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whew long process

i think its really strange that the hospital expects me to contact all of my out of town doctors to get my patient records. They wont give them over to me without a consent form being signed. I have even send some request via mail and it has been two weeks. When I call the tell me they havent heard of anything!   I called the PRE'D packet organizer and she took down all the numbers to see if she couldnt get them to fax them over. She was reluctant though.. but if they want my money they really need to organize a better method of figuring this shit out.   Who knows how long this will take really. If alld oesnt work out, I might have to drive over to the center and see if I can work this out in person with them. I shouldnt be doing the work since doctors dont really work with patients..
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wait wait wait wait wait wait wait

Tommorrow I am seeing a new PCP for the lab tests I need for the pre determination packet and whatnot. Instead of going to my hometown to see the doctor I just got a new one. I have been living alone in cincinnati for about three years, and everytime I get sick I end up having to go to the E.R. It would be much easier to have a doctor I can go to without having to drive for four hours to get there. I am happy about that.   I am extremely disappointed at how slow Jewish hospital is at just comfirming that they have the first packet sent about my insurance info. Everytime I call, they say "we will call you". Its been about two weeks since I sent it, and all they have to do is call me back to tell me what I need to gather together for the predetermination packet.   I think its pretty ridiculous, and I cant imagine how slowly it will be when they submit the packet if they cant even call to see whats needed in the damn packet. THe problem with everything is if they dont know who the hell I am, how am I going to get my weight history everything faxed to them. I have so many other doctors that are going to have to work with them so that just doesnt make any sense at all.   I also called the endocrinologist and they claim that my REQUEST for my records hadnt come in yet. I might have to have the people at jewish send a request because they dont seem to listen to patients.
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The beginning of the journey (not yet banded)

I have been researching the lapband and rouxenY for a while. RouxenY is out of the question for me because I and my family are afraid of death. Besides this, I am twenty one years of age! Young, and I highly doubt that the staples will survive until I am 30. (much less 40,50, or however long that I hope to live)..   My story: I have ALWAYS been a big girl. I was tormented as a child, and in middle school and at 12 I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome and Pre-Diabetes. Thats a scary thing, and embarrassing thing at twelve years old. I didnt want any doctor telling me about my menstration, and I didnt care about diabetes. I was eating donuts and chocolate milk everyday for lunch, and nothing mattered.   at this point I was prescribed glucophage to regulate my bloodsugar and bring my hormones back to normal. :phanvan   I remained between 240-220 throughout highschool, but through running and trackpractice and other whatnots, I was able to get down to close to 200 pounds by graduation. :straight   (I have been a vegetarian for 9 years as well, but often and always choosing the bad foods):straight:straight:straight   Come college, I was suffering from depression and anxiety. I was in a highstress environment because I was going through a very intensive music program at a conservatory. Through an even stricter vegan diet, and from overdoing things at the gym, I had lost 20 more pounds and gotten myself down to 180-182. I couldnt understand why I couldnt get a boyfriend. This was the thinnest I had ever been, and it was unhealthy. I was weak, my hair was coming out, and I was constantly exausted from overexercising, low self esteem and not getting enough food, and not any protein at all. :rolleyes   that very year I came down with a generative joint disease called rheumatoid arthritis/ or rheumatism. I suffered.. boy oh boy did I suffer. Slowly, I couldnt walk, or do anything. I had to quit music, and redefine myself completely. I was completely depressed, however I had gained a boyfriend who didnt care at all about my weight. :clap2:   quickly I gained 60 pounds, and my rheumatologist made me go on prednisone for a while, and I my metabolism slowed to a crawl because I could not walk. Me knees got shot, I ended up having to have surgery on both elbow joints, my wrist lost the space between the bones, and my fingers swelled up. Ic ouldnt even bear a sheet on me at night, and when people accidently bumped into my swollen body I would scream bloody murder. this was 2004-2005.. i flunked several quarters at school, and i was just a mess.   although I am doing much better. I cannot stand for more than an hour or so at a time. i can no longer run because my left ankle needs surgery and physical therapy. my metabolism is terrible and even though i am eating normally, i still have issues with foods, and I still have been steadily putting on the weight.   that is my story. it is ridiculous.
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still no psych eval

tick tock tick tock tick tock... i dont know what is wrong with the man who is preparing my psych eval . It has been 14 days and it still hasnt been faxed over!! That is my ticket to band land and he is taking far to long to deliver - what the junk. half the problem is waiting on all these PEOPLE. dont they want to turn the geers in that center?
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starting the data collection phase

