juststeff

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WOW. Where do I start?

I had surgery on the day we had a severe blizzard here in NC. As soon as it started snowing the night before my surgery I woke my bf up and made him drive me to the hospital right then. I was not going to miss this date for anything in the world! That was probably about 1am. I didn’t have to be to the hospital until 7:30am. I was not taking a chance.

It didn’t cross my mind that the man that would be digging through my guts, might not appreciate the fact he had to come out in such a severe storm!

He called the waiting room and asked if we were still on, I was like “I’m here!” But by the time he got there and I was prepped for surgery I realized how selfish that was! I told him he didn’t have to do my surgery that day (of course my heart would’ve shattered, or maybe I was even trying to chicken out.) but he was his personable self and said, no… “we’re here!”

He had told me at my pre-op appointment that we were buying each other for life. He made me feel very confident from the very beginning that this was the right choice for me and he was the right surgeon. I am so glad I got turned down by that other lady.

Surgery went so well. I can not say the same for the hospital or the hospital staff. I know I’m not an easy person to get along with all the time, but dang, I just had a very scary surgery!  

Most of my pain has come from gas. I have just 5, or maybe 6 little incisions. I have a really funny fart story now, I think I will be learning a lot about myself in the coming months!

Well I can’t sit here for too long. I logged on initially to see if I could find anyone that may have had issues with… missing food. I don’t have a desire to eat it, I just feel this loss in my mind. I think I just need to stop watching the television. Every time I see a food commercial I get this sad feeling like, “I will never have that again…”

Those commercials got me here in the first place!

January 23, 2003. 

Simply Stated.

So my insurance denied my surgery (Roux-en-y) and I didn't even blink twice. I called them immediately to find out the reason for the denial.

Get this. The woman said “There just isn’t enough evidence you’re over-weight enough.” I am currently at 380 lbs! I was very rude and asked what did I need to do, come sit on her lap? She said that all the medical records that were sent by my PCP had 200+, but never into 300’s. I told her it didn’t surprise me, I couldn’t even be weight at my PCP’s office until I got into the 300’s!

I called my PCP office, clearly there was a serious error on their part. My PCP faxed over a letter right then stating that there was a lengthy time that I could not even be weighed at their office, they did not have the scale for my size. 

I had a call back from insurance, my PCP AND the surgeons office all within about 30 minutes of each other to tell me I had been approved!

One of the things that saved me was that I had my gynecology records sent as well and they actually have a digital scale a one of their locations, at that time I had weighed 420lbs. It was last Spring, but just shows I could not have lost 200#’s that fast!

Persistence pays off!

All I am waiting on now is a date. I am of course beyond excited.

 

Ok, maybe not just YET. There is an extensive work-up to have this surgery! Not only do I have insurance requirements (not even sure if insurance is going to pay for it for sure or not) but Dr. Voellinger has his OWN work-up. He didn’t seem to even notice my size. He totally concentrated on me as a patient.

That might be the first time that has ever happened, seriously. Well except my own PCP. But I have been to many specialists offices that the last thing they want to deal with is a morbidly obese person. 

I have been working on my eating, I have actually lost weight (Thank You Adkins, I think.) And I am concentrating on my “binge eating.” At least it qualifies as binge eating. I can’t help but wonder if it is just a BIG GIRL’S appetite. That’s not true, I have been working with this woman named Paige, she has really helped me concentrate on thinking about my eating habits… or to even THINK before I eat. 

So here we go. Tests, evaluations and surgery!

PS> He offered me a surgery called the Duodenal Switch. I would have to have it in two surgeries, and I am pretty worried they won’t even approve this one. But wondered if anyone had heard of that surgery, or had an experience with it.

 

Woo hoo! So this Dr. Voellinger is willing to "take me on." 


I am so excited to meet him face to face, even to just say thank you for not turning me down before meeting me. 

I will keep you all posted!

I was turned down by a local surgeon, Dr. Wachsmuth. I am beyond her BMI limit, she has a partner though. I think he may be new in town. I can not find a lot of informationon him. I have an appointment with him next month if he "accepts" my packet of information, I am still going to go forward with this.

I have a super great PCP, she is very smart. (Thank You Loletha for the referral!) She has been helping me battle my PCOS and has been witness to my many weight loss attempts, that have failed. When I brought up the idea of weight loss surgery to her she said, "I've been waiting for you to bring it up." 

Let's keep our fingers crossed that this new surgeon won't turn me down flat as well.

I've just decided to have weight loss surgery. I am going to look into it and see if I even qualify, there is only one surgeon in the area that will accept my current weight.

All I know is, I ripped the largest skirt you can get in a "regular store" up the back... it was brand new. I clearly need help. I have been looking into this surgery for awhile, I htink it is just time to TAKE CONTROL.