The Waiting, as Tom would say, is the Hardest Part

After having been "officially" submitted on Wednesday, 19-December, I'm still waiting.  Kim said it would be 10-15 business days.  Today is day-9, assuming both Mondays (Christmas Eve and NYE) weren't business days either.

Ray and Sylvia stopped by yesterday, and as I was telling them the plight, I had the notion that maybe since they want to remove my gallbladder, that's less of a reason for them to deny me.  Sounds good to me.  We'll see.

I find it interesting all the folks who post on the VST forum who are so nervous and scared, contemplating changing their mind.  Am I just crazy for not having those second thoughts?  I am just so looking forward to being a normal weight this summer.  It's the only thing that matters, right now.

Slight Delay After Insurance Submission

After having completed all of the prerequisites, I was told I would be submitted to insurance for pre-approval.  That was a week and a half ago.  Last Wednesday, I followed up via email, but received no reply.  So, I called today.  Evidently, they didn't get the Medical Clearance from Dr. Schneider, my primary care physician.  Kim told me that they submitted without the clearance, and as expected, insurance called looking for the clearance.  She got something today from Dr. Schneider, but it apparently wasn't what they were looking for.  I call Dr. Schneider's office and she doesn't have time to call Dr. Krohn's office to find out exactly what they need.  Sheesh.

I asked Kim if she'd take that next step, and hopefully they'll get on the same page.  I'll have to call again tomorrow though.

Getting the list checked off

Today, I got a couple more items checked off the pre-surgery checklist.  I had the Gallbladder Sonogram and got a chest x-ray this morning.  Good news: only one heartbeat was found!

The sonogram was probably the most uncomfortable thing I've done so far.  It took a while, maybe 30 or 40 minutes, with most of that time, having that little sensor thing being pressed into my side and ribs.  I'll be surprised if I don't have any bruising.

I called the Gastro doctor yesterday to follow-up on those polyps, and they made an appointment for me for next week.

I have one more appointment with the nutritionist, the psych evaluation and finally, the medical clearance.  My only concern at this point is the polyps.

My EGD Experience

Friday, I went in for my EGD, after having my preliminary consultation with the Gastrointerologyst on 10/30.  I've seen lots of questions about the EGD on here, so I thought I'd just share my experience, top to bottom.

The first thing that surprised me was that when they called me to schedule my date, they told me the hospital would call me the day before the procedure to let me know the time.  I thought that was a little strange, but apparently, that's par for the course.  I actually got the call on Wednesday afternoon, for the Friday appointment time.  Then I got a follow-up call on Thursday from admitting to get me pre-registered.  When I got done with the pre-registration, I got my second surprise: my portion was going to cost me $606.  I guess I should have expected it, because it's not exactly a copay office visit situation.  That was my 20%.

The hospital was pretty efficient.  They are notorious for bad parking, and now they have valet parking, which was very convenient.  I signed in at the information desk, and they gave me a little pager like the one's they use at restaurants.  About 5 minutes later, I got called in to admitting, got checked in and paid my fee.  I was then sent down to the GI waiting room.  In probably less than 10 minutes, they called me in to get me prepped.  I only removed my shirt, leaving on the pants, socks & shoes.  The IV was started, they took my BP and temperature, and they wheeled me into the hallway next to the room where they do the procedure.

Seeing my doctor, I said hello and commend on how good he looked that day!     In fact, I gave the same complement to each of the hospital staff.   I don't know if it helped, but it certainly didn't hurt!

Maybe 10 minutes later they wheeled a woman, passed out, from the room and another 5 minutes later, wheeled me in.  After a little light discussion, the doctor had heard enough and told the dope guy to put me out.  The last thing I remember was a slight lucid feeling and asking the dope guy, "you gave me the juice, huh?"  He confirmed, and I was out.  Just like that.

During the procedure I recall a brief moment of the bite thing in my mouth.  I'm guessing they were finishing up.  I think I remember being wheeled out, but can't quite be sure.  Seemingly moments later, I woke up, sat up, put my shirt on, and I was on my way to go get some soup.

Overall, on the day of, I had a little discomfort in my throat, not unlike when you have a cold and you get a sore throat.  I napped a bit after getting home, then in the evening, I was a little tired, but managed to busy myself and stay awake.  My throat continued to be a little sore on Saturday, but less so, and by Sunday, I was fine.

The doctor, apparently found some polyps in my stomach and took samples for biopsy.  I'm not sure when I'll hear back on that.  Does anyone have any experience with this part?

Not as much progress this week

Another week down, another pound down.  Actually, not even quite a pound.  Weighed in at 279.2, just .8 pounds less than last week.  Maybe this week will be better?  I didn't drink at all this weekend, like I had last weekend.  Not that it was excessive, but it adds up.  Is it time to start exercising already?  Maybe I'll wait until my appointment with Dr. Krohn's office next wee.

Losing some weight

I guess you could say that officially, I started my dieting on 5-October.  That was when I went to Vitamin Shoppe and picked up that big jar of Isopure.  I think the day before, I had also picked up a case of RTD Premium Protein from Sam's Club.  Not following a "named" diet such as Atkins or South Beach, my approach is simple: keep total calories under 1800, and carbs under 200.  So far, my average has been 1513 per day and I'm down around 10 pounds.

For the most part, it's not too hard.  There are times when I'm hungry and there's bad stuff to eat laying around the kitchen; cookies, etc., but so far I've been pretty good overall, except having had alcohol over the weekend.

A typical weekday is consisting of:
6:30 - protein shake
8:30 - hard boiled egg
11:00 - turkey & swiss sandwich
1:00 - hard boiled egg
5:00 - dinner.. varies.

I'm getting my 6-8 glasses of water in with the help of Mio flavoring.  I can't say I'm feeling any better at this point, but I do think my shirts are a little less tight around the stomach.

I'm scheduled for a consult with the stomach doctor on 10/30.

Friggin Insurance

This is a little late in the posting, but I figured I'd better document it.

I had read a post on a VSG forum that was about one particular person's surprise at the amount of their financial responsibility - their out-of-pocket, as it were - for the procedure.  The amount she indicated was in the $4k range, and it got me to thinking about what mine might be.  Knowing my policy has some sort of 80/20 thing going on, I figured mine might be as much as $6k or more.  So I called Cigna.  BTW: the poster on the forum also had Cigna.

The guy from Cigna told me that my policy does not cover any bariatric surgery.  He said it would cover any and all of the pre-op stuff, the dietitian, psych, etc., but not the surgery itself.

Wednesday, last week, I finally had my consult with Dr. Krahn's office.  Of course, before you even get the appointment for the consult, they have done their due diligence and vetted insurance.  I was/am assured that my insurance covers this option.  Better still, my out of pocket can't exceed $2,200 annually.  Since my surgery is likely to be in January, I'll be all in at that amount.