Last night I went to the first seminar at jewish hospital. The day before they had sent me the papers I needed to submit about myself, like weight, insurance information, medications and etc. I turned that in and expect that they should receive it by thursday.   The seminar was good, and I got to ask the actual doctor questions.. He didnt impress me personality wise- but I am sure he knows what he is doing. He seems a little rough around the edges.. like corn bread. and he definitely ain't sweet -LOL i almost feel as if he looks down upon us poor plumpers as he claimed in big words his bmi was in the lower twenties.   Im disappoited that I will most likely not be able to go to Dr. curry and deaconess because he is moving away. He seemed nice. I will probably still go their seminar on the twentyfirst   anyhoo I think I asked the most risque questions -- mainly thanks to the knowledge and information I have gained from being a member (a quite active one) of this message board!   He does not repair slipped bands or erosion bands for free. He does not include the first year of fills for free (only one fill)     my main concern of all is about medical mutual insurance:   they do require a six month dieting attempt- but it does not have to be medicall supervised ?!?!?! so... i thought i was going to scream when she said It was needed, but then i realized I might still have hope because I had been on the endocrinologist diet for a while long ago, and have done weight watchers... i almost feel that i could scrap together about anything   I think that is going to be the biggest obstacle between me and bandland... if i start another medically supervised diet, it wont be over with until september (whew) long WEIGH away -- :help:   I expect to get my endocrinologist notes (from 5-7 years ago) next week, and I plan on traveling to toledo to visit my PCP to get the lab work done. I think my endocrinologist weight diagrams will prove a point. It also have the diagnoses of PCOS. AT TWELVE!   I already have my rheumatologist notes -- which i think is my strongest co morbidity claim.   anyhow I have been very anxious/excited about the whole thing for a while now.. and i really hope that i can strengthen my rather odd claim for this surgery.
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Psych Exam today

Well today I had my Psych exam and finished the very last loop hole before my medical evaluation. I was nervous about it because I thought I would fail it. The psych doctor had a disability. He was nearly blind and he had contracted joints or lack of control in one of his arms. He told me I was a lot of fun and a joy to chat with. He was a nice guy,so im assuming that I passed the exam! I never would have imagined that two months would have passed by since I first got interested in this operation, and when I got all of my stuff together. I know I need help because in two months, my weight has jumped 12 pound without me doing anything different at all. Scary.   When i saw two fifty it just sealed the deal. Now this is where all the prayer comes in. I will have to pray about getting approved. I cant imagine my disappointment if I get a denial.
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patience

my patience is definitely being tested here. The nurse predicted that I would be scheduled end of july early august for the band.. I still dont know if my psych eval has been faxed over. How annoying is that? The lady who controls the predetermination packets will not be in until later.   I have good news though -- metformin (glucophage) has melted five pounds off of me in three days. Its not water either. Discounting water weight, it would have been eight pounds.
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not all together yet...

So I called the endocrinologist and someone with their brain on finally told me my request had gotten fowarded to the warehouse where they keep all of 5 yuear + records -- so I called the warehouse and they processed my request and mailed my documents out on the twenty seventh (two days ago, or monday).   so I expect to get all of that information TOMORROW or at the latest by friday.. I also had to go to my doctors office and have them fax my information myself.. Gosh. Its so crazy working with all these people who just dont give a rats ass about what your trying to do!! And to think all of this process and Im not even guarenteed to be approved my insurance company. Oh they will be getting an Iron fist if they deny my claim.   when I have all these records on hand, then I will tell them to go ahead and fax my information to med mutual. DAMN!!!   so Labs - Check Endocrinologist - check rheumatologist - check weight history -- still waiting weight watchers six months - check   my original PCP is the most snoody of all, they are mailing me a release request as of today and that could take another two weeks. and this is just the PRE'D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   btw the PRE'D organizer didnt even call as she had promised.
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more waiting...

