Well I got a call from the surgeons office today. The psychological evaluation was received and they are moving forward processing the paperwork with the insurance. The woman from the surgeons office informed to that there is an opening on May 29th so I may possibly be able to do the surgery on that date, if the cards fall in to place so to speak. We will see what happens! I am double checking on my last contract date for work (I know one school i work at has a last day of work on 5/25, but the second school i am not sure yet) to see if I could feasibly do this date. If not, the next available surgery date is 6/12.
Its really going to happen :)
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Thoughts from Psychologist visit
So, I thought today would be a good time to go over the experience with the therapist I was required to visit. I did not get to go to the gym after work today... My 2 year old got sick at daycare so when I got off work I went and picked up the baby from daycare (my husband picked up the 2 year old and took him home) and came home.
So, I thought while I am on the 'blog kick' so to speak and actually thinking about wanting to post, I thought i would go over some of the things discussed in the therapy session. Sorry if this is all over the place or if something doesn't make sense... Just sort of typing as it comes to my mind. If something doesn't make sense please post comment and ask a question, because if you are wondering it there is a good possibility someone else is wondering the same thing.
Ok, so when I contacted the insurance, they let me know who I needed to contact for a bariatric psychologist. The very first requirement was that it could NOT be a regular therapist, but an actual registered Therapist (meaning they are a doctor basically). So at my first appointment, the therapist informs me that we would do 4 appointments to really be able to go over everything. First appointment we went over my past, eating habits, and discussed the things that led me to where I am. The second appointment we discussed the surgery, the motivation for the surgery and discussing support systems. She also mentioned that she felt I was only going to need 3 sessions since I seemed pretty well on target :) The third session was about post surgery plans, family life, and just discussing the last details.
It was interesting talking to her about my motivations for the surgery, what I had done to get forward for the surgery, and just discussing plans. For motivation, I have my kids... I want to be there for them for the rest of my life and be there so that I can be with them as they get older and also see their children one day. I want to be actively involved in their lives and be able to go hiking, take them to the park, and just be able to be there for them pretty much. That is what is important to me.
So, now I am still just waiting for that phone call!
So, I thought while I am on the 'blog kick' so to speak and actually thinking about wanting to post, I thought i would go over some of the things discussed in the therapy session. Sorry if this is all over the place or if something doesn't make sense... Just sort of typing as it comes to my mind. If something doesn't make sense please post comment and ask a question, because if you are wondering it there is a good possibility someone else is wondering the same thing.
Ok, so when I contacted the insurance, they let me know who I needed to contact for a bariatric psychologist. The very first requirement was that it could NOT be a regular therapist, but an actual registered Therapist (meaning they are a doctor basically). So at my first appointment, the therapist informs me that we would do 4 appointments to really be able to go over everything. First appointment we went over my past, eating habits, and discussed the things that led me to where I am. The second appointment we discussed the surgery, the motivation for the surgery and discussing support systems. She also mentioned that she felt I was only going to need 3 sessions since I seemed pretty well on target :) The third session was about post surgery plans, family life, and just discussing the last details.
It was interesting talking to her about my motivations for the surgery, what I had done to get forward for the surgery, and just discussing plans. For motivation, I have my kids... I want to be there for them for the rest of my life and be there so that I can be with them as they get older and also see their children one day. I want to be actively involved in their lives and be able to go hiking, take them to the park, and just be able to be there for them pretty much. That is what is important to me.
So, now I am still just waiting for that phone call!
Monday, April 23, 2012
Worked out today
Now, this is from TODAY... I am pretty happy about this, as all my numbers improved
Sunday, April 22, 2012
preparing for Gastric Bypass Surgery
So, the title of the post says it all... I am in preparation for Gastric Bypass Surgery. Now, there are numerous types of this surgery and I am set to have the Sleeve surgery done. What this consists of is a lapriscopic surgery done where they remove 70-80% of your stomach. It does NOT cause malabsorption as the regular RNY Bariatric Surgery does (where they cut and move your intestines and staple your stomach) nor does it leave a foreign object in the body for life (such as the Lap-band)... This literally removes the stomach part (including the portion of the stomach that sends the message to your brain telling you that you are hungry) and leaves a tube similar to a banana shape that is sewn up.
