katiegirl515

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It's true, I made it through the sleep study...

I went over to the Mercy Sleep Center around 7:30 last night. The nurse there, Denise was such a sweetie! She took me to my room and calmed me down a bit (I was nervous of course)... then she and I went over some paperwork and I filled out a questionaire. She left me alone for about 45 minutes so that I could change into my pj's and get settled into my room. When she came back she took me to a different room *where she started hooking me up to the wires* LOTS and LOTS of wires. She got all the gooey stuff on me but didnt hook it all up (she would do that right before bed). This process took somewhere around 45 minutes, but would have been sooner had I not had my makeup on, which she made me take off. After I went back to my room... I hung out with my mom, she stayed with me until around 10 when Denise came back in and it was LIGHTS OUT! I tried my hardest to fall asleep but to me it seemed like it took forever before I drifted off into sleep. Denise told me that I would have to sleep on my back the entire night which I didn't know how that would go, but I ended up not moving an inch in my sleep which shocked the hell outta me! haha. The intercom woke me up at 6am, and then Denise came back in and unhooked all the wires and freed me from it so I could get up and get ready to go home. I did ask her about what time I fell asleep and she told me that I was asleep by 10:30.. I was like, "SAY WHAT?! It seemed like I was awake a lot longer than 30 minutes!". 
Anyway, the whole process wasn't at all as bad as I anticipated, but that's not to say that I would care to do it all over again! So next thing is I am going to be attending one of two classes this Wednesday the 17th at 2:15pm.. and I also have my follow-up appoinment with the sleep study doctor on October 29th. After that, I have no clue what the next step is. I just hope I'm getting closer to sending all my info in to the insurance company! YAY.. GO ME! 

Thanks for reading... take care everyone!
Katie

Just got off the phone with Mercy Sleep Center. I have an appointment for my sleep study this Saturday at 7:30. I was told that after noon on Saturday there was to be no caffiene, no naps and no alcohol.... I can bring my own pillow (which i'm so excited about cuz I was wondering about that). I was also told that I am supposed to wear two-piece pajamas which is just fine cuz thats what I always wear. Also I talked to Chris from Mercy Capitol on Friday for the phone interview and am scheduled for my first class on October 17th at 2:15. Things are starting to fall into place finally. THANK GOODNESS! 

until next time...

urs truly.

Things went fast. We were only on the phone for about 20 minutes! She asked me some questions, varified things, and then told me certain things that would be happening next; such as the sleep study *they'll be calling me to schedule it soon*, the two classes that are required before scheduling the surgery, you have to pay $150 for each class. She told me that I would be paying somewhere around $35-50 per month for vitamins.. .and then around $200 per month for my protein shakes. She also told me that before I can schedule my surgery that they will need to see a reciept showing that I bought two months worth of protein -- in other words I have to spend $400 bucks on protein before I can get a date!!! Oh my lord!!! Anyway, I'm finishing up my Smart Ones lunch and then I have to head back to work. Hope everyone has an awesome weekend. TGIF!!!

Today I got a call from Mercy Capitol regarding the phone interview that I have to schedule. I am now scheduled for next Friday, October 5th at 10am. She told me that it should take around 45 minutes to complete and that we will also schedule and discuss the sleep study. So I just wanted to make a quick update to those of you who actually read all this, but I will know more next Friday hopefully! Wish me luck!

P.S. Does anyone have any useful information regarding the sleep study? How long it took, what did you bring? (I really want to bring my own pillow) Just anything you can tell me about the experience would be much appreciated! Thanks!

So I just got home from my LAST appointment with the therapist. We only talked for about 40 minutes this time, instead of the usual hour. She typed up a "CLEARANCE" letter to send to Mercy Capitol and read it to me and gave me a copy of it. She told me that if there's anything else that I may need from her to just give her a call and she would be happy to help. I COULDN'T BE MORE THRILLED! YAY!! I'm finally on my way again. Now the next thing I have to do is wait for the call from Tracy at Mercy Capitol and do the "phone interview" which I have no idea what to expect, but then I think we can start scheduling other appointments! I'm nervous about the insurance approval once I get everything done, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best! Thanks for all your love and support!

til next time...

Hello! I hope you all are having a terrific week! Mine has been pretty good, just busy with work. I called and talked to Tracy today at Mercy Capitol (Susan is no longer there). I told her that this thursday is my last official meeting with the psychologist, and that she was going to clear me then. The psychologist wanted me to ask about getting an appointment with the dietician, but Tracy told me that the dietician (Janette) was on her honeymoon until next week, so she told me that she would let her know about setting up an appointment with me when she returned. So right now I'm just waiting til Thursday when I see the psychologist again (i am really tired of goin to her, last time seemed like such a waste of time). I am so hopeful that I will be approved and have surgery over Christmas break. If it doesn't happen, I really don't know what I'll do... but I will NOT GIVE UP! This is something that I NEED! I have to go through this. If I dont, I am scared to think of what will happen. Life is passing me by right now and it has to stop. I have to take control and be the person that I am supposed to be! I WILL UPDATE THIS FURTHER AFTER THURSDAY WHEN I KNOW MORE! THANKS FOR READING! TAKE CARE!

So I went back to the psychologist this past Thursday. I've noticed that lately I have been feeling kind of down and wondering why I have to go through all this therapy.. is something wrong with me? Am I crazy or something? Anyway, my appointment lasted about 50 minutes, and she told me that she was going to fax an update to the Mercy Center for Weight Reduction about my progress with the therapy. She told me that we would meet one more time and then I would be good to go, but that if I chose to continue counseling with her that it would be fine. So I scheduled my next appointment with her on September 20th at 1pm. I'm hoping that after that I can really start rolling along with other obstacles and maybe, just MAYBE see the light at the end of this LONG tunnel. I have yet to call the nurse back at Mercy to ask about a meeting with their dietician (shame on me, I have been working a lot and haven't found the time to call) but I will try to call her Monday first thing and see what she has to say. I'd really like to have surgery scheduled for Christmas break. It would stink to be in the hospital over Christmas, but hopefully I can get in right after or something. 

As far as my diet, I am supposed to be eating more fruits everyday. I have actually been keeping up with that quite well. I've been eating bananas, apples, grapes and some juice. GO ME! haha. I'm really hopeful for this surgery and if I am denied I really don't know what I'm going to do. It means so much to me. I have noticed that I don't look in the mirror hardly at all except when I'm putting on makeup or something. I avoid mirrors. I knew I did this before, but it just hit me the other day that I literally try to avoid glass or anything where I can see my reflection. Well thanks for reading this. Hope everyone's week is going well!!!

I have begun to go to the psychiatrist that did my psych eval every week now. I guess I'm a mental case. haha! jk.. But she is concerned about the food part, cuz I dont have any cooking skills and so she wants me to see the dietician and make out a list of foods and some recipes that are somewhat easy so that I can learn. So right now I'm just kind of at a stand still. I don't really know how long I have to go to this psychiatrist, but I guess it's just one of those things that I'm going to have to go through. I told her that if I DID get approved for surgery that I wouldn't have it until winter break, when I'm already off work (i work for the school district so I get school vacations just like students). I think it would be best, that way I don't have to worry about getting time off of work and all that jazz. I need to get in touch with the nurse at Mercy Capitol and ask about setting something up with the dietian as soon as possible. 

As for being back at work, it's getting better (this is my 2nd week back). The first couple of days were pretty chaotic, but it has gotten better with time. I'm not getting as many hours as I would like, but I'm content nonetheless. AT LEAST IT'S LABOR DAY WEEKEND!!! I'm exhausted from this week. It's hard getting back into the swing of things when I haven't worked all summer, but I'll adjust soon enough and everything will be back to normal. Just a quick update for those of you who actually read this. lol. Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend!!! CHEERS!

Well it's been awhile since I posted something, so I thought I would start out by saying that I went and saw a psychologist for the psych eval about three weeks ago. I thought it went well, we talked and talked and then we took the 500+ question test, which was, in my mind, a waste of time. But the test results are good for something I guess. Anyway, I went through that and didn't hear back from the nurse at Mercy Capitol, so I took it upon myself to call her. She wasn't available so I left a message for her to return my call asap. 
She called me back the same day, and told me the "unfortunate" news. She told me that I was NOT cleared by the psychologist, because the therapist recommended I continue "brief" counseling with her.. WHAT?!!!!!!!!! Well I spent the next day crying and trying to pull myself together. When I finally did, I called the psych doctor back and scheduled an appointment. 

AND THAT'S WHERE I'M AT NOW.
Let me begin by saying that I had my appointment with her this morning, and I was not in the best mood to begin with because I felt like this was a MAJOR bump in the road and that I was soon to find a dead end. So I saw the doc, and I told her that the nurse at Mercy told me that I wasn't cleared. The psych doc looked pretty much stunned by this. I was utterly confused... I explained to the psych doc exactly what the nurse at Mercy told me, how I was not cleared because I was recommended more counseling. So the psych doc told me that she would call over to the Center For Weight Reduction at Mercy Capitol today and get ahold of the nurse to try to figure out WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON! and that she would call me back later today to let me know. 

Other than that, the psych appointment today went well overall, I left feeling a hell of a lot better than I did when I got there. She told me, and I'm quoting her, "Well Kiddo, you're LAUNCHED!" So from my understanding, that means that she IS clearing me. She also wants me to get in contact with the dietitian at Mercy to go over simple food recipes and so forth since I'm not the best cook! haha. She also recommended that I read the book "The Patient's Guide to Weight Loss Surgery" at the initial appointment, so I had ordered it off amazon.com and I have begun reading it.

So overall, I really do feel good today, I feel like I'm finally on my way through this again. I couldn't be more thrilled and excited about it. I'm just hoping that the psych doc and the nurse at Mercy get it all figured out and I can schedule the rest of my appointments! YAY!

I have just begun the process, but am excited as ever! I went to the required Seminar at the hospital on Saturday, July 21st. That went great, I learned some things and heard things that I already knew. I took home the informational packet that they handed out. I filled it out the same day and mailed it back to them. I had to wait til the following Monday, then I had to take a letter to my PCP's office. I scheduled a Psych Evaluation that same week. It consisted of two separate appointments, one on July 30th and the other one was scheduled for today, August 3rd. I went to both appointments and thought it went pretty well. That is all that I have gotten done, but feel that I am well on my way to a great success story. The next step is hearing back from the surgeon's office and seeing what other tests or obstacles that I will have to go through. I'm fairly sure that I will need to go through a sleep study, which I am kind of nervous about. I do have have sleep apnea (that I know of anyway) so I'm just unsure of what will happen with that. Otherwise, I'm just patiently waiting for the call.