BATWOMAN IS BACK WITH A TWIST!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13070024/

WOULDN'T IT BE NICE?

A certain support board is now allowing you to post your own profile pictures. I was messing around to see what photo would fit. None of the pictures of me were the right size but the one above worked just fine! I wonder how long it will last?
I want to look just like this a year from now!

I MIGHT JUST MAKE IT AFTERALL!

I have called my surgeon's office 4 times in the last week to find out what my status is. I finally found out this morning that they received my Duplex Doppler Study information and are going to be submitting to my insurance today or tomorrow! I kinda feel nauseous. I have been contemplating WLS for almost 2 years now and it is finally within my sight. I hope BS/HMO+ of Cali is fast approving me as they have been with others. I should hear something by the end of next week. This really works out fine since I will be able to be with my daughter on June 7 for her surgery. She is still very scared and worried. It will be a long 5 hours for me in the waiting room too. At least the next few weeks will be busy for me so I won't have too much time to dwell on getting my surgery date.
YEAH RIGHT!

My Daughter

This is my daughter Savannah at the beach in Santa Cruz last weekend.

Interesting Info from Pain Doctor

I had my bi-monthly visit to my pain management doctor today and he had just returned from a conference about WLS and the current increase in Peripheral Neuropathy. He has been treating 8 patients at a rehabilitation hospital that have had serious complications yet blood tests showed NO vitamin deficiencies. He is going to have his office manager make a copy of the report and notes for me to share with my WLS surgeon. I am also going to be having blood work done for various virus' that have been found to be the culprit of some WLS complications. I will share the report with anyone that would like a copy. I most likely will not get it in my hands until next week. This Dr. is the one who suggested WLS to me as a last resort to help with my pain and fibro. He stays on top of the latest research and I feel very lucky to have found him especially since he is paid by my workman's comp claim.

I still haven't heard anything from my surgeon's office regarding my referral. I did call and leave a message on Thursday when we were driving back from Fremont. I really want a surgery date after June 10 since I will be with my daughter for a few days after her surgery. I will be calling Christine again on Monday to see if my paperwork has at least been submitted to the insurance.

Memorial weekend we are going back to the Bay Area to attend my oldest brother's wedding. It will be nice to see my Mom and the rest of my family. My Mom started radiation this last week and so far is feeling fine. The wedding is going to be in my brother's backyard and no more than 45 people will be there. What no one knows is that Alan and I will be LEGALLY married on June 2! We had a ceremony a few years back but never made it legal due to financial reasons. My daughter will be visiting us from June 1-3 and she doesn't know that she will be our witness at the local county courthouse on Friday, June 2. No one in my family will know until AFTER the ceremony. We don't want or need any gifts or any drama!

That's all that is new with me. I haven't posted anything since nothing is going on and the waiting is driving me crazy. I told my Dr. today I just want to have the surgery and get on with my life. I was taken aback a little after he shared the information on complications. He assured me that he will work closely with my surgeon on monitoring my progress. It feels really good to have a doctor care so much about his patients.

Blast from the Past

My daughter has been having fun scanning old pictures and tormenting me via emails. I haven't seen this picture in years as it was not one of my choices for my Senior picture. My Dad was the only one that wanted one in this pose. Savannah emailed this to me today along with a ton of pictures of her father and I as children. That is another story.

Doctor My Eyes Have Seen The Years

I had my duplex doppler ultrasound on my legs this past Monday. I thought they were going to just look at my ankles and didn't expect to have the ultrasound wand stuck in my groin on both sides. Of course I always have to get the good looking hunk of a technician. He was very nice though but when he grabbed my knee and squeezed really hard while the wand was on my thigh, I came flying off the table. I scared the shit out of him and myself! He should have warned me that he was going to do that and of course having Fibro he hit one of the trigger points and caused me some major pain. Of course after jumping up off the table I pulled my lower back so I had to stop and take a valium and a morphine so he could finish. He didn't tell me the results "officially" but said that there must be some other reason for my ankles swelling other than a blood clot. I haven't heard from my surgeon's office and will call tomorrow to see if they have submitted everything to my insurance.

I finally broke down and made an appointment to have my hair done. Tonight I look like a fat Donna Summer or even Bon Jovi from the 80's. My cats are avoiding me like the plague. At least I know from experience, the top curls will be relaxed within a week. I keep hearing that the 80's hair styles are coming back so I may be ahead of the game. Now if I could only wear those cool wedge shoes again!

My Mom met with her Oncologist and Radiologist today and will start radiation therapy on Monday. She will have to go 5 days a week for 5 weeks. Her CA125 has gone up 10 points since her last Chemo treatment. I hope the radiation will get rid of this stubborn tumor and give her some time before another one rears its ugly head. I will see her Memorial weekend for my oldest brother's second wedding. She said she will be there if she has to crawl to the car. I sure wish I had some of her "tough old bird" genes in me. She has been out buying flowers to plant in her garden this week and pulling up over 75 tulip and daffodil bulbs she planted last winter.