I first began preparation for this surgery in August of 2005 if I really think back... But back then when I looked at it I was told that I would have to follow a strict program for 6 months with shakes/food from the hospital to be eligible for the surgery... the program cost 200$ a week so that was definitely NOT for me... I came back to the surgery option in August of 2010... I discussed it with my primary care doctor, and we began the insurance requirement of having 6 months of monitored diet, exercise and weight loss to show effort. During this time I injured my knee requiring swim only, and at the end of it I had what I THOUGHT was plantar facilitis (actually turned out to be severe DVT and PE that landed me in the hospital for over a week, and included 3 surgeries) that put me on crutches. My primary care submitted the 6 months monitoring paperwork as well as recommendation to the insurance, who approved me to meet with Dr. Mueller, the bariatric Surgeon.
Now I had already gone to a lecture held by Dr. Mueller, and really enjoyed him and his personality. Meeting him in person in March for my appointment showed me that I really was making the right decision for me. He gave me my paperwork and I was on my way, ready to start getting everything in order... THEN I got some major news... I was pregnant. This surgery got postponed indefinitely, until after baby and after any nursing...
Fast forward to February 2012... I have just finished weaning my youngest son (well, he more or less weaned himself, he was not interested in me, just the bottle!), and so I called the surgeons office to see where I needed to pick up. They set me up another consultation (since it had been a year) and they gave me all the paperwork again.
Fast forward now til April 20th... I am almost there. I have done all the blood tests and they are turned in... I have done the EKG and it is submitted... I have done the chest xray and its submitted... I met with a psychologist for 3 therapy sessions to discuss everything under the sun (perhaps I will put a blog post all about those experiences in a new blog post at a later point in time if I remember) as it relates to me, my weight, my family, and outlook etc and my psychologist has cleared me ready and fit for surgery. My primary care submitted his clearance stating I am cleared for surgery. Dr. Muellers office has all my paperwork and they are now working with the insurance for my final clearance. As of right now, I was informed that I could have the surgery in less than 6 weeks. So I am looking at Surgery in June. I am REALLY excited, nervous, everything. Who wouldn't be! This is a MAJOR surgery, that will change my whole life. I am on a support group that discusses everything about the surgery and the impact it has on peoples lives so I feel ready. It will be a huge step, but one that I feel I have been waiting a long time to happen. I am not at a stand still, on hold... there is nothing left that I have to do... I am now just waiting for the 'bigwigs' at the insurance to give the final clearance that they will authorize this surgery to be completed (authorizations came in steps... first an authorization to meet with the surgeon, then an authorization for the labs/xray/ekg, and now an authorization of all the results to show that I am ready for goal)... So I am just anxiously awaiting the phone call saying that they are ready to schedule my surgery which for me I am looking at being the day that begins a new life for me... a new life style and a hope for the future with my family.
So, with that being said, I will be closing off for this evening. If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to leave it here or message me!
Ashley
I first began preparation for this surgery in August of 2005 if I really think back... But back then when I looked at it I was told that I would have to follow a strict program for 6 months with shakes/food from the hospital to be eligible for the surgery... the program cost 200$ a week so that was definitely NOT for me... I came back to the surgery option in August of 2010... I discussed it with my primary care doctor, and we began the insurance requirement of having 6 months of monitored diet, exercise and weight loss to show effort. During this time I injured my knee requiring swim only, and at the end of it I had what I THOUGHT was plantar facilitis (actually turned out to be severe DVT and PE that landed me in the hospital for over a week, and included 3 surgeries) that put me on crutches. My primary care submitted the 6 months monitoring paperwork as well as recommendation to the insurance, who approved me to meet with Dr. Mueller, the bariatric Surgeon.
Now I had already gone to a lecture held by Dr. Mueller, and really enjoyed him and his personality. Meeting him in person in March for my appointment showed me that I really was making the right decision for me. He gave me my paperwork and I was on my way, ready to start getting everything in order... THEN I got some major news... I was pregnant. This surgery got postponed indefinitely, until after baby and after any nursing...
Fast forward to February 2012... I have just finished weaning my youngest son (well, he more or less weaned himself, he was not interested in me, just the bottle!), and so I called the surgeons office to see where I needed to pick up. They set me up another consultation (since it had been a year) and they gave me all the paperwork again.
