THE COUNTDOWN!

Well it's here.... My final countdown! My surgery date is set for Thursday ( Pending United Health Care's approval). It's been a very long and stressful weekend. Friday I will have to say I was VERY upset with a person at Chrias. Since the office is closed tomorrow, I was told by the office manager she would take my info home and follow-up with the insurance company. I swear if I go on clears for 24 hours and not end up having the surgery I think I'll go off ...LOL If anyone has any words of wisdon please let me know. I'm very scarred and hope keep the stress down the next 48 Hours.

Hi James, and congratulations on your pending surgery. I have United Healtcare and I didn't have any problems getting clearance. The best advise I can give you is to keep yourself extremely busy over the next few days this way you will keep your mind occupied and you won't be thinking of your surgery as much. I cleared my entire house the weekend before my surgery, it was great too because it kept me busy and when I came home from the hospital everything was nice and clean. Keep us posted on your approval. Good Luck, it is a wonderful life on this side of the fence. Deanna

James, Congratulations to your successful road on this part of the journey. And may your success continue throughout. I was on clears on Easter Sunday. I can remember having the same thoughts. If I did all this and then have to reschedule.. grrrrr lol. Always remember why you are doing this James. Remember life as it is now. And think of what the future holds for you. There are so many things to rediscover in life and so many new things to discover. They are within your grasp. Focus on those, have faith in the skills of your surgeons and lean on friends as you make those adjustments. All these things will get you through. Best wishes and again, congratulations! Gigee

Congrats on the date! Its hard to be at the mercy of the insurance company gods....But don't let that get you down....life works out the kinks all the time. Good luck with your new journey....Remember you are doing this to change your life.....and with or without surgery you made this decision and with that in mind you can move mountains and make it better. Stress is a demon I know well....you must let it go...Find your inner peace and concentrate on that. Keep us posted on your journey. You will do well. You have lots of friends here that have gone many paths to get where they are today. Hugs and Fleece Blankets (okay you don't need them now but in a 50 lbs loss you will thank me for them!) Debbie

James, good luck on Thursday and breathe, try to relax. The two day liquids are worth it, I couldn't imagine having to live through that again while I was there, but yes you can do it! My son (16) had his football friends over on Sunday during my two day liquids, they had pizza, wings, you name it, I'm sipping broth. Just remember you are doing this for you! You will be so glad when it's over and the new you starts emerging. It's a great feeling. Michelle

James I had the same type of issue with "some person" at CHRIAS. If you don't have your approval yet my suggestion would be stay on top of things. You can not sit back and trust that "they" are working on it for you. You are your best advocate. If a day goes by and you don't hear anything then be persistent. You can call your health insurance company also and speak to someone in Utilization Review or whatever your company calls it and see where they are in the process. It will all work out pt you have to be persistent and not assume "they" are working in your behalf. My surgery was scheduled for a Thursday and I got a call on Wed afternoon at 330pm to say they didn't have an approval yet and they wanted me to call the insurance company and work on it through the night and call them in the AM with an update. My surgery was postponed until 130pm on Thursday and I got my approval at 1pm. I was in contact with my insurance company begging and apologizing for whatever my doctors office had not done correctly. So hang in there and advocate for yourself. Be as sweet as honey to your insurance company because you need them Amanda

Sorry I got so caught up in the insurance saga b/c it was only 2 weeks ago I was dealing with that too. As far as clear liquids I had a very difficult time as well with that. My suggestions is to get some sugar free popsicles and jello. Those wear the most filling for me. Just remember why you are on clear liquids, to shrink your liver so they can do it laproscopricly (not sure about that spelling hahaha). Anyway if your liver shrinks they will not have to do it open. If you keep that in mind it will help you stay on clears. Good luck and my prayers are with you over the next few days, Amanda

WOW! THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL THE SUPPORT! Today has been a riot. I'm doing anything I can to avoid looking at food....LOL I've been on Jello, Broth and Water all day. So I'm going to bed soon and HOPE I find out EARLY in the AM that everything is a GO or a STOP. Let you know the details in the Morning! THANKS James

Wondering how you made out, James. Thinking of you and wishing you well. Moving over to make a spot on the loser's bench soon. Dianne

Well make room Dianne! I had made up my mind that if by 3:00 I didnt have the approval.... The Christmas Left Overs were MINE! ...LOL at 2:58 I got a call from CHRIAS that I had my APPROVAL! So I'll be at Christiana tomorrow AM at 5AM. THANKS FOR ALL THE PRAYERS AND KIND WORDS! James