Getting better each day

In case you don't know, or don't remember, my pain threshold is fairly low. So you can imagine I've had a rough few days since the surgery. I wasn't prescribed any pain meds, which had to have been an oversight on the doctor's part. But, this morning, things are looking up and I'm feeling better.

The surgery was a great success. Dr. Melniczek said my liver was beautiful, the most beautiful one he'd seen today. The pre-op diet is to shrink the liver, so that made me happy that that was a success. He also told me I had skinny insides. When I asked what he meant, he said I didn't have a lot of fat around my organs. Which may be why I've been able to carry so much excess weight without developing other life-threatening problems, or co-morbidities as the medical community calls them. The only co-morbidity I have is sleep apnea, which it's anticipated that I will no longer have once some of the weight comes off. Hopefully that's the case.

The nurses were really nice. There were just two patients and two nurses staying overnight in the surgery center. We were both LapBand patients. The other lady was from Utah, her brother was the anesthesiologist working with Dr. Melniczek. I thought that was a pretty good vote of confidence to have his own sister come have surgery with his colleague.

Now we're just wrestling with the liquid diet and trying to get in enough protein and fluid. So far so good.

Everything is in place

Well, everything has fallen in place and surgery is on for this Friday at 12 noon. I'll be heading to Denver early on Thursday morning for the pre-op appointments. Brad and Adam will be with me and Rachel and Hannah will be staying with some friends.

I'll be spending the night on Friday in the surgery center and coming home on Saturday. We'll be too late to vote in the Kansas Caucus which is taking place that day. Bummer, that would have been a fun experience.

Brad and I are going to dinner tomorrow night. There's a new Chinese place in town that is supposed to be pretty good, so we're going to go there. We were planning on that for Valentine's Day, but I won't be eating solid food by then, so tomorrow is going to be my last supper, so to speak before the liquid diet begins. I will have only liquids for three days before the surgery. I'm stocked up on clear juices, broth, jello and protein powders. Should be interesting.

I'm mostly excited with a little bit of nervousness mixed in. Any of you who would like to send some prayers up for me would be greatly appreciated. Mostly, I just hope I don't die. Everything else I can handle. I just have to make it through surgery. I'm confident that I will, but there's always that small chance that something can go wrong. My surgeon told me I had more chance of dying on the way to Denver in a car accident than from the surgery. Risks are something we have to take in order to live and this is one that I'm fine taking so that I may live more fully.

Getting Closer

Well, I'm not officially scheduled yet, but the letter was faxed (never came in the mail for some reason) to the surgeon's office today and it was confirmed that Dr. Mel has an opening for me on the 8th. I just need the official surgery scheduler to call, hopefully tomorrow to schedule the surgery.

Tomorrow I'm going to Dr. Daise (my PCP) for a physical. I'll also have bloodwork done and an EKG. They want to make sure I'm healthy enough for this surgery. I have had some anemia in the past, so I'm hoping that's no longer an issue.

Date adjustment

Well, it's still tentative, but Dr. Melniczek emailed and said they're planning on the surgery being on February 8th. He has a couple other surgeries that day. I was thinking I should go last, then he'll have at least a couple more surgeries under his belt! Hee hee.

I will go to Denver on the 7th for some pre-op counseling and then have the surgery on the 8th. I'm guessing I'll be released on the 9th and home that evening. Unfortunately, Brad won't be able to get the full 10 days off of work like he would have earlier in the week. It'll be more like 7 or so.

Now I'm researching protein powders and probably going to order them online. Unjury.com is one source that a lot of bariatric patients use pre and post surgery. I need to get on some good vitamins too. Proteins and vitamins are essential for energy and to prevent muscle and hair loss.

I'm excited, but getting more and more nervous as the realities of these changes I'm going to be making are sinking in.

I'm approved!

I got a call from BCBS today and they said my preauthorization has been approved! My surgeon called and once they get the official letter from the insurance we'll schedule the date. It's tentatively for February 4th or February 5th! I'm so excited, I hardly feel like this is real. I've got a lot of stuff to figure out for logistics and everything, but Yay! Brad will be able to get 10 days off to help me out and be with me through everything. More info to come.

Surgeon called today

Dr. Melniczek called today. He wanted to let me know that the insurance had called, asking for an estimated surgery cost and that he'd submitted that. He basically wanted to let me know that things are still in the works and just kind of touch base with me. I assured him I'm still excited about it and planning on it.

Not much to report

Not much has happened in the surgery category, so that's why I haven't posted anything. I did call the insurance a couple of days ago to check on the status of my claim. The claim was submitted on December 26th and they have 30 days to review it. I'm hoping it's faster than that, but in any case, we should know by the end of January if it will be covered (I'm very confident that it will be.) and hopefully have a date set for surgery.

I did find out that the cost of fills and any complications that arise is also covered on my plan. That's good to know because fills are $150 and I don't want to end up putting off getting a necessary fill because of money reasons. I've seen posts by people who have done exactly that and ended up gaining unnecessary weight because of it.

I'm getting a little nervous about my eating habits and especially coming off of the holidays, I've not been eating a healthy diet. I got an email from my nutritionist who was reminding me of her suggestion to try to eat the post-surgery diet for a little while to see if I can do it. That scares me, especially without the restriction of the band. Eeek. That's a good place for me to start though, and I know I need to do so before too long.

Sure did enjoy having the Elliotts here for a few days. Love you guys!