PRE OP JOURNAL

02/03/02 - I went to see Sandra today at Medical City and she is in good spirits. She had vistors and she was feeling well. It was really hard to believe that she had just had WLS or any type of surgery for that matter a few days ago. I was so shocked at how well she was feeling. She was smiling and lughing and having so much fun. It was my first time meeting her and she is such a sweet and charming woman. I was so happy for her.

2/5/02 9:18pm - Went to the PCP today and he has refered me to a Gastronologist for my stomach pains. I have an appointment 2/12/02. There they will take xrays and do some kind of scope so they can get a better look. I just hope the pain goes away or is not to bad to handle until then. I also went to see the shrink today and I took a psych eval MCMI-III. He was a nice guy. I will get the results back in a few weeks hopefully I am not a psycho..LOL.. I called the surgeon first because the main test that they usually do was not available to me through this shrink and he was listed with my insurance. Dr. McCarty said that the test was fine with him, but he was not sure that it was fine withe the insurance company, but who cares as long as he is able to find out whether or not I am of sound mind this test should be sufficent and if UHC has a problem with that I will appeal and keep appealing til they see it my way.. Such a great day..

2/8/02 - Received a call from Monique at United Healthcare in regards to my long long letter about RNY Gastric Bypass surgery and my pursuit to have it by Dr. Todd McCarty. She said that my BMI and co-morbids certainly qualifies me, but they need a letter of medical neccessity from the surgeon and then they will pursue my approval or denial process. UGHHHH! This is killing me. Hopefully this will all be done before I am jobless and without insurance. I am so powerless right now and all I can do is turn it over to God.

2/12/02 -Today @3:30 pm I go to the Gastro doctor to get test ran. Hopefully they will do an Upper GI and chest xray or ultrasound. I am having stomach and chest pains. From what I have been reading it sounds like glaabladder problems or heart attack. It is scary and I just pray that I am ok. I am also getting depressed about the whole waiting game. I am in the begining preop phase of my WLS journey and I have had my psych eval already and my PCP supports me. I am just waiting for the seminar. I tried to explain it to my surgeon about me getting laid off and he still insist that I wait til March 14th.The worst part is I am getting laid off in May and I am terrified that I will not be able to have the surgery before I no longer have a job. I have fabulous insurance United Healthcare and I am so afraid another 3-5 yrs or 100 - 200 lbs will go by and I will be screwed worse than I already am health wise. I am trying to maintain and be so strong, but I cannot keep the tears from flowing and I don't know how to make it stop. Good luck everyone. I wish you all the best during your wls journey and my prayers are with you all. Sorry to bring you all down.

2/13/02 - The countdown begins now. I went to Dr. McCarty's WLS seminar tonight and was quite pleased. I turned in my paper work and now the rea waiting game begins. I went to have my bloodwork done today and I have all of my pre op testing scheduled for the next two weeks. I am floating on cloud 9 right now.I never thought that anticipating insurance approval/ rejection could make me feel this way.

2/19/02 - Hello Amos family. I just got back from my Psychologist bi weekly session and he has gotten the results back from my psych eval and he says that I am sane with depressive tendencies. DUH!!!!!! I told him if he had my health issues and was as big as a house I would think he would have a thing or two to be depressed about..LOL. Anyways I told him that I would continue my sessions with him, but he said the good thing is I am sane and sound and he is tyoing up my letter to send to my surgeon to send to insurance company. I have my EGD tommorrow. I am so tired of this waiting and the sad thing is, I am just in the begining phases. Does this feeling ever go away? I know that once the insurance receives my info I will feel a little better, but this frustration is constant and it feels almost as if it is causing me more stress. I have been meditating and praying and talking to close friends and family about my feelings. Patientence is a character flaw I need to work on because I know I have a long and bumpy road ahead of me. I wish you all well and I am so happy for everyone in their WLS journey pre or post op. Take care you guys.

