[Anonymouse]

I see the GI doctor tomorrow, so we'll see. My endocrinologist is already making plans if she has to take me off the birth control pills. Those are known to intensify stomach issues, particularly if its a gallbladder problem. I'm glad she already has an idea of what to do, though I hate the thought of not being on them... I'll have to do provera or something instead since I don't have a cycle on my own ever. She said something about being worried that I might spontaneously bleed because I don't have a known cycle. I'm not sure where that came from, and it didn't process right away. I guess I should ask about that if I wind up off the pills. Anybody else have any ideas?

[Violet30]

Hello Ladies! I'm gone for a few days and you all have been busy.

The job might not work out or they're playing games with me. I don't know, but from what the headhunter said, I'm not in the running as they thought my management background was light. She told me to write another letter to highlight my mgmt experience to see if it makes a difference. According to her I'm the best candidate they have. We'll see. I'm not too torn up about it. It would be a good opportunity for me, but I'll live.

Jennifer: How's your incision? Better with the antibiotics? You're going back to the doc today--right? Hope things go well.

Anonymouse: I hope they can fix the problem for you. The thing about feeling better after exercise makes me wonder about your insulin levels and the hormonal impact of exercise on your system, but I'm not an expert.

Noodles--Great news on the move back home!

Well, not much in store for me this weekend. I have to work on a presenation that I will be giving in August. I can't remember if I mentioned it here or not, but I'll be giving a lecture about Massage Therapy and Stress Relief at a statewide conference. I have an hour and a half to fill, so I'm trying to work ahead to be sure I'm prepared.

We're closing on a rental property tonight. Long story short, sister-in-law from Europe is going to Nursing school here and needs a place to stay. Together we buy the house and eventually will transfer it to her when she has the credit to get a mortgage on her own.

And my bday is coming up. Sadly, my grocery store just sent me Oil of Olay coupons for anti-aging goop. That was depressing. Gee thanks.

Have a great weekend ladies!

Violet

[Anonymouse]

I'll post more after I see the doctor in an hour (I'm nervous, so I need to do SOMETHING till I leave at 10. I could leave now, but I'll just wind up sitting in her office!), but...



Violet: My endocrinologist was concerned about insulin and blood sugar levels too. I admit that was my fear, because I have made too much insulin for so long, that I figured okay, this is it... now I'm Type II diabetic... But no... my insulin levels actually dropped again (went from 30 last time to 20... 3 more points, and I'm not considered insulin resistant anymore), and my glucose was 83. The 83 worried her a bit, because typically even a fasting glucose for me is 110-115. Its never been that low before, but we figured it was mostly because I wasn't eating, and because of the drop in insulin levels.

Good luck with the presentation. I've done several relating to what I teach. I stumbled on the first one, because I was asked to do it, and agreed thinking that I was going to present to a local group of parents! Oh, no...this was a bi-annual convention for this particular disability! WOAH! But everybody was really nice and very interested in what I had to say... I've done a few more since then, and this past winter, took my students to a conference after another teacher and I talked about what we did at our school. I submitted a presentation proposal to the Council for Exceptional Children: their annual conference is here in Baltimore in '05, and I REALLY REALLY want to go. If I'm presenting, my school will let me off... and might pick up some of the tab for the conference fee. I won't know until August, but I'm not holding my breath. I kept putting it off because I didn't think my presentation was good enough for a mega-annual convention, so I missed the deadline by 1 day.
Jennifer: Let us know what the doctor said!!!!!

[Anonymouse]

Okay... I started to just edit the other post, but then wasn't sure that would work.

I saw the GI doctor. She's very direct. She's the only doctor I've ever had (except my endocriologist) who believed the whole 'weight gain because of the endocrine disorder' and the blood test mess. She asked what I did for the endocrine disorder, nodded, and went on. She did ask about weight loss surgery, but dismissed it after reading the endocrinologist's notes and listening to me. Again, another first.
Most doctors either don't ask, or push it down my throat as "the only solution".
Anyway, I have to have the endoscopy... July 19th. She can't do it next week, and wanted to do it the week after, but that's the last week of grad school and I can't miss those days: I have presentations on both class nights that week.
She's already said that I'm going to have to have the gall bladder out, though, and sooner rather than later. She said I could put it off, but I'll just get sicker and be miserable.
Apparently, the scan showed that my gall bladder only worked 1/3 of the time it was supposed to. They don't know why, but the GI doctor did say it was unusual not to have gall stones or some other reason for it to malfunction in such a spectacular manner.

