Fat Uncle Bill

I'm outta here

2006-09-08T09:39:00.000-07:00

Time to bring this blog to an end. I'm bored with it quite honestly and now that the surgery is over I don't really feel like continuing.

The surgery went well, I'm down 19 pounds in a week, and that's pretty much all I have left to say about it.

Thanks for reading.

T minus 10 hours and counting

2006-08-29T19:40:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the big day! Thanks to everyone that called or emailed me tonight. It's nice to know that I have everyone's support. Apparently my lame ass hospital doesn't have wireless internet in my room (what's up with that?), but I'll try to keep a mental note of everything so that I can give the blow by blow when I get home.

If all goes well, I'll be home on my couch in time for the 2:30 kickoff on Saturday. If not, spread my ashes over Ohio Stadium! And if you think I'm kidding, I swear I'll haunt you until the day you die! :)

The Last Supper

2006-08-26T20:05:00.000-07:00

I had my "Last Supper" so to speak last night. If you've never been to Stoney River I'd suggest checking it out. My 14oz. filet mignon was AWESOME. Not to mention the huge pile of garlic mashed potatoes. Even had a glass of wine, yet another thing I won't be able to have after the surgery. Anyway, I'm thinking I'll have a pizza on Sunday and then I have to eat something light on Tuesday and then liquids only on Tuesday.

One more week!

2006-08-22T21:01:00.000-07:00

Well this time next week I'll hopefully be in bed so I can get up bright and early for surgery on Wednesday. Most likely though I won't even be able to sleep.

So last week I had a bunch of pre-op testing done. Who knew it took 30 minutes for a damn ultrasound of the gallbladder? No idea what she was doing for so long, but she was hot so I didn't mind all that much. And it's always good to know that your innards are where they're supposed to be.

Jo or Rob if you're reading, tell Ian I had a breathing treatment just like he gets! The other major test was a pulmonary function test where I had to take a deep breath and blow into this tube thingie, many, MANY times I might add. My lung capacity isn't what it should be, thus the breathing treatment. Also had a chest x-ray, blood work, blood gas, and urine sample.

By the way, check this out: da Vinci Surgical System

Nice to know that Dr. Dan will be able to operate on me "while seated comfortably".

Cat's out of the bag

2006-08-15T20:45:00.000-07:00

So I've pretty much told everyone about the surgery that needs to know at this point. Everyone's been pretty supportive for the most part except for one of my co-workers. She's offered to pay for a vacation for me to Asia. Guarantees I'll lose weight. Maybe I should take her up on it ;)

I have a bunch more tests to take before the surgery. Your typical blood work and urine test. Then an EKG, chest X-Ray, gallbladder ultrasound, and a pulmonary function test. These should all be done this week. I'm also meeting with Dr. Dan and the dietician again tomorrow.

APPROVED!!

2006-08-10T17:01:00.000-07:00

I got approved for the surgery today! My tentative surgery date is Aug. 30th dependant on getting time off from work. Dr. Dan's office called me yesterday to say that my blood work came back negative for a thyroid problem and the pylori ulcer bacteria and that she'd faxed the info to my insurance. Well, they called the doctor's office back today to tell them that I was cleared for surgery! They didn't even need the results from my psych consult, although it'll be kept on file should they cause problems later.

So now what? Well, my boss is out of the office until Monday so I'll have to wait to talk to him until then. After that I'm supposed to call Dr. Dan's office to see what's next. More tests I imagine. I also need to tell my family about it now. I haven't wanted to say anything until I was approved so I didn't have to worry anyone for nothing. Not really sure what they're going to say!

I'm still here

2006-08-07T16:58:00.000-07:00

So it's been awhile since I last posted, but there really hasn't been much to tell. Today though I had my final consult with the psychiatrist. Turns out I'm not mentally challenged afterall ;) So now I've completed everything that my insurance requested before they would approve or not. I'm just hoping they don't come back now with another list of tests and whatnot. With any luck my next post will be to say I was approved and my surgery date has been scheduled!

Protein anyone?

2006-07-26T21:06:00.000-07:00

I met with a dietician today for the first time. You know those tiny measuring cups that come with a bottle of cough medicine? That's what the size of my stomach is going to be after surgery. Wow, that was an eye opener! I've read plenty of times about it being the size of like a football before surgery and a golf ball after surgery, but seeing the visual really made it sink in. I guess that part of it doesn't really bother me because living alone I don't really like cooking a big meal for myself anyway. The hardest part is gonna be not being able to eat the things I'm used to. I know that learning how to eat healthier is all part of the process of the surgery, but it's a little scary when you stop and think about just how small of a portion I'll be able to eat at one time. I'm just hoping it's true what they say about not being hungry all the time after the surgery.

Protein and water are going to be my new best friends. I need to take in 60-70 grams of protein and 64 oz. of water a day. Basically the dietician just explained the three "levels" of eating after the surgery. Level 1 being clear liquids. Level 2 full liquids and level 3 pureed foods. Can you see me sitting at work eating a jar of baby food?? lol

This week

2006-07-23T19:39:00.000-07:00

I have my dietician consult and get my bloodwork done to rule out a thyroid problem and the H.Pylori virus. A week from Monday I have my first psych consult. They said it usually takes about 2 or 3 sessions. I was hoping to have my surgery sometime in August. Hopefully it'll still be possible.

