Time is growing short...

[thistlechaser]

A month + three days until surgery.

On 8/26 I meet with the surgeon for the last time. I believe technically he approves surgery then, but as I've already lost the weight he wanted, it better just be rubber stamped approval. (Edit: My insurance company still hasn't approved it yet, but the surgeon's office doesn't think there will be any problem with that.)

I still have yet another class to do (sigh). At least this one is only two hours instead of three (like the previous two). I scheduled it for 8/29, but 8/22 would have been better. Unfortunately the hospital didn't give me a phone number when they called to make the appointment. (I just realized that my cell phone must have it listed in it -- yay smart phones.) I'll need to call back and reschedule it today. (Edit: Called, hopefully the right number... Got a few medical calls yesterday, hopefully I didn't leave the voice mail at the wrong one.)

After that I have one more appointment with the hospital to do bloodwork and an EKG. No idea yet when that'll happen.

As if all those things weren't enough, both my insurance company and the company I work for have nurses calling me to go over stuff on the phone. The last one was 20 minutes, the next call with be 40. Sigh. It's not even useful stuff. "Do you know what you're having surgery for? Do you know the name of it? Did you agree to have it? Has anyone gone over the lifestyle changes that will be required after it?" I'm supposed to do the 40 minute one today, but RP from yesterday got rescheduled to today, so I might just not pick up the phone. (I wonder if these calls are mandatory for me to do?)

Still hating the CPAP machine. Supposedly it helps you sleep, but it does the opposite for me. Takes me twice as long to fall asleep (so more than an hour), wakes me up many times during the night, and wakes me up an hour or so before my alarm goes off. This means I get very little, very broken sleep. I'm beyond the 30 days of the company monitoring it, so I'm seriously considering not using it anymore. Clearly I'm not going to get used to it at this point (almost 40 nights of using it), so I can't decide if any benefit I get from it is worth the big hit to the amount and quality of sleep.

I wish I were excited or happy to be getting the surgery done, but instead it's just a "have to" thing. I'd rather just continue with my life as it had been (before I started this current diet), but that's neither reasonable nor responsible.

Comments

[kelen.livejournal.com]

Don't ditch the calls. :)

Having been through three surgeries with Mark now.. you need to take the calls. They might cancel things if you don't, for there are legal reasons behind most of them. Now, odds are nothing happens if you don't answer, but considering how worked up you are and wanting this, don't ruin it for yourself. It's worth the aggravation. They are actually looking out for you, and themselves.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Blah, that makes sense. I just wish they didn't take so long. 40 minutes is crazy!

[tersa.livejournal.com]

I suspect it's because this is a major and irrevocable decision you're making. They want to make ABSOLUTE SURE you know what you're getting into and don't suffer from doubts or second thoughts.

But, yeah, even without firsthand knowledge of bariatric surgery, I was going to say "don't skip the calls".

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that makes sense. Hey, at least it's a call and not having to go to an office somewhere, that's something.

[kelen.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they do. :( Mark had to spend ages answering the same things, with them stressing things like 'Never sign anything the day of the surgery. Don't make any important decisions!' It was kind of scary really. The drugs they use to knock you out make you very susceptible to coercion.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Blah, okay. Thanks for the info! You're right, "The drugs they use to knock you out make you very susceptible to coercion." is both interesting and scary.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Thank you! The lack of sleep isn't helping at all.

[spike7451.livejournal.com]

Hope that all goes well with the class and all the appointments.

*hugs*

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Thank you!