[Anonymouse]

Just as a warning, this is a complete and total vent. Don't read it if you don't want to, but I'm REALLY torqued right now.

Remember the plastic surgeon? Apparently, she's not any better than anybody else at Hopkins. And yes, I realize I work for those twits. I'm becoming more and more sorry every day that I agreed to work for them.

I just received the notes from the insurance company regarding my case. The physician (and I'm using that term VERY loosely!) submitted to them that I have a foul odor, that I have rash and skin degredation from the weight loss, and that I'm unable to exercise due to the weight. She out and out LIED to them and obviously didn't listen to (or believe!) a word I said. I was very honest with her, and told her about the ankle (when I saw her on 5/20, I'd been out of the cast for LESS THAN A WEEK!). The skin discoloration under the pannus is one of the symptoms of the endocrine disorder (you know, the discoloration that many women with PCO also get... the brownish color). And damn it, I DO NOT SMELL!
Yet, she told the insurance company I did, and that this is recommended solely as a weight loss procedure. There are other words I'd like to use now, but I won't... I'll just think them! Damn it, I do NOT sit around mainlining twinkies all day long!

:sad:

[Jennifer 3FC]

Wow, are you going to talk to the doctor about this? I would definitely ask her what is up. One thing - about the rash - I have always heard that unless there is a rash or sores under the fold of skin that insurance won't cover it. ( I have heard that weight loss patients even scrub their skin with brillo pads or over exfolliate before the doctors visit so it looks raw) Maybe she said that to try and make it medically necessary? Is it possible that she smelled a skin rubbing odor when she examined the fold of the skin? Not a odor emitting through the room, but an odor on the actual skin - so it wouldn't be like YOU smell, but the skin irritation has an odor. This can come from skin chafing and has nothing to do with cleanliness. It is very common and possibly even always there for people that have that type of skin chafing. That could also show evidence of medical need (proof of chafing which can lead to skin infections). Regardless, I'd ask her what she said it for. Even if she does admit she lied to get the surgery approved, that isn't very ethical.

[Anonymouse]

I am going to talk to her assistant Monday. At least I won't be able to sit around and stew Monday morning since I have PT at 8:30, and if I want to swim, I'll need to do it before PT... So I'll be home by 9:30 or 10. That gives me from 10-3:30 to deal with this, since home is closer to my evening classes than the gym is. The gym is about 40 miles, home is only 15. But right now my inclination is to simply request copies of my records and tell them to jump in the Bay.

You may be right, Jennifer, that she was trying to get it approved, but in that case she should have warned me that she was going to do it this way. She KNEW how upset I was over even going to the initial consultation. And frankly, my endocriniologist is also my GYN, and has been a lot closer to me than that surgeon was, for a longer period of time, and I've talked to my endocrinologist about smell, and hygiene... and she says its NOT an issue for me.
You realize that the hygiene and smell are very touchy/personal subjects given what my employer did a year ago... Tried to fire me for "smelling bad", and forcing me to go to the employee assistance program for 'counseling' over my 'smell' and refusal to acknowledge this. There is at least one post here in the forum asking about that issue. And reality is that they did it, not because i smell, but because I'm overweight.
Look, I *KNOW* that I'm "morbidly obese". And its taken me more than 3 years to accept the fact that I did not do this to myself. Just GOING to that consultation was a major move for me, because I hate doctor's, I hate the thought of surgery, etc, etc.

I really need a surgeon who is going to take this into account, is going to communicate with me, and help resolve these issues. Not ADD to them. Because now I'm back at square one: and I've been burned yet again but another physician, a supposed professional who is supposed to have my best interests at heart, and really only sees me as 'another fat woman'.

[Noodles913]

For you, Mousie.

[Anonymouse]

Thanks, Noodles. This whole thing is insane. I suppose I could just find a surgeon and pay for it myself. I have good credit and could take out a loan, but I really don't want to do that. It seems as if my insurance *should* pay for this.

