tuffy2000
12/5/05
Today was my first Dr appt with Dr Cha. He gave me all the information I needed to make my decision. I have all of my scripts and consults so now it's time to go on and make my appts and get this thing moving.
12/07/05
Well my appt for my PFT's & DLCO testing is on the 19th and my appt with the Pulmonary Dr is on the 21st. I hope all will be fine!!
12/10/05
Nothing really to report. I just decided to have my blood work done the same day that i get my PFT's & DLCO. I figure kill two birds with one stone. I'm really getting excited about my choice to have wls. I was telling my hubby that i can't wait to start feeling more like myself again.
12/19/05
Today I went to have my blood work done and my PFT. They took so much blood!!! Of course I was nervous because you say needle and I'm shaking!!! But I got through it. The PFT wasn't bad at all just a series of breathing and stuff on Wednesday I go see the pulomary doctor to see what he has to say.
12/20/05
Today I told my boss that sometime next year i would be having wls Lord willing and she was very excited for me. It's good to know that I have her support she is a pretty cool boss as far as bosses go.
12/21/05
Today I went to the pulmonary Dr. My test where good but because I have some symptom that they say are symptom of sleep apnea like, heart palpatations, frequent urination and headaches upon waking up they said I need to have a sleep study done on Jan 5th so hopefully it will be negative so I won't have to go back on the 12th. We will see.
12/26/05
Today I made my appt for the nutrisionist that will be on 1/18/05 and i tried to make a appt with the pysch. but the one they refer in my packet doesn't carry my insurance and they want $273 for the visit. So I will call my insurance co to see if they can refer me to someone that takes my insurance and will do the consult.
1/6/06
Happy New Year!!!! Well I had my sleep study lastnight and it was something else. So many wires coming from every. I could barely sleep. Hopefully they have whatever info they need and I pray I don't have to go through that again on the 12th. Also I may have found a doctor who will do my pysch consult that takes my insurance I pray they do.
1/10/06
Well I don't have to go get the second sleep study!!! Yahoo!!! I am so glad of that. It was so miserable!!! 1/18/06 I go see the nurtrisionist. I think i will go ahead and have my chest X-ray done while I'm there and on 1/27/06 I go see the pysch. Things seem to be moving along nicely. I pray I don't run into problems as far as not getting approval from my insurance.
Future Update
1/19/06
Well I had my appt with the nutristionist and it went very well. She gave me alot of info and most of the stuff we talked about was stuff I've already discussed with my sister Marcy who had wls on 8/10/05 and she is doing very well. She has been a God send for filling me in on things to expect about the surgery. I also got my chest x-ray too that was bad either. I need to make my appt for my PCP for my letter and I'm going to go to a doctor i went to years ago to get documintation on the wl program I was on with his practice. I need to get my Upper GI done too and go see my Cardiolgist for that consult which shouldn't be a problem because I told him that I was considering wls and he was all for it and said he would do whatever I needed him to do to make it possible. Also the other day I sort of scared myself into changing my mind about wls. I made the mistake of going on the web page on OH for memorials. These are profiles of people who have mostly died from complication of wls. Some died of other causes like one girl died 2 mths post op from a car accident but most of them was from wls. My sister had to encourage me and tell me the feelings I'm feeling are very normal so I sort of feel better about it now and I am determined to go through with this because I feel that if I don't I will eventually died from being over weight. I just thank God for my sister Marcy aka Marcyluv for all of her support and encouragment along my journey.
Future Update
1/31/06
Well I am almost finished all of my consults and I've finished all of my scripts. All I have to do now is see my cardio Dr on 2/14/06 and see the pysch on 2/27/06 then I will make my pre operative appt with the surgeon. I already went to my PCP for my letter and they will be faxing that. I went to Dr Goldberg to get my records from years ago when I was on Optifast. I also decided to go with the the pysch Dr they recommend and pay the $275 because the one I found that took my insurance wants me to go 3x which is $25 a visit then they want $150 to write the report to send to Dr Cha. So I should be finished everything by the end of Feb. I'm praying for no problems with the insurance. I also have to thank my big sister Marcy for all of her support and info. She has been a wonderful support system to me. Love ya gurl!!! Also I would like to thank my husband Stan for his loving support and listening to my endless conversation about my surgery he is such a sweet heart!!!! I love you man!!! Also my boys " I'm doing this for you guys because I want to be around to see my grand kids some day.
