PreOp: Psych Evaluation & NUT Consult... CHECK!

Things I have to do before I can submit to insurance:
- attend at least 1 support group meeting (DONE!)
- get pre-op testing done (DONE!)
- have a preliminary appointment with the dietitian (DONE!)
- have an evaluation and get cleared for surgery by a Psychologist (DONE!)
- complete my "weight loss journal" chronicling all my previous weight loss attempts (working on it - waiting on rest of my weights )
- have a 5 year record of weights from my physicians ( working on this - 08 & 06 done!)
- Letter of medical necessity/clearance from my PCP (DONE & HAVE LETTER!)

I had my psych evaluation yesterday afternoon. It was kinda boring! lol! Basically he asked me all about my past and my family history... yadda yadda.. and then i had to take some tests. BTW - these tests have to be the most annoying tests in the world. It is the same structure as the test they made Nick & I take at marriage counseling... where they ask you the same damn question 15 times... i seriously wanted to pull my hair out at the end if they asked me if i wanted to off myself one more time!!! Seriously.. its just annoying! Like i'm going to say NO the first 14 times and then on number 15 change my mind... i should have put YES if you don't stop asking me this damn question! seesh! But anyways.. i didn't pay the extra $60 to get the expedited service.. just cant afford it right now :P So it will probably be two weeks before my Psych report gets over to Atlanta Bariatrics. Blah!

Had my NUT appointment with Rachel this morning. She is nice... i like her. She said I was doing really well so far with what i've been doing. Scolded me on a few things.. the big one being skipping b'fast. I CANNOT SKIP BREAKFAST ANY MORE - NO EXCUSES!!! She doesn't care if I am busy.... i can do quick things! So basically here is my PreOp Plan:

Exercise - continue what I'm doing but be more consistent. Minimum 3 times a week - Goal 5 times a week

Food - Focus on Low Fat and Low Sugar
** GET OFF OF COKE - IT IS TOXIC!! (Diet Coke ok for now)
Drinks lots of SF noncaloric beverages (Crystal Lite is fine)

- No fried foods
- Only Lite Condiments (lite mayo..etc)
- No Regular Chips (if i need chips.. get baked!)

Focus on FOOD CHOICE-NOT QUANTITY! (the pouch will help with that after surgery!)

"Normalizing Meal Patters"
**CANNOT skip any meals - NO EXCUSES
B, L, S, D

Some quick B'Fast ideas to help me:
boiled egg & fruit
cheese stick & fruit
light yogurt & fruit
whole wheat english muffin with cheese or peanut butter
bowl of cereal with less than 10g of sugar and 1% milk
instant oatmeal

Snacks - keep all trigger foods out of the house!
some snack ideas: Triscut thin crips with cheese or peanut butter, yogurt with cereal, fruit and cheese, light popcorn, pretzels

For Dinner - only 1 starch

MANTRA - Protein + Produce

** Things that are pissing me off: My old PCP's office. I've been through the ringer trying to get my last 5 years weights. UGH... but now i think we may have it under control. unfortunately the dr has to sign off on the chart before it gets sent out and he wont be back in the country until end of next week I think she said... whatever.

Wheels keep on spinning round....

It's another update! Yay!

Things I have to do before I can submit to insurance:
- attend at least 1 support group meeting (DONE!)
- get pre-op testing done (DONE!)
- have a preliminary appointment with the dietitian (scheduled for March 19th)
- have an evaluation and get cleared for surgery by a Psychologist (scheduled for March 18th)
- complete my "weight loss journal" chronicling all my previous weight loss attempts (working on it - waiting on rest of my weights )
- have a 5 year record of weights from my physicians ( working on this - 08 & 06 done!)
- Letter of medical necessity/clearance from my PCP (DONE & HAVE LETTER!)


A few things are a little frustrating though...

- I love my PCP. She is very very nice, but (some of) her staff has poop for brains... seriously. It is taking me forever to get the medical records I need and I have been asking for them for a month. The person they have some in to do their medical records messed it up and never requested from my old PCP... at least that is what I assume since a month has gone by and they didn't have the old PCP records when i had my visit on Monday. Thankfully, the main office lady is working on this for me. will be giving her a call in a little bit to check on the status. I can't finish my weight loss journal until i have this... come on people!!

- Ok... so I have my appointment with the Psychologist on the 18th. The appointment will be 2-2.5 HOURS LONG!!! Hold crap!! I have to take some test after our 50-min meeting. The thing that makes me a bit irked though is that it will take 2 weeks for him to complete my review. See the stupid test has to go out to a service for scoring and then when he gets it back he writes up his review. UNLESS.... i pay an additional $60 for expedited service with the scoring service... then it will only take him a week. BAH!! This messes up my timeline of wanting to have everything completed and ready to submit on the 19th after my NUT appointment. Grr!!

I need to call Dr. Hart's office today. I cant find the email for his assistant (Mildred i think) and I need to ask her how I need to send the letter from Dr. Gray. She just hand wrote it on some of her letterhead. I hope its not a problem. She said if it is to just let her know and a typed copy can be made. Since i have UHC and they are pretty flexible, i am hoping i don't have to go back to her for a typed letter.

Anyways.. that is all for now! :)

Update on my pre-approval status

So the list of things I have to do:

- attend at least 1 support group meeting (going to on March 5th)
- get pre-op testing done (DONE!)
have a preliminary appointment with the dietitian (scheduled for March 19th)
- have an evaluation and get cleared for surgery by a Psychologist (scheduled for March 18th)
- complete my "weight loss journal" chronicling all my previous weight loss attempts (working on it )
- have a 5 year record of weights from my physicians (already working on this - 08 & 06 done!)
- Letter of medical necessity/clearance from my PCP (scheduled for march 10th to meet and discuss letter with pcp)

Things are moving along nicely. Im glad that my office has been so accepting of me working some wierd hours to fit in these doctors appointments. My goal is to have the NUT appt on the 19th be the last thing i need and then we can submit to insurance! I really want to try and get the surgery in April if at all possible!

For now... i just keep on chuggin! :)