WarEagle

Send Message

Block

Add Friend

Alright, so the coordinator didn't talk to my insurance company like she said she did and as such, I had to get a cardiac clearance and a pulmonary clearance when I thought I was finished. This is exactly what I wanted to avoid when I asked her 2 months ago if there was anything else I needed to do.

Well, I saw the cardiologist yesterday and he informs me that I can't get a clearance from him without a stress test. No problem I say, let's do it. No problem, he says, the earliest we can squeeze you in for a stress test is March 29th with a follow up consultation on April 5th.

March 29th? April 5th?

Great. My consultation with Dr. Stahl was on March 5th. At that point I had finished my supervised diet and believed that I was ready to submit to the insurance company. Now I'm being delayed by at least a month.

To anyone bothering to read this, I apologize. I don't normally bitch and moan this much. It's just that I did everything I could so that when I finished the 6-month diet I would be ready to submit. Now I'm having to wait another month and there's absolutely nothing I can do about it.

Well I guess I'm NOT through yet. The Bariatric Coordinator called to tell me that my insurance company requires and cardiac clearance and a pulmonary clearance on top of everything else. Why am I just now finding this out when I asked MONTHS ago about the insurance requirements. I wanted to have everything done so when I finished the 6-month supervised diet I would be ready to submit.  I was told everything was in order. Now I'm told it's not. GRR!!! So now I have appt.'s with the cardiologist next Thursday and the pulmonary clinic next Friday. That's another week delay. Great.

I went to the ASL Silent Dinner tonight hosted by the Birmingham Area Interpreter Training group. Had a lot of fun and was told that I sign very well! That was great to know since I'm hoping to become a certified interpreter. Hopefully the next level class will start soon. I also hope that we'll get a real bona fide Interpreter Training Program here soon. That would be the cat's knees!

Today was my consultation with Dr. Stahl. It went well and we didn't really go over anything new. He said I'm an ideal candidate for Roux-en-Y and should do well. Estimates are that I will most likely weigh about 185 at the end of all this. I can DEFINITELY live with that. Now I just sit and wait to hear from the insurance company. It's out of my hands. Hopefully I'll hear something soon and it will be good!

I spent the weekend at an ASL Immersion Weekend. I had a great time, met some wonderful people and learned a lot but I am WORN OUT. You weren't allowed to use your voice at all so all communication had to be through sign language. 

While communicating wasn't really difficult it was mentally draining for those of us not used to a sign-only environment. Talking with people in ASL requires constant attention. You can't do something else while talking - you have to focus on the speaker's face and play an active part in the conversation.  After about 10 hours of that you are completely exhausted.

There were a lot of hilarious mishaps and misunderstandings over the weekend since a lot of us are still learning sign language and often you didn't know who in the group was hearing and who was deaf. and sometimes you might form one sign incorrectly and say something WAY different than what you thought you were saying! Ha!

Oh yeah, consultation with surgeon one week from today. Can't wait!

I guess I DIDN'T misunderstand what was going on. Talked iwth Dr. Stahl's office again today and turns out I DON'T have another month to go! YAY!!!!!!!!!!

So......

Today I went to my PCP and got a copy of all my records. I'm sorting them along with photographs from the last 3 years and getting everything in order. Wednesday is my last WW meeting and once I leave there I'll be taking my medical records and all my WW documentation to Dr. Stahl and THAT'S IT. DONE. FINISHED. Well, finished jumping through the hoops anyway. THen I'll just have to sit back and wait to hear from the insurance company.

The psych eval was yesterday and it went fine. I'm not crazy and the shrink thinks I'm an excellent candidate. Scored 100% on the WLS quiz and she told me they predict I'll be somewhere around 185lbs. when this is all over. WOW!! The last time I weighed 185 I was in 4th grade! FOR SERIOUS!!!

Now the bad news. I guess I misunderstood some things at Dr. Stahl's office. I thought I was finished with my 6-month diet but it seems I have to go one more month! AARGH! I was SO close! I'm going to the Bahamas in July so I really wanted this done ASAP. Now I have to wait 4 more weeks. Talk about frustrating. Seriously, I developed a headache when I found that out and it hasn't gone away yet. I think I'll spend the weekend in bed.

Today was my visit with the nutritionist. I had to navigate that maze of a hospital to find her but I did it! She didn't tell me anything I didn't already know but hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do. tomorrow is my psychiatric evaluation  (hope I'm not  crazy) and Friday is my final visit with my PCP. Almost there!

This week brings my last appointment with my PCP, my psychiatric evaluation, my meeting with the nutritionist and my next to last WW meeting. I can't believe I'm almost finished and will FINALLY get to meet with the doctor. I just hope it doesn't take too long to hear back from the insurance company *fingers crossed*.