Stephanie R.
6/16/06 - I've had my initial consult. I'm really excited to take this path in life and can't wait to get all my ducks in a row and take the next step. I have scheduled all of my visits and had my first support group meeting last night. I'm ready.
6/27/06 - Last week I went in for my avalance of bloodwork and testing. My arm is still killing me from that blood oxygen test and where they took the 3 quarts they needed or my tests, LOL. Today I had my consultation with my Psychologist and started my workup for the mental aspect of it.
My insurance denied the first claim from the facility, for the initial consultation. From what I've been reading and been told, this is pretty common since it's at the point where it's diagnosed for Morbid Obesity, and not exactly to the Bariatric Surgery stage yet. I'm hoping they end up paying it once I'm approved.
I'm still very excited to get this done. I'm counting down the days until my next visits.
7/23/06 - This past week saw the last of my Doctor's visits that I had scheduled. I saw my Nutritianist, Pulmonologist and Cardiologist. Other than the Cardiologist wanting to set me up for a stress test, I'm all finished up and waiting for my results to hit Dr Enochs office.
I'm still playing the waiting game, I guess.
8/31/06 - ARRRG! Look at that! Over a month later, and I'm STILL waiting, LOL. This is painstakingly hard. I know you all know where I'm coming from. I'm trying to hard at being patient, but holy moly it's hard. I'm still not sent to insurance, although I do think I'm alot closer. I know my cover letters written and I'm all packaged up and ready to be sent.
The only thing holding me back is my 6 month medical history from Dr George Bartels in Cary, NC. WTF Dottie the bitchy receptionist is holding my file hostage because she had a shitty day and is taking out her angst on me because "Im not her top priority and very low on her totem pole". I'm angry angry angry, and I'm a red headed cajun woman, so I'm kinda like the HULK when I'm angry. I also get vindictive and bitter, so this Dottie BITCH better hope it doesn't get to the point of me needing to go to her office.
Argh. Well, more waiting....
9/6/06 - I'm officially off to insurance as of yesterday morning. I have my recall appointment scheduled for 1 week from now, we are all hoping I will have great news from the insurance before that visit.
I can feel this getting closer and closer!!!
9/13/06 - I had my recall appointment this morning. Found out some pretty interesting news.... I HAVE GALLSTONES! So, Dr Enochs wants to remove my gallbladder. Because I'm having a LapBand procedure, it won't be done with the surgery, it will be done now and the LapBand post-poned another month. I'm hoping for it this coming monday or friday, but nothing positive just yet.
Another downside was my 10 pound weight gain since June, making Dr. Enochs want me to start losing weight again before the surgery. I should have known better, he warned me about it and instead I took the "hooray, I can eat what I want" approach. I have a month to get myself back onto a sensible eating plan and prove that my weight is ready to go back down.
Well, no more not caring for me, time to start this for good.
9/23/06 - I am recovering from gallbladder surgery. Doing well, I've lost like 8 pounds so that's great! I called my insurance who said that they had "30 days to fully review the case and hadn't heard anything from the review team." My 30 day mark is October 5th, I hope they don't take that long. I promise you that I wouldn't want to be Cigna on October 6th if they don't get that answer to be before then! :O
10/03/06 - WAAAHOOO! I'm approved! I have an administrative appointment on monday 10/9 to get me ready for probable surgery on 10/17th! I'm so excited! I have to lose 5 pounds before then, so I'm going on a full on healthy eating extreme until my surgery date now.
I'm seriously happy about all this, I just knew for sure that I was going to have a fight on my hands with my insurance. I'm thrilled that something finally went right for a change!
10-16-06 - Well, it's about that time. This is the day before my surgery. In 24 hours from now, I will be a bandster! I'm getting really nervous, I have to admit. I'm excited, but holy heck, I'm starting to shake and think about it non-stop now.
I looked at my date of joining OH, 8/1/03, that was around the time I first learned about LapBand and tried getting it done. 3 years ago! I can't believe it's actually happening.
Well, I have house cleaning to finish and groceries to buy for my husband. Just knowing hardly any of it is for me is.... odd but gratefying! LOL.
10-19-06 - I'm home. Been home for a couple days in fact. I'm doing well, but still in quite a bit of pain, lets just say I won't be stopping that pain medicine for a while....
