Hello all. So much has been going on. First I would like to share with you a bit about my husband Randy. He has been going through kidney failure for a number of years and now we are getting down to the wire where we have had to decide what type of treatment we want to pursue for him. They do this when failure gets down to 10%. The latest numbers for him are 14%. Our choices are dialysis alone, kidney transplant, or no treatment (death). We have opted for kidney transplant. With this choice he will still have to go on dialysis until a kidney is found and the waiting list is years and years long. Needless to say I am terrified. Randy also has Ms to add to the mix which adds to the daily struggle.
Now for my weight loss journey. A number of weeks ago it was sent in to insurance and I have been waiting as patiently as possible lol. It had been the plan to have the surgery next month in August so i could be all healed and feeling better before Randy went on dialysis in the next 6 months to a year. I want to be the best care giver and wife that I can be. He takes such good care of me with my chronic pain now that i want to be able to do the same down the road if possible.
Well yesterday I called the insurance company to see what the status was on the pre-approval process and I was told it had been sent back, this was the second time, because my secondary insurance requires more months of monitored weight loss visits than my primary insurance so now i have to go for more months and will have to re-submit and it looks like surgery, if I am approved will not be till the end of the year. I cannot even tell you how disappointed I am. I am trying to just go with the flow, just a bump in the road mind set though.....I must admit it is hard.....well that is all from me at the moment. I hope your summer is going better than mine LOL.
Big hugs your way.....shelly ♥
Friday, July 28, 2017
Thursday, June 29, 2017
NERVES, FEARS, EXCITEMENT
Happy Thursday morning! As I woke this morning it suddenly hit me I yet again have been neglecting the blog so I figured I would sit right down and write.
When last we spoke I was to meet the surgeon on the 13th. Well I arrived for my appointment and found out she did not have paperwork from my therapist and psychiatrist that they had been waiting for so that ended that appointment in tears. Yes that is how disappointed I was. I had gotten myself so excited about the next step I had not even considered a setback. So after a week of back and forth phone calls from me making sure that faxes were being sent and received all my ducks were finally in a row!
Tuesday of this week I was FINALLY able to meet with the surgeon. She was so nice and really spent the time going over everything making sure she had all the information she needed to make the decision whether or not I was a good candidate for surgery. She told me that after talking to my psychiatrist she had really been on the side of turning me down because he thought surgery was not for me. But after talking to me for a while I totally changed her mind. Also my therapist who sees me more often and knows me much better thought i had a lot of support in place for after surgery and would do good.
So, after an extensive appointment she wanted to get one more test result from when i had my esophagus stretched to see if I would need to be scoped again before surgery by her, and then she is submitting everything to insurance!!! She is so convinced that everything is moving forward that yesterday morning i had my pre-op physical, ekg and blood work already to get it out of the way!!!
I can tell you the nerves are really starting to flow now. The thoughts of failure, success the "what ifs". Have you filled out a Medical Power of Attorney? That is another thing that needs to be thought of. This is major surgery, things can go wrong and forms should be filled out. Ugh....it all feels overwhelming but all i can do is take one day, one moment and one decision at a time. And this folks is the biggest decision i have ever made.
Well, that's all for today. I will keep you updated better, it's happening fast now who knows when i might be getting phone calls....let's hope the first one says that I have been approved...that is the first big hurdle. Wish me luck ♥ Big hugs to you all.....Shelly
When last we spoke I was to meet the surgeon on the 13th. Well I arrived for my appointment and found out she did not have paperwork from my therapist and psychiatrist that they had been waiting for so that ended that appointment in tears. Yes that is how disappointed I was. I had gotten myself so excited about the next step I had not even considered a setback. So after a week of back and forth phone calls from me making sure that faxes were being sent and received all my ducks were finally in a row!
Tuesday of this week I was FINALLY able to meet with the surgeon. She was so nice and really spent the time going over everything making sure she had all the information she needed to make the decision whether or not I was a good candidate for surgery. She told me that after talking to my psychiatrist she had really been on the side of turning me down because he thought surgery was not for me. But after talking to me for a while I totally changed her mind. Also my therapist who sees me more often and knows me much better thought i had a lot of support in place for after surgery and would do good.
So, after an extensive appointment she wanted to get one more test result from when i had my esophagus stretched to see if I would need to be scoped again before surgery by her, and then she is submitting everything to insurance!!! She is so convinced that everything is moving forward that yesterday morning i had my pre-op physical, ekg and blood work already to get it out of the way!!!
