Weight Loss Surgeon #2

After getting amazing news that my insurance company would cover weight loss surgery, I didn't waste any time. There was a weight loss surgeon right in Marquette and so I called and made an appointment right away.

I attended the group meeting and an informational seminar. This is when they really make you think about whether or not this was the right decision for you. I had NO doubts. This was going to turn my life around in so many positive ways. I just knew it.

I had private appointment with the surgeon. We went over my health issues, what I wanted out of this surgery, and he answered any questions I had. I told him I was beyond sure that this is what I needed. I was then scheduled to meet with a nutritionist, a psychologist, a cardiologist, and my general practitioner. 

The nutritionist and I went over what kind of diet I was currently on. All carbs! HaHa! With PCOS and insulin resistance, you crave carbs because your body is not processing them properly. We then went over what kind of diet I needed to be on before surgery. Low carb! :-( I needed to focus on watching how much fat I was eating, how many carbs I was eating, and limiting my portions. No big deal. Then came the diet restriction for after surgery. 2 ounces! OY VEY! First of all, even with a smaller stomach, how can 2 ounces sustain anyone? Well, she explained it in great detail. She then explained that I would only be on a 2 ounce diet for a short time, thank God. It was just a small reality check that I needed to make sure I was still game for this great change that was going to take place.

The psychologist was basically to make sure that I wasn't crazy. Well, I was kind of worried that I wasn't going to pass that one :-p Really, they needed to make sure that I was going to be able to handle the changes emotionally (and now looking back, boy is this a very necessary step in the process). I had to answer questions about my past that I had never really thought about anymore. I had to be aware that this had to be about more than just my fertility. Surgery may not fix my fertility and I needed to be ok with that. I wasn't, but I had to suck it up.

The cardiologist had to run a stress test and echo on my heart to make sure that I could withstand going through surgery. Let me tell you, that stress test made me so very glad I was pursuing wight loss surgery. Walking on a very high incline treadmill with wires strapped to me was not my idea of fun! Despite a heart murmur and a bicuspid narrow aortic valve I passed and was given clearance. 

My last and final appointment was to see my general practitioner to have some blood work done. No surprise there that they found elevated hormones, elevated liver enzymes, high blood sugar, and so on... but this was why I was pushing forward with the weight loss surgery, right? To change all these things. He thought I was a good candidate and gave his approval. 

All was done and I was ready to schedule my surgery. My emotions were all over the place. I had never had surgery before, this was a big deal. This was also something I had been working toward for so long. I NEEDED this. I called the surgeons office to schedule the BIG DAY and that was when I was told that insurance declined my request. They were not going to cover it. 

What? I didn't even know that could happen. Why did I go through all this just to be told no, again? Once again I was hurt and confused. I was told that I could appeal it. I had to write a letter to the insurance company explaining why I should be approved. So I did. When I got my response, I was told that I needed to undergo more testing to prove that this was medically necessary. At this point, I dropped it. I was overwhelmed and figured God was saying no.

What now? I felt like every corner I turned I was always asking God "What do you want for me? What do you want from me?"

I wanted to know what God was trying to teach me and I wanted to know it right then!

Open doors...

You can't be locked in a closet forever. I believe that when God closes a door in your life, he will open another. 

I spent a year living in confusion. Not knowing what I was supposed to be doing. Praying daily that some prayers would be answered and that I would have some kind of direction in my life. I know that God doesn't always answer your prayers the way you want Him to. He may not be saying "no", he may just be say "not right now.

It was around the year anniversary of us moving to the U.P. when I started feeling like weight loss surgery was still what I needed. I was willing to save up and pay for it out of pocket. It was something that I felt that strongly about. I knew it was something that would be good for ME. I called the surgeons office to set up an appointment and when I was asked about insurance, I told them that my insurance didn't cover the surgery. The sweet lady on the other end of the phone simply said:

"Why don't you call them again and see if they still don't cover it, things change all the time"

That was something that I didn't even consider. I just figured that that was that. Insurance doesn't cover it and that won't change. My next phone call was to my insurance company. I talked for a while with a lady about what exactly I was looking to have done. She said that the way it was stated in the policy was confusing and that she needed to look into it further and she would get back to me. I hung up and just prayed, I prayed that this was what God had for me and that my insurance company would cover it. When the lady called back, I didn't want to answer. I was so nervous that she would just tell me no. I answered the phone and what I heard on the other line was music to my ears.

