I completed all the requirements on Friday, August 23 at 4:30 pm. John at Dr. Jawad’s Office submitted my claim on Monday, August 25 at 9 am and yesterday, Wednesday, August 27 at 5pm I received my confirmation that I am APPROVED TO GET SLEEVED!
For anyone who is wondering, both Allison and I have Anthem BCBS through our employer and they are just PHENOMENAL about insurance approvals and all that jazz. I also have to give a shout out to the amazing staff at Dr. Jawad’s Office because they are a well-oiled machine and really have their stuff together.
The insurance gave me a tentative date of 9/17, which would be AWESOME because our family lucky numbers are 7 and 17. I’m still waiting to hear back from the surgery scheduler to get a definitive though. Here goes everything!
I am literally sitting here in the dr exam room waiting to meet with my surgeon . I have been herded like cattle through workshops and info sessions to prepare me for my Friday surgery . This will be the first time I will have met my doctor . Not too happy about that but he has an incredible reputation and history of success . Plus I am ready !
Although I am hungry and feeling irritated probably from waiting a lot today. I’ll I can think of is Mexican food , pasta , food , food and more food that I will miss . Not healthy thinking but I think normal in these circumstances .
No more one last binge for me , as soon as I am done today I will drink my protein drink . YUK!
So before I shared this with everyone I wanted to try it out and see if it was true or “too good to be true”. Well, I have to say. IT IS TRUE, TRUE TRUE.
I stumbled upon a site called GwynnieBee. It is perfect for the many sizes I plan on being throughout the next year. It is a Plus size Clothing rental, and the clothes are beautiful! I work in a professional office so I was worried about what I was going to do and how I was going to afford to look nice during all the phases of clothes. GwynnieBee is the answer!
Gwynnie Bee is a monthly subscription service for size 10-28. You pay a monthly fee for access to an unlimited wardrobe and unlimited free shipping.
I signed up (first month is free to try) so no lose there. I got my first set of beautiful clothes within the week. They were gorgeous! High quality and even sexy, some items I normally wouldn’t buy for myself but to rent.. heck yes!
So when I am done with the clothes I put them in the postage paid bag, pop in mailbox and let the site know it is on the way back. They track it and before they even get the clothes back within a few days another dress is at my door!
This is easy to budget as well, I budget $79.00 a month for clothing and I get many new looks and sizes for the month. I am loving this!
Here is a photo of me last week at work with one of the dresses. Let me know if you try it out and how it is working for you. (No this is not a paid advertisement, I just wanted to share my lucky find)
Ok, so I had my ah ha moment today. I called the Dr. because I am NOT losing weight and continue with these headaches on the pre-diet. Well, the nurse asked “so you are still taking your metformin right?” Ah, well, NO.
You see I figured since I wasn’t eating carbs why should I take Metformin right? Made sense at the time. So I am back on it, headache is better and I am hoping that I will start losing weight!
I really need to “follow the directions” I am worse than my students. I guess we all think we know what is best right?
So back on the saddle liquid protein shakes, all meds and lots of water. Let’s see how things are going tomorrow.
So for the past month we have had our French daughter (we call her our’s because she lived with us as a foreign exchange student 3 years ago) and her friend come visit. Our French daughter speaks fluent English however her friend that came with her did not. So between lots of translations and hand gestures we all started understanding each other.
Well French daughter #2 was trying to say ” I am hungry”. Well it came out “I am angry”. Yes, sounds the same.. different word! Until NOW.
SO HERE IT IS…I AM ANGRY/ I AM HUNGRY.
How come I never hear about everyone else talking about the pre-surgery diet as horrible? I am hungry all the time. I have horrible headaches and because of this I AM ANGRY!
3 shakes a day and one light carbless meal is making me angry. what is worse? Is I think I am down about 3 pounds, that is not what I was expecting. Other bloggers certainly have better results.
It is part of the conspiracy? “Let’s all fool Allison that this is a breeze”. Well, I fell for it, now I am just praying for surgery so that I can not feel HUNGRY and hopefully ANGRY.
Yep, 9:00 a.m. this morning a call came in, thinking it was work. I answered it not very excited in fact it was more of a “ahhh now what?” tone of voice. But low and behold.. it was from my Dr.’s office and my Insurance had approved my weight loss surgery and my Surgery date has been scheduled!
Drum Roll please……………………………………………………………………………..
Weight Loss Surgery date
So two weeks prior August 16th is the liquid diet phase. I never thought I would be so excited to only have liquid food for two weeks! Can’t wait!
With this great day, Lindsay and I also joined a GYM! Yep, pretty excited! We were able to get to the gym by 12:00, change into work out clothes, 30 minute work out , shower, change back into work clothes and get back to work in less than an hour and 10 minutes. We will work on the 10 minute transition this week. So I have a Exercise plan now as well.
Monday, Tuesday, Friday – Planet Fitness
Tuesday and Wednesday – Zumba classes or pool exercises
So I am looking at several exercise options. Although I have never (obviously) been very successful at sticking to an exercise program, I need to now. I understand that the key to this surgery is to follow the plan! Since exercise is part of the plan, yep I need to find a plan.
So I thought I would elicit some ideas from some friends (that is YOU!).
What exercise program is working for you?
When do you exercise?
How often do you exercise?
While you guys are reading and posting about exercise and I am doing my “research” I thought I would lead us in some laughter.