My daughter made the mistake of reading some womans blog about her breast reduction surgery. I guess the woman was unhappy about EVERYTHING and freaked Savannah out. At least she isn't afraid of not waking up now. Between finding out she was going to have a tube down her throat and a catheter, she has other things to obsess about. She has lost the 20 pounds the surgeon requested but hasn't decided what size she wants.

Driving back home from Fresno today it was 94 degrees and it was only 1:30. We have gone from Winter to Summer in less than two weeks. At least it isn't humid but I am so glad this will be my last fat summer. Now if I could just talk Alan into putting in a swimming pool!

Head Games

I was getting very irritated that I hadn't heard from my surgeon's office regarding my referral for the doppler study. I called his office at 9 this morning and was transferred to 3 different people before someone finally took my name and number and said they would call me back. Around 3 I received a phone call informing me that I had an appointment Monday morning at 10AM. Once my surgeon's office receives the report and if everything is OK they will submit everything to my insurance. I asked how far out my surgeon is scheduling for surgeries right now and she said "THREE WEEKS or sooner if there is a cancellation". I anticipate a surgery date early in June.
Now I have a few dilemma's. My daughter is scheduled for breast reduction surgery on June 7 and I want to be with her at the hospital and spend one night in town with her. She has a VERY small studio apartment so I will have to stay at a hotel. Her best friend since First Grade is coming to stay with her for at least two weeks to help drive her around etc. They are like sisters and Amanda will sleep on the floor on a twin air mattress. I know my daughter is scared and wants me there for her surgery since she has never been knocked out before. I also want to be there so I can sit and be a nervous wreck with Amanda. I had planned to tell my daughter about my surgery hoping she would be able to come and stay with me afterwards. Now it looks like our surgeries may be at the same time.

Also, I haven't told anyone in my family about my surgery yet. They all have thought I forgot about it. Except my Mother. She went to see her Psychic two weeks ago and the Psychic told her that I would be having "stomach surgery" soon. This was before my consultation appointment was changed from June 19 to May 1. My Mom thought until then that I had given up on having the surgery. She was completely against it because of all the bad press and people she knew through her work that had died 20+ years ago from staple line ruptures/infections. Since my Mom has been fighting Ovarian cancer for the last 6 years, I didn't want to add any more stress to her life and just stopped talking about having the surgery. After her visit to the Psychic, who by the way told her, "that my surgery would go just fine but I would have to be careful afterwards and follow doctor's directions" my Mom doesn't seem worried about it now. All I said to my Mom was "She must be talking about Savannah's surgery not me." I still want to wait until AFTER I actually have the surgery to tell her. Alan and I have already concocted a plan to get around my daily phone calls to Mom for a few days. She will be going through radiation for another stubborn tumor that over 4 months of Chemo didn't touch. Since I have back problems, I am going to be having some more "epidural injections" and will not feel up to talking on the phone. I hate lying to her but I don't want her to be worrying about me. She is the ultimate worry wart all the time anyway.

I know it is much easier to tell the truth because when you lie, especially being on drugs, it is hard to keep your stories straight. So I go on playing "Head Games" within myself.

Hot Sweaty Days and Mondays

After almost TWO years I finally have my consultation appointment today with Dr. Higa to have WLS.

I got up at 6AM because I thought my appointment was at 9AM. I double checked what I wrote down the other day and saw I didn't have to be there until 9:30. It was already 70 degrees outside and humid so I was sweating like a stuck pig trying to get dressed. My make-up was running down my face leaving white streaks that made me look like a vampire. I kept thinking to myself, "This is the last HOT FAT SWEATY SUMMER for me!"

I leave my house just before 9 and head into Fresno. By then you would think traffic would not be very heavy. WRONG! So I am going 75 in a 55 then it turns into 65. I see a motorcycle CHP making a U Turn in the median ahead of me so of course I slam on my brakes. Everything is cool and I am cruising along into Fresno. All of the sudden I see the CHP pull behind me and turn his lights on. MOTHER FUCKER! I am pissed because it is 9:20 and my exit is within sight. So I pull over and he comes to the passenger window and makes small talk and then asks me if I know my 2006 license sticker is missing. SHIT. I told him it was at home on the desk by the front door and we just never got it put on. Of course I am babbling away how I didn't have stickers on my car for 4 years and never got stopped. They were in the glove box but I just wanted to see if I would ever get stopped. I finally put them on when I gave the car to my daughter. He tells me to "Have a Nice Day and to Drive Safe!"