Well I'll keep you posted on my progress
Future Update
2/16/06
Well I had my appt with my Cardiologist on Valentines Day (Isn't that cute) I was a little dissappointed because I thought he would just fill out my consult paper and send it in the my surgeon but it's about a year since my last stress test and that was abnormal so he wants to do my yearly stress test first before clearing me. So I was able to get a appt for my stress test on 2/20/06. Hopefully it will be fine and I can move forward. My physch. appt is on 2/27/06 and I will be attending my required post-op meeting on 2/22/06. It won't be long before I'll have my pre-op appt to schedule my date and most important getting approval from the insurance company. I pray that God give me favor on that one. Tell next time Be Blessed!!
Future Update
3/2/06
Well I'm feeling sorta down today because on 2/27/06 I finished everything I needed to do for wls. I called my surgeon on 3/1/06 to see if they rec'd all my paperwork so that I can get my pre-op appt. She tells me that Dr Cha is leaving and I knew that because my PCP Dr told me he was but the office said sometime in the summer time and that he would be stopping surgery in April but she proceeds to tell me that he will be stopping in March and all his slots are filled. I was so upset!!!! She said they are actively seeking a replacement but she didn't know how long it will take because they don't notify them of where they are in the process. She gave me a name of a Dr at Temple so I called set up a appt for 3/24/06 and posted on BAF message board for any who may have went through Temple and Japii gave me some info. I called to confirm what he said and I was so upset. I would have to have some things done all over again even though I just had them done for Crozer and I would have to pay a $600 program fee. I don't have that to just give away like that. I just shelled out $275 for my psych appt for Crozer because the Dr they recomened doesn't take my insurance so thanks to my tax return I was able to do that. I upset about it but I realized that I need to learn how to wait on God instead of reacting to things that don't go the way I think they should go. I have a tendency to try to change things in and of myself instead of being still and letting God work it out for me. I believe God wants me healthy and this is a promise He has made to me. Everything until now went so smooth, no problems. I believe God wants me to wait for Him to send someone to Crozer who he feels is right to do my surgery. So right now I'm at a stand still and I'm going to wait and see what God is going to do in this situation. It's really hard for me because I was so hoping to have my wls very soon. Please keep me in your prayers
Future Update
03/22/06
Hello everyone!!! Just wanted to fill everyone in on my pre op WOW moment. For those who don't know I have hit a brick wall with my wls. To make a long story short my surgeon decided to leave town and I was forced to wait until they replace him after I had just finished all of my consults and test. Well I with the hospital administration to let them know that this was unprofessional for them to not notify pre-ops of his plans as soon as they new them so that we could have made other plans like going somewhere else. The only solution they could come up with was to notify hospitals to see if they would take my hospitals consults and test results. One of the hospitals on the list was Temple. I called Temple and after going back and forth my old surgeon office got them to take their results but they wanted me to redo my psych exam with their doctor and take a 2hr session with the hospital. For me to do this it will cost me out of pocket $600 that I didn't have after paying out of pocket $$ for my psych eval that I just had in Feb. Well I went to my boss to let her know that my wls will be on hold and I will let her know when things start moving again. I said to myself well I will wait on God to open a door for me and I just left it at that. I didn't cancel my appt at Temple because something in the back of my mind was telling me not to. So on last friday I was driving in to work and my boss so happened to pull up next to me. As we walked in together she stopped me and said "I've been wanting to say something to you but I didn't want to offend you" I started to wonder "Oh God what did I do??" She said "If you want I can lend you that $600 you need to go to the other hospital. You know I care for you and love you and I want to help" Well she could have blown me over with a feather I immediatley said no because I felt I couldn't take $$ from her. I told my sister and she said "Girl this is your ram in the bush!!!" She said you should have told her you would think about it. Atleast talk to your hubby about it. So I did and he said the same thing. So I went back to her and asked her could I think about it. I decided to take her up on the offer we came up with a payment plan that was agreeable to both of us so my journey is back on again. When she gave me the $$ she hugged me and said I love you and I want you to be happy. I just thank God for giving me such a wonderful boss and friend. She is awesome!!! Please keep me in your prayers that this be the last brick wall that I will face. That everything will go smooth from here on out. I feel pretty good about having my wls at Temple from what I here it's a pretty good program.