I can tell you the nerves are really starting to flow now. The thoughts of failure, success the "what ifs". Have you filled out a Medical Power of Attorney? That is another thing that needs to be thought of. This is major surgery, things can go wrong and forms should be filled out. Ugh....it all feels overwhelming but all i can do is take one day, one moment and one decision at a time. And this folks is the biggest decision i have ever made.
Well, that's all for today. I will keep you updated better, it's happening fast now who knows when i might be getting phone calls....let's hope the first one says that I have been approved...that is the first big hurdle. Wish me luck ♥ Big hugs to you all.....Shelly
Friday, May 26, 2017
WHERE DID MAY GO?
Hello hello! Can you believe it is the end of May already?? Where did it go? When I started my weight loss journey in February i thought man this is going to take forever and now it is nearly june! Just crazy!
Yesterday I had my May appointments with the dietitian, the exercise coach and the bariatric nurse. My LAST appointments with all three!!! I have been cleared by all three and now have an appointment scheduled on June 13th with the surgeon to go over everything. She will then send everything into insurance for approval. If i get approved i will attend a food prepping class and get my surgery date! WOW, this is gettin' real folks!
That's all for today....will be back soon with other things that have been going on...big hugs ♥
Yesterday I had my May appointments with the dietitian, the exercise coach and the bariatric nurse. My LAST appointments with all three!!! I have been cleared by all three and now have an appointment scheduled on June 13th with the surgeon to go over everything. She will then send everything into insurance for approval. If i get approved i will attend a food prepping class and get my surgery date! WOW, this is gettin' real folks!
That's all for today....will be back soon with other things that have been going on...big hugs ♥
Monday, April 24, 2017
THE JOURNEY SO FAR
So it has been a bit since i have posted, much has happened that I really would just rather stick in a box for another day, death and funerals, depression and anxiety. Mindless eating, mindful eating. Weight loss, weight gain and weight loss again. Let's just move on to today.
Today was an exciting day. I woke filled with anticipation. I started this weight loss journey on Feb. 28th with the webinar, had my initial consultation appointment on March 13th. I then had the psych eval on March 28th, which for the last month i have stewed about wondering if i passed or not. YES!!! I PASSED!!! I now only need to get my therapist and psychiatrist to fax letters saying that i am ready for the life change of this magnitude. On April 6th i had my first exercise evaluation.
So, that brings us up to today. Today I was weighed and I lost 19lbs!! I have gone from 311 to 292. I saw the exercise coach and got my first set of exercises to do 3 times a week with the resistance band to work my upper body. I then saw the nutritionist who was not pleased with my eating habits. I was totally honest about how i was losing the weight. My calorie intake was ridiculously low. So we spent the hour going over what i need to be eating 3 times a day with every single meal and i volunteered to do a food log. I said while i didn't really want to do one it was probably a really good idea for me to do one. We set my goals for the next month which were the food log and eating breakfast every day. Then i saw the bariatric nurse and we discussed what i still needed to do and any questions we had at the time.
All in all it was a good day. I had a slight blood sugar emergency at the end of the day as we left the hospital, fortunately we carry glucose tablets in the van and that got me home ok.
Tomorrow I sit down and make myself a schedule. When a person is disabled, living with chronic pain, life can become....well, motionless...like time is standing still. Day in and day out you sit in the same spot doing the same thing, if you are me you sit looking at the same computer screen, playing the same game or looking at the same facebook pages. You ask yourself if it is worth the pain to take a shower today....usually it isn't (don't judge). If you are like me you only leave the house to go see a doctor and then come back home to the same chair.
Now i am not saying that on my schedule that in there isn't going to be big blocks of empty space to be sitting and doing just the same thing but on that schedule it will start EVERY DAY with a shower...whether it hurts me or not...why? because i will not leave my house if i have not showered. And if i will not leave my house I will not go out and go for a walk and if I will not go for a walk how am I going to get healthy? Makes sense right? Second thing on that list is going to be breakfast...why? well because i said I would! And I will log it! Third thing on my schedule will be brush my teeth....why? well i may have to smile at someone on my damn walk right?! Man I hope not! Did I mention I don't do people very well??
So those are just a few things that will be on my schedule. I will post it when i get it done. Y'all might think some of the things on it are pretty dang basic but people that deal with issues like me tend to let some of the "basic" things go by the roadside. Well I think this will do for now. Please excuse any punctuation mistakes and capitalization issues as i tend not to capitalize at all so I am trying to be a big girl for y'all LOL .....big hugs your way....till next time ♥
Today was an exciting day. I woke filled with anticipation. I started this weight loss journey on Feb. 28th with the webinar, had my initial consultation appointment on March 13th. I then had the psych eval on March 28th, which for the last month i have stewed about wondering if i passed or not. YES!!! I PASSED!!! I now only need to get my therapist and psychiatrist to fax letters saying that i am ready for the life change of this magnitude. On April 6th i had my first exercise evaluation.