2/20/02 - I just got back from my pre op EGD. I am not relly sure what happened or what was done. I do not even remember seeing the doctor before I went under. I do know some idiot nurse popped a blood vessel trying to get my IV in. My hand is so sore and bruised. I guess I am in training for what is to come later on with RNY surgery.After I got out of recovery my doctor came in and told me that they took a biopsy and gave me some pics. What am I suppose to do with those? Sell them online???LOL. I am still a lil loopy, but I am fine. I hope all is well with everyone.Take care.

2/22/02 - WARNING LONG POST: Hello AMOS family. I hope all is well. My heart goes out to those who are having tough times post or preop. Take comfort in knowing that" This too shall pass". I am very fortunate to be in a position to have a job that has great insurance, but for others who do not and are facing brick walls everyway they turn "keep the faith" and know that you prayers will be answered. They may not be answered exactly when you want them to, but be patient and rest assured that they will be answered. To those who are having to self pay or find people to assist with surgery cost you should feel no shame or disappointment with yourself in asking of help from others. The worst they can say is no. You have worked previously and your tax dollars have gone to support things of lesser severity and if now you need those tax dollars to save your life, go for it. People always seem to knock people down when they have not been in there shoes. DO NOT worry about people who do not support you or do not have your best interest at heart. You will be a stronger person for moving on and doing what is right for you in the face of adversity. I applaud you all for your support online and suggestions. I called my insurance on Friday to find out if my PCP's letter had been received. I spoke with someone from United Healthcare and they said that the letter had been received and all of my information has been entered into the computer and now the only thing they need is my letter from my surgeon for medical neccessity. I am so happy. She said that they approve LAP RNY all the time. She also said that my policy does not have an exclusion and once Dr. McCarty sends the letter ( his office says 6 weeks after WLS seminar so that means before March 28, 2002) they can approve my surgery. They just need the appropriate billing codes. I am so excited. That means I am this much closer, but still so far away. Once the approval is in writing I can have a consult scheduled and the surgery scheduled. It seems that he is all the way to April now with surgery dates. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it is before June 2002. I have the rest of preop stuff on Monday.

2/25/02 and 3/19/02 then I will be done unless Dr. McCarty has further test he wants run after consult and before surgery. YEAH. Doesn't it feel great to be proactive and take charge of your life. Take care everyone. Be kind to one another. Remember ..everyone is different in their approaches,expectations, and results with WLS. No two people are alike. What worked for Jack may not work for Jill.lol. Never compare yourself to anyone because we are all individuals who are special gifts from GOD. If you are down and out just call on someone and work through your issues. In time all your frustrations and pains will dissolve. See ya.

2/25/02 - I just wanted to write and say hello and congratulate you all on your success with losing and starting your new lives. How long is the surgery time for LAP when gallbladder removal is included?I have been at the hospital all day doing test for some major stomach pains I have been having. I feel like I have no more dignity left in me. I have been poked,prodded, and disrobed all day by doctors and nurses. I had more extensive blood work done to figure out the cause of my anemia and was actually stuck 6 times because my veins kept moving and now I have what look like track marks on the top of both hands, both arms, and the lower part of my arms.I am in pain and my veins have been popped and are now bruised and swollen. Last time I will go to this place. It took four nurses to finally stick me. I had a abdomen sonogram done today to find out why I have been having so much pain in my stomach. Turns out I have gallstones. The weird thing is I am actually pleased about that. I heard that when you have gallstones and have problems with them that you have to have your gallbladder removed. I guess this means I can have both rny and gallbladder in the same time now and not be cut back open a year from now after I losose major amounts of weight. I am still in a lot of pain, but quite thrilled about having it removed now and not much later. I also had a colonoscopy and discovered I had 3 polyps. That is not what I expected and I am somewhat terrified. They were removed, but I have been reading about them and now I am afraid that I have cancer. I will not know until the results get back. Cancer seems to run in my family and I have been crying all day. I am so scared. I am also sad because it seems like something is always happening to me to keep me from having this surgery. I have been trying to have this surgery for 5 years now.I hope I do not have cancer and I will be able to have this surgery. Please pray for me and keep up the good work guys. I am so proud of you all. I am way to young to be this sick and diseased. Will the pain and suffering ever end?

