Surgery pushed back

So it looks like my surgery has been pushed back. My doctor will be on call that day so she would not be the one doing my surgery, but would like to be the one.

My new Surgery date is July 27th, 2010 @ 730 in the morning. It looks like I'm back to day one on the pre-op diet. One good thing is that I was supposed to be visited by the annoying Aunt Flo on the day of my surgery. Being pushed back 5 days really helps  in that aspect.

Also a friend from a few years back is coming to town and we've planned a get together/photo session :)

It sucks that it's further away, but kinda nice too.

Dietitian appointment in 7 hours.

I have my dietitian appointment in Austin in 7 hours. (I'm supposed to be awake in 3 hours, oops?) I am up late cleaning since husband is on leave from work, (He needed to use some days up or he was going to lose them.) I always stay up cleaning late when he's on leave since I know he'll get up with the kids. I love that man.

Anyhow, so I have my appointment with the dietitian tomorrow morning at 8:15AM (need to arrive 30 minutes early) but it's in Downtown Austin which normally takes na hour to get to without traffic. Seeing as it's midweek I'm going to hit traffic so I'm leaving at 5-530AM. If I get there early I can hit up a coffee shop and work on some work since I'll be bringing my laptop.

I went and got my blood work done Friday along with my Mental evaluation being re-faxed. I need to call the doctor's office and see if they got all of the faxes they need for me pre-op appointment at 3:15 PM tomorrow. The Military hospital here is famous for being slow & incomplete. if they don't fax it, they'll cancel my appointment, oh noes!

So anyhow, after my morning appointment with the dietitian  I'll be all cleared at my pre-op appointment that day. Let's hope she sticks me on the pre-op diet  Thursday.

New hospital/Surgeon

http://austinbariatric.com/default

AIBL is a sole Bariatric facility. I called them today after speaking with the General Surgery nurse at Darnall.

She told me to find a place with a Shorter wait time then call tricare. I did and found Dr. Ganta. They told me that there is no wait list & since I already have some of the pre-op stuff done that they'll accept i should be able to start my 2 week pre-op diet before June is over.

Called tricare and it was super easy to get it switched! So now I just play the waiting game for the new office for all of my insurance paperwork to be done. (she said to expect a call within 4 days).

I'm still not 100% on which one I want yet. Sleeve or bypass. Why can't the decision be easy? Lol.

Amanda
-- Post From My iPhone

At the S&W seminar

I attended the Scott & White Bariatric Seminar this evening. I'm a bit dissapointed to say at the least.

On the phone I was told I would most like have the surgery at the end of the month or the first week of July. After the seminar the staff told me there already booked up until mid August.

Also, he went over all of the types again. Lap-band, sleeve, bypass and I'm leaning more towards the sleeve or bypass now.

The lap-band is ideal except for the lifelong doctor visits.

I'm going to call the surgery clinic on post tomorrow and see what the wait times are for the sleeve and bypass.

I'd like the sleeve since it's only cutting the majority of my stomach. We'll see. Lots more research to do.

*sigh* I had high hopes of having it done before my daughter's 2nd Birthday.

I feel like I'm back at step 1.



Amanda
-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Killeen Civic Center

More Seminars

Boo, so S&W will accept most of my things, but not the seminar. I have to redo that one on the 8th of June in Killeen. After that is done I have to submit a form to have al of my records faxed to their office. She said I probably won't see a nurse until the end of June, then it's just a time game after that. I am hoping by the end of July I'll be good to go.

Good news!

Tricare approved my refferal! I'm just waiting for a return phone call from the surgery clinic to get some of my questions answered. Questions like.

I've already done the seminar, nutrition, & mental evaluation, will I have to do it again for the new hospital?

How soon before I can start the pre-op process?

Oh man, good news!


Amanda
-- Post From My iPhone

Referral problems

I’m a bit disappointed. I’ve been waiting on the referral for an off post doctor to come in and I finally made a few more phone calls because it’s taken way longer then they say it would. Needless to say, the referral never made it to the referral center to be dispatched out to the insurance company.

Thanks to some nice ladies on the phone I was able to get another referral submitted and calling the referral center back right afterwards, I was able to get it submitted to the insurance today. While on the phone the lady told me I did not quality according to the standards they use for off post. I was 5 pounds under the cut off. Funny enough I weigh 5 pounds more than I do during the initial weight check. I asked if I could go back in and be weighed again and have the referral resubmitted. After a little hesitation she told me it was only a couple of pounds and submitted it for me anyhow. Let’s hope Tricare doesn’t still try to deny it.