Fast forward now til April 20th... I am almost there. I have done all the blood tests and they are turned in... I have done the EKG and it is submitted... I have done the chest xray and its submitted... I met with a psychologist for 3 therapy sessions to discuss everything under the sun (perhaps I will put a blog post all about those experiences in a new blog post at a later point in time if I remember) as it relates to me, my weight, my family, and outlook etc and my psychologist has cleared me ready and fit for surgery. My primary care submitted his clearance stating I am cleared for surgery. Dr. Muellers office has all my paperwork and they are now working with the insurance for my final clearance. As of right now, I was informed that I could have the surgery in less than 6 weeks. So I am looking at Surgery in June. I am REALLY excited, nervous, everything. Who wouldn't be! This is a MAJOR surgery, that will change my whole life. I am on a support group that discusses everything about the surgery and the impact it has on peoples lives so I feel ready. It will be a huge step, but one that I feel I have been waiting a long time to happen. I am not at a stand still, on hold... there is nothing left that I have to do... I am now just waiting for the 'bigwigs' at the insurance to give the final clearance that they will authorize this surgery to be completed (authorizations came in steps... first an authorization to meet with the surgeon, then an authorization for the labs/xray/ekg, and now an authorization of all the results to show that I am ready for goal)... So I am just anxiously awaiting the phone call saying that they are ready to schedule my surgery which for me I am looking at being the day that begins a new life for me... a new life style and a hope for the future with my family.
So, with that being said, I will be closing off for this evening. If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to leave it here or message me!
Ashley
Steps towards weight loss
OK, so in the last entry I discussed my weight. Some may have seen where it says "6 months monitored weight loss"... I will get to that in perhaps the NEXT blog entry (yes, I will do 3 tonight, as I don't want to ramble too much in one long entry which I probably already did). This blog entry is about what I am doing RIGHT NOW for weight loss... Well, some of it is BAD but also the good.
So, as of right now, I am working on a few different things. I am utilizing the program on my phone called my fitness pal (user name afishsticks if anyone wants to add me) to help me track exercise and food (when I remember :) ), I have started the C25K program using an app on my phone, I am planning on registering for a 5 k (YIKES) that will be here called Color Me Rad in August (registration is not open yet but I am planning on registering the DAY that I can, so that way I can't back out!), and am pushing to do not only the 30 minutes of Cardio involved in the c25K 3 times a week, but also do an additional 20 minutes of cardio on those C25K. I also own a Wii system which right now is hooked up but is in a spot that makes it difficult to use, so I will be moving the Wii to a better location so that I can utilize it to its fullest extent. I think that all these things are important for the exercise aspect of weight loss.
For the nutrition, I am trying to watch what I am eating (although I will admit, today I had a piece of cheese cake which I know packed on calories, and even though its not the best I didn't eat dinner so I feel a little better, but I do know I blew it calorie-wise today) and making healthier choices (such as a salad over sandwich, some scrambled eggs versus bowl of frosted flakes, lite dressing versus thousand island on salad, etc... I am going to try to get back on track with counting calories, which is hard, but I know that if I do it, I will be able to monitor what goes into me each day much better than I can by just thinking about it as I eat it and forget about it once I walk out the door.
So, those are my steps I am doing right now with exercise and nutrition to get healthier... Now during this same period of time, to answer any questions about the whole 6 months monitoring, the next post will be all about that and the life changing event coming up this summer....
So, as of right now, I am working on a few different things. I am utilizing the program on my phone called my fitness pal (user name afishsticks if anyone wants to add me) to help me track exercise and food (when I remember :) ), I have started the C25K program using an app on my phone, I am planning on registering for a 5 k (YIKES) that will be here called Color Me Rad in August (registration is not open yet but I am planning on registering the DAY that I can, so that way I can't back out!), and am pushing to do not only the 30 minutes of Cardio involved in the c25K 3 times a week, but also do an additional 20 minutes of cardio on those C25K. I also own a Wii system which right now is hooked up but is in a spot that makes it difficult to use, so I will be moving the Wii to a better location so that I can utilize it to its fullest extent. I think that all these things are important for the exercise aspect of weight loss.
For the nutrition, I am trying to watch what I am eating (although I will admit, today I had a piece of cheese cake which I know packed on calories, and even though its not the best I didn't eat dinner so I feel a little better, but I do know I blew it calorie-wise today) and making healthier choices (such as a salad over sandwich, some scrambled eggs versus bowl of frosted flakes, lite dressing versus thousand island on salad, etc... I am going to try to get back on track with counting calories, which is hard, but I know that if I do it, I will be able to monitor what goes into me each day much better than I can by just thinking about it as I eat it and forget about it once I walk out the door.
