Pre-Op on Monday

Well, I finally have my pre-op appointment to schedule a surgery on Monday the 14th. To begin to describe how long and hard I have waited for this day would take a lifetime. There is one downside however, I have managed to stay at 303/302 and I am supposed to be at 267. When I first went into the surgical program at South Bay Surgeons in March of 2010, I was 292 and was asked to lose 25 pounds which would have eventually put me at 267, but it never happened. In recent months I began to retain water and my primary doctor has put me on meds to regulate the salt and on a low-sodium diet. Last friday, I had a monthly weigh in at my surgeons office and I flat out told the girl that the 25 pounds + whatever I have gained because of all this salt aint gonna happen and that I was thinking about quitting the program and shutting out my dreams of this surgery for good. I showed her my feet, ankles, and fingers that are swollen and "pitting". The girl (med asst) basically begged me not to give up and told me some great news that they don't normally tell patients. She told me that the10% weight loss my surgeon asked for is not necessarily needed because about 10 days before the surgery patients are given a liquid diet and tend to lose a good amount of weight with that. She told me basically that the 10% is for insurance purposes so that when the surgical center puts in for approval, the patient has already jumped through the hoops normal HMOs require all the while unknowingly thinking that these requirements are for the surgical program. In a way the surgeons are creating a really great program for their patients and basically guaranteeing approval because they make you meet all these requirements before even submitting for approval. At the end of it all, she told me the doctor will most likely lower my weight requirement to 10 or 15 pounds that I need to lose pre-op instead of the 25 + whatever I gained and follow up with me in the follwing month and once I meet that small goal, they will submit for approval which takes at the most 2 weeks! In addition, she said the surgeon will probably not make me do a liquid diet since I am having such a hard time with this aspect of the pre-op program. I was soooo happy, now I can really taste this goal and know that it is a reality for me. If all goes well I should have my surgery sometime in January of 2012. Maybe even sooner :) Wish me luck!

Good luck! I hope everything works out for you.