Not even 3 months out and I'm Grateful and Thankful!!!!!

I just counted the days up since my surgery and I'm only 83 days post op and I'm now down 75 pounds.  I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!  

THIS IS GOING TO BE VERY LONG AND I APOLOGIZE.  I JUST HAD TO GET THIS STORY OUT!!!

It's hard to imagine that I truly started my journey back in the fall of 2006 after returning from a friends wedding in Hawaii disappointed in myself because of my size and health condition. I'd been doing research in the surgeons for over 8 months before I left for Hawaii.  My friends either took Taxis or we drove most places that were within walking distance of our hotel because I'd be huffin and puffin from trying to walk the distance .  I was even afraid to get on the boat that Ben borrowed from the Naval base...because of my weight - I ended up on the boat with the three lightest people on the trip with us 2 babies, their aunt plus our navigator Ben.  But the final thing that pushed me to look into the surgery was the fact that I couldn't get comfortable in my seat on the flight back home.  My  flight was canceled and I ended up on a plane that was full and in the center seat to boot.  That was a MISERABLE 6 hr flight from Maui to LAX let me tell ya .  To make it more depressing it was my birthday too.  THAT DAY I VOWED TO MAKE A SERIOUS CHANGE!!

FIRST SURGEON:
After I recovered from my serious jet lag, I pulled out my notes on the practices I'd been looking at reviewed my notes and made my decision.  My first choice in a surgeon was one who specialized - only operated on WLS patients EVER!!!  (I didn't think that I wanted someone who did a Hernia repair the day before, RNY the next day and then and emergency Appy 3 days later.) I signed up for my first seminar with what I thought was the best surgeon for me.............
GUESS WHAT HE WASN'T THE SURGEON FOR ME - BETTER YET HIS OFFICE STAFF AND THE CHANGES IN HIS PRACTICE WASN'T FOR ME!!!!  HE BECAME ALL ABOUT THE MONEY AND NOT THE PATIENT!!!

I stayed with this surgeon for almost 3 years.  His office kept telling me that they didn't have my information or records.  For some reason he left a hospital and supposedly they held his records hostage .  Thankfully I always make copies of EVERYTHING  and I resubmitted them.  I completed all of my insurances requirements and I was given a surgery date.  Well, I never heard from the surgeons office or the hospital where the surgery was to take place.  No matter how many times I called I never got a reply.  Therefore my surgery date had come and gone (August 22, 2007) with no reply from the surgeons office staff till exactly a month later.   By this time my insurance changed its policy and added another step into the approval process.  I was informed since I was approved before I was "GRANDFATHERED IN" and I didn't have to complete the additional step. Well, that November I was informed differently and I did have to complete the extra step  .  So I completed ALL (plus the new) of the requirements that my insurance required were complete and had been completed since May '08.  Still no reply from the surgeons office.  October '08 they tell me that I'm only on 2 BP medications .  HELLO it's actually 3 and I informed the surgeon of this at my initial consultation (and he made a note of it) that yes technically it's only 2 pills but one pill was a combination drug which was manufactured for compliance reasons  .  I then went to my PCP (who told me she'd heard bad things about this surgeon and his practice) to get her to break the pills down into 2 pills instead of the combo pill (more costs for me instead of paying for one combo drug, now I was paying for two .)  I get the script filled and fax the info on the drugs to the surgeon.  I sent them 50 page faxes on information on my BP drugs.  I just kept faxing over and over and I also sent it certified mail, return receipt with restricted delivery (thank god for the postage machine that I have access to.) 

To sum it up, I jammed their fax machine for days (sorry to his other patients.)  I just kept getting the run around from this Dr. and his office staff.  Still no approval through their office - I was approved through my insurances but they wanted to be sure they'd get their payment so they kept me going through their hoops .  In January of  '09 right before I was leaving for DC and the inauguration I get a call from the surgeons office.  There was still a question about my BP meds.  I screamed!!!  I told them that I was looking into other surgeons (I wasn't) and I'd get back to them.  She informed me that they'd dump me if I even thought about somewhere else "we've been working with you a long time to have this surgery"  I agreed to stay just to get her off the phone .  Later I found out that all of his office staff were bariatric patients of his and once they had their surgery they stopped working for him.  This was horrible.  I went through 6 patient advocates before I finally wised up and went with my second choice in a surgeon.  The best move I ever made - just wonder WHY I didn't do it years before. However I didn't inform them about my decision. 

