March has come and gone. Nothing major has changed with this surgical process, just a bunch of WAITING that is driving me CRAZY!! (good thing I've already had my psych consult huh?) Only a few minor details are still left to iron out.
I got all of the bills from my consults. The ensuing arguments about insurance co-pays and what is covered and what goes towards my deductible has been exhausting. And the fact that I changed insurance carriers halfway through this process didn't make things any easier for me either. But, all's well that ends well right? As of March 25, I was completely settled with my consults and the surgeons office for my first visits. It doesn't sound like much, but I'm really glad that its all over with.
I've been continuing to work out at the gym on a fairly regular basis. I try for every other day, taking Fridays and Saturdays off. That's 3 days a week, concentrating on at least 25 minutes of cardio with my heart rate over 165 bpm (yes I know its crazy, but its just how it is for now) and another 25 minutes or so on the weight machines. The weather has also gotten nice, so I've also been trying to walk on my off days at the park or forest preserve that are near my house.
I've also began eliminating things from my diet and habits that I can't have around the time of or after surgery. I started by giving up caffeine, which I can't have for a few weeks before surgery and several months after. I will admit it was difficult, especially the first week. I was seriously wishing there was a group meeting that I could attend called Starbucks Anonymous. But I have done really really well with the no caffeine rule, I've cheated only twice in the last 8 weeks (which anyone who has ever dieted before knows is pretty decent. And I still claim having to be at church before 7am on a Sunday morning deserves a little jolt first). Included in that no caf thing is chocolate. I understand there is minimal caffeine in chocolate, but I'm doing my best to stay away from it, too. The next thing I gave up was alcohol. I have problems talking about giving up the booze, because it makes me sound like an alcoholic, which I am NOT. But I LIKE martinis and wine, and every now and then a cold Blue Moon. But I did give it all up about 3 weeks ago and its been going fine. Its just hard to watch the other people around you enjoying things you KNOW taste good. (But I get the feeling that might be a recurring theme in my future, so I guess it good to practice now)
I will admit the hardest part of this whole process has been telling people. I don't think the fear that I have of telling people goes any farther than openly admitting to having a problem that I can't handle on my own. But the fear is still there and the last 6 weeks or so, I've started to tell some people and each time I tell someone it seems to get easier and easier. I feel pretty good that basically all of my family and all of my friends know. (And it makes life smoother when people aren't thinking I'm pregnant when I pass on the cocktails-which someone did ask me). The strange part of telling people are the few random people that tell me "I know someone that had that done and it didn't go well for them." I would like to ask these people (but didn't because I'm apparently too polite) what the hell they're thinking? If someone says to you, "Hey I bought new car,' you don't say, 'I know someone who almost died in car accident a few years ago.'
Anyway, (I'm gonna move on from that because I could really call some people out on that one. Like my boss) this week on Thursday I have my April weigh in. As you probably remember, I have to lose 6 pounds over a 3 month period. When I weighed in at the beginning of March, I was down about 6 pounds, so all I had to do was maintain it for another month, as of this morning, I'm unofficially down 12.5 lbs, so as long as I can stay where I'm at, I will be a happy camper :)
If all goes according to plan, my full insurance application will be sent out at the end of the week. I'm told it usually takes the insurance company about 3 weeks to respond (but lets be more realistic and say a month?). After the insurance approval goes through, the surgeons office is scheduling surgeries about 3 weeks out. So I'm still shooting for mid-May for surgery, but only time will tell (but seriously, I think all this waiting is going to KILL me soon!).
Showing posts with label Consults. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Consults. Show all posts
Monday, April 5, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Consult For Me Again, Dr McDreamy
JAN 28, 2010
Well cardiology day had finally arrived and it didn't take long to realize I'd found myself a true, blue Cardio-god (another 25 bonus points for the TV reference) for a specialist. (if you can't already hear it, imagine a soft angelic choir singing "ah-AH" in major chord progressions). I will admit that the nurse cracked me up, mostly because I was unintentionally cracking her up. So she came in, took the usual history, my pulse, and my blood pressure. Then she got up and handed me a gown, asked me to undress from the waist up and then left me alone. Ok, no problem. A few minutes later, she came back with this machine on a cart and asked me to lay on the examining table. Again, I can do that. Then she gets out all this little sticky pads and starts putting them all over me. Now you should know, that I'm pretty much game for whatever, but that I've never (to my knowledge) had any tests done on my heart, so I had no idea what was going on. So I asked the nurse exactly what she was doing and she said, "Setting up your EKG." Oh, ok. Wait. "What exactly is an EKG?" She looked at me and started laughing as she apologized saying that she never sees new patients and forgot that I wasn't a regular at this. It was at that point that she fully told me what was going on, which basically included me laying flat on a table for about 3 minutes. I like these kind of tests.
