Tanya F.
I haven't been active on the board for a long long time. I have come and read some topics now and then but feeling like I want to give back a little at this point, rather than just receive. I had to copy and paste my formal story so will do so here, please remember this is very old inforamtion.
"I am 40 years old and weigh 418. I couldn't believe it when I found out I had finally gone over the 400 lb mark. I have been feeling very discouraged about my weight, I have knee problems, back problems and constant muscle pain from what I guess might be fibromyalgia.
My PCP has finally suggested I consider weight loss surgery. I was so scared at first I wouldn't even think about it. But one of my customers came in the office just after that and had the surgery only weeks before and looked great. She said she didn't have hardly any pain and that I should go online to this site called "obesityhelp.com" so here I am.
I have a wonderful husband who has only known me as overweight. But at various degrees of overweight with this being my highest so far. He is more scared about this surgery than I am.
I also found out that my insurance company has never covered this kind of surgery. They have a specific exclusion in the policy for exactly this type of surgery. Which means if I have this done I will not only lose a month of work but will have to self pay, plus drive for several hours to get to the only doctors who perform this type of operation. From what I've read I will have to have open rny due to my size, but the Lap sounds so much easier to recover from. Would love to hear from anyone regarding their ideas in this matter.
I have a doctors appointment in January to discuss my options with my pcp and he will give me a referral to a WLS doctor.
12/18/02 I have called a surgeons office and ordered a packet of information. The first thing they said when I called was "who is your insurance company" and I told them, they said "you understand this company has a general exclusion for this type of surgery and will not pay" I told the lady I knew that so she is sending me a packet of information. I have heard that these people will work with you if you don't have insurance so I"m hoping that is true.
I'm getting more excited everyday as I read everyone's profiles. I have gone through them alphabetically and am down to the L's I believe. You people are all so incredible and I love reading your info. Hope to get to know some of you soon.
1/28/03 Got a call today that they have a cancellation and I will be going in for my initial consult tomorrow. The drive is 3 hours and we have to change a bunch of appointments etc. but I am excited to at last be getting some real concrete information toward my surgery date.
1/30/03 I drove 6 hours yesterday for my consultation. The normal person who would be doing the majority of the info giving was on vacation and I had to watch the goofiest video! It was long and boring and very basic in info. I finally got my husband to shut it off as we wanted to get on with it. The surgeon was great answered my questions, the PA was a little young and not very sympathetic. Oh well, got the info I need and got a surgery date! Yeah! Since I"m self pay didn't have to wait.April 1st! I'm no fool. lol
2/5/03 I have scheduled the first of the appointments needed for surgery. I have also written a letter to my PCP requesting he try to get some of my tests covered under my insurance. I guess he will have to believe I need them anyway to get any of them covered. The PA told me I had a heart murmur so I was wondering if maybe that would help getting the EKG paid for? We'll see. They said I need a chem panel, cbc, psych eval. and an "education" class. I have scheduled the psch eval, the "education" class and the mandatory "support" group meeting on March 18 since I will have to go back over that day thought I'd do as much as possible.
My stomach has been more upset about this whole thing than I am. Has anyone had their stomach rebel from nerves? I keep thinking its trying to show me exactly what I will be putting it through hehe.
I have also begun the process of trying to get a home equity loan to pay for all this....FUN FUN FUN.
2/27/03 Well I have been approved for my home equity line of credit to pay for the surgery. The only thing left now is the blood tests and ekg and psych evaluation. My pcp is worried that the other PA said he heard a heart murmur as I was once on Phen/fen as I am sure many of you were. So I will be getting my blood drawn next week, then have to see pcp then do ekg. My psych consult is March 18. Ooooooh its getting sooo close.
3/18/03 Just returned from my psych consult and preop education class. The psych consult was pretty uneventful. They asked me a bunch of questions then said our time was up! She said she doesn't make recommendations, the surgeon reads her notes then determines if surgery is ok. Hmmm. Wonder what that means?
The education class was full of people who were waiting for their surgeries. We had lots of protein shakes etc to sample and they handed out diaries, water bottles, and measuring cups for our post op meals. Robin, who was giving the session, was having to put a lot of info in a small amount of time and get done before the next meeting which was a support meeting for pre and post op patients. I think this surgeon's office really cares about their people.
Well surgery is only 2 weeks away today! Interesting the nurse today suggested taking a shower the night before and scrub with anti bacterial soap, then also scrubbing again in the morning. She said the surgeon of course does the same thing but she always just takes extra steps to double secure things. I liked that.
3/26/03 I have made lists of lists about what I need to remember when I leave for the surgery. But I still feel like I'm forgetting something! I am not sleeping well at night and its driving me crazy. I do appreciate the support I"ve been getting from everyone on this message board. I don't have an angel yet but I live in a smaller area and my surgery is about 3 hours away even still. I feel so unprepared! Oh well, soon it will all be over and I can finally start moving on with my life."