They finally approved me for the surgery in October (EXACTLY 3 YEARS FROM INITIAL CONSULTATION),but they needed to know what my BMI was.  I went in for a weigh in only because the office sold the supplements and vitamins I would need for my surgery and I wouldn't have to pay for the shipping, plus my OV didn't have a copay.  It was a win-win situation for me.  Well they told me that even though I was finally approved, that I'd gained weight since my initial visit (go figure it was 3 years prior) and I had to get my BMI down before I could have surgery.  I told them I'd get back to them knowing that my surgery was already scheduled for Dec. 8.  To this day I still get calls from them telling me I'm approved for surgery but that I need to get my BMI down to where it was 3 years ago.

CURRENT SURGEON:
I went to my first seminar in March of last year with my new surgeon.  All I had to redo was my Psych eval .  Everything else was complete.  I met with the surgeon (actually knew him from a previous hospitalization for my chronic abdominal pain) and his only concern was my chronic abdominal pain .  He ordered labs and several tests before he was satisfied and agreed to do the surgery .  His other concern was my pain control that I would need after surgery.  

I was approved for surgery, but my only hiccup was that I found out that I had an old bill so I wasn't cleared by the business office .  They realized that I shouldn't have had the bill since I'm on disability with both Medicare and Medicaid so once this was resolved they cleared me.  By this time they (the business office) informed me that they were gonna have to fast track my surgery because my physician supervised diet was going to expire in December .  

So they called with a surgery date which I took and it was exactly a week before my supervised diet history expired (TALK ABOUT CUTTING IT CLOSE!!!)

Fast forward almost 3 months... I feel wonderful, the abdominal pain is still rearing its ugly head and I had to change medications (pill issues post-op) and most of all:

I'm completely off - YES I SAID OFF my BP medications and,

I've lost 75 pounds in less than 3 months and I've already had to go do a little clothes shopping.  I was wearing 26/28 mainly 28's and some 30's depending on the cut (ya'll know how that goes), tops were size 30/32 and XXXXL due to the girls. bra size was 48DD (and I had those CUT OFF SOME YEARS AGO - 22 POUNDS REMOVED BACK IN 1993 - GUESS WHAT I GAINED THEM BACK hahaha) and shoe size 11...........
NOW

I'm wearing size 24's and 22's (in fact the 24 pants (non spandex) I had on over the weekend I actually pulled them off without undoing the button/zipper I cried....thinking I just bought them and they are a little too big.  Top size is a 22 and XXXL (the XXL fits but the arms are too short in the long sleeves), Bra size is 45C (so I still can't buy those yet, that in between size) I think this was the majority of my weight loss but from a DD to a C - WISH I HAD THOSE 22 POUNDS BACK BECAUSE I'M GONNA NEED A LIFT AND SSSOOOONNNN!!! and my shoe size is a 10 now.

Even with all of my post op issues:
Life is good, but it can always get better.  I'm glad that I had this surgery done.  I like how I look, BUT I'M HAPPIER ABOUT MY IMPROVING HEALTH AND IT'S GETTING BETTER EVERYDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   


Dr. Richard Symmonds @ Scott & White Memorial Hospital in Temple, TX 

I'M GRATEFUL AND THANKFUL THAT
HE SAVED MY LIFE
AND
HE GAVE MY LIFE BACK TO ME

I CAN'T FAIL HIM,
BUT MOST OF ALL.........
I CAN'T FAIL MYSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Thanks for reading my long, had to get it out, grateful and thankful post!!!!

Kim

Congratulations Kim!    You deserve a happy dance....or two....   I hope all the days to come are as successful for you!  You live in central Texas?  I was once a travel nurse at Kings Daughters Hospital in Temple.  It's a small world isn't it??  Take good care!!  connie