After a few more minutes, the doctor himself walked in. Now, I've been keeping my posts fairly anonymous as not to throw specific people under the bus, but I'm going to tell you my cardio doc's name mostly because if you have heart issues, you should demand to see him. Even if you don't live near Chicago, the drive might be worth it. Anyway, Dr J Stella came in to talk about my heart and the surgery and my EKG results.
Its important to note here that every one's heart operates slightly differently than the next person. Most of cardiology is based on generalizations. And, if every person went to have their ticker checked out, they would probably find out at least one way that they vary from the 'norm.'
Knowing that, what Dr. Stella told me was he found 1 smallish issue in my EKG. The first was that I have a Right Bundle Branch Blockage (RBBB). Ahhh-that sounds bad! But, alas, it is not. Basically as the good Dr explained, the heart has 4 chambers, 2 atria that sit atop 2 ventricles divided into right and left sides by a muscle called the septum. My understanding is that the septum between the right and left side of the heart is where the electrical impulse comes from to make the heart contract (beat). In a 'normal' heart, the impulse travels down the septum to the bottom of the heart and then up the sides of the ventricles to the atria, where the charge meets again. In my slightly abnormal heart, the charge goes down the septum but only travels up the left side, in a circular motion until it gets all the way back around to the septum. Dr Stella informed me that this is very common and is not a cause for concern. In fact, according to a study(that he actually quoted to me because he rocks) there is no evidence that a RBBB is a precursor or predeterminite factor for heart problems later in life. Score!
[Sidebar: I'm not a doctor, not a cardiologist, and have a little (but not much) medical training. Don't use me as a source. And do NOT skip seeing a cardiologist because I told you a RBBB is no big deal if you think you have one. Let your cardio-god tell you himself!]
My second issue Dr Stella found after listening to my heart was that he believed I have a small heart murmur. Again, that sounds bad. Unfortunately this time, he wasn't able to assure me so quickly that I needent worry about it. What we did do was schedule me for an echocardiogram (an ultrasound of the heart) and a stress echo (where they do the echo after exercise) for about 2 weeks out. And basically I get to stew over that diagnosis for the 3 weeks until my next appointment with him! (PostScript- At one of my best DQ moments, I did tell someone that they were aggravating my heart murmur. That was actually kind of fun)
See? What did I tell you all about 4 posts ago? If I was going to fail any portion of these consults it was going to be cardio. I haven't technically failed, but I've definitely been shuffled to the remedial section of class. More on the echo portion and my first "group meeting" at the surgeons office soon!
Well cardiology day had finally arrived and it didn't take long to realize I'd found myself a true, blue Cardio-god (another 25 bonus points for the TV reference) for a specialist. (if you can't already hear it, imagine a soft angelic choir singing "ah-AH" in major chord progressions). I will admit that the nurse cracked me up, mostly because I was unintentionally cracking her up. So she came in, took the usual history, my pulse, and my blood pressure. Then she got up and handed me a gown, asked me to undress from the waist up and then left me alone. Ok, no problem. A few minutes later, she came back with this machine on a cart and asked me to lay on the examining table. Again, I can do that. Then she gets out all this little sticky pads and starts putting them all over me. Now you should know, that I'm pretty much game for whatever, but that I've never (to my knowledge) had any tests done on my heart, so I had no idea what was going on. So I asked the nurse exactly what she was doing and she said, "Setting up your EKG." Oh, ok. Wait. "What exactly is an EKG?" She looked at me and started laughing as she apologized saying that she never sees new patients and forgot that I wasn't a regular at this. It was at that point that she fully told me what was going on, which basically included me laying flat on a table for about 3 minutes. I like these kind of tests.
After a few more minutes, the doctor himself walked in. Now, I've been keeping my posts fairly anonymous as not to throw specific people under the bus, but I'm going to tell you my cardio doc's name mostly because if you have heart issues, you should demand to see him. Even if you don't live near Chicago, the drive might be worth it. Anyway, Dr J Stella came in to talk about my heart and the surgery and my EKG results.
Its important to note here that every one's heart operates slightly differently than the next person. Most of cardiology is based on generalizations. And, if every person went to have their ticker checked out, they would probably find out at least one way that they vary from the 'norm.'
