Wednesday, April 21, 2010

The Path Life takes us down

A little over a month ago I wrote a post about twists and turns, In 10 days it will have been 27 months since my shunt came out and within months I had seen two different docs that when their "weight loss" suggestions netted me a mere pound or two in a month down on the scale (sometimes it didn't move and sometimes it even went up) they started suggesting bariatric surgery. The neurosurgeon at the time good as he was (he found the Chiari) but he could not figure me out, and he suggested gastric banding in other words Lap band, when my pulmonologist could not get my sleep apnea under control with massive pressure increases, she complained that I needed to see about some sort of "surgical weight loss"

Well…when my shunt came out there was a simple catch, our insurance covered NOTHING weight related, and I mean NOTHING. If it was mentioned on the report it was not covered.

Then in December when Chris lost his job that was the end of that, there was NO WAY we could ever pay for it on our own, but I was getting sicker and sicker and I had been seeing an AMAZING rehab doctor who referred me to the neurologist in his office (closer to home and much more competent in taking care of me) He did NOT mention Weight loss Surgery, He said it would benefit me and my Overall Health, but he did not promise an overall cure either.

Dr. Turner after a year asked me a question, I nearly had had a breakdown in his office, it was a bad pain day and nothing was going right, and I simply asked why my body was working against me. So he started asking a series of yes/no questions and suggested that when I get insurance I see an endocrinologist…My pulmonologist agreed and since he had not referred anyone she had Just the someone in mind.

That someone happened to be Dr. Zambare, she also is one of the lead doctors for the Medical weight loss team through the hospital where I had done some research and they have the BEST in the area of what is called Center of Excellence (Medicare requirement) Hospital for bariatric surgery.

My appointment was scheduled for the week following my Medicare effective date.

I had lots of appointments that week, since it was the first time I had had insurance since December 2008 I had everyone stacked into 5 days. I had been having some issues with my balance and mentioned them to dr. Turner (neurologist) and he sent me for some blood work (then Dr. Zambare did not repeat any of the tests) and I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic to add to my Intracranial Hypertension/Pseudotumor Cerebri and Chiari and Sleep Apnea, well, She put me on some initial meds to help with that but suggested I go to the two seminars about their weight loss programs (Medical and Surgical) where they go over the options and cost and basically tell you about what they are.

I had always had it in my mind that a lap band would not work, The reason I felt this way was I had read a lot about people who NEVER succeeded with them and since I already follow a portion control diet that isn't far from their post op diet (except the immediate after surgery of liquids and purees) I really didn't see how that was going to do me much good, well I also couldn't figure out why all the (non bariatric) doctors kept talking like this was easier and it would make me skinny and it would all go away.

Uhm, HELLO, I have A LOT of weight to lose, some 200lbs or more, ideally, but I do not see that happening easily under any circumstance. Very few of my doctors seemed to have the reality that that was not going to be easy, I have family and friends who have had a few different procedures bypass, banding, and stapling, and gained all the weight and then some back, I just could not see the point to putting myself through that and gaining the weight again.


 

Well I went into the seminar mid March and the first thing the Dr. doing the seminar said was THIS is NOT easy; it's JUST a TOOL, Hello!!! The lights went off and it hit home. I am handicapped, YES, but I can use a tool to Help me, just like I use my cane to get around, this is not going to make my weight come off, but it can help with the excess and it may not make me the Ideal weight, but it may help me get closer to it, and that is more of my goal.

SO, this morning, I had my appointment with the nutritionist, she gives me a goal, I wasn't too happy setting this goal, until I understood what it meant.

Every goal, has a meaning, our last goal was to try to eat more meals, EVEN if they are little, because I had the bad habit of only eating once a day, now even if it's just a yogurt, I have something at least twice, Today, I actually ate 3 meals though.

The reason you need to be in the habit of eating often is your metabolism thinks it's being starved and it HOLDS onto the fat stores. Another thing, she wants me to start drinking a protein shake as one of my meals since I struggle with eating. I got sugar free Carnation Instant Breakfast (I need to find them in the Variety Pack, Meijer only had Chocolate) and I am making them with 1% milk that counts for both a MEAL and my liquids, a 2fer.

My second goal is to start drinking more Low calorie beverages, That means I get to go to GFS and stock up on Fruit20, Now, nobody go suggesting plain water to me, because the one thing I have learned, after surgery I will have a VERY hard time with Plain water, especially the way I like it (ICE COLD)

My THIRD GOAL Ok This is the HUGE HUGE and ASTRONOMICALLY HUGE goal, is to get the rest of the stuff done on my check list, because they should be able to use Dr. Zambare's records as Dietary records which means…..Drum ROLL I need to complete Turn in my paperwork to get my Stress TEST, My Psych Eval, and THEN, we can schedule surgery

YIKES YAY Needless to say I am both excited and nervous, that means we are as little as 2 months away.

The heart of man plans his way,
but the Lord establishes his steps.

Proverbs 16:9


 


 

    

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