The Next Steps:

And so my Journey begins.  I was contacted by the Insurance Coordinator from Dr. Kim's office to inform me that my insurance company will cover my Gastric Bypass and that all I needed was a letter of medical necessity from my primary care physician, Dr. Rodgers.  And as luck would have it I had an appointment with him the following week.  I have been seeing Dr. Rodgers for the past 10 years and we have spoken numerous times about my health and my weight, so when I brought up the subject of Gastric Bypass, he was very supportive and together we created an outline for the letter he was going to write.  After I received the letter I sent it to Dr. Kim's office and that's when everything started to move.  Vanessa, my nurse, called to let me know what the next steps were. 

I was to start the Phase 1 Diet, which was: 

•  Cut meal portions in half
•  NO starches or simple sugars:  no breads, pasta, rice, candy, or other sweets
•  Eat lean proteins: chicken, fish, beef, pork, eggs
•  Have a fresh fruit or vegetable with every meal
•  Consume 2-3 servings of dairy per day: low fat milk or low fat yogurt only
•  Exercise at least 5 days per week.  Increase the intensity and time every week
•  Take an adult formula multi-vitamin two times per day

I needed the following clearances before I could be given a surgery date:

•  Psychological Evaluation
•  Cardiology Clearance
•  Pulmonary Clearance
•  Chest X-Ray
•  EKG
•  H-Pylori Test
• General Blood work

All this took about 3 weeks to complete and get written clearance to Vanessa.  The cardiology clearance was the most stressful for me, because of my family history.  My cardiologist sent me for a stress test, talk about stress!  OIY!  But my cardiologist was kind enough to call me that evening to tell me that everything looked great and he was giving me clearance to have the Bypass.  Now we wait for Vanessa to call that she had received all the clearances!

The following week Tommy and I decided to go to Universal Studios. While eating lunch I, Vanessa called the let me know that she had received everything she needed and was forwarding my information onto Amanda, who will be calling me within the next week to schedule my surgery.  

After finishing Islands of adventure, Tommy and I decided to sit in the chair outside Margaritaville to listen to the music and do some people watching (my favorite past time)  I was watching this family walk and the young boy was looking behind him and walked right into a light pole.  He really hit his head hard, I saw it coming, but couldn't yell fast enough.  An YES, once I saw he was OK I laughed.  Then a guy came buy with a Macaw on his arm looking for people to hold him so their picture can be taken holding the bird.  2 kids sat in the chair next to me and held the bird.  The guy took their picture, and so did their mom.  The man had the nerve to tell the mom that they didn't allow personal pictures, if she wanted the picture, she would have to buy one from him.  Then he gave her a card and walked onto the next group of kids.  What a scam!  As I sat there with my mouth open, not believing what I just heard, my phone rang.  Guess who it was? Amanda from Dr. Kim's office ready to schedule my surgery.  We spent about 20 minutes on the phone going over all the information, but she did tell me that everything she was telling me she was going to send in an e-mail.  Thank Goodness, I lost everything she said once she told me that the date was April 26. On April 12 I was to start the Phase 2 diet, which is a complete liquid diet. I was really dreading it, but it is not bad at all.