I’m going to call Tricare tomorrow and see if they can speed up my referral since I’d be on the phone with them.

A friend of mine just got the lap-band last week and I am feeling very sad that I’m still waiting. I’m also a little jealous. (Stupid, I know.) She’s already beginning her journey, and I’m still just sitting on the sidelines waiting.

Have I mentioned I loved my gym? Gold’s Gym has been a great investment for me. I’m not using it as much as I should be right now because I’m a little fearful that if I lose to much weight I’ll be declined .I keep telling myself, if I lose enough to be declined maybe I just don’t even need the WLS then. Then I think about it, and I know it isn’t true because I’ve been TRYING to lose it on my own, I just need a little help to get it started. I think the lap-band will be good because it will be like a coach, and a helpful reminder not to overdo it.

Once I have the surgery I plan on jumping right back into the gym hardcore. I will not have any reason not to. I love going, and seeing the results will keep me going. I am so excited for the changes that will be coming this year.

Set back...

I took my mental evaluation to the hospital's General Surgery clinic yesterday afternoon to be put on the waiting list my final step before my pre-op diet) and got some good and bad news.

Good news , I'm number 10 on the lap-band list. The bad news.. all of the surgeons that do the lap-band are deploying until September. So I'm either at a stand still until September when they start taking patients again, or I can try my luck off post.

So I asked if I could be referred off post to Scott & White in Temple, Texas. They will put the referral in on monday, but there is no guarantee that I will be approved or denied since they use different standards. (Height and weight & co morbidity) vs. BMI & co mobility. Pretty much after the referral is submitted I wait 2 weeks. If i do not get a call from them, I call Tricare and see what's the hold up. If' I'm approved I go along with that, and I'm not sure if i have to start over what I've done.

If I'm declined, I'm still on the waiting list for September. So here we go..

Got my appointment!

My psychiatric evaluation for treatment appointment is scheduled for Thursday! After I do that appointment it takes about a week to get the results back. Once I got it back I can bring it to General Surgery where they will put me in the list.

They normally commit a 1-2 days a month to each type of Surgery. Hopefully it won't be as long as I'm dreading it to be. I'll try to update after my appointment on Thursday.

I feel like I'm always at the doctor.

I went to my PCM for my yearly Pap and for her to check my IUD (birth control) placement, to get my test results back, and to have her submit my referral.

Everything checks out well, and MY Diabetes tests came back normal! So I don’t have diabetes yet! She submitted my referral and said I should be getting a phone call to set up an appointment.

Today is a great day :)!

Weight Loss Seminar

So it’s been a little bit since I updated. The hospital called me for a WLS Seminar that all TRICARE patients have to take when being considered for WLS. On April 21st, 2010 I attended the Seminar. When I got there they took my height and weight information. They used the special scale that calculates your BMI, weight, fat mass, etc. I’m still very uncomfortable about doing this, and I wish the numbers on the paper were just a lot lower. I think I’m coming to terms with it more and more everyday though.

Honestly, the numbers don’t bother me as much as the health and appearance. If I was healthy and looked amazing, I wouldn’t care that I weighed 250 pounds. But alas, numbers play a huge role in all of this.

During the class they covered the three kinds of weight loss surgeries they do at the hospital. The three were Lap-Band, gastric bypass and the gastric sleeve. After all of the information I was defiantly set on the Lap-Band. It’s the least invasive and safest WLS to have. Different people are good for different surgeries for different reasons.

They also held a nutrition class after the surgeon was done talking. It was pretty much what to expect for your pre-op diet and what to expect post op. It was really informative thankfully. After the class was over I asked how soon it would be before I could go back to the gym. 2 weeks then I can start working out anything that doesn’t require a lot of ab work. So that’s pretty exciting.

My to-do list after the class was pretty simple. I have to get a psychiatric evaluation for treatment. Something everyone has to do. So I have to see my PCM to put in a referral for me to see one.

So that pretty much wraps it up. I came home from my class and was a little scared to tell my husband I had pretty much been approved. I mean, I still feel like a failure. No matter how many times I replay my doctor’s words in my head, I feel like I’m cheating. I had to keep reminding myself, that this isn’t a new thing in my family. My family has struggled with weight issues for generations.

I’ll try to update again soon :).