I love to laugh at my self..and when I think of exercising I love to laugh about it. So here are some goodies to brighten up your day. I’ll share my results of weight loss exercise ideas tomorrow.
I am not sure if I want to blame obesity as a disease. If I truly am realistic with myself I believe that I knew when my weight was getting out of control and I tried different weight loss options but nothing would stick.
Hunger would get out of control, I would get the shakes and then I would eat what I knew I wasn’t suppose to eat. Of course still in denial that I was NOT DIABETIC 😉
Low Blood Sugar Symptoms
But was it my fault? In my opinion it is not a disease however my food choices were horrible and I had no idea what they were doing to my body.
So Obesity a disease no? American food choices…. YES.
That is the problem.
Now for my soap box:
I grew up with good food, no real sweets in the house and mom cooked most meals every night. My weight gain wasn’t in childhood, it was as an adult. So what was different?
I skipped breakfast each morning and opted for a DIET COKE/DIET PEPSI. hhhmmm ok.. diet is good right?
Then I was starving for lunch, since eating out and fast food is so cheap in America and CONVENIENT. I would get taco bell, burger king or something quick, I really didn’t super size.. but I would get the sandwich, fries and of course a diet coke. I would have consumed over 1000 calories.
whopper combo meal calories
Now 3:00 would roll around and I am STARVING, the shakes start (see above chart again) and since I was either at school or work and I would not have planned for this (another tip for myself.. planning ahead) I would grab for what was closest. Candy bar in machine, cake that someone brought in, old doughnut. When the shakes start I am not picky. 440 calories for the snicker bar, oh don’t forget followed by the ….. DIET COKE. So before I head home to cook dinner for the family. I have consumed over 1500 calories.
Now dinner, since I am a mom and a wife.. one of my “jobs” in the family is cooking a good dinner for the family. Kids and husband didn’t really like vegtables.. so we usually had none or just canned beans. Usually pasta w/ sauce or rice or potato with every meal. It is usually a typical American Dinner. But I always make it better with adding “flavor” creams, gravy, butter, sour cream, CHEESE, you get the picture. Those all add up. So after researching I have discovered that I am consuming around 1500 calories for dinner. I am attaching a video that if you can skip through you can see where I am getting this calorie information. (The guy is pretty drab, but it is interesting)
I say … it is time to eat a non-typical American way. Make a new American meal. Let’s pave the road to healthy living and get these convenient over processed foods out of our diets and eat real food.
I’ll share more thoughts on the Soda epidemic and preservatives in my next post. Thanks for reading!
I would like to say that this process has been in the works for 6 months. In reality it has been in the works for years. My good friend Staci had the Gastric Sleeve done 3 years ago, I watched in joy and jealousy as her “curvy” body (shaped similar to mine) got smaller and smaller. This was a monumental event in her life as I understand her challenges and her struggles with weight loss.
Allison and Staci
So when she had the surgery done I quickly called my insurance at the time and they of course “denied” all weight loss surgeries. Head hung low I continued on my quest for healthy eating and hopeful weight loss.
Diet pills worked for about two months then my brother passed away and I gained back the 15 plus 10 more. Adkins is my always go to diet, I go on it for about 3 weeks and then I am so hungry I can’t stand it any more. Exercise (let’s skip this one I am still in denial). Weight Watchers Online, Jennifer Hudson did it I can do it too. Lots of Weight Watchers cook books, scales, apps and online charges and I gained 3 pounds. Body by Vi – this time I am going to lose weight and make money! WHY NOT! The shakes taste so good! Adding sugar free pudding to them made them taste like birthday cake. How can this be bad? Well I gained 4 pounds on that diet and sad thing is I followed it! You get the picture. My diets came and went and Staci is now wearing a svelte size 7.
Staci 3 years later
ahhhhhh isn’t she beautiful? I will say, she has always been beautiful inside and out. But she feels better, she is healthier and she doesn’t think about what food she can and can’t eat all day long. She has a freedom that I can’t wait to have.
So in January when my company informed us that we are changing insurance, I was nervous as I dialed the 800 number. I held my breath as I asked the question (not even sure if I am talking to the right person).
“Ah, yes, ah ah ah ah I am Allison and you are my new insurance. Ah , ah ,ah (stammer stammer” Well, I was wondering if you cover weight loss surgery?” The insurance specialist said back into the phone.. “yes, with your insurance we cover 100% minus the $100 deductible”. I thanked them, hung up the phone and cried.
My dream, my wish I would wish upon a star could actually be in my reach. Some people dream of winning the lotto (ok, I guess I do as well, but I never play so that would be more of a miracle) I dream of having control over the one thing in life that has escaped me. The hardest thing for me to control is “me”. I see this as my second chance at life worth living.
So I have completed my 6 month supervised diet (gained 2 pounds), my chest x ray, nutritional counseling, my psychological and on and on and on. It is all done! Now I wait nervously for insurance approval. I call every day (I know stalker) and ask.. ” ah, ah, so, ah, my doctor has send in forms and ah, ah, I am waiting on approval for weight loss surgery (my voice isn’t a whisper it is getting stronger) ahh, do you know if it has been approved?” They check, and remind me it could take 14 days and today is my 7th day. I sigh, and thank them and know that I’ll call back tomorrow.
But, when I get that approval I know what I am going to do. I will cry.
gotsleeved 