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My Path to Health

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Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow

Tomorrow, October 2, 2013, is the day I have my first pre-op appointment. 3:30 pm (cst). I pretty positive I will be approved and I'm pretty positive that Medicare will pay for it. My BMI is 46 and I'm a type 2 diabetic with high blood pressure. My surgery will be in a Center of Excellence (even though that it not a requirement anymore I feel good about) that has had their rating since 2007.   Yesterday I shared what I was doing with my brother. I think I expected him to say something like have you thought about this carefully but instead he was totally supportive as has been my son.
ptipton

ptipton

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Think it is going to happen

My visit with the doctor went well. I had a whole bunch of blood work done. We decided that the rny would be the best procedure for me and discussed their history with Medicare. After talking with him I feel fairly sure Medicare will pay but there are some hoops to jump through. One is I have to have a dietary consult. I was going to do it close to home but decided to go ahead and set up an appointment with their dietician as she would have a better idea of what is needed to meet Medicare's demands. Doctor also wants my cpap settings and/or a copy of the bill where I bought the machine. That one is a little harder as that was two moves and six years ago. But I finally remembered who I bought it from. I called them and they confirmed it and told me the settings. However, to be on the safe side I have gone to a local home health care facility and asked them to request my sleep study, etc (all the stuff Medicare needs) so that I could use Medicare for my supplies going forward. Also when the hone health care facility gets the info they will furnish it to the bariatric clinic. I have the dietary consult the 15th of Oct.   So it appears this is really going to happen. I've created a new daily plan to start tomorrow. I've already started limiting my caffeine (that's a hard one) but Tylenol helps. I plan on getting up earlier and doing a half hour of exercise with the rubber bands before I get ready for work. Then I'm doing six small meals during the day following post bariatric guidelines. I'm also cleaning out the kitchen and take the things I shouldn't be eating do the food bank or to the garbage. And I'm going to go check out the Y tomorrow. Our local Y has a first Saturday of the month free program. It will give me a chance to see what all they've got. They have a free seniors walking pass and I want to see what kind of walking track they have.   Now I need to start seeing Dr. Harden on a monthly basis. We have a lot to talk about in addition to getting through the weight loss.
ptipton

ptipton

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stuff running through my head

I do better writing my thoughts down -- helps me work through them   1. My first appointment is Tuesday, Oct 4. I have questions   How does Medicare work? Is there a waiting period? Does it have to be pre-approved via the clinic? If not, how do I know they are going to pay? What has been MBS's experience dealing with Medicare.   How soon can I expect to have the surgery? Do I need to have so many pre-op appointments, nutrition appointments, etc.   How soon can I drive after surgery? (reason: I want to do this and have only Patrick know what is going on. I would prefer no one go with me.)   Are there any additional tests I will need?   How do I take my medicine after surgery? Confirm that I will have to give up Celebrex.   Upcoming cataract surgery -- should I wait until to have the bypass until after that is done?   2. I need to formalize my support plan.   Attend MBS support group once a week.   Dr. Harden - start seeing him as soon as surgery is scheduled. See him every two weeks until surgery; every week for first four weeks after surgery; then once a month for a year.   Keep Karyl and Pat in the loop and Patrick & Mayra.   Be faithful about food and exercise journal.   Figure out how to answer the "you have lost enough weight" comments and "why have you done this" comments.   Figure out how to handle being attractive again -- have I been hiding behind my weight; do I want another relationship; how far would I want a relationship to go. This is a topic I will need to explore with Dr. Harden's help.   Learn to exercise again.   3. How to handle pre-op stage cause I'm not doing a very good job of it right now. The last two weeks I've been eating way beyond what I should.   Get back to on three meals a day   No snacks   High protein, low carb   Eat a table, not in chair in front of TV   When watching TV find something to do with my hands (build a puzzle, finish afghan, figure out how to get on bike and ride it while watching TV   Spend less time watching TV. Limit my self to 2 hours each evening during the week.   Work on my Beth Moore study and bible archeology study.   Use RNYTalk blog.   4. Once surgery is scheduled:   How to tell Dr. Heard I will be having surgery and need two weeks sick leave.   Keep it quiet - how to answer questions aimed at finding out why I will be out.   Clean out kitchen.   Use weight loss surgery for dummies book to stock kitchen (pretty well stocked now)   Attend MBS support group weekly until surgery..   So I have a basic plan. Now I just need follow-through.
ptipton

ptipton

0
 

Starting Out

My son's wedding was a turning point for me. I thought I looked pretty good until we got the pictures back. From shoulders up was okay - the hair looked great, makeup was good, and smile was great. But the rest of it - not so good. I'm a type 2 diabetic, have a BMI of 44.6; high blood pressure; high cholorestol; two bad kness that have been replaced and I am tired all the time. So I am going to try and have the RNY procedures. It seems to have the best success rate and my primary care doctor recommends it. She has referred me; the psychologist thinks I am a good candidate; and I have my first pre-op appointment Oct 2 with Missouri Bariatrics Services in Columbia, Mo. They are a Center of Excellence and tell me I don't need to contact Medicare prior to the surgery. This causes me some concern but I am waiting to my visit to find someone there to discuss this with.   I've been doing a lot of reading and found a couple of good books, One is by the lady who runs www.bariatriceating.com. It has a lot of good recipes plus her story is very encouraging especially from the psychological post op viewpoint. It was well worth the money. Also has some excellent references. I also bought three cookbooks for use after surgery. Two of the three look pretty good but I think the third one will not be of much use until I am in the normal food stage.   I haven't told any of my family what I am doing except my son. He is 41 and has watched me struggle with my weight and all the health issues I have had and he is very encouraging. I'm lucky to have him in my corner because I can trust him to be frank with me. As for the rest of my family, it will be a mixed review leaning toward "this is very drastic" and "have you considered the long term consequences." My answer to that is "yes, it is drastic" and "yes, I have considered the consequences and they far outweight the consequences of not having the surgery."   I told my psychologist during his evaluation that I wanted to start coming to see him when my surgery is scheduled because I think my biggest challenge is going to be handling my attitude toward my body and how a new slimmer, attractive me is going to function in my world. I have a couple of very good friends to help me through this but they live a few states away so the phone lines will be burning up. Plus my son's email account as he will probably be back in Afghanistan by the time the surgery happens.   Some day when I have more time I going to write about how the events of the last couple of years have put me here in this place where everything seems to be falling into place.
ptipton

ptipton

0
 

Friday

Well, it is Friday and I am faced with getting through the weekend without stressing out over my first appointment at MBS on Wednesday. I also have a dentist appointment just prior to the MBS appointment. Haven't been to the dentist in too long. I'm going now because I have insurance and because it is almost two year out since my last knee revision and I'm still infection free so I think we have it licked this time. It took four years and three reimplants but I think Dr Aggarwal was just what I needed.   I've had two protein shakes today and a medifast bar. Tonight I'm make a taco salad minus the taco part and topping with salsa and guacamole. I've got some good books lined up to read this weekend. If I'm reading I'm not eating.   I'm really counting on what I've read about RNY as far as very little hunger and feeling full.   So I'm write Monday about how the weekend went.
ptipton

ptipton

0
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