Future Update
4/13/06
I know, I know I haven't updated in a minute. I guess it's because I was feeling kind of down about things not going my way. Okay, well I gave my boss back her check because after going to my appt at Temple the surgeon's secretary told me that I need more documentation as far as diet history. So I went to my pcp and he put me on a diet that I will have to follow for 6mos before I can submit my request to my insurance company. So right now I'm at a stand still. Who knows by then the original hospital my find a replacement for Dr Cha by then and I may not to all the way to Philadelphia to Temple but I don't know because Temple seems like a really good program. We will see.
Future Update
5/02/06
Well I know it's been awhile since I updated but nothing really has been going on. I doing the ole 6 month supervised thing and I have a few more months to go. Now one thing new that's happened is if you have read my profile you will see I started out at Crozer Chester Medical Center with Dr Walter Cha when at the last minute I find out his was leaving which made me have to search for another Dr. I went to Temple and saw Dr Milan (not the right spelling). I just so happen to call Crozer yesterday and they told me they will have Dr Cha's replacement in June so that means i will be able to stay closer to home once I finish my supervised diet thing. He will be replace by a Leon Katz from NY. I plan to read up on this Dr to see what credituals are. So other than that nothing much is going on as far as wls. I'm going to have to move in July because they will be tearing down my development so that's some added stress but I'm going to let God handle that situation. Well until next time be Blessed by the best!!!
Future Update
05/26/06
Well nothing much has really been going on in reference to my wls just that i rec'd a call from the Dr's office I first was involved with stating that they have replaced the Dr that left (Dr Cha) and they wanted to know if I wanted to see the new Dr. I figure why not since it is closer that Philly. She is going to look over my documentation and see what can be done about getting me in there to have my surgery. We will see what happens. Right now I've been sorta laid up because of a accident I had chasing after my dog. I fell and hurt my knee pretty bad and I have been out of commission for a while. (Not to self: When your over rottwieler runs after a bird or anything else LET HER RUN!!!) So that all that has been going on with me. I will keep you posted on my wls progress. See ya!!
Future Update
10/23/06
Well I know I haven't been updating. I guess there was nothing really to update. I was still at a stand still with my wls. I went to a meeting on 10/4 to meet the new Dr at Crozer. I called the office on 10/9 and made my appt for my consultation with him for the 30th. I pray all goes well and I have all that is needed to get this thing moving. I may have to get some test done over again because of the time that has gone by. I'm hoping the insurance company won't give me a problem. I will update some more when I have my appt on next Monday. God Bless!
Future Update
Well I went to my appt with Dr Leon Katz. It wasn't what I wanted to here but I'm going to have to do what I have to do. #1. I'm going to have to go to a nutritionist for 6 mths to get on a medically supervised diet plan. #2 I'm going to have to lose 80lbs before the Dr will consider doing my surgery. He doesn't like doing the surgery on patients over 300lbs. So I'm going to have to crack it on down and get moving and motivated about getting these pounds off of me. I'm going to need all the prayer I can get to make it through this. Like my sis Marcyluv said if I want it bad enough I will do what it takes. So for those who know the word of prayer please pray my strength in this thing. God Bless!
Future Update
Future Update