lainy_h

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I am so mad right now I could spit! I got my approval letter Saturday in the mail. Today (Monday) I called the Dr's office to make my surgery appt..... the lady in the office said that she will fax the info over to the lady that makes the appts for surgery and I should be hearing back from her by the end of the week?????? The person that does the scheduling is at their other office right there in the same town and I KNOW that they take stuff back and forth daily. Even if she has to "fax" it, WHY would it take her all week to get back to me with a freaking date???? I have to get my registration done for college VERY SOON for Spring quarter that starts January 14th (or possibly miss out on my VA funding) and need to know if I should/can go ahead with it as I need to have time to heal before school starts. They told me before that it would only be a couple of weeks after I get my approval, but Jeeeeeeeze this has me steamed! Maybe I should just call her myself and go around the "system" as obviously it is flawed.... Grrrrrrrrrrrrr

There is a part of me that is saying that I have been very lucky to even have all this take place so quickly, but my insurance was technically approved BEFORE I even started all this stuff so WTH???

Got my OK for the surgery from my insurance (ChampVA) today in the mail. Now all I have to do is call Dr Patel's office on Monday to schedule. They told me their appts are only less than 2 weeks out right now..... OMG!!! This has all gone SO fast. I just went to my first seminar in October, got all my testing done and now Surgery in November. Man do I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, huh? I'm all kinds of nervous now though. Before it was so "wow, wonder what it COULD be like IF" and now it is "WOW this is REAL and it's HAPPENING it really IS". Gotta get my brain wrapped around this and get all my pre stuff done. Think I'll go shopping today. LOL

Just a note to leave an update. The Dr's office sent my insurance info out last week. They said they expect a postive reply within a couple of weeks. Said ChampVA is really good about getting the answers right out and that it doesn't even really take a pre-approval. We'll see. I still keep getting these feelings that I'll have done all this stuff and then they will want something else. Been reading too many horror stories on these pages I think. My insurance didn't even ask for all the stuff the Dr had me do so we'll see.

Today would have been my Dad's birthday. He passed away 22 years ago from lung disease and renal failure. Actually he died from one of his addictions. He was a heavy smoker all his adult life until it was too late for him and the damage had already been done. I have lost a Brother and a Sister to lung cancer. I look at my Mother's horrible health with obesity riddled poor health and slow and painful death that is being drug out and see again more reasons why I have to have this surgery. I can not let this happen to me. I have released the cigarettes and now I am about to release the food addiction too.  Now what I wonder is WHY does it take SO much for someone to "get it" ??? Why have I thrown away/wasted so many years living an unhealthy lifestyle? Why have I let addictions have this kind of hold on me? I am taking back my life as of today. Every day I am stronger and I am learning to Love Me! I am going to live each day to the fullest and try to be more of what I want to create in my own life.

One of the biggy's is the school thing. I have found out that now my husband has been given 100% on his disability from VA, they will pay me to go back to school. I have always felt like such a failure in regards to my education because when my girls were little and I was a single mom I didn't finish college. Left when I was only 12 credits shy of my degree. After all these years I don't know yet how many (if any) of these credits will transfer, but I am going to go back and finish what I started all those years ago. I am going in this week with the application and my transcipts to see what they say. Next semester starts January 14th so need to get moving on this. VA will pay for 45 months and that should get me where I need/want to go or at least darn close. DH doesn't really seem to understand why I want to do this (but he is SO supportive) as we don't really need the money and I don't really need to start a new career or work at this time, but I just want to do this for me. I love school and need to do this. Besides... who knows. I may want to go back to work. Can always find something to do with the money...LOL like buy new clothes for my new figure???

I've been reading a lot of the posts on these boards. Esp the Over Fifty Forum. They are such a wonderful bunch of people. Glad they have gone before to blaze the trail for me. The other internet groups I subscribe to are informative too, but don't have the personality of these forums so I don't find myself participating as much there. Have gathered just about all the basics of info I think I need for now and am just enjoying getting to know everyone. All the tidbits shared are valuable. This was just going to be a quick note....hmmmmm

"The self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates."