So, that brings us up to today. Today I was weighed and I lost 19lbs!! I have gone from 311 to 292. I saw the exercise coach and got my first set of exercises to do 3 times a week with the resistance band to work my upper body. I then saw the nutritionist who was not pleased with my eating habits. I was totally honest about how i was losing the weight. My calorie intake was ridiculously low. So we spent the hour going over what i need to be eating 3 times a day with every single meal and i volunteered to do a food log. I said while i didn't really want to do one it was probably a really good idea for me to do one. We set my goals for the next month which were the food log and eating breakfast every day. Then i saw the bariatric nurse and we discussed what i still needed to do and any questions we had at the time.
All in all it was a good day. I had a slight blood sugar emergency at the end of the day as we left the hospital, fortunately we carry glucose tablets in the van and that got me home ok.
Tomorrow I sit down and make myself a schedule. When a person is disabled, living with chronic pain, life can become....well, motionless...like time is standing still. Day in and day out you sit in the same spot doing the same thing, if you are me you sit looking at the same computer screen, playing the same game or looking at the same facebook pages. You ask yourself if it is worth the pain to take a shower today....usually it isn't (don't judge). If you are like me you only leave the house to go see a doctor and then come back home to the same chair.
Now i am not saying that on my schedule that in there isn't going to be big blocks of empty space to be sitting and doing just the same thing but on that schedule it will start EVERY DAY with a shower...whether it hurts me or not...why? because i will not leave my house if i have not showered. And if i will not leave my house I will not go out and go for a walk and if I will not go for a walk how am I going to get healthy? Makes sense right? Second thing on that list is going to be breakfast...why? well because i said I would! And I will log it! Third thing on my schedule will be brush my teeth....why? well i may have to smile at someone on my damn walk right?! Man I hope not! Did I mention I don't do people very well??
So those are just a few things that will be on my schedule. I will post it when i get it done. Y'all might think some of the things on it are pretty dang basic but people that deal with issues like me tend to let some of the "basic" things go by the roadside. Well I think this will do for now. Please excuse any punctuation mistakes and capitalization issues as i tend not to capitalize at all so I am trying to be a big girl for y'all LOL .....big hugs your way....till next time ♥
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
First appointment done!!!
Hey everyone! I wanted to share a bit with you about me to get us going. I know some of you may think that i "over-share". My thought on it is this....if i can show even one single person out there that they are not alone in their struggle, whatever we are talking about at the moment then i feel it is worth it. You will find me talking about my health and mental health issues and if that is too much for you by all means feel free to move on. If you think that you want to hang out with me...well then sit back and enjoy the ride and please feel free to leave "productive" comments at any time.
So, to start with i wanted to share a bit of my health issues with you just to show what is leading me down the road of bariatric surgery. I meet most of the criteria. I am a diabetic, i have high blood pressure and cholesterol as well as severe sleep apnea. I have difficulty walking and suffer from fibromyalgia and arthritis. I have been seeing a pain management specialist since last july and he recommended physical therapy to try to help get me moving. More about that later. He also suggested a procedure where he goes in and burns some of the nerves that send pain signals to the brain. I have had that done now in the lower back twice and the neck once last summer and started the second round yesterday morning on the left side so i am pretty miserable this morning.
Also yesterday I had my initial consultation appointment for the bariatric surgery. I was so very nervous, my anxiety was through the roof i am telling you!! To top it off i had the nerve burn first so was in pain then had a long bumpy drive in not great weather to the appointment. Once we got there everything went quick and painless though. I didn't really have many questions, if i could have done the surgery then i would have lol. I have opted and they concurred for the bariatric bypass option. There are goal i have to meet by june most of which are appointments and paperwork. The most important one is by june i must lose 15 lbs. That is going to be the hard work for me right now but i am determined!! On that note i promised you pictures last time so i had my lovely daughter come over and snap a couple of "before" photos of me....just a word this takes me WAY out of my comfort zone!! Here goes.... BEGINNING WEIGHT 311
Let me share something pretty with you after that not so pretty LOL.... i am a digital artist and here is one of my scrapbook pages with a poem that i wrote. I have not done much lately and plan to get back into it real soon.
