I meet Dr. Paul Selinkoff on May 10, 2000. My heart sank, that was 4 months away. I am hoping to have the surgery in late June or early July. So I decided to get started on myself. First I called my insurance company and got the ball rolling. Insurance for Bariatric surgery is not always covered and it is important to check with your own carrier. I found out that Dr. Selinkoff and his partner Dr. John Pilcher are the only board-certified Bariatric Surgeons in SA that do the RNY procedure. I also found out while they accept my insurance, they are not part of my network. This means my insurance would only pay at 60%. I checked with my insurance for another board-certified Bariatric Surgeon and found the nearest one is 3+ hours away. After talking more with my insurance rep I learned that it is possible to have the surgery covered at 100%, but certain things must be done. I would need to write a cover letter to send with the doctors letter requesting approval. I would have to explain why I needed to have the surgery here in my home town verse traveling 200+ miles. The doctor would also need to verify that it would be best for me to have the surgery here. We will see what happens.

In the mean time Jennifer and I are learning all we can about the life of a post-op. We have talked about the risks and the advantages. She is almost as excited as I am. I have made an appointment with my Internal Medicine doctor, I see her on February 22, 2000. I will ask her as much as I can. I don't know if I am looking for her approval or not, but I really want her opinion. My mother has agreed to come, she will arrive a day or 2 before the surgery and stay with us while I recuperate. I am planning on moving the first week of June to a beautiful house with a pool. So there will be a lot to do in the house before surgery. I have talked to my boss about this life changing decision. He supports me! Yeah! I'll take 3 weeks off of work so we are working to get some of my projects done ahead of time. Since I have made this decision, I can not belive the difference in the way I feel. It's like I can see a light at the end of the tunnel, granted it's a very very long tunnel.

February 22, 2000 ~ I saw my PCP, Dr. Forseth is an Internal Medicine specialist. Of course my blood pressure was high and she checked and changed my meds. We are now starting a walking program, everyday I will walk a little farther. And no excuses about weather, I will go to the mall and walk inside if I have to. Dr. Forseth is all in favor of me having the RNY! She quizzed me a little about the procedure and the life of a post op and was impressed with all that I had learned. She said she had not meet Dr. Selinkoff before but she did know of his reputation in the medical community and thought I had made a great choice in surgeons. That means a lot to me. Dr. Forseth has also offered to make all the arrangement for my pre-op tests, including the sleep study if Dr. S thinks it is necessary. This way everything is in network and paid at 100%. I feel having my PCP on board with the WLS is a blessing. Now we wait for my appointment with Dr. S.

February 29, 2000 ~ I joined an online email support group called OSSG Cen-Tex (Obesity Surgery Support Group of Centeral Texas). This is an offshoot of the main OSSG (which is international) for people in and around Centeral Texas, but really, there are a lot of people from outside this area. Everyone is Welcome! These are the nicest and most caring people I have ever meet. They encourage and support each other. They answer questions and tell about their own personal experience. Most are pre and post op patients of Dr. Selinkoff and Dr. Pilcher, and they can not say enough good things about the Docs. The group usually meets for dinner before the monthly Staple Mates meeting. This meeting is hosted by the Doctors at the hospital where they preform the surgery.

March 8, 2000 ~ I attended my first Staple Mate meeting. WOW! The Cen-Tex group met at the Alamo Cafe and it was great to finally put faces with the names. I meet two great ladies that live right in my own section of town that are pre-op also. After listening to the doctors talk about the procedure and answering questions from people, I felt so relieved. I had no doubts about this at all. The Doctors are so positive and so encouraging, they truly want their patients to be as educated about this as they possibably can. Some one asked about what kind of tests should we have done before we see them for the first time. They said the usual, pap smear and sleep study if necessary, bu that they would take care of the rest. Well, that got me thinking, I had read so many site about the problems with sleep apnea and knew that I had a lot of the symptoms. I called the next day and made another appointment with my PCP.

March 13, 2000 ~ Appointment with PCP ~ I told her that in doing my research for the surgery I learned that Sleep Apnea is usually a co-morbidity of obesity. We talked about it and she referred me to an Otolaryngologist (Head & Neck Surgeon). I called and made an appointment, it's for March 21, 2000. On to WLS Page 3