gpandersen

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I was scheduled for a sleep study on June 9, 09.  I arrived about an hour early and to my surprise they took me in right away.  I had my chest x-ray and then went to have some some blood drawn.  I then went in for a breathing test.  That was enough to give me a headache!  All turned out great.  From there I headed over to the sleep clinic.  Being that I was an hour and a half away from home I ended up sitting in the parking lot for 5 1/2 hours before my sleep study.  I went in at 8:pm and what an experience it was trying to sleep with all of these wires attached to my head, chest and legs.  I was told if I was having problems with sleep apnea then they would come in around 2:am to hook me up to a c-pap machine.  I was really dreading that!  I remember waking up around 2:30 am and looking at the clock.  When I saw I made it past the 2:am mark I felt I was home free and didn't need the C-Pap and was able to sleep much better after that.  The testing all turned out great and the pulminologist gave the ok to schedule surgery. 

I got a call this morning around 9:am from Dr. Obrien's nurse to schedule my surgery.  I first need to schedule pre-op exam, pre-op class and scope of some sort.  My pre-op exam is on June 15th and my pre-op class and scope is on June 17th.  I've been having some trouble with heart burn and they want to make sure I don't have any ulcers.  My surgery is set for June 24, 09. The nurse said the down side of this was that the doctor requires that I be on a liquid diet for 2 weeks before surgery which means I had to start NOW!  Yikes...  So much for a last meal.  That's ok, I'm looking forward to being healthy so that bit of information wasn't that hard to swallow.  I went to the store, bought shakes, broth, and flavored waters.  The only actual meal I had today was breakfast.  Since then I've been on the liquid diet.  I feel good.  A bit hungry but I keep on drinking!

I got a call from the Nurse at Dr. O'Briens office.  On June 9th I need to see the pulmonologist for some blood work and chest x-ray and possibly a sleep study to see if I have sleep apnea.  It will take about a week for the test results to come back.  If all goes ok with the tests then I'll be cleared for surgery.  The nurse said the Surgery will be scheduled in June.  No date yet but will post the date after I receive my test results.

April 12, 2009

On March 12, 09 I went to a seminar on the lapband surgery hosted by Dr. Peter O'Brien.  All though I had been looking into this surgery for years, this seminar was very informative and did go into detail on what to expect before, during and after surgery. 

On March 16th I went to my consult with Dr. Peter O'Brien.  Things went really well.  My BMI is at 51 and Dr. O'Brien says he can help me!  Next step was the insurance.  Dr. O'Brien submitted his letter to my insurance Company (Tricare).  I was told that we should hear back from the insurance company within 2 weeks.  After reading what others have gone through with appeals and trying to get the insurance to cover their surgery, I was expecting the same.  To my surprise, on April 4th the nurse from Tricare called me to let me know that my surgery HAS BEEN APPROVED!  First try.. WOW!!  I don't believe at the moment I'm nervous.  I'm more excited to get this over with as my weight is really bothering me and causing me a lot of pain in my hip.  Hopefully when I start loosing weight the pain in my hip will go away. 

HAPPY EASTER!