Lilu

I have been over weight all my life and lived with the fact that this is my body. I raised my self esteem and became proud of being a big woman. But I started to get illness related to being fat and that start to worry me so I started dieting and was going no where. I have diabetes and found the older I got the worse it became. The diabetes is slowly taking away my life. So last Oct I started my Journey on the WLS road after I read that the surgery can help take away Diabetes from my life. I went thru all the hoops the doctors asked me to go thru. But now we are in August and I still can not get cleared. While I try to keep my hopes up I find myself slipping. Everytime I think I find that silver lining in the cloud, something else pops up. I have diabetes, Hypothyriodism, Neruopthy in my feet, Diabete damaged in my eyes, sleep apna, Blockage in my heart, Blocked artery in the brian and had a stroke with no effect to me. When I start all I had diabetes and high blood pressure since Jan. 2011 I started to get everything else. What little hope I have goes away day by day. Honestly I am doing everything the doctors tell me to do. 1. Eat right: I fasted for a couple of days and began the last week of the WLS diet. I measure all my food count carbs, Protein, and calories. Cooking style has change. 2. Exercise three times a week. 3. Take my meds all the time But instead of losing weigth I am gaining it. The doctors said don't worry it is the meds. I went as far as having my family videoing me eating and exceresing so that I could prove I am doing everything they are asking me to do. But they don't give me hope about clearing me. In Oct I will have to start over getting all my clearence if these last two doctors don't clear me. Crying every night, Prayering for the clearence to come thru. But realizing that I may have to stay like this forever. Started at 200 pounds and now I at 247 Pounds Hoping against Hope

Thanks for the suggestion but Mexico is out of the question for many reasons. The roadblocks I face are medical at the moment. I just want the doctor to something now before I don't have the will to fight to get better. Once he does his part then I go again with the Cardio so he can do his part. Then wait two months and hope I get my WLS. The waiting is killing me and the fact that a new problem shows up makes me lose hope.

Thanks but I tried that but no luck I have to start over.

Well more bad news for me. The next appt for the doctors that I am waiting for is at the end of the time aloud. I have to start over again in November because the the insurance is only good for a year and then you must start again. And to add to all of my problems having trouble with my diabetes now I need to find a specialist. I just close my eyes and exhale, I feel there goes another ounce of hope. Why???????????????????????????????

Thank You for you words, But I had been working out everyday and was told to limit myself to 3 times a week. And yes i see a nutritionist every month for three years now. But the weight gain is driving me crazy.

Well Debbie, I know how pissed your are, but take it from me these clearence are so important to you as well as your doctor. If you ever saw my pre-op hell you will see that I complained that every test I did I was found with something wrong I have had my sleep apnea since March and I have yet to get my okay. I have more problems with the CPAP machine than when I did not have it.. I over sleep now and have a terrible cough. But I have not stop I really want this surgery. If the doctor tells me to jump hops that is what I will do. Because I was also giving the bad news that I have a stenious in my left side of the brain. So I will found out if it is a yes or no in July 8, 2011. If the doctor would not have asked me to get those clearence I would not know and could have had a stroke. Finale my advice is do all the doctors asks and be truthful about your health because you never know what can be hiding. Good Luck.

Everyone is different I still don't know my date either but i am going thru pre-op clearence. I went to my sem. first then I had to call and get my appt. and now i am waiting for my clearence. Once I have gotten all my clearence then I can call the surgeon for my second appt. and I started this in Oct 2010. Good Luck

Hope has been restore I have been thinking about this pre-op hell and I have to say I thank god I had to go thru this because I would not have found the hidden secret my body was hiding. So they may be disappointing at times but If I had to do it all over again I would. I would not change a thing. So if you feel you want this WLS surgery to happen within your time line think twice it will happen when it will happen. You need to be honest about your health and do all the test and treatment your doctor ask because it is about your health and your life. I now see that to be true so for all of you feeling like your are in a pre-op hell remember what I have shared with you. I put a time line on this and was always diappointed when it didn't go as I planned it. But even if it takes me longer I will have the WLS. So hold your head up and be honest and patient it will happen so the out come will be successful. God Bless you all