Knowing that, what Dr. Stella told me was he found 1 smallish issue in my EKG. The first was that I have a Right Bundle Branch Blockage (RBBB). Ahhh-that sounds bad! But, alas, it is not. Basically as the good Dr explained, the heart has 4 chambers, 2 atria that sit atop 2 ventricles divided into right and left sides by a muscle called the septum. My understanding is that the septum between the right and left side of the heart is where the electrical impulse comes from to make the heart contract (beat). In a 'normal' heart, the impulse travels down the septum to the bottom of the heart and then up the sides of the ventricles to the atria, where the charge meets again. In my slightly abnormal heart, the charge goes down the septum but only travels up the left side, in a circular motion until it gets all the way back around to the septum. Dr Stella informed me that this is very common and is not a cause for concern. In fact, according to a study(that he actually quoted to me because he rocks) there is no evidence that a RBBB is a precursor or predeterminite factor for heart problems later in life. Score!
[Sidebar: I'm not a doctor, not a cardiologist, and have a little (but not much) medical training. Don't use me as a source. And do NOT skip seeing a cardiologist because I told you a RBBB is no big deal if you think you have one. Let your cardio-god tell you himself!]
My second issue Dr Stella found after listening to my heart was that he believed I have a small heart murmur. Again, that sounds bad. Unfortunately this time, he wasn't able to assure me so quickly that I needent worry about it. What we did do was schedule me for an echocardiogram (an ultrasound of the heart) and a stress echo (where they do the echo after exercise) for about 2 weeks out. And basically I get to stew over that diagnosis for the 3 weeks until my next appointment with him! (PostScript- At one of my best DQ moments, I did tell someone that they were aggravating my heart murmur. That was actually kind of fun)
See? What did I tell you all about 4 posts ago? If I was going to fail any portion of these consults it was going to be cardio. I haven't technically failed, but I've definitely been shuffled to the remedial section of class. More on the echo portion and my first "group meeting" at the surgeons office soon!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Consults, Part 1
JAN 21, 2010
Today, my surgical clearance consults began! I began my morning with a venti, non-fat, no whip white mocha at Starbucks and I was off to visit the psychologist for a written exam. As I entered the office I found the place to be comforting and quaint (which is probably good for that kind of office), but there were these weird machines all over the place making strange noises and the whole office smelled like oranges. I had trouble figuring the place out. The receptionist put me in a room with a laptop and a desk. As she was explaining to me the procedure, I learned that there was a questionnaire about eating habits and weight loss. Then there was an 'exam' of sorts on the computer that asked all sorts of questions about my personality that was about 180 questions long. Then, she said the final 'exam' on the computer was 500 questions long. Seriously?!? You want me to answer 680 questions about my personality? The thought running through my head was, "You're gonna fail, you're gonna fail, you're gonna fail." Great, where do I put THAT thought? (Again MSN, still waiting on that sarcasm font). But I sat down and got to it. Really most of the questions were true/false or yes/no and a good majority of them looked very similar, mostly like, "Do you hear voices?" "Is the man in your TV trying to tell you something?" "Do you feel like there is someone standing over your shoulder right now?" Ok, I'll have to admit, I did look behind me after that one. So how do I answer? For the long test, all questions were T/F so I kind of got in a rhythm to get them answered quickly and I think I missed about 4 questions. So all in all, not so bad.
JAN 22, 2010
The next day, I had to go back to the office with the strange machines on the floors that smelled like oranges to meet with my shrink. I've never seen a shrink, except when my parents divorced when I was about 7. But that really doesn't count because I distinctly remember lying to that guy. (Hmmm maybe shouldn't tell my new shrink about that one huh?) The first thing he did after introducing himself was explain to me that the machines on the floor were white noise so people couldn't hear conversations of the patients. Ahhh, light dawns on Marblehead. (50 bonus points if you get the 80s movie reference). Now, you have to understand that I felt like a was pretty messed up in the head and I wasn't exactly sure how this was going to go. I had made myself a promise that I would be completely honest, no matter how crazy it made me sound. But you know what? Some of you might disagree, but according to my shrink, I'm perfectly normal in my brain. Whoa! Seriously?!? The 3 issues that I thought for sure I'd get hung up on were my parents divorce, my grandmothers death, and a particularly painful breakup. Nope, my reactions and feelings were normal, normal, and slightly vengeful, but normal. All I can say is: ?!?!?!? He asked my about bariatric surgery and my ability to follow through. And I was surprised at how much I actually knew about the procedure and the recovery process (I HAD been doing a lot of research). At the end of my hour, he shook my hand and told me he'd write up my clearance and get it sent to the surgeon in about a week. Wow! This was the most painless process.
One down. 2 to go.