I had a kind of weird day on my surgery day. It started out being scheduled at 6 am, then they pushed it back twice until 10:30 am. I arrived at hospital and was prepped and ready for surgery at 9 am. Then, they decided to push me back - AGAIN, until 2 PM. So, I sat there for 5 hours with IVs in and on this god awful uncomfortable stretcher that made my butt sore and numb at the same time.
Once my surgery was done, I was out of the hospital almost immediately. It was really really fast. I wasn't even awake enough to hear instructions or put on my own clothes. They put them on and helped me into the wheelchair and next thing I know, I was home being walked into the house.
Can I just say that I'm sick of sleeping on my back? I am a stomach/side girl and this transition has been kind of hard. I have a lot of stomach pain so I can't even remotely think about sleeping on my side without intensifying it.
I'm getting there, watching the scale go down steadily is a nice feeling. I LOVE it.
11-14-06 - It's almost been a month! I'm doing fantastic and slowly losing the weight now. I'm down 27 pounds! I can tell a huge difference in my eating amounts, although I will be ready for a fill when I go in December.
I'm almost on a normal diet, there are still foods that I can't tolerate... like beef and eggs. Chicken is no problem though, so I'm in heaven. On my 1 month mark from my surgery date, I will retake pictures and post them, and every month for a while as a visual gauge of my weightloss.
I can fit into my size 20 jeans now, down from my 1 pair of 24's I had left. I'm hoping to reach my 18's by our annual Christmas Trip. Guess that can be my main goal atm, REACHING THOSE JEANS!
1-9-07 - Wow, it's been a while since I posted! Things have been going well. I've had one fill, but I don't see any change since before it. It was only a .5 CC, I think I need a bigger one next time. I go back in a month to do another one.
I never did get into my 18's for christmas, in fact I stayed at 30 pounds lost for a long time! This morning I hit 31 pounds lost, so I'm hoping I pushed past this plateau and will lose another 10+ before hitting another stop.
I'm doing really good food wise. I can eat pretty much anything except really tough meats and most breads. I am trying to limit my carb intake and focus primarily on my protien, then my fiber and dairy. I've not had good luck with raw fruits or veggies, I get somewhat irritated after eating them. I'm hoping that passes since it's pretty much the only way I like vegetables that is healthy.
Anyway, take care out in LALA land!
3-8-07 - I can't believe I haven't updated this lately!
I have to admit that I love my lapband. I haven't lost a ton of weight, still around 32-33 pounds off and on. But, I can tell a huge difference in my eating habits regardless.
I got a fill yesterday and am currently at 1.25cc in my 4 cc band. I was .5 before, so my newest fill added .75. I think I can feel a difference, I know I'm tighter for sure. We will see in time how that changes things. But, the tuna wrap from subway I was able to eat just earlier this week did NOT work for me for lunch today and I ended up not tolerating the wheat wrap at all. I scooped out the inside and ate that with my water.
This fill gave me quite a fit, I actually went in for in on 2/7 and was unable to get filled because he couldn't find my port. We did an ultrasound to find it and it traveled about 5 inches from the incision where it was put in, LOL! Dr Enochs also said that it was somewhat tilted, and that if we continued having trouble filling it, we might ought to consider doing a port revision surgery. Lets hope as I lose more weight that it will stablize itself and keep being somewhat accessable.
I'm having a huge problem with sugar snacking and just general sweets craving. I don't know if it is habits I learned from growing up or what. My mom used to serve us all a bowl of ice cream after dinner when I was little. In fact, it was a daily ritual and one she and my dad still have. If it isn't ice cream, then it's cookies or pudding or something. She says that it's the perfect ending to a great day. How do I break this habit?
GRR!
6-2-07 - Howdy ho, my hearties! Life here is steady and well. I'm doing great. Weightloss for me is slow, but it's going down, that is the important thing. I love my band, have YET to regret my decision to do this. I'm at 1.25cc in my 4cc band. I'm a little TOO tight, I have some trouble with meats and can't eat bread. When I get further down in weightloss, and want to start eating those things again, then I will have him take some out.
I put up a current pic of my face, that you can compare with my old one. I can see a little change, mostly in my attitude about taking a picture! HAHA!
