shellcy
My Doctor is Dr Chiang at Elmbrook Hospital in Brookfield, Wisconsin. He is a wonderful doctor.
I went to Dr Chiang in January of this year to start the approval process. I went to an initial Dietician group visit in January. It was pretty informative... she told us what we would be able to eat after surgery (types of food & quanity) & told us how to get ready for surgery as far as eating is concerned. I also went to a Physch evaluation to make sure that I didn't have emotional problems that would affect my eating habits. That was pretty easy & Dr Cindy Solliday was very nice. There were about 3 pages of questions that she asked me & at the end she told me she was approving me. I had to go to a Physical Therapy Evaluation too. They just showed me how to get up from sitting & laying after surgery...took about 20 or 30 minutes.
My forms were sent to my insurance company, Humana HMO, on February 11th. I called the insurance company on February 18th just to see if they received my forms & was told I was already approved!!!!! YEAH!!
The insurance company told me they weren't sending out an approval letter (I'm glad I called!! LOL) but gave me the approval number.
I called Dr Chiang's office & told them I was already approved & gave them the approval number. Was told that Humana must either call them or fax them something. Called Humana back, they put me on hold & called the Dr's office.
Lynne at Dr Chiang's office told me she would call me back by the end of the week with my surgery date!!!!
Lynne called me on Feb 20 & gave me a surgery date of March 22nd!!!!!! Ok, now I'm getting very nervous!!!
I had to get lab work done to check Iron & B12 levels. They were down pretty far so I started taking Feregon Iron & a B12 gel nasal spray. Also had to get a EGD done to check if my esophagus is still working good (because of my acid reflux). They put you in a twilight sleep & stick a tube with a camera at the end of it down your throat. Also had to have a chest x-ray & pulmonary testing. This was all done pre-op.
On March 15th (weight 291) I started a full liquid diet. I had to drink 3 protein shakes per day and I could eat things like sugar-free jello, chicken broth, sugar-free popsicles, etc... & drank lots of water, Crystal Light, Fruit 2o & Propel. That was a very difficult week - I almost gave up a couple of times :( but I made it. The last two days 3/20 & 3/21 I could only have clear liquids. I dropped off my 3 children the night before surgery at my Mom & Dad's house ... that was really hard to do & I started crying. I had many doubts this week about what I was doing & why I was doing it.
On March 22nd (weight 286) I had to be at the hospital at 5:15am, my surgery was scheduled for 7:30. They got me prepped for surgery & took blood for a pregnancy test & blood type. Had to wear these terrible stockings (thigh-high) to prevent blood clots. They got me all hooked up to the IV, I said goodbye to my husband (also very hard to do & started crying again!) & they took me into the pre-surgery room (crying again). The last thing I remember is talking to the anistesiologist(?). The next thing I knew I was in my room. I'm told the surgery took about 3 hours & everything went fine.
I went home on 3/24 in the afternoon. I was on full liquids until April 5th. April 5th I started pureed food (yum yum) I mostly had pureed scrambled egg mixed with 1 TBSP of Hellmanns Light Mayo (like egg salad), pureed Chicken of the Sea Albacore Tuna mixed with 1 TBSP mayo (like tuna salad) or pureed Chicken mixed with 1 TBSP mayo. Also had to keep drinking the Protein Shakes. I found one at GNC called Myoplex Carb Sense.... has 25 grams of protein & only 3 grams of carbs - the Chocolate Fudge flavor is actually pretty good.
Today, 4/12 (weight 254), I can start solid (soft) foods. Tomorrow, 4/13, is my 37th Birthday - no cake for me this year...LOL !!!
My next appointment with the dietician is 4/15 & my next appointment with Dr Chiangs office is 5/5/04. At that time I'll be 6 weeks post-op.
So far everything is going very good & I believe this was the best decision I've ever made & I'm starting to enjoy life with my children again!!
1/15/07..... Well, I haven't updated my page for quite awhile... so here we go. Since the surgery on 3/22/04 I have : Changed my name, gotten a divorce from a very abusive husband, met a wonderful man on yahoo personals & married him & now have the life i've always dreamed of!!! Oh, I also had two more surgeries done by Dr Chiang. I had my galbladder removed in January of 2005 and in June, 2006 I found out that my intestines were twisted & cutting off the blood supply to my stomach.. (very, very painful) & also a hernia. Dr Chiang said it could have been life threatening if they hadn't found it. He went in & repaired my hernia & fixed my intestines.
As I said before this surgery was the best decision I've ever made!! I would do it all over again in a second!!! Everything is WONDERFUL!!! Hopefully I won't have to have any more surgeries for awhile though... LOL
Michelle
Surgery 3/22/04
291/145
2 1/2 yrs post op
1/15/07
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Surgeon Info:
Surgeon: Manfred C. Chiang, MD
Insurer Info:
Humana, Advantage HMO