I have been thru pre-op hell and cried alot about it, but I have reflected on the issue about why. I was honest about my health which you should always be. I went to a neuro, pulmo, Pysch, and cardio specialist. Due to the helath issue have had alot of test from these doctors so they could clearence me. I still have not got clearence from the neuro doctors because i show some problem in the MRI and now the clearence has to come from stroke doctor. I understand now why the stop, I could have died on the table because I didn't do all I have done and Honesty was the best choice. So by telling you this I think you should see the pulmo spec. and ask for a sleep test. I was told I have sleep apnea and I did not have trouble with my sleep but I did wake up choking or with dry mouth. But I past the breathing test. We are all different so it is better to be safe than sorry Good luck

Well this Pre-op hell has come to an end for me. After seeing so many doctors for some many thing to get my clearance for my WLS has die with the Neuro doctor. Right now the only things that works in my body is my heart and mind. If you can count a broken heart a problem then the only thing is mind. This journey ends here I thought I was doing the right thing for my health but I have failed. I now need to learn to live with all my illness and problems they bring on. So at my young age of 40, have to prepare myself for living with lost of sight, ability to walk and the yo-yo weight. The lesson I learn is I am a ticking time bomb and no matter how many doctors I see or how many pills they give me to take they are going to always find something wrong. Because treatments work for a limit time and they have to try some thing new and some times the treatments give me a secondary problem. So for now I won’t be getting the surgery any time soon. Praying for a miracle to happen.

Thank You for your words and I know this is not a quick fix or easy I have change my eating habits but the diabetes and the meds I am on is what does not allow me to lose the weight I need to. But as you spoke about Christ i Just want to say That my problems and health is in his Hand and he will get me through it . Good luck on your weight lost

Yes these words from you mouth to gods ear. Thank you

Update I was called by the Neuro doctor and was told I need to see the Strokes spec. It shows the I have had some narrowing in my carotid artery in the brain and that is why She could not give me the clearence. So now that I understand what is going on I am going to work on fixing this first before I have my surgery. The Stroke spec told me that he want me to come in to start treatment and he will give me my clearence in two months after treatment has start and it has improved it self so lets wait two more month. I want to thank everyone for the prayers. I also want to thank god for good bedside manors of my Doctors. I will not get my hopes up high but I will cry less because of this blessing I was granted I am holding on and will not let go

Thank You alot having people understand why I am crying and sad really helps me.

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers but right now I am doing alot of crying and not able to explain why. I was so close to finding a cure to my diabetes. I will continue to diet and prayer. And wishes everyone to get their surgery and that they never have to reach my outcome. I should make my middle name neverforme. LOL

Since I won't be having my surgery any time soon and understand the hell of Pre-op Sending you all the blessing you need and praying that you can have the joy and happiness to a better healthier. My God give you better health in this time of need.

I also use the isphore because I have diabetes and I mix with skin plus milk it adds protein to the shake. Always watch out the add calories and sugar. Good luck

Before I spoke about the hell I felt I was in. My emotions were like a roller coaster ride and I thought I found a way to get off. But I am back on this ride again. I said I will try to follow everything the doctors request of me to be able to have my WLS. It seems that things are not going my way. I went for the follow-up to my neuro appt with the knowledge that I going to get my clearance after I brought paper work that they asked me from another hospital. But to my surprise I saw a new doctor who was not satisfy when the documents that I had to pay for. I was so mad I told them that if this is not she needs I don’t know what to tell her because that is what requested a month ago. So this dr gave me two choices 1. Pay again for my records 2. Do the test over I told her option 1 is not possible so I will do the test. She tells me that she needs some cardio test and a MRI. When I went to the cardio doctor he said he will not request these test because I have no cardio problems and the test he did was enough and he cleared me already. So I pleaded that the neurologists order them. Now the insurance company denies the cardio test. What do I do now? I also start on the cpap machine for a week now, but since I started I have not been sleeping well. I now take naps during the day and when I wake up I am not able to talk or drink anything and my throat hurts a lot. I guess things have to get worse before the get better. And to add to all of my problems I was told I have asthma after my breathing test. Not playing victim only venting

I have tired to see if I can change but it would set me back even more. I feel that they want all information on their files, not from anyone else. I am a ball of mess and pray that the day will come soon.