They moved my med eval to may 8th. Hmmph. However when i visiting my parents I was able to get documentation (better) of my sugar problems, plus pictures of my childhood obesity.   what a thick PRE 'D packet I will have!
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mondays my med evaluation

Today is the 5th (cinco de Mayo) and it is also friday. Monday is my medical evaluation!! w00t w00t w00t w00t w00t. Then I can really start the crossing of the fingers. My weight has hung pretty tight unfortunately... no matter what i do I am 250. (i have eaten veganf or a week sof ar)
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med eval finished

I have Good news. Today I have completed the medical evaluation and my PRE-D packet looks excellent according to the doctor I saw regarding this. She told me that approval is most likely definite because they had been working with med-mutual the whole time. (!)   The only thing is my Psychiatrist still has not sent my psych evaluation. The doc told me we are looking at end of july early august for the surgery.
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Im banded!!

Well Im finally banded, and I cant believe it. I am three days post op as of today. It was a lot more painful than I expected it to be, but I can tolerate a lot of pain so I was up and hangin out and going to the bathroom. Everyone was shocked at my progress   I didnt do well on the pre-opt diet, but not horrible either,s o my liver was fine, and I had lost 1.2 pounds.   Now, Imd oing the liquid diet like a friggen champ. Its going tob e difficult so I will be looking forward to chatting with people.
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i will know in five to seven days

Well its been two weeks + waiting so far. The first time I called medical mutual someone told me there was no claim on file (!) I was only semi worried because I knew the jewish hospital folks knew exactly what they are doing.   Now Im nervous. I called and got another representative! I was told my information is in the nurses review part and it would take another five to seven days (!!!!!!!!) thats it. I am crossing everything on my body now. Seven days is around the nineteeth. After my first week of work.   i hope those nurses arent suspicious of my weight watchers diet
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hate doctors.... no one knows what they are doing

Today I went to see the psych doctor Doctor Taliaferro) to see what the hell the problem was. It has been TWENTY days since I saw him for my psych evaluation.. thats twenty days too long, and twenty days delaying my potential lap band surgery over a fucking psych evaluation.   The office claimed to have sent the information on thursday but the weight management center called me today, saying the had not received it. Extremely annoyed, I discovered that he wasnt even in the office so I couldnt even retreive it with my own hands to hand -deliver it (which is a HUGE trip in itself)...
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haha

gosh, since learning of my approval i havent been back to lap band talk ever since. that just aint right. i have the appointment with my surgeon on the 28th, and will probably be having surgery late august
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finished with all the paperwork

on thursday or friday i got my endocrinologist crap. it wasnt ANYTHING what I expected, and they did charge me almost five dollars. They ended up scanning my referral from 2003.. (WTF) :faint: back to my PCP before I left for college.   So no documentation of my symptom X diabetes, no documentation of my PCOS.. stupid idiots.. but the header does say: yatta yatta endocrinology so the medical review board will see that if having it even does pump up my case the least bit.........   I also had my information and money sent to have my PCP fax my info to jewish.. so by monday I will turn everything in to them and they should be able to send my PRE'D packet off to med mutual from here.   I predict that by wednesday at the least it should be sent out.. and then the waiting game begins to see if i am approved.
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finally I hear from JH regarding my PreD

Unlike what they stated in the seminar they wrote me documentation about what they found out from medical mutual! I am glad I have it in writing. " Documentation of supervised weight loss experience for six months. (includes my weight watchers experience)   A complete diet history form. Please list hte various diets you have used over the years. Please not if you were overweight as a child or in your teen years.. ALso focus on your dieting efforts for the past five years.   Documentation of your medical concerns related to your obesity. To begin the process, please take the enclosed forms. Also need outside psych exam.   I am very pleased to have the go ahead that they have a file for me there. Really, the only thing I need to do is have all my doctors fax this information over to them. I am extremely P.Oed that the endocrinologist has not yet had acknowledged my patient information request. I might have to have my mother go on over there to get it done. The speed of getting my information for my PreD packet is based on the speed of all the doctors coming together.   Monday the results of my labs will be ready to fax over to JH. Now the ball is rolling
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finally everything is faxed over