JAN 26, 2010
Its pulmonology day! I will admit that I was slightly annoyed that I had to take off work to go see this guy because "he only sees new patients during the day." I don't find that practice to be all that accommodating, but really what his office was telling me was, show up and I'll sign your permission slip. Basically my clearance procedure included a tech of some sort sticking me in a chamber and sealing it off and making me breathe oddly in a tube. That process took about an hour. Then I waited almost another hour to see the doctor. He and I spoke for exactly 6 minutes and he said, "Thanks for coming in. Good luck with surgery." I physically watched him write "CLEARED" in big sloppy handwriting on the jacket of my chart. As I walked up front to check out, he tossed my chart and the receptionist and said, we have a form letter in the file. Put her name on it and send it to the surgeon. Well thanks for your time, Doc. By the way, did you want to look at the chest Xray you requested? No, you think the radiologist had it under control? Oh yes, I feel super confident in your abilities.
Now I have 2 done and cleared. Just the cardiologist left and more on him in my next post!
Today, my surgical clearance consults began! I began my morning with a venti, non-fat, no whip white mocha at Starbucks and I was off to visit the psychologist for a written exam. As I entered the office I found the place to be comforting and quaint (which is probably good for that kind of office), but there were these weird machines all over the place making strange noises and the whole office smelled like oranges. I had trouble figuring the place out. The receptionist put me in a room with a laptop and a desk. As she was explaining to me the procedure, I learned that there was a questionnaire about eating habits and weight loss. Then there was an 'exam' of sorts on the computer that asked all sorts of questions about my personality that was about 180 questions long. Then, she said the final 'exam' on the computer was 500 questions long. Seriously?!? You want me to answer 680 questions about my personality? The thought running through my head was, "You're gonna fail, you're gonna fail, you're gonna fail." Great, where do I put THAT thought? (Again MSN, still waiting on that sarcasm font). But I sat down and got to it. Really most of the questions were true/false or yes/no and a good majority of them looked very similar, mostly like, "Do you hear voices?" "Is the man in your TV trying to tell you something?" "Do you feel like there is someone standing over your shoulder right now?" Ok, I'll have to admit, I did look behind me after that one. So how do I answer? For the long test, all questions were T/F so I kind of got in a rhythm to get them answered quickly and I think I missed about 4 questions. So all in all, not so bad.
JAN 22, 2010
The next day, I had to go back to the office with the strange machines on the floors that smelled like oranges to meet with my shrink. I've never seen a shrink, except when my parents divorced when I was about 7. But that really doesn't count because I distinctly remember lying to that guy. (Hmmm maybe shouldn't tell my new shrink about that one huh?) The first thing he did after introducing himself was explain to me that the machines on the floor were white noise so people couldn't hear conversations of the patients. Ahhh, light dawns on Marblehead. (50 bonus points if you get the 80s movie reference). Now, you have to understand that I felt like a was pretty messed up in the head and I wasn't exactly sure how this was going to go. I had made myself a promise that I would be completely honest, no matter how crazy it made me sound. But you know what? Some of you might disagree, but according to my shrink, I'm perfectly normal in my brain. Whoa! Seriously?!? The 3 issues that I thought for sure I'd get hung up on were my parents divorce, my grandmothers death, and a particularly painful breakup. Nope, my reactions and feelings were normal, normal, and slightly vengeful, but normal. All I can say is: ?!?!?!? He asked my about bariatric surgery and my ability to follow through. And I was surprised at how much I actually knew about the procedure and the recovery process (I HAD been doing a lot of research). At the end of my hour, he shook my hand and told me he'd write up my clearance and get it sent to the surgeon in about a week. Wow! This was the most painless process.
One down. 2 to go.
JAN 26, 2010
Its pulmonology day! I will admit that I was slightly annoyed that I had to take off work to go see this guy because "he only sees new patients during the day." I don't find that practice to be all that accommodating, but really what his office was telling me was, show up and I'll sign your permission slip. Basically my clearance procedure included a tech of some sort sticking me in a chamber and sealing it off and making me breathe oddly in a tube. That process took about an hour. Then I waited almost another hour to see the doctor. He and I spoke for exactly 6 minutes and he said, "Thanks for coming in. Good luck with surgery." I physically watched him write "CLEARED" in big sloppy handwriting on the jacket of my chart. As I walked up front to check out, he tossed my chart and the receptionist and said, we have a form letter in the file. Put her name on it and send it to the surgeon. Well thanks for your time, Doc. By the way, did you want to look at the chest Xray you requested? No, you think the radiologist had it under control? Oh yes, I feel super confident in your abilities.
Now I have 2 done and cleared. Just the cardiologist left and more on him in my next post!
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