Well I had call the coordinator for my WLS and told her what I am going through so she called me that they got my insurence to approve the cardio test and I am scheduled for 4/18/11. The machine has a satalite device that they monitor. So because of that I use it like clock work. What I am doing is using it as long as I can at night. Then I take it off so I can get some sleep. I use to get 6 hours of sleep a day and felt great, now I am down to 3 hours and taking naps during the day.

yes because every test i do they find something wrong. After sleeping test I have sleep apnea. But I was never tired in the morning I would wake up like clock work everyday any where from 4:30 am - 6:00 am. Never sleep after that could never nap in the day. But the Dr. said I have it so I have to use the machine to get approved. After my breathing test I now have asthma but never complained about breathing problems in my 40 years together. Now I am waiting for the MRI.

Well I had waited to see about having my WLS surgery because my sister had the surgery and I wanted to see how hard it would be for her.She was as you described she is addictive to food could not follow a diet. It was not worth the money she paid. This will not be a quick fix it is a change of life and you have to be willing to change. My sister lost 50 pounds before the surgery and lost 100 pound after but her food addiction took over and now she has gain all of it back. I am telling you this eventhough I have not had my surgery yet. Because of her I delay my choice for three years because I thought I was going to fail like her. I sat down and spoke to my self and did a pros and cons list. And also started to exercise more and worked on how much food i would take in. I started slow and did not call it a diet. If I ate two protion of meat then I went to one for a week the next week lower something else and now I eat small protion but the weight lose is not fast enough to help my diabetes. Ever person is different but so far I have two people that have to have the surgery. But I have a pre-op support group that are successful. Waiting for clearence counting the days good luck

you are so right. yes we will make it. The wait is going to be worth it

This pre-op roller coaster ride is the most unfair ride to be on. I started in Oct 29, 2010 by going to my first appt with WLS doctor. I was given a list of pre-op test to be done before I can call for my second appt with WLS doctor. For me I was requested to see the following: 1) LABS (Blood test/Urine) done 10/29/10 Cleared 2) Nutritional Consultation done 10/29/10 Cleared 3) Psychological assessment done 3/4/11 Cleared 4) Support Groups (2) 1st 2/1/11 5) Ultrasound done 1/15/11 Cleared 6) 6 month diet letter/PCP Letter Cleared 7) Cardiology done 1/26/11 Cleared 8) Neurology done 2/15/11 Cleared 9) Pulmonary done 3/28/11 So the first time I found out that I was not full informed about what was going on was in Dec 2010. I thought that I need to do 6 month diet I put off calling to schedule my appts. When I call the nutritionist to schedule another appt I was told I did not need the 6 month diet because my insurance did not require the wait. I was so mad that I was not clearly told this. So I started to get on the phone and make as many appts as I could. While waiting for my appts I kept going to my doctor to take car of my health like the diabetes, high blood pressure, Neuropathy in my feet, thyroids and anything else that was becoming worse as the days and wait went by. I started at 228 pound and now I am 240 pound and doing diabetic weight watcher diet with no cheating I have gained weight in stead of losing it. I was also put on an insulin pump to control my sugars better and I now take more medicine. So when I think things can’t get worse it does. I went to see the pulmonary doctor she told me that I need to do test before she could clear me for my WLS. She started to tell me that it may take 3 month before I could call the doctor for my second appt. I was holding back the tears. I was told to understand that it was for my own good. My own good, I thought that when I made the choice to have this surgery done that I was thinking about my own good! I guess she saw my face and suggest that she will put me her cancel list and call me to fill that spot. I went along with that but confused why I need a sleep study done. I never complained about any sleep problems. I have always sleep with my mouth open and snored because of it. Was never told I had a problem with stopping breathing at night. So when I went for the test I thought I was going to sleep like I do at home but that was not the issue they hook u up to a lot of things and tell you to sleep on you back. Well that was problem one because I sleep on my side. The bed was uncomfortable for me too. So I really could not sleep. When I finally went to sleep the tech came in and woke me up and put a machine that blows air in you noise and while this is on you can’t really open your mouth because the air hit the back of your throat which I found painful. They said this is because I snore and at times it is loud. Well I have always snored because I have always breathed through my mouth not my noise. Finally I am sad again that I now need to sleep with a machine. Crying because I am scared to go to the doctors, what else are they going to find wrong with me. Thinking about calling it quits.

Thank u good to hear that someone does not have apnea, but hay fever and strong allergies is a problem. But I know it was not going to be easy I will use the machine so that I can complete my journey. I feel better after going to the support group for pre-op at Montifore Hospital and hearing from online support group.