I got conformation that the doctor's office faxed all my stuff to the insurance company. so, it could be anywhare from 3 days to 30 days. The office did say if they hadn't heard anything in two weeks they call the insurance company and see wha tthe hold up is.

I have to get this done soon. One of my girls at work is due on Dec 8th. That sounds like a long time but she had her last child 6 weeks early and she's already having pains. Her doctor says if she doesn't take it easy he may drop her to 4-6 hours a day. We will be in a real bind if we are both on lifting restrictions or both not there. We have one other Physical Therapist Assistant and she only works 6 hours a day. I need th esurgery and to be pretty well healed when Karen goes on materity leave.

I need to pray I hear something next week.

Everything should be going into insurance next week. They are pretty confident that it will be approved. With my Bmi and co-morbidities they didn't even require a written statement from me. And I didn't need a sleep study. Hopefully, I won't need one before my surgery. I've never had any troubles with anesthesia or wakeing back up. I had three anesthesia's two years ago for my kidney stones. The nutritionist gave me lots of paperwork and information. Luckily she knew what she was talking about. A lot of bandsters get miss information about the diet because the nutritionist give them gastric bypass diets. She had me cross out the bypass info on any of my handouts. The only thing i have a problem with is the calcium supplement she said I would have to take. All but one of my kidney stones have been calcium and I was told by my urologist not take calcium. I do get enough in my diet now. I've tracked it on fitday.com and my food diary.com over the years. I love milk, cheese and yogurt. I don't now if I'll be able to get the calcium required after surgery. But you can guarentee I'll be using myfooddiary to track calories and nutrition. Especially, in the beginning just to see what I can take in. If I fall short on calcium, I'll take the supplement accordingly. But I'm not blindly taking a 1200mg calcium pill.

If anyone has ever had kidney stones, you know why! When i was sixteen, I had a kidney stone as big as my doctor's thumb. The cut me on the side about 6 inches. I was out of school for 4 mos. my sophmore year. The recent ones were the most painful though. 6 weeks, a stent and 3 liptotripsies. And I work through it all though because I had too. Not because I felt like I could. I'd work 4 hours, rush home for vicodin, sleep 18 hours and start over. The stent caused the most pain. And if I overdid it there was blood in my urine. Which was everyday. There was a BITCH at work that didn't feel like I was pulling my own weight at work during this time. She gave me a really hard time. Luckily, she was gone before I became the boss or I would have fired her!

Anyway, so I will be anxiously awaiting approval and my surgery date for the next few weeks. Pray that it won't be a long wait. In the meantime I need to get my eating under control. I'm eating everything under the sun. Stuff i haven't ate in years. Geesh, I'm going to have so much more to lose if I don't slow down.

In my quest to have surgery, I only have one more step before submition to insurance. I go to the dietician on Thursday. I hade a little curve ball this week. I dropped my clearance paperwork off at my PCP to be filled out. As excepted I got a call the very next day because the doctor wanted to see me. I don't blame him. He was on sabbatical for a year and I've only seen the PA this last year. I wasn't sure if he'd be supportive of the surgery or not. So, I really dreaded the appt.

Too my surprise, he was very supportive and thought surgery was a wise desicion. But he wanted to be thorough. So, he had me do some bloodwork. It comes back that my liver enzymes are slightly high. He was almost positive this was cause be a fatty liver which will be helped with weight loss. But just as a precaution he wanted me to have a ultrasound. I was devestated think this was going to hold up my submission to insurance even more. Luckily, they got me in fast. And the doctor called Friday at 7:00 personally and said I have the go ahead. Just fatty liver as he suspected and it wasn't enlarged. While they were at it they checked out my gall bladder and kidney. I have a history of kidney stones so I was very afraid they would find one. I love my doctor. I've gone to him since I was 11 years old. He's even called my on Thanksgiving day one year to give me lab results. He's seen my struggles with weight so he knows I've tried all my life to beat this. I helps to know I have him to support me. He wants to see me in 6 months and I can't wait to be skinnier. And get off my blood pressure meds.

So, the only thing missing is my nutrition eval. I'm hoping that I can get submitted to insurance before the end of the month. And have surgery end of October/first of November. I want to be able to eat some normal foods by Thanksgiving. Even if it's just mushies. LOL Pumpkin pie filling would count as a mushy, right?

Went to a support meeting today. Very informative even though it was for both Lap-band and Roux en Y. Actually learned why one would chose one over the other. There was a lot of people there that had not made up thier minds on what to get. I met some people that where having surgery in just a few days. Can't wait to see them next month. I also seen a former patient of mine. I treated her while I was doing my clinicals three years ago. I was a hour away from home. The odds of me ever seeing this person was about nill and remembering her about impossible. I've treated thousands of patient since then. She remembered me too.

Okay, I may as well tell you a little about myself. I'm 36 and single. Female. Physical Therapist Assistant and Director of Rehab at a rehabillitaion center. Overweight since 8-9ish. Have obesity on both sides of my family. My father was killed by a drunk driver when I was 8, hence the weight gain. And the pshycological issues that I need to work on with the pshycologist. I tend to be afraid of relationships and getting close. I know I've used my fat to distance myself from people. I'm shy until you get to know me. I'm the kind of person that can be in a crowded room and be lonely. I have a niece whose 3 that I love to death so you will probably hear a lot about her. I'm doing this for her too. I don't want her to remember me fat. So, I better hurry up and start losing. I also hate that I can't keep up with her. She always wants to play. After I keep her I'm exhausted. I also have no confidence when it comes to men. I have never had any problem getting the attention. But I can't imagine getting intimate in a new relationship right now. Men from my past are another story. I have a ex-boyfriend that I recently reconnected with. I don't know where that may go but I'm comfortable with this person. He has never had a problem with my weight. In fact, I mentioned getting rid of this big ole butt the other day and he said no way. The thing is he is skinnier that a rail and I feel really big with him. I use to be able to wear his size 29 inch waist pants. So, that is my goal to be able to get "back in his pants". LOL! Yes, I do have a pair of his swim shorts from ten years ago. He probably doesn't know I kept them. I think they are actually a boy's size medium. Wow...just got them out. They fit my thigh but they are stretchy. On that note...bye