Welll now that i have talked your ear off for the day i will call it closed, until we meet again big hugs your way ♥
So, to start with i wanted to share a bit of my health issues with you just to show what is leading me down the road of bariatric surgery. I meet most of the criteria. I am a diabetic, i have high blood pressure and cholesterol as well as severe sleep apnea. I have difficulty walking and suffer from fibromyalgia and arthritis. I have been seeing a pain management specialist since last july and he recommended physical therapy to try to help get me moving. More about that later. He also suggested a procedure where he goes in and burns some of the nerves that send pain signals to the brain. I have had that done now in the lower back twice and the neck once last summer and started the second round yesterday morning on the left side so i am pretty miserable this morning.
Also yesterday I had my initial consultation appointment for the bariatric surgery. I was so very nervous, my anxiety was through the roof i am telling you!! To top it off i had the nerve burn first so was in pain then had a long bumpy drive in not great weather to the appointment. Once we got there everything went quick and painless though. I didn't really have many questions, if i could have done the surgery then i would have lol. I have opted and they concurred for the bariatric bypass option. There are goal i have to meet by june most of which are appointments and paperwork. The most important one is by june i must lose 15 lbs. That is going to be the hard work for me right now but i am determined!! On that note i promised you pictures last time so i had my lovely daughter come over and snap a couple of "before" photos of me....just a word this takes me WAY out of my comfort zone!! Here goes.... BEGINNING WEIGHT 311
Let me share something pretty with you after that not so pretty LOL.... i am a digital artist and here is one of my scrapbook pages with a poem that i wrote. I have not done much lately and plan to get back into it real soon.
Welll now that i have talked your ear off for the day i will call it closed, until we meet again big hugs your way ♥
Monday, March 6, 2017
NEW TITLE TOWARDS A NEW ME
Hello hello! It has been a very long time since i showed my face here. More than likely i am the only one reading this as i type it lol. That is ok right now. If i am not and you have read me before you may have noticed i have re-named my blog. I am from this day forward going to blog about this and that and as the title says, the "ooo shiny" moments. I have not scrapped in a very long time, which, really saddens me so i hope to get my pse back open too and share my work again with you.
An even bigger venture awaits me that i plan to share with anyone interested if it comes to pass. Next week i have my consultation appointment for bariatric weight loss surgery. How is that for a life altering change? If all goes as i hope i plan to share the whole process with you, the good the bad and the ugly. From start to finish with pictures and all....so if you are afraid to see a big fat old lady with not too many clothes on DON'T LOOK LOL. Don't worry, not that far yet.
Well that is all for now, next post i will share a bit about how i have been doing and what has finally brought me to this life changing decision....catch you soon!
hugs ♥ shelly
An even bigger venture awaits me that i plan to share with anyone interested if it comes to pass. Next week i have my consultation appointment for bariatric weight loss surgery. How is that for a life altering change? If all goes as i hope i plan to share the whole process with you, the good the bad and the ugly. From start to finish with pictures and all....so if you are afraid to see a big fat old lady with not too many clothes on DON'T LOOK LOL. Don't worry, not that far yet.
Well that is all for now, next post i will share a bit about how i have been doing and what has finally brought me to this life changing decision....catch you soon!
hugs ♥ shelly
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
CHOOOO CHOOOO! TIME FOR THE SCRAPS N PIECES MARCH '16 BLOG TRAIN
Hello everyone...been a while right? I always say i am going to keep up and my body just does not let me....plus i was without a computer for a bit. It is time for the train to be rolling and i was so happy to get my skills back out and brushed off for this month...the colors were SO fun! Here is a preview of my download for you, which you can click and download directly.
Liza
Curly Whisker Designs
Dreamn4ever Designs
GraceBlossoms4U
Triple J Designs
Shuckclod's Stuff
BeezDesigns
Kayozz Designs
Day Dreams 'n Designs
FranB Designs
JMC Designs
Kandi Pixel Designs
Honeybee's Creative Hive
Scraps N Pieces by Lori & Heidi
Josie Scraps
Janet's Digital Joys
I hope you have as much fun using them as i did making them. Here are your other stops and make sure you leave some love along the way. Hugs all ♥
Liza
Curly Whisker Designs
Dreamn4ever Designs
GraceBlossoms4U
Triple J Designs
Shuckclod's Stuff
BeezDesigns
Kayozz Designs
Day Dreams 'n Designs
FranB Designs
JMC Designs
Kandi Pixel Designs
Honeybee's Creative Hive
Scraps N Pieces by Lori & Heidi
Josie Scraps
Janet's Digital Joys
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