This blog is being created to keep me stay focused on my goal and have accountability as well as hopefully be a resource for others who are considering starting their own journey. My journey started a few years ago when I started researching Weight Loss Surgery (WLS). I went to my very 1st seminar and found it quite informative. Until my husband went to the seminar he was not very thrilled about what I was considering and after that I have really have had his support. At that time most insurance companies were still not covering the Sleeve (VSG) and I myself had never heard of it but found myself quite intrigued with the information. At that time I was considering the lap band procedure. After the meeting I was ready to make my change but got really discouraged when the group that the Dr uses to handle all the insurance and scheduling, etc seemed to be more about themselves and the money they could make than what was good for the patient. Since I got the huge vibe that they were all about the money I decided to call my insurance company to see if there were other options and explained how this group wanted to charge for everything and it was all out of pocket and they sd it wasnt covered by insurance. My insurance encouraged me to find another doctor. I decided to do more research and decided surely I can do this on my own, yea right!

So here I am 3 years later. I made my decision to go ahead and have WLS in October 2011 when my lab test came back to the dr showing that I was no longer a borderline diabetic that I now have type II diabetes and knowing my family history I knew this wasn't something to play around with. My doctor asked if I had ever considered WLS as if it was his idea, lol, and I told him I had and he wrote up a referral for me and it was ready for pick up in just a couple of days.

So here's my calendar of events so far:

October 25 - had annual physical and blood test done

Nov 1- Drs appt - got results from test and Dr sd wd give referrel for WLS

Nov 10- Bariatric Seminar

Nov 11- Drs appt regarding blood sugar levels

Dec 12- Drs appt

Jan 12- Drs Appt ( gotta make sure I see doctor for 6 consecutive visits to keep insurance from denying surgery)

Jan 12- 1st visit with surgeon

Jan 17- Psych eval- was told eval wd be sent over by next day to surgeon with approval

Jan 25- Upper GI and lab work done

Feb 3- 5 mth visit with Primary doctor

Once my 1st visit with the surgeon was done, I have felt as if I had been on a rollercoaster of dr's appts but I totally don't mind at all!

My Dr appt with my surgeon went very well. One of the requirements they have is you must bring a support person with you to your 1st appt. They don't care whom you choose as long as the person is 18 or over. My surgeon told me the sleeve was a excellent choice and provided my husband and I with very informative information of what to expect in the coming weeks as well as when I have the surgery and my hospital stay. He also encouraged for me to go ahead and get plugged into their support group that they have which I find is a very good idea. I could use all the support I can get. One of the things that made me feel so much better about this is the whole process is totally different then the process I started going on 3 years ago. This is being handled as any medical need where everything can be filtered thru my insurance instead of made to feel as if this is elective surgery therefore if you want a support group you have to pay for it out of pocket, if you want insurance filed you have to pay for it out of pocket. I am so glad my Dr referred me to such a fantastic group. I have done my research and the Dr's are excellent and have had no deaths from the result of their surgery. In fact I didn't find not one negative thing about the entire group.

One thing I do want to say is that the surgeons office gave me a list of Psychologist that I could use if I chose too to schedule my Psych eval. I actually called and spoke to one of the staff at one of the offices and I could not believe the fees, besides the 20% copay they sd they charged $185 to actually send the eval to the surgeons office and insurance did not cover that she did a quick calculation and sd it looked as if I wd be paying somewhere around $400 for my 1st appt with filing fees included. I decided before scheduling I should call my insurance company (Cigna open access) and I'm so glad I did. I called my insurance and they sd my employer actually has a EPT plan with the insurance and they gave me a list of names and numbers along with getting a EPT # for me and told me I could have up to 3 visits free and there wd be no cost for the evaluation that insurance wd take care of any cost. They also informed me if I needed any additonal visits after my surgery or even before that the visits are only $10 a visit. WOW! If I had not called my insurance I wd have paid out quite a bit of unnecessary money and I don't know about everyone else but I work hard for my money and have no desire to throw it away unnecessarily.

I decided to go ahead and start working on trying to lose weight before my surgery and start walking to work on my endurance so once I have the surgery it won't be as difficult. I already know that alot of people are going to ask why have the surgery if you can lose weight on your own, the problem is i have never in 20 years been able to get below 201 lbs and the last few years with the pre diabetic sugar highs and now full blown diabetes it is even harder to lose weight. WLS is not a quick fix but it is a tool to help people get the help they need.

I'm looking forward to my journey towards good health and am very open to words of wisdom and encouragement.

Tammy