Well here I am again. Just faxed the lab results off to the surgeon and my pt advocate called and let me know they arrived. Now we are just waiting for the report to come back from the psych and nut. I saw the nutritionist on the 6th and she still hasn't gotten the papers to him???? I really shouldn't be complaining too loud as this whole process has gone really fast for me and it feels like God is clearing the way. 
I have gotten a lot more active on the OFF (over fifty forum) and am so glad I have. The people there are SO supportive and offer complete acceptance. Somewhere that I can talk to people about this whole thing and they KNOW what I'm talking about. I try to explain some of this stuff to DH or BF and they get real quiet or change the subject. Hubby is supportive in all this and then some cuz he wants me to be happy and healthy, best friend on the other hand is acting kinda weird. I had this problem with her before when I lost a bunch of weight. She is morbidly obese also and then some and isn't ready to do anything about it. Tears my heart out to see the way her life is going, but there 's nothing I can do for her. I guess it's kind of like seeing her own self when she and I discuss the WLS. I have read several places about how relationships change after weight loss. I can believe it.

Went to San Antonio today to have my psych eval done. Everything seemed to go well and she said she would have the report to the surgeon's office by Friday! On the way home we stopped off at the VA Lab here in town and picked up my lab results to fax up to surgeon tomorrow. Then that's it! They said that they'll send to insurance as soon as those are in..... then it's wait and see. Hope and Pray. Fret and Stew....LOL.
I am really wondering about some of these test results. There are so many of them I don't understand. Going to have to have my PCP go over them with me I guess. Tried to look up some sites online to explain them, but even with my background in medicine I couldn't make too much out of what MY results were compared to what they had to say....sigh.
Will write more when I know more!

Got my pre-op labs done this morning. 13 vials later I feel like I had a visit with Vampira.....jeeze, but one step closer to surgery. Just psych appt on Monday and then wait for all the results to come in, off to insurance and w.a.i.t........

Just copied this off one of my support group sites and thought it was cute:

I thought you guys would enjoy this...

- "I have a date" doesn't mean you are going out.
- "I'm a loser" is a good thing.
- "Welcome to the other side" does not mean you have died.
- You love the taste of Chewable Centrum Rug Rats Vitamins or biting
the head off of Wilma.
- When the word lap has nothing to do with a strip club!!
- When it's not Vikings vs. Bears but lap vs. open!
- When "No, I couldn't eat another bite" really has a deeper meaning!
- When you have to prove you are you on your license!
- When Saying you're" open" doesn't mean your gay!
- When you run you don't hear a flapping noise.....oh wait you still
do.....but at least you are running!
- Vitamins and calcium feel like a meal.
- You've lost 100 pounds, and someone who hasn't seen you in a while
says, "Did you change your hair?"
- When you bend over and see daylight through your thighs.
- You can cross your legs!
- When you walk by a mirror and say to yourself "Who is that?"
- When the Sharpei you pass on the street reminds you of someone you
know....Yourself! !
- When your hand will fit in the Pringles can again, but you don't
want any.
- When the thought of an "all you can eat" buffet makes you want to
throw up!
- No more cracked toilet seats!
- When your spandex shorts are used for "jogging," and not merely
used as an anti-chaffing device.
- People who know you are concerned that you are working out too much.
- Running into old flames, and saying "Do I know you?"
- You look forward to flirting with the new cute phlebotomist at your
doctor's office.
- You turn on the morning show just to see Al Roker!
- You are actually bold enough to not only admit your weight, but
post it on the internet!
- When you call Lane Bryant and cancel your credit card.
- You have to start putting your name in your underwear again because
you get them mixed up with your kids.
- People stop asking you to bring something to the pot lucks because
they know you will only bring a salad.
- When you spend more time reading product labels for protein and
carb content than you do reading any books.

Ok..... the ball is rolling fast now. PCP called to let me know to go to the VA Lab tomorrow morning for all my lab work. He called me personally.... I can't get over the care I have gotten through the VA. I have always heard such horror stories from everyone else and I know that my husband has not had the best of care at times, but the ChampVA seems to be doing a fine job with all this. Then talked to the Pysch's office and they said that it would all be covered by insurance and to go ahead and come in on Monday Oct 22nd. That's the last of it and then it's off to the insurance company for approval. At this rate I will certainly be on liquids for Thanksgiving.....LOL. And truly have something to be thankful for too. I am starting to really get nervous though about the surgery. I don't know how much of it is normal jitters about the surgery and how much of it is because I had to quit smoking last week....hmmmmm. I know the headaches are from the withdrawl for sure. But I knew that I would have to give up the cigarettes to have the surgery and needed to anyway. I've lost my Dad, a sister and brother to lung disease or cancer so I know that it was time to quit and be done with it for good. I am choosing life now. That's one of the reasons for the WLS. Today I choose LIFE!!!