So I finally find the Dr's office. It is in a new building so it didn't map out on Yahoo. I rush in there right at 9:30. Well this Dr. triple books like my pain Dr. so it would have been NO biggie if I were late. I had to sign a few papers and then I grabbed a few magazines and sat down. This older guy with snow white hair wearing a bright pink shirt and white shorts comes in and sits two seats to my right. His glasses were perched askew on his forehead. I could feel him staring at me and I was getting the heebie jeebies. Finally he got up and mumbled something and disappeared. I had taken a water bottle with me and so of course I had to go pee. I ask the girls at the desk where the restrooms are and she points down this hall. I find the bathroom but the door is locked. There is a guy standing outside the bathroom putting together some packets of papers and I finally asked him if he saw anyone go in there. He said he has only seen people TRYING to get in there. I go tell my Dr's people that the door must be locked from the inside because no one has been able to get in there. The girls are like, oh someone must be in there and went back to answering the phones. So back down the hall I go and knock on the fucking door and say "HELLO??? IS ANYONE IN THERE?" I didn't hear anything at first so I knocked even louder this time and yelled "HELLO???" All of the sudden I hear some moaning and then hear "HELP". I go tell the girls AGAIN that now there is someone in there that is moaning and needs help. They take their sweet ass time getting the Nurse who comes running with a wheel chair and opens the door. There sprawled out on the floor, with his glasses still on his forehead, is that old guy that was staring at me. He had been in there passed out for at least a half an hour. She gets him in the wheelchair and takes him back into the Dr's office and they call an ambulance to take him to the hospital. When she took me back I asked her, "Was he just dumping?" She said he had a different kind of surgery and was going to have a revision but he was having a lot of medical problems. I was like HOLY SHIT. So the ambulance came and hauled his ass off to the hospital.

So the nurse then tells me I have to take off my shoes and socks to get weighed. I told her that I need help because of my back and didn't understand why I had to take them off. Well they have one of those fancy Tanita scales that tell you MORE than you want to know about HOW FUCKING FAT YOU ARE! She told me to stand on the scale until it beeped and she ran off to do something else. This machine starts printing out this long ass receipt. I look over to see how much I weighed and I about passed out. It said 291.5. Now I weighed my ass at home before I left and I weighed 271 on my scale. I told the nurse the scale was broken. I swear they must weigh heavy so those who fall under a 40 BMI will be over. That's my theory and I am sticking to it! I have NEVER weighed this much in my entire life. Thank god I had taken half a Valium before I left the house. Between the CHP, Pink Shirt Guy, and my Weight I was going over the deep end fast!

I get taken into this exam room and have to take off everything but my bra and panties. I said to the nurse, "Well at least I know the paper gowns will fit me at this place". She says they are special made in Paris and I go, "Oh by Chanel?" She says, "Why of course and they smell good too!" So I get my couture blue gown on and place the lovely extra large white drape over my legs and lay down on the exam table to wait for the Dr. He finally shows up about 11.

Dr. Higa walks into the room and sees me laying down and says "Time to wake up Susan". He looked over my paperwork for a second but it was obvious that he had actually read my chart by the questions he asked. THAT impressed me! He wanted to know if I was a carb addict. I said no, just a food addict in general. Then he saw my list of drugs and we went over all about my back injury. I showed him my lovely elephant ankles and he didn't like them one bit. I have to go have a doppler study done to make sure I don't have a blood clot. He asked if I had any questions and I just asked about how he does the leak test and he says he doesn't do one unless he sees the need too. Since he not only staples and sutures the pouch he has had very few leaks in the thousands of patients he has operated on. Oh, first he told me he would give me some red jello to see if passed thru or not. He listened to my lungs and asked me if I smoked. I told him yes and that I did put it in my paperwork. He asked how much and I said too much. He didn't say anything else. I asked him if I should go on a "liver shrinking diet" and he said if I wanted to that would be great because it makes it much easier for him. I LOVE THIS MAN!

Finally he said that everything was in order and that all I need to have done is the doppler study and that should be scheduled pretty quickly and then they will submit everything to my insurance. The girl at the front desk said HMO's sometimes take a little longer but I said I have heard that Blue Shield has a pretty quick turn around and she just gave her robotic answer about how it can take up to six weeks.

So, this was my exciting day. I am just waiting for the phone to ring to tell me when I have to go have my elephant ankles dopplered and then I will know more. I am increasing my Lasix to 120MG twice a day from now on to see if that helps too. I think they might be bigger right now cause I am due for my period. I did ask the Dr. if he would give me a hysterectomy while he was in there! He laughed and said "SORRY". I also told him about the gall bladder doctor who told me I didn't need WLS and he asked who it was and when I told him he laughed and said "Yeah if you are built like her you wouldn't need surgery" She is a six foot tall bean pole!