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Had my final visit with the nutritionist today



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Fortunately, all went well. I lost 29lb in the three and a half months since my first appointment doing a sloppy job of Keto and not exercising at all due to my bad back, bad feet and bad shoulders. They'll be submitting my paperwork to Cigna for approval tomorrow, and the staff said it usually takes up to two weeks for Cigna to process everything. Once the approval comes in they'll schedule me for surgery and I'll make an appointment with my PCP for my pre-op physical. My best guess is that I'm looking at mid-June at this point.

The good news I got is that I will not be having my procedure done outpatient as I'd previously been told. It turns out that Cigna requires an overnight stay, so I'll be having the surgery at the hospital and will get to spend the night. While I'm sure the doctor would not do it out patient if it wasn't safe, I prefer the idea that I'll be monitored for at least the first 24 hours following surgery.

So now I wait. Many people post about their nerves and fears yet I have none. My wife had a knee replacement two weeks ago and I was perfectly calm. I've had two epidurals in the last two months and didn't worry at all. I even took my daughter out driving on Sunday morning, her first time behind the wheel, and even then I was utterly relaxed. I'm really beginning to think that at this point in my life nothing is going to phase me any more.

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Hope the approval wait goes by quickly. I've completed all my pre-op requirements short of a pre-op class I have to take which is scheduled for june 8th. My 90 day period is over mid june. Doc said two weeks for approval as well so he gave me a tentative surgery date of July 12th. The worst part of all this is the wait. The last two months seemed to fly by but now the days seem to pass so slowly. But it give me time to lose more weight I guess.

I've got back issues as well and was wondering about the epidural you had. What does it do exactly and does it work? The only thing I've done for my back was a short run at PT which I swear made things worse. My old PCP sent me without having any exrays or MRI done so they had no idea how to treat me and guessed on a new procedure every time I went. I did visit a chiropracter that offers decompression treatments but insurance doesn't cover it. I'm hoping the weight loss will make a significant change but worried it won't.

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6 hours ago, J San said:

I've got back issues as well and was wondering about the epidural you had. What does it do exactly and does it work? The only thing I've done for my back was a short run at PT which I swear made things worse. My old PCP sent me without having any exrays or MRI done so they had no idea how to treat me and guessed on a new procedure every time I went. I did visit a chiropracter that offers decompression treatments but insurance doesn't cover it. I'm hoping the weight loss will make a significant change but worried it won't.

My first two epidurals were in one of the lower discs, L5/S1 I believe. They're ordered a third but this time it's a facet injection which would be in a different location since the first two have no helped at all. At first the insurance company would not approve an MRI until after I'd had x-rays (which were negative) and some PT. The PT didn't help so they did the MRI and found degenerative disc damage, the kind you just don't recover from. The epidurals were done with cortisone, a numbing agent, but apparently the first location was not the source of the pain. If the next ep[epidural doesn't help then one of the surgical options is to essentially burn off some of the nerves in the affected area. I don't know how significant a procedure that is and I'll worry about it if I get to that point.

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Well, for future reference, it took four days to get my approval and set a date. I'm going in on Tuesday, June 5, just two weeks from tomorrow. And I'm still super calm.

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That's awesome. Congrats on the approval and best of luck on the surgery and recovery. Keep us posted on how things are going.

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
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    • KimBaxleyWilson

      Three months and four days ago... I was in Costa Rica having a life changing surgery! Yesterday we had a followup visit with Dr. Esmeral via video chat and this morning my middle number changed.  I'm down 47lbs and two pants sizes. I can wear a Large tshirt for the first time in like... 14 years! Woot!! Everything is going great. I have zero regrets. I went down to the riverwalk with a friend and walked 2 miles on Monday without even getting fatigued. And no more snoring or chugging pickle juice for crazy leg cramps! I need to go to the gym more... I'm making new shirts next week so that will motivate me. LOL But I'm also just not as TIRED all the time! I have a LONG way to go...but seeing the progress on the scales and in the mirror is a huge motivator!! Thank you all for cheering me on and supporting me!!
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      https://alluniqueguide.com/java-burn-coffee-reviews/
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