CAHENSLEY
Feb 3, 2007
Hello! My name is Carol and I am a proud mother of 4 beautiful children. As I have read with most of you on here, I am morbidly obese and very unhappy with myself. I wanted this surgery 9 years ago but the Dr that I was going to scared me out of having it so here I am still needing it. I have been chunky since high school weighing 135 at 5'3 my senior year but with my first pregnancy I gained 89lbs. They kept telling me most was fluid but it never went away. That was in 1988 and after my third child in Dec 1990 I started losing. By the time I found out I was pregnant the fourth time in 1996, I was around 170lbs and felt good and looked good believe it or not. I've always been one of those people that other people will say "you don't look like your that overweight". I gained 92 lbs with my fourth pregnancy and have gained even more over the years. My weight now is around 280lbs and I am miserable. I was going from 230lbs- 255lbs over the last few years but then I moved to California May 2006 andhave put on atleast 30lbs since then. I have high blood pressure, an enlarged artery and 2 leaking valves from being overweight and I don't want to be a sickly person the rest of my life. I want to have this surgery so I a can feel better about myself, lower my blood pressure, become more active and be able to do all the things i love to do without feeling selfconscious about it. I decided in Nov 2006 that I wanted to check into the surgey again. I went online and found Dr Vierra in Monterey which is close to home so I went to his seminar. I also found Dr's Felix and Swartz at the same time so I kept them in my mind just incase. Dr Vierra was great, very thorough information during his seminar, and very honest. Unfortunately my insurance requires the surgery to be done at a Center of Expertise and the hospital Dr Vierra uses (CHOMP) is not considered that. So, I called Felix and Swartz and made an appointment. Honestly, I didn't really start all of my clearance appointments, (cariologist, nutrionist, psychologist etc.) until Jan. In Jan I also went to the seminar for Dr Felix & Dr Swartz. My cardiologist clearance was the last to be received (1/23/07) and then the Dr's office faxed my info to BCI (my insurance) for approval. I called on Friday 1/26 to verify that they had received all they needed and they had nothing logged in yet. She said it takes about 7 working days to receive and get it all logged in and for me to call back and check on the following Wed. She also said it takes 2-3 weeks for approval. I was at work Monday morning when the Dr's office called to let me know that they had received authorization!!!!!! I was blown away.... I was excited, scared and confused all at the same time. We already had our vacation planned and were going to Yosemite on 2/9 and now I have surgery scheduled for 2//7/07.
I never thought it would happen this fast and can you believe that what I'm waiting on in these last few days is my tax return so I can pay the $2000 for deductible and Dr fees on Tues (pre-op).
I'll update when I find out if I'm gonna have my money in time!! Pray for me!!!!!
Feb. 4, 2007
Looks like there's no backing out now! LOL I'm feeling a little more excitement today than I was and I am glad of that. Thanks to all of you who have responded to my posts and sent me your prayers. Lord knows you can never have too much prayer.
