Véronique

Well, I know that for my insurance provided (as an employee of the State of Colorado), I know I did my dietary clearance on Friday, the 11th and I got notified by my surgeon's office that I was approved on the 18th. According to them, they probably didn't submit it to the insurance company on the 11th as I did my dietary clearance in the afternoon but at most, it took me a week to get the approval from insurance.

I will not be having a food funeral either. Over the past year or so, I've been working hard to implement the changes I need to make in order to make this surgery a success. I quit indulging in marijuana, I have not had a drop of alcohol and for the past seven months, I have been adhering to a rigorous 1,800 calorie diet, as prescribed by the nutritionists. That's not to say I didn't go out to eat before I started my liquid diet. I went out with a couple of friends and we went to this restaurant in Denver called Sputnik. I had one of their smaller dishes, the Mac-n-Cheese without the green onions. The experience of shooting the breeze with my friends, though, is more important and I made sure to pace my meal to the end of the conversation.

So, today's wrap up: I did my pre-op appointment today and I didn't know I was going to be weighed today. I was a bit worried because per my home scale, my weight spiked roughly 1,1 kg from yesterday and was up 0,8 kg from the day I had my consult with the surgeon. Miraculously, I had lost 3 pounds since then which does make me wonder about the accuracy of my scale. (It's a Withings Smart Body Analyzer, in case anyone was curious.) I took my test based on my understanding of the binder handed to me at my surgery consult. I got a 100%. As much as I'd like to claim it's because I'm awesome, I believe it was more because the test was written for people who aren't. I went to my pre-admit appointment and had a hard time giving a blood sample. After two pokes, we got the vials they needed to run the necessary blood tests. I'm having surgery at the crack of dawn. I have to get to the hospital at roughly 5:30 am and I'll be on the table at 7 or 7:30 am on the 29th! I got my incentive spirometer today. It's my new fidget toy. I set up my Living Will, directives and all other stuff. Basically, I'm not going to be Terri Schiavo'd.

Tomorrow, I am taking a test on the patient education binder and if I fail, this whole journey gets delayed several more months. If I pass, I'll be one step closer to my surgery.

I just tried some tomato soup, using fat-free milk instead of water to bump up the protein content. Not half bad, and adds roughly 9g of protein to the soup.

Hey, I'm getting surgery on the 29th too! I'm having mine at Poudre Valley Hospital.

I just started my liquid diet and this being the first time I've ever done a liquid diet, I must say I'm not a fan but that's the way it's going to have to be until the day I can tolerate soft foods. The handbook offered by my bariatric programme says that a key component of the liquid diet is going to be Carnation Instant Breakfast. It tastes awful, but that's not even the worst part. I got the variety that isn't sugar-free (purely by accident) and it tastes like death. That doesn't give me much hope for the sugar-free variety. I have higher hopes for making tomato soup with fat-free milk as a high-protein drink.

I hope I get something good. Boulder, Colorado is the home of Celestial Seasonings and Fort Collins is not too far away from there.

Just got the call, insurance is paying for the surgery!

Yeah, I'm thinking maybe I should start up a liquid diet next week just to be safe. My weight is rollercoastering in spite of my adherence to my 1,800 calorie diet, so this may be for the best.

One thing that makes me worry is the fact that the patient information notebook they gave me is that there is no liquid diet and the only admonishment diet-wise pre-op is that (a) no eating or drinking anything after twelve midnight on the day of surgery, (b) you should quit caffeine because withdrawal is going to be a b***h in the hospital (got that down) and (c) you can't gain weight between the time you have your surgeon's consult and your pre-admit (or pre-op?) appointment.

My bariatric surgeon's office doesn't allow patients to smoke weed for at least three months before surgery and I know that I should be able to pass the pre-op drug test with flying colours. However, I had a very stressful meeting today with some very difficult people. My head was throbbing, and even now that I have some food in me (I had a nice chicken curry with some naan bread and rice at an Indian restaurant), I feel drained and I want some weed. Coping strategies, anyone?

So today, I got a phone call from one of the nurses at my surgeon's office. She apparently had an issue with my psychologist's letter because it was kinda generic and stuck to the points they wanted them to touch on in the psychologist's letter. But when I told her that she is my regular psychologist who I have been seeing for years and will continue to see after my surgery, she was willing to accept it. I also had a friend of mine phone me to ask if I am going to allow her to stay with me when I have my surgery. She even talked about eating hospital food with me and I told her "dude, I'm having most of my stomach removed, I'm not going to be eating anything for a while".

Have you considered Artesian water or drinking really cold water?

Last night, was my second night with my new C-PAP machine and I could only stand it for two hours with the bloody mask on. God, I hope this surgery helps abate my obstructive sleep apnea.

I'm just heading down from the nutrition consult. Sounds like I was approved but my social skills are **** so who can say?

So, I had a conversation with my surgeon's office because I was worried that given the time frame, they wouldn't have the time after I do my dietary consult today (yeah, it's just after midnight where I live so now, it's today) to get my surgery approved by insurance in enough time to keep my date on the calendar. Basically, my insurance typically approves within 3-4 days of submission of the claim, meaning my surgeon's office should have plenty of time to get the approval.

Where? Anschutz or Poudre Valley?

... I guess maybe it's because I'm an atheist or I know that docs that do these surgeries do a ton of them so there's very little risk of this happening, but I'm more scared of getting disqualified or screwing something up than I am dying on the table. Maybe that's just because right now, the ball for this happening is still in my court. Maybe once I get insurance to agree to pay for this, I'll freak out a little more about the tiny risk of dying. :/

Thanks. Pretty sure I'll need it. I could very well be overreacting as usual but I've been working hard on getting this done for over a year and a half now. I just hope everything works out well.

There are three things that could still spike my ability to have this surgery: My C-PAP, My Dietary Clearance, and My Insurance. Frankly, my insurance should be the least of my worries since I have reviewed their requirements and so far, everything looks to be copacetic. However, it's always better to be overly cautious instead of overly lax. My dietary clearance could also be an issue, as I don't know what this entails. None of the paperwork, the classes nor anything else indicates what this entails (apart from the requirement that I bring that binder I received from my surgeon's office). I have this scheduled for the 11th and I hope I've done everything right so far. My C-PAP could be a stumbling block because of my previous provider, Pacific Pulmonary Services. They closed their office in my town and without an active C-PAP servicer, I need to find a new one. We're trying to get my C-PAP servicing switched over to Major Medical Supply, which is on Main Street (which is a much better and more accessible location than PPS was). They say insurance will approve them in a week but I still need to ensure that my physician signs the paperwork and releases the medical records. My doctor's office is notoriously bad with ensuring medical records get to places, so I am going to need to stay on top of this. Apart from that, though, I'm working my ass off to make sure that this goes off without a hitch.

Neat, I'll be having my sleeve on the 29th of August.

Just got my date and I am definitely going to be an August sleever. August 29th at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado.

I know the feeling. I've tried lots of different types of diet and exercise, from calorie counting to Paleo. From Weight Watchers to going vegan at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. From kickboxing to Bikram yoga.

I'm planning on having it done with Northern Colorado Surgical Associates at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado. I'm trying to keep on my toes with everything just to be sure that on the day of surgery, nothing trips me up. This is the second bariatric programme I've been in because the first one (down in Denver) spiked my surgery because I have clinical depression. I think it had more to do with the fact that they wanted a psychologist who didn't have a working relationship with me to do the psychological clearance instead of my regular psychologist who knows me better. Since I've been working at this for a year and a half, I'm anxious to get this done ASAP.