"Hi Amanda, I talked with a few of my superiors and from our understanding weight loss surgery is a covered benefit."

Praise God! I was so beyond happy! This gave me renewed hope. It gave me faith that God knew the plans he had for me. 

When one door closes, another opens!

Weight loss surgeon #1

I am not going to lie... I did get a little excited at the prospect of getting some major help with losing weight. It was something that plagued me for so many years and quite frankly I was tired of it. On the other hand, I was petrified!

I was referred to Dr. G. He is a weight loss surgeon in southeast MI that specializes in the lap band procedure. I am normally a nervous Nellie anyway, but just calling the doctor to schedule a consultation had my stomach in knots. I had never had any sort of surgery before or been put under general anesthesia. I typically need the laughing gas at the dentist just to sit through a teeth cleaning. Oy. 

I went to a general consultation with the doctor. It was a "class" type consultation with other people interested in having the surgery and then a private consultation with Dr G. to go over all your personal medical history and any questions you had. After listening to what Dr. G had to say in the general class, I was definitely interested in having the surgery. After talking with Dr. G personally and going over my medical history, he was very certain that I would greatly benefit from having the surgery. His parting words to me were; I can see you in a size 2 dress with a baby in your arms! 

That was what I wanted to hear! I started working on my pre-op appointments. I needed to have a cardiac clearance, be cleared with a sleep specialist, and be cleared by a psychologist. Due to my heart condition, I was concerned I wouldn't get the cardiac clearance. To my surprise, that wouldn't be the reason why I would have to put weight loss surgery on hold.

March 2009, Chad was laid off from his job. As a part time nanny, my job was clearly not going to pay our bills. It was then that we realized things were going to change in a really big way. 

Reproductive Specialists: round two!

Chad and I took a "break" from seeing the specialist for about 6 months, I would say. After multiple failed diet attempts and some "too good to be true" miracle pills, we were getting the urge to see a specialist again. My mother worked with a lady who had seen a reproductive endocrinologist that she highly recommended. For multiple reasons, Chad and I were not 100% thrilled with the specialist we had seen before, so we decided to give this doctor a shot.

Our first appointment with the new specialist was just like the first specialist we saw. They ask you all the typical medical background questions, go over what you've already tried, and what their plan of action is going to be. Since I had already been diagnosed with PCOS, the first thing that was suggested was to lose weight. No surprise there. I had been told by almost every doctor I had seen that I needed to lose weight. When you have PCOS, a lot of the symptoms can be "reversed" by losing weight. On the other hand, when you have PCOS, you struggle with your weight due to hormone imbalances and insulin resistance. The more weight you gain, the worse the PCOS symptoms; the worse the PCOS symptoms, the more weight you gain-- welcome to the vicious cycle that is PCOS.

I met with a nutritionist that had me work on a full plate diet. Which basically looks like this:

Looks simple enough. It wasn't a hard diet to follow. It requires a lot of whole foots, which I am a fan of anyway. With any diet I have tried, I feel with PCOS that your body adjusts. I would hit a point where my body would "get used" to the new routine and would just make up for the difference. I would lose about 25 lbs pretty quickly and then I would stop losing weight and eventually gain back what I just lost. It was the brick wall that I would hit every time I would go on a new type of diet. It was no different with the full plate diet that the nutritionist had me do.

After having more blood work done, it showed that I still had elevated liver enzymes. The doctor suggested that I see a gastroenterologist. After running some tests and having an ultrasound done on my liver, the doctor determined that I have what is called a non-alcoholic fatty liver. It was suggested that I see a weight loss surgeon. He felt that my weight was starting to have more serious negative affects on my body. 

Weight loss surgeon? I'm not saying that it never crossed my mind. I always felt like it would be nice to have surgery to help me finally lose the weight, but I never thought that my health would take such a toll that it would actually be suggested to me by a doctor. Was this really the path that I was to go down? I definitely had a lot of questions to be answered!