used to be a Coke-a-holic and french vanilla cappaccino junkie), and I've been without them now for over a month - I'm so proud of myself!!!!  One thing that I'm upset about is that Easter just passed.  Of course the Easter bunny had to make a basket for everyone, so I've been tapping into mine here and there and eating a little chocolate.  I HAVE TO STOP!!!      I feel like I'm sabatosing(sp?) myself!!!  I just can't picture myself down to like 130 lbs.  I've been trapped in this fat body for sooooo long that I just lost sight of it.  

March 5th - Started my 1 week pre-op clear liquid diet.  I thought I would die on this, but it's actually not too bad.  All in all, I lost 11 lbs. in this week.  Just eating Jello, chicken/veggie broth, and drinking lot's of water. 


March 12th - 10 a.m.  Went in for surgery and took my 16 year old son to the hospital with me.  My husband couldn't take the day off     because he had to do something important at work.  All was well until they tried to give me my IV, and the lady doing it missed the vein (OUCH!)    so she had another guy come in and do it - and thank God he did it right.  The Dr. assistant said I was second in line (behind my friend that I had met at the pre-op appt.  Her appt. was at 8 a.m.).  I got all my paperwork done, changed into the lovely gown that they gave me (all naked underneath of course - don't ask me why).  I had that thing wrapped almost all the way around myself.  I guess it was meant for REALLY big people.  I mean I thought I was REALLY big, but that thing was huge on me.  I wasn't sitting in the holding room for long before they wheeled me off down the hall to the surgery room.  They started talking to me and I last a whole minute before I was out of it, spread eagle on the table, naked of course, for all to see.  I remember waking up and they were going to wheel me to my room, but I felt nauseous, so they backed up and parked me back where I was.  I must have went back to sleep, because I remember being wheeled into my room like an hour later, and there was my lovely son waiting for me.  He later told me that he had been waiting in the room for me for like 2 hours.  LOL!  Poor thing!  I was feeling really thirsty, but they said I could only eat ice chips.  So that is what I was doing.  I slept till about 2 p.m. I woke up and found out that my friend that I had met in the pre-op appt. was staying in the room right across from me.  I went walking with her, then my husband finally showed up and we watched TV and I slept more.  

I do want to say that the night nurse at the Salt Lake Regional Hospital was horrible.  I had one problem, and that was that I felt like I had to go to the bathroom, but I just couldn't.  She said it was because the anastesia meds were still in my system and prohibiting me from urinating, so she had to put a cathater in.  Not fun!  I wanted to walk around and pressed the call button, as I didn't know how to get the compression sleeves on my legs undone, and she came in an HOUR later!  What if that was a real emergency?  Yeah, nice work chick!


March 13th - The director of the hospital came in and asked me about how my stay was, and I told him the truth.  He also asked my friend across the hall and she had a bad experience with that night nurse as well, so he got an earful about her.  Ha Ha!  The hospital brang me some jello and puree'd soup - nasty.  I could only eat a little and was totally done.  I left to go home at about 3 p.m. and that was all she wrote.

FIRST WEEK - I only took 1 week off work.  I'm fully on 1,000 Calcium Citrate.  I don't feel any stomach pain, only a little cramping when I eat, as I can feel all the air that I am swallowing with the food.  Trying to get past the no drinking while eating - that's a hard one for me.  So far, the first week is going good.  I can only drink 2 oz. and I'm totally full.  I can't even drink a full protein shake - maybe about a 1/4 cup.  I feel totally satisfied until the next meal.  Still only on the full liquid diet.  Getting up every two hours to walk, even if it's just around the house or yard.

SECOND WEEK - Back to work.  Didnt' want to go back, but I did.  I could've used one more day off, but I have a desk job, so it wasnt' too bad.  The second day was better.  I also went into the Dr. for my one week post-op appt. and saw the Dr.'s assistant.  All is looking fine.  One of my incisions is looking a little gross, so she put me on an anti-biotic to be safe.  Still only on the full liquid diet.  Having trouble getting all my 64 oz. of water in, so I've been having some dehydration headaches in the morning, but I'm working on that.

THIRD WEEK - I went back to the Dr.'s office to have them check my incision, and I have a rash all over that started on day 10 of taking the anti-biotics.  Oh man this is fun!  It's starting to itch too.  The Dr.'s assitant says it's an allergic reaction to the anti-biotics, so she put me on a different one for 4 days.  Wow!  That's a first.  Also, I found out that I'm allergic to band-aids when I put them on my stomach.  I've been putting them over my incision to hold it closed and it's all red where they were... guess I won't be doing that anymore.  I'm on soft foods now, so I've been eating eggs, refried beans, cottage cheese, yogurt, Jello, fat free pudding, etc.  I can't stand string cheese anymore - the consistancy in my mouth after chewing it really good is gross.  Also, it's giving me indigestion.  Seems I've been getting more of that lately.  I've noticed this week that I'm getting hungry about an hour or so after I eat.  This sensation has been gone for the past few weeks, and I'm not sure why it's coming back now.  I used to feel totally satisfied and not even think about food until the next meal, but now I'm finding myself wanting to snack.  I'm trying to stay away from this thinking by doing something else to keep myself busy...