3/19/02 - I had my stress echocardiogram today and was cleared for surgery by cardiologist.

3/20/02 - I GOT APPROVED!! I GOT APPROVED! I am so excited. I called the insurance day after day after the letters were mailed last week and finally today I called and it was approved. I am so thankful for all of your help and supoort. I am so glad that there is a ressource of information online for me to access. Please pray for my roommate Shanna. She is patiently waiting approval. I wish you all the best and I hope everyone has an uneventful surgery day. Love you all.

3/22/02 - My roommate Shanna was approved today. Celebration this week end.

4/03/02 - I have been so busy here lately. I have been preparing for surgery and spending time educating my family about surgery and what I will be going through. My consultation date is set for May 6, 2002. I will be in Cancun May 23-30, 2002. I imagine my surgery will probably be when I return. I will find out the for sure date May 6, 2002. The doctor gave the insurance a dummy date and I just found out it was not the offical date. I have been trying protein shakes and I am so glad that I can tolerate them now. I know that could be a different story later after surgery. I am also going to start stocking up on shakes, proteinex, betadyne, and low fat recipes. I am so pumped. April will fly by and my consult date will be here in no time.

4/4/02 - Hello everyone. I just wanted to write to say hello. I have not posted for a while, but I have been reading everyday. I just wanted to wish all of you well. I have nothing new to report. I have my consultation on May 6, 2002 and I am just patiently waiting. I have been preparing myself for surgery. I have also started taking my vitamin supplements now so that I can get into the habit of taking them now. I have also been going to theraphy to deal with the mental aspect of being obeses all of my life and now having the chance to live a normal healthy life. I know I will have to work hard to acheive my goal weight of 150, but this new tool that I will have will make things easier for me. I hope everyone is doing great and to all you pre ops waiting approval I wish you the best. Take care everyone.

4/7/02 - I had my consult with Dr. McCarty yesterday and I am quite pleased with choosing him as my surgeon he was very easy to talk to. He was very nice and down to earth and he put my mind at ease. I was somewhat shocked to find out that I am having my surgery distal as I thought that was reserved for the Super Morbidly Obese. I was somewhat freaked about it all day yesterday, but after talking to several Distal patients who had the same amount bypassed I feel better. I am having 150 cm bypassed and some consider that medial not distal so I will have some issues, but not as many as full distals patients. Surgery is set for June 6, 2002. I have to be there at 5:30 am and surgery is scheduled for 7:30 am. I have to go an preregister on May 31, 2002. My nutrition class is scheduled for June 13, 2002. I am so excited and so ready to get this show on the road. I am ready for my new life to begin.

5/15/02 - I have 23 more days til my surgery and I am getting so inpatient. I guess the fact that my roommate had her surgery last Friday does not help me. lol. I have been seeing what she is going through as far as recovery and pain. While I know everyones results and experiences are different I am learning a lot and helping her by using a lot of what you guys have posted about to help ease her post op symptoms. Thank you.

I am getting to the point where I am getting scared to drive ( DON'T LAUGH) out of fear that someone will hit me and kill me or injure me and cause my surgery to be postphoned. Stupid huh?? lol. I also have a trip planned to go to Cancun, Mexico and I leave next Thursday and I am so scared to fly now because of my up coming surgery.

I went to the doctor today because my allergies were acting up and I feel a upper respiratory infection coming so he gave me 20 days worth of antibiotics(Cipro) to fight off infection and to help me when I am in Cancun. I am making sure that nothing intereferes with my sugery. I have come to far to let anything get in my way. Take care everyone and good luck.