I have been overweight all of my life and I am sick of it. I have tried everything in my power to lose weight. I want to control my life rather than my weight controlling my life. This lifestyle has stopped me from persuing amazing oppurtunities, I just want a chance at life. I want to be happy as well as healthy.
I should start by saying I have been really nervous about having this surgery. I have a feeling I am not going to come out of it, but I guess its natural for me to feel like that, I know I am not the only one who has felt like that. BUT, if that happens then what the Hell was all this work for? I have been thinking though with the way my life is now, its like I am already dead so my options are, don't try at all, die trying or SUCCEED. I choose the last one. I AM NOT GOING TO GIVE UP. I need to start by having a positive attitude.
I have so much to update. I am going to make this as detailed as possible. It may take a while so bear with me. The weight problem started when I was in elementary school but my actual WLS journey first started at 16, I am now 20.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have been researching this surgery for as long as I can remember. I really started thinking about it when I was around 17 and I got an offer to start attending meetings with someone who wanted to have the surgery. I didn't end up going and she understood, she said it wasn't my time. I don't think it was either, although I am kicking myself today that I didn't have it sooner because I would have been able to enjoy my teen years.
So around age 18 I made an appointment with my primary care doctor and she wrote me a referal. Then I lost my insurance and it was once again post-poned. I ended up getting a new insurance and I had to start with my new primary. I was 19 then and I saw him for a physical and we talked about weight and then he wrote me a referal. I started attending meetings with the same woman who had asked me to join her about a year before. She had already had hers. I filled out an application and gave it to the meeting head at one of the meetings. She said she would review it with a nutritionist and get back to me. She got back to me and DENIED me because of my age. I was furious, this woman wasn't a doctor or a nurse, she was a meeting leader. Who gives her the right to deny me? She said you have to be 22 to have it. RIDICULOUS! I never heard of such a thing, and it wasn't in any information packets they gave us. I also called a nurse that worked there and she said that the information I was given was incorrect and they work on a case by case basis. So the meeting head said she would contact the surgeon and then get back to me. She called me the next day and said there was nothing they could do to help me out, but I could do all my appointments and when I turn 22 I could have the surgery done. I was CRUSHED. I said "F" that to myself. So, I called another hospital and they said they didn't have an age limit but they like most people to be 18 or older, but they take it case by case. I made an appointment with the surgeon and that was the start of the next 8 months.
I got a nice little suprise a few weeks later, I got a call from the meeting head from the first hospital and she said, "The hospital rules just changed, and that I could have my surgery afterall." I gladly told her, "No thank you, you denied me, which crushed me and you did it all before you knew the correct information, but that's okay because I am now with another hospital."
Back to what I was saying...
In April I went to my first meeting, and the surgeon weighed me and talked to me. From there I went to a weight management doctor and he gave me homework and projects to do. From there I went to a weight program where I attended 3 nutritionist appoinments, 1 psychological appoinment and 2 pre-op meetings. ALL 3 people had to sign off on me before I could move on. I got the okay from all of them and I went back to the weight management doctor where I had lost a total of 14 pounds. (I ended up gaining the 14 pounds back, which is why I started looking at WLS in the first place. I won't be able to do it without this tool.) I went to a few more appointments with him and then he wrote me a work order for an EKG and blood work. Everything was okay, except my Vitamin D levels, which were too low. From there I had my final appointment with my surgeon. He approved my surgery and went over the process with me. He told me to see his secretary and she would take care of everything else. That was November 1. The appointments went by fast. These 8 months went by fast.
After all of my appointments were finished the only thing I had left to do was wait to hear from my insurance...
Here is what happened with that...
I got my answer in 2 days when my records WERE FINALLY sent over to the insurance company. I attended appointments at 3 different buildings. The hardest part was having them track down all my records. I called the doctor's office 2 weeks after my last appointment to see if they sent everything over yet. I was told that it was being gathered up and faxed over and it should be done by the end of that week. I called my insurance 3 weeks later and they said they didn't receive it yet. Then I called the doctor's office and the assistant said it was sent. I waited 3 more weeks then called my insurance and they said that they still didn't get it...and the woman who helped me said that if they had it, it would be on the computer even if a decision wasn't made yet, because it only takes 72 HOURS to process. I called the doctor's office again and they said that they didn't receive any records from the other 2 places yet and she said my letter was all ready to go the day after my last appointment...so NOTHING was sent yet. They finally got on the ball and within a week it was all sent over to my insurance. I got a call from the doctor's office saying that I would be approved if I could get proof that I attended a meeting. (Which I attended 3, at the first place I applied to for the surgery.) So I called that hospital and got the records that were needed and they were sent to my insurance. (I had to call the woman who denied me at the first hospital for them, and she told me she still had my application and records, and I told her I was already approved somewhere else and that all I needed was the records she has. She sounded like she heard a ghost.) Anyway, within 2 days I was approved and got my date. I also received the official letter in the mail the same day. So even though 2 months were wasted because of unorganized people, in the end it really only took 2 days to get my approval from the insurance company. I probably would have had it by now, but I am just glad that I am getting it soon.
My date is: 02/27/08
I took the first available date they had. :)
The 2 things I have to do, but cant do until I get the information in the mail are:
~ Seeing the anesthesiologist
~ Seeing the surgeon 1 week before my surgery
(UPDATE: I got my date for these appointments. They are both on Thursday, February 21.)
I have a lot of things I have to buy and take care of before my surgery, but I am going to have a blast doing it.
I wish everyone else out there who is having/or already had their surgery tons of luck!!!!
<3