[Anonymouse]

Originally Posted by Jennifer 3FC

Wow, are you going to talk to the doctor about this? I would definitely ask her what is up. One thing - about the rash - I have always heard that unless there is a rash or sores under the fold of skin that insurance won't cover it. ( I have heard that weight loss patients even scrub their skin with brillo pads or over exfolliate before the doctors visit so it looks raw) Maybe she said that to try and make it medically necessary?

I quoted Jennifer's message because when I talked to the doctor's office today, that is EXACTLY what they say she did. I scanned the letters from the insurance company in and faxed it to her office. They said that, in regards the intertrigo (the rash and discoloration), its not in her notes, but she added it as a diagnostic code because she does that with all patients like this.

Originally Posted by Jennifer 3FC

Even if she does admit she lied to get the surgery approved, that isn't very ethical.

Basically, she lied. The office says that she did it to get the insurance approved and they understand it is embarassing/upsetting to be told you smell and all, but that it is probably true. They said I'm over-reacting to the letter from the insurance company. I said, even leaving the odor issue aside, the other issues about my inability to exercise (the letter says, "interference with exercise") and personal hygiene are lies as well. I shower daily, sometimes more often when necessary. The secretary/assistant/nurse didn't believe that I swim 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile daily (almost a mile yesterday). She didn't believe that I went to the gym. I told her I had witnesses for the swimming and could give them records from my gym proving that I've been going there for a year! True, I started off 2-3 times per week, but now I'm doing 5-6 or even 7 days a week! And I've always been there for a least 30 minutes! She said she wasn't going to argue with me about it. Most normal people can't swim 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile, let alone do it daily....and do it only with their arms because I can't kick! I move my legs, but its mostly a balancing thing, and not contributing any speed.
They submitted this as a weight-loss method, which my insurance does not cover. I told them that this is NOT for weight-loss or cosmetic reasons, despite the fact that it will undeniably cause weight-loss and make the remaining weight I have to lose easier... The purpose of the surgery is because of the endocrine dysfunction. Its a cycle: the endocrine dysfunction causes the weight gain (in my case, 180 pounds in about 2 years), but the fat produces more of the bad hormones so you can't lose the weight! And it causes things like the pannus... so it can produce more bad hormones!
I am losing weight, I guess, slowly... ever so slowly... Its hard for me to say, because when I get on the scale its been higher lately, despite not eating... but people at the gym say its muscle. But I'll NEVER lose the pannus. Even if I somehow manage to lose all the fat it contains, the skin will still be there...
So what is the point of all the hard-work and effort I've been putting in? I'll ALWAYS be 60 pounds heavier than I have to be because of the pannus, and I'll never wear a smaller clothing size in skirts or pants than I do right now becuase it will never go away. It will continue feeding on itself.

And do I really want to stay with a surgeon that lies so casually to an insurance company? Even if it was for my benefit? But if I leave her, since she's with Hopkins, and fairly well known, will I be able to get another surgeon to take me on? I don't know what to do, but I'm not very comfortable with this practice anymore. I had to ask twice for her to send me my records, and got the sense that she didn't want to do that either. :confused:

[Noodles913]

GUESS WHAT!!!!!!!!

Today is a good day...

Today Noodles went to the doctors....

Today the doctor said my eye surgery is complete...

Today, for the first time in my life, I can SEE without glasses!! I have contacts IN my eyes!!!!!!!!! Everything is crisp and clear and no double vision!!! I can get me a pair of Ray-Bans!!! WOOHOOO!!!!!! I feel like I have a new lease on life...Weird huh...but it feels soooooo good!! YAY!!

[Jennifer 3FC]

Congratulations!! I bet you feel like a million bucks!

Cody wants contacts, but we tried them two years ago and it was one long scream trying to get them in. I thought he was too young, but the doctor practically insisted he wasn't. He pushed us out the door with a trial pack and we were back the next day to see glasses.

Anyway - that has nothing to do with this! Congratulations!!!

[Noodles913]

Poor Cody!! I know the feeling..it took me 10 minutes to pop these in my eyes then wouldn't you know it the one eye had an eyelash stuck under the contact so I had to pop it back out, get the eyelash off the eyeball, and pop it back in. But I did it!! yay!! Just call me surgeon Noodles! hahahaha

Maybe he can try when he's a bit older. It's hard at that age to even pop the contact in because everything isn't full grown but the contact is made for an adult eye. I am just sooooo thrilled beyond belief