FOURTH WEEK -  Made sure that when I went in for my 1 month post-op appt., that I saw the Dr. and not the Dr.'s assistant.  My incision on one side is still not closing and just not looking right.  He wants to see me back in another 2 weeks, and said that I am only to see him.  Ha Ha!  I knew that would work.  I'm now moving onto half soft foods/half full foods.  Still being iffy and only trying a few new things at a time.  Bananas and strawberries are working good for me in the fruit department.

I'm down 24 lbs. in the first month!!!  No one at work has noticed, so I'm not saying a word.  My husband and mother say that they can see it, but I dunno.  I can feel the difference like when I'm in the shower washing - I don't have to stretch so far to wash my back and stuff, plus in my waist I know that I've lost inches.  I haven't been measuring myself, so I might want to try. 

 

The insurance specialist at my weight loss Dr.'s office said they need to schedule me in the next two weeks to have the surgery or they have to re-submit information to the insurance office.

I went to go get my labs retaken, as the last one's I did was a year ago (when I was thinking I was right around the corner from getting approved, but didn't have anything in place) and the lab tech told me they would be back in 7 DAYS!!!  Holy cow!  So... I'm just waiting on them to come back now...

UPDATE:

February 17th - The insurance specialist called me and said the labs are in, all looks great, and that I need to start taking a calcium/Vitamin D pill, as my levels were low.  I scheduled my surgery date for MARCH 12, 2012!!!!!!

UPDATE:

February 23rd - Went in for my evaluation pre-surgery appointment.  Paid the rest of the $500 balance due to the surgeons office ($250) and got a lot of information.  Met a really neat girl that was sitting next to me in the meeting.  We are having the same procedure done on the same day - so that was neat.  If you get on here and are reading this, "Hello Shauna!!"

Happy New Year!  I hope this year brings me great things in life, and you as well!!!

I finally heard back from the weight loss insurance specialist.  she said she has submitted all my paperwork to the insurance, and it looked good.  The insurance company has 10 days to approve or deny me, so Im hoping for good things.  We shall see!!!
 
UPDATE:

January 17th - I haven't heard back from the insurance specialist, and it's been 12 days, so I called my insurance company today. I asked them if they had anything pending for me for surgeries, and they said NO!! Hello! So I called the insurance specialist and told her that the insurance company doesn't have anything on me and she stated it had been submitted, but that she would re-submit it.

So I've pretty much been sitting here wasting time for 2 weeks for nothing. Let's get a move on this please!!!

UPDATE:

January 21st - Just heard back from the insurance specialist at the weight loss Dr.'s office and...





I'VE BEEN APPROVED!!!!!!  WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!           

Still waiting to hear back from the weight loss insurance specialist.  I have submitted all my Dr.'s records for her to go over.  I know they are very busy, but this is a little ridiculous!  I call at least every two weeks and she never answers or returns my calls.  I'm starting to think that they don't think I will be approved, so they are putting me on the back burner...

Very frustrating!!

Just been finishing with gathering all my records for the insurance company.  Finally submitted it to my weight loss insurance POC.  She said it can take a while to submit and hear back, so I'm holding my breath.

I've been trucking along on this 6-month diet and I've lost 28 lbs.  I think this will suffice for my records and the insurance company.

I just reduced what I have been eating, walking/running at the gym 3X a week, and doing Zumba 3X a week as well.  Seems to be working. 

Going into my chiropractor/nutritionist to start my 6-month diet that my insurance needs before I can even think of getting my VSG surgery.  Today I'm weighing in at 259, so we will see how it all goes. 

Hello!

During this time, I've been trying to get all my ducks in a row before submitting my paperwork to the insurance company.  I have been going to every Dr. that I can to document all my health problems.  I have gone to the chiropractor to document my lower back pain, my primary Dr. to document that my side hurts, my OB/GYN to document the cysts on my ovary and kidney, my neurologist to document my migraines, etc.  I've gone in for a sleep apnea test (which was real fun - tons of wires hooked to you with a camera watching you all night long - LOL!)  and it came back negative.  Kind of sad about this, as I thought maybe this was why I was waking up with my migraines, but I guess not.

Anyways, once I have copies of all the records and problems, I can send that to my weight loss Dr. for submital.  It's crazy, but I know this takes time. 

I've been trying to get into all of my Dr.'s to note any problems that I have, no matter if they are big or small.  I just need it documented.

So far I have lower back pain, migraines, plantar facitis, my knees are starting to ache, I just found out that I have a cyst on my kidney and one of my ovaries, so I will keep finding these lurking co-morbs and get them documented.