Tests, tests tests

2006-07-17T18:33:00.000-07:00

Dr. Dan's office called me back today as promised, whoo-hoo! :) I found a good article about this ulcer thing I was talking about in my last post. Apparently if you have the bacteria, or whatever, that causes the ulcer before the surgery you're more likely to get an ulcer after the surgery. So I need to go in for a blood test to test for the ulcer and to check my thyroid. Next Wednesday I have an appointment with the dietician and I should also be meeting with the psychologist for my psych consult. Hopefully everything remains on track!

Finally some news

2006-07-14T19:53:00.000-07:00

In my last post I mentioned how I'd gotten a letter from my insurance saying that they hadn't received any information from my doctor so they were suspending my authorization for 45 days or until they received some information. So I called my insurance back on Tuesday thinking that maybe the info that Dr. Dan's office had sent just crossed this insurance letter in the mail and they had received by now, but no such luck. I put in another call to Dr. Dan's office and requested a call back from the "Surgical Coordinator person". She finally got back to me TODAY. Apparently she did receive a request back from my insurance (even though they still are telling me they haven't received the info yet) today. They're requesting the following before deciding: a psychiatric consult, dietician visit, and a thyroid test. Those I all expected because they seem to be the normal tests that are asked for for this type of thing. However, they also requested some kind of test to check for ulcers in the stomach. She told me the exact name, but of course I can't remember it now, and she was quite puzzled because she's never had anyone ask for this test before. I guess these ulcers are something that could occur AFTER the sugery so checking for them before is kind of pointless. Anyone ever heard of this before? Well anyway, she was supposed to talk to Dr. Dan to see if he can pursuade them to waive this requirement. I'll be waiting for a call back on Monday since that's what she promised, but we'll see.

First bump in the road

2006-07-10T20:27:00.000-07:00

So I get this letter today from my insurance company dated July 6th. I had to call them ahead of time before meeting with Dr. Dan to get "pre-approval". I think I called them maybe three or four days before I had my first consultation. Anyway, the letter says they haven't received any information from me regarding the procedure and so my request is being "suspended" for 45 days or until they receive some information from me. Now when I talked to Dr. Dan's office on Friday, they said they mailed my insurance letter on the 5th, so, this letter and my doctor's letter must have crossed in the mail :( I'm planning to call my insurance tomorrow to see if they've received the information yet or what the deal is. Wish me luck, I'll keep you informed!

Had to call

2006-07-08T15:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I called my doctor on Wednesday like they told me too, to see if my insurance letter had been sent yet. The receptionist I talked to had no idea and promised to call me back with the information, but I ended up having to call them back on Friday. This bugs me a little bit. I know from my visit to the office that it's a busy place, but I'd hoped that I wouldn't have to track people down to get information. So when I finally talked to them yesterday, they said my letter had been sent out on Wednesday and that with my insurance they usually hear back pretty quick. I guess from some of the stories I've read two weeks isn't really that long, but to me it seems like an eternity. Oh well, until next time....

Still waiting

2006-07-03T18:06:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a week since my first consultation with Dr. Dan. They told me when I was leaving that it would probably be last Friday before they could fax the letter from my Doc to my insurance (not exactly sure why), but they did say that one of the receptionists had already spoken to my insurance about me and they seemed really willing to help out in anyway they could. I guess that's promising right? I'm supposed to give the office a call back on Wednesday to see if my letter has been sent out. I'll let you know what happens....

Mmmmmm

2006-06-28T20:29:00.000-07:00

I had a steak and garlic mashed potatoes today from Applebees, then washed it down with an ice cold Mt. Dew. I think I'm gonna miss that the most post-op. I'm a man and men need meat and potatoes! :) Oh well, it'll be worth it right?

Still haven't heard anything back from my insurance yet about the surgery. It's only been a few days though. The trouble is that I'm not the most patient person in the world. Maybe I'll get some patience out of this whole ordeal too!

Until next time....

My gastric bypass journey begins

2006-06-26T17:30:00.000-07:00

Hi, my name is Bill, and I'm morbidly obese. I currently weigh 290 pounds. I have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, borderline diabetic, and I suffer from social anxiety and depression. Today I started a journey to hopefully correct all that, or most of it. I met for the first time with my bariatric surgeon. For the sake of this blog, I'll call him Dr. Dan.

I guess I should start from the beginning. I've been overweight all my life. It's gotten worse though in the past few years not surprisingly it happens to coincide with my high blood pressure/cholesterol. Like everyone else I've tried the diet and exercise thing. I've probably spent thousands of dollars on fancy exercise equipment and diet plans. Sure maybe I lost 10 or 15 pounds with it, but eventually I would gain it all back and more. I guess I've kinda been in denial about my weight. It's always bothered me, but I've been in this rut of a relationship for the past 15 years with a woman I loved who I thought loved me in spite of my weight so I thought maybe it was ok. Well, to make a long story short, I was obviously wrong.

So, why am I doing this or why do I wanna do this? It's pretty clear that if I stay on this path my health is going to continue to worsen and I'll probably be dead by the time I'm 40 (I'm currently 32 by the way). I don't wanna be the "fat" Uncle to my nieces and nephews anymore. I wanna be able to get down and play with them and not be gasping for breath after five minutes. I wanna learn how to swim and golf and do all the things that I couldn't do or was afraid to do when I was a kid because of my weight.

Ok, back to today. I met with my PCP last week to discuss gastric bypass with him and to get a referral. To my surprise he was very pleased that I had decided to do something about my weight and he gave me a referral to Dr. Dan. I had a great consultation with him today and things are finally in motion. The next step is waiting for my insurance to accept or deny payment for the surgery. I think this process is gonna involve a lot of waiting......