everything IS finally faxed over to Medical Mutual as of yesterday May 23rd, 2006. It took a ton of phone calls out of someone who HATES making phone calls for that to happen. The woman on the phone I spoke to was confused denying that they had received the psych exam, but she mentioned sharon had faxed everything to med mutual yesterday, and the person i spoke to faxed my psych exam on monday so that makes sense.   -- now its just wait, cross, fingers, wait, wait wait wait wait.... hopefully I will be APPROVED!
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ekg/bloodtests/etc

Went to the PCP today. She is a slim woman with a dark pixie hair cut -- but instead of being pixie like - shes got a serious demeanor and "doctor shoes and a doctor outfit on". The EKG was alright.. I didnt really realize it wasnt that big of a deal, just stuck a buncha stickers on me and I was relieved that my heart is ok.   I had been having palputations since gaining so much weight. I weighed in (with shoes) at 248 pounds. (thats a 40 BMI) yikes. My slim average was 188. (thats sixty pounds over... yuck) Im surprised im even recognizable.   They took a blood sample and a urine test, and told me to call on monday so that they can fax everything to Jewish hospital. So basically, the hard part is over. All other information just needs to be faxed over, and since professionals tend not to listen to patients.. Jewish hospital might have to get that information themselves.
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angry with lack of understanding...

I was talking to my mother today and she jumped down my throat about talking about the band too much. :mad: i was offended, and i accidently started a statement like "as my mother you should... " needless to say she got seriously offended.   I dont think my mother realizes how embarrassing it is for my old friends to see me 50-60 lbs heavier than when they last seen me.. I dont go see them. I have been in hiding. Rheumatoid arthritis made me into something I am not.. a hermit. I almost died when i saw my old bandmates a few weeks ago. What did they think? GOD how i miss being a size 14. They dont understand why i cant go running or i cant walk the mall for more than an hour on my feet because they hurt so much.. no body understands why I wont play my music. I cant even be seen on the stage this ugly and large. Its one thing to gain twenty thirty lbs, but fifty sixty is enough to make me sick.   I have been having heart palputations... and I think my body cant belive how much harder it has to work just to keep me alive. i can barely have intimacy with my bf because I constantly think about how disgusting I must be. (not that he is mr buff or anything) but looking at myself, sometimes I stop and want to just die because I look nothing like how I did.     last night I bought a pair of jeans in a size TWENTY.. that is sick. I have worked so hard before to go from a twenty down to a fourteen and now I am a twenty again. It wouldnt be so bad if i were halfway volumptuous.. but my gut is where all my weight is.   I have NO clothes that fit me anymore. I want to cry when i put on my old clothes and they are so tight.. I hate having to buy all new stuff. And the selection is awful.. they are all just big nasty tents. I ahd worked SOOO hard to loose sooo much weight to gain it back with a serious disease. Why am i b eing punished? and my mom wants me to stop talking about this and wait til the summer== thhis is just the application process!!! No way will I stop working as hard as I can to make this happen. NOWAY. :mad: :mad: :mad:     Well I need to have blood labs and an EKG to move foward with all the stuff I need to do. (like the submission process!!) so I cant make it to toledo for all this stuff because of school so I am currently getting a new Doctor PCP   I have a list of about fifteen lady docs I wouldnt mind seeing. basically I need someone to run these tests.   *didnt get my endocrinologist reports in the mail yet   *need to send in for my five year PCP records from toledo (they require fifteen dollars from me!) I will probably do this tonight at the grocery store.   tommorrow I am calling to see which doc is accepting new patients and to confirm their med mutual carrier status. Once I can get those labs done, and my info forwarded I should be able to start the actual submission process   BTW, i think i will be able to come up with the six month dieting attempt records.
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....

i have had a hell of a time making a psychiatric appt. Those people are hella loosy goosy and it makes me sick. Also, I have been exercising hard and eating right and I have only lost a pound and a half in a week. I remember when I went on weight watchers without exercising I had lost seven pounds. Thats some bull...
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