So, those are my steps I am doing right now with exercise and nutrition to get healthier... Now during this same period of time, to answer any questions about the whole 6 months monitoring, the next post will be all about that and the life changing event coming up this summer....
First day of my "Blog"
OK, well I guess I should introduce myself if you have stumbled upon this... I am honestly not sure how far or long I will go with the blog, however it is a start for me, and a chance to keep myself accountable for what is happening in my life. I will try to update at least 2 times a week, if not more. If I forget to update (atleast on Mondays when I weigh in!) then please let me know as it may be that I forgot (which is likely) or that I am trying to 'hide' what has shown on the scale and I do need to be accountable for it! I hope this helps those of you that are struggling, and this might be different than what some people think, but here goes nothing.
My name is Ashley. I am happily (mostly haha) married to a wonderful husband who has given me the opportunity to be a mother to 2 young boys (as of right now, one is 2 and 1/2, the other is 6 months). While I am mostly happy with where I am at with my life as of right now, there is one thing that I am not happy about and that is my weight. My weight has been something that has always fluctuated ever since I was a kid. I was a big kid (my mom always told me I started gaining weight after I had my tonsils removed when I was 7) but still happy. I played tennis (including varsity) which shows while I was obese, I still could participate in day to day activities.
If I were to really think about my weight, and admit to it in a public location such as this, I could see the pattern of where it went up and down. So, since I am going 'balls out' I guess I will lay it all out on the floor and leave it here, as this is the stepping stones for me to move past where I am and onward to a better life. So, here is a 'basic' idea of my weight at different periods of my life:
June 2004- 230 pounds (graduated from High School)
June 2005- 250 pounds(After first year of college)
September 2008- 285 pounds
January 2009- 270 pounds
June 2009- 280 pounds
September 2009- 315 pounds (birth of 1st son)
September 2010- 298 pounds (start of 6 month monitored program)
March 2011- 281 pounds (end of 6 month monitored program)
March 2011- 290 pounds (hospitalized, unable to exercise for 1 month)
April 2011- First OB appointment- 291 pounds
October 2011- Birth of 2nd son- 294 pounds
January 2012- 280 pounds
April 22, 2012- 302 pounds
So, as you can see, I go through many ups and downs... and I am SO mad at myself for this last big jump up that I had. So now I am recommited and plan on going down from this point onward.
My next entry (which I will do up right after publishing this) will be all about what I am doing to pursue this new plan...
My name is Ashley. I am happily (mostly haha) married to a wonderful husband who has given me the opportunity to be a mother to 2 young boys (as of right now, one is 2 and 1/2, the other is 6 months). While I am mostly happy with where I am at with my life as of right now, there is one thing that I am not happy about and that is my weight. My weight has been something that has always fluctuated ever since I was a kid. I was a big kid (my mom always told me I started gaining weight after I had my tonsils removed when I was 7) but still happy. I played tennis (including varsity) which shows while I was obese, I still could participate in day to day activities.
If I were to really think about my weight, and admit to it in a public location such as this, I could see the pattern of where it went up and down. So, since I am going 'balls out' I guess I will lay it all out on the floor and leave it here, as this is the stepping stones for me to move past where I am and onward to a better life. So, here is a 'basic' idea of my weight at different periods of my life:
June 2004- 230 pounds (graduated from High School)
June 2005- 250 pounds(After first year of college)
September 2008- 285 pounds
January 2009- 270 pounds
June 2009- 280 pounds
September 2009- 315 pounds (birth of 1st son)
September 2010- 298 pounds (start of 6 month monitored program)
March 2011- 281 pounds (end of 6 month monitored program)
March 2011- 290 pounds (hospitalized, unable to exercise for 1 month)
April 2011- First OB appointment- 291 pounds
October 2011- Birth of 2nd son- 294 pounds
January 2012- 280 pounds
April 22, 2012- 302 pounds
So, as you can see, I go through many ups and downs... and I am SO mad at myself for this last big jump up that I had. So now I am recommited and plan on going down from this point onward.
My next entry (which I will do up right after publishing this) will be all about what I am doing to pursue this new plan...
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