Getting Frustrated... and I thought things were going too well

[DelawareWoman 37]

My consult went well.. they made all my appointments and I am due to go back for my second appointment 2/14. I went to pulmonology. PFT was good. I just dont take deep breaths.. so now I have to go for a sleep study (should be at home thankfully) even though my numbers are in range. I was told I'll be cleared no matter the result of the sleep study. I just may need to go on a sleep apnea machine until surgery. I went to Nutrition last week.. then again this week. Nutrition yesterday said she isn't going to count last week because I didn't get all my information from the first lady so I need a 4th nutrition which will end up happening after my 2nd appointment. Great. Looks like surgery won't be scheduled for the beginning of March now after all I'm assuming. I went to cardiology today. EKG looked great but my father has a history of heart problems. He's 450 pounds, chain smokes, and was exposed to agent orange, has diabetes and any other health condition you can think of.. but because he does, I need to go for a stress test and an echocardiogram. Luckily those will both be done by early February before my appointment. What's funny is the appointment that I stressed about the most, psych (because I'm bipolar) was 30 minutes and they sent me away saying cleared. I wonder what will happen at the endoscopy on Thursday. My son has Eosinophilic Esophagitis. I haven't been told I have any issues with food or reflux or anything so hopefully that will be clear and I'll just continue on. What do you think will happen next? I'm getting tired of these appointments. I've had 2-3 a week for the past 3 weeks and there's no end in sight. My friend using a different hospital has not had to have any of these appointments. No pulmonology.. no cardiology.. 3 nutrition, 3 life skills, endoscopy, done.

[Sweettoothless 100]

That sounds like a lot but at least they are being thorough. My place didn't do much. One nutrition. One psych eval (done in house so it was pretty fast and easy). No liver shrinking diet. No sleep study. No endoscopy. I feel for you but at least there will be no surprises on surgery day.

[DelawareWoman 37]

Lol. There better be no surprises. I do have to do a 2 week diet too. Their food. $224 based on my BMI.

[AJP 132]

Sounds familiar. I sent my cpap back last week. Haven't used it since surgery in August. Most of the requirements are the hospital and Dr's office. My ins only required psych eval. So yes hoops

[DelawareWoman 37]

Psych is done. Can I do this please? Lol. My insurance is good til 4/30. I’m stressing. I want to be recovering in April please.

[anonbaribabe 236]

If you're planning on having surgery sometime in March and you've just started the process, it makes sense that you have so many appointments back-to-back. Three months is a short timespan from consultation to surgery. Like Sweettoothless said, it's good that they're being thorough. For the time being it's a pain in the ass, but it'll all be worth it in the end.

[DelawareWoman 37]

My first appointment was 12/10. They scheduled everything to be done 2/14. I expected a lot of appointments .. but the 4th nutrition appoinment is really throwing my schedule off. I was hoping to be submitting 2/14 and now they probably won't submit til after March. I'm hoping they will submit and schedule anyway. I need to call them to see if they have a patient coordinator. I haven't been able to get past the front desk yet though.

Thanks guys!

[CurvyMom 386]

Just now, DelawareWoman said:

My first appointment was 12/10. They scheduled everything to be done 2/14. I expected a lot of appointments .. but the 4th nutrition appoinment is really throwing my schedule off. I was hoping to be submitting 2/14 and now they probably won't submit til after March. I'm hoping they will submit and schedule anyway. I need to call them to see if they have a patient coordinator. I haven't been able to get past the front desk yet though.

Thanks guys!

I started beginning of Oct....surgery will be 1/30- I had zero issues, but had to go through the same this as you for the most part. Didn't need a sleep study though and didn't have any extra cadio after the first visit. Nutritionist visits though weekly or bi-weekly for weigh ins. Starting liquids tomorrow for two weeks and then surgery day. It's just a process to prepare you. It's annoying and frustrating, sure, but seems to serve a purpose.....this isn't an overnight thing, it is a life changing journey.

[KCgirl061 1,533]

I had to buy my preop liquid diet from my surgeon too. Did not care for it. Still have pouches of the crap sitting in my pantry.

[GreenTealael 25,615]

1 hour ago, DelawareWoman said:

My consult went well.. they made all my appointments and I am due to go back for my second appointment 2/14. I went to pulmonology. PFT was good. I just dont take deep breaths.. so now I have to go for a sleep study (should be at home thankfully) even though my numbers are in range. I was told I'll be cleared no matter the result of the sleep study. I just may need to go on a sleep apnea machine until surgery. I went to Nutrition last week.. then again this week. Nutrition yesterday said she isn't going to count last week because I didn't get all my information from the first lady so I need a 4th nutrition which will end up happening after my 2nd appointment. Great. Looks like surgery won't be scheduled for the beginning of March now after all I'm assuming. I went to cardiology today. EKG looked great but my father has a history of heart problems. He's 450 pounds, chain smokes, and was exposed to agent orange, has diabetes and any other health condition you can think of.. but because he does, I need to go for a stress test and an echocardiogram. Luckily those will both be done by early February before my appointment. What's funny is the appointment that I stressed about the most, psych (because I'm bipolar) was 30 minutes and they sent me away saying cleared. I wonder what will happen at the endoscopy on Thursday. My son has Eosinophilic Esophagitis. I haven't been told I have any issues with food or reflux or anything so hopefully that will be clear and I'll just continue on. What do you think will happen next? I'm getting tired of these appointments. I've had 2-3 a week for the past 3 weeks and there's no end in sight. My friend using a different hospital has not had to have any of these appointments. No pulmonology.. no cardiology.. 3 nutrition, 3 life skills, endoscopy, done.

Safe Journey.

[DelawareWoman 37]

On 1/15/2019 at 1:20 PM, CurvyMom said:

I started beginning of Oct....surgery will be 1/30- I had zero issues, but had to go through the same this as you for the most part. Didn't need a sleep study though and didn't have any extra cadio after the first visit. Nutritionist visits though weekly or bi-weekly for weigh ins. Starting liquids tomorrow for two weeks and then surgery day. It's just a process to prepare you. It's annoying and frustrating, sure, but seems to serve a purpose.....this isn't an overnight thing, it is a life changing journey.

I just don't understand why I get told.. your PFT is good.. but because of your weight you don't breath deep.. do a sleep study. I almost expected that and I was ok with it. I do that next week. I don't get why if my EKG was good because my father at 65 had a heart attack at 450 pounds and I'm 275 and 41 I have to do a stress test and echocardiogram. I get that there is a family history but it's different circumstances and my test came back good. But even still it will all be done before my 2/14 appointment. And I don't get why they want to add on a 4th nutrition. I'm staying in my goals and I'm at or under my calories. That's going to push me back potentially. I was hoping to get the ok to start getting the approvals done at my 2/14 appointment. I've been cleared by psych and my pulmonologist said he would clear me no matter what the sleep study says. The cardiologist said everything looks good too. So why the extra?

[Boldilocks 313]

I honestly have no idea why they would call for that, beyond their own arbitrary protocols? I know a lot of it makes sound medical sense, but sometimes I do wonder if the hoop-jumping is a tool to check compliance, committment, and how much you want it and are prepared to strive for it.

It is a lot anyway - prob seems like a lot more due to it being 3 months rather than 6.