Over Due update

I have looked at my blog everyday and thought “I should be adding something to this today, maybe I will later”. Then I can’t think of anything to write. Today is February 19th; my appointment with the surgeon for my gastric by pass surgery is tomorrow. I have been doing pretty good with the dieting and exercising and I’m really ready to get this surgery behind me.

I have been in a funk for a couple of weeks because this process is taking so long and there seems to be no end in sight. A friend I met while going through this process, Ann-Marie, is actually a couple weeks ahead of me in the process. We were in all the classes together and seemed to be moving along at the same pace until the Weight Center told me that I had to get clearance from my cardiologist. That set me back about 2 weeks. Anne met with the surgeon and she was sent for a couple of tests. Now the surgeon is sending her back to the weight center for one more weight check before he sets the date for surgery. It doesn’t sound like a bog deal but waiting for an appointment at the weight center sometimes takes as much as a month. So every test or appointment drags this out even further.

I was so hoping that I would meet with the surgeon and ask my questions (I don’t have too many) get the details from him and get a date for the surgery. He only does surgery on Tuesdays and I don’t imagine that he does more than 2 or 3.

When I first started this it was June ’07, we were told at the meeting that it would about 6 months before we would have the surgery. At the end of the pre-surgical skills classes they give you the impression that you are in the home stretch. Anne and I finished those classes on December 20th. Now its two months later and I’m finally going to meet the surgeon. Who knows what kinds of tests and other appointments he will send me off to? Today I am just frustrated. I have let my employers know that I am going to have surgery and that I will need some time off. We have some busy times around here in the late spring that I hope to be back for. I am still hoping for surgery in March sometime and to be back working for May. If it looks like the surgery is going to happen later and I wouldn’t be able to be back to work by May I might have to put it off until fall. I really don’t want to do that. Summer is a real hard to get a long stretch of time off where I work because of everyone’s vacation time and having enough coverage in the office.

The other obstacle still to get by is the insurance company. After the meeting with the surgeon all my paper work will be sent to the insurance company for approval. I am really hoping that we don’t have to fight with them for coverage.

I’ll fill you in with details from the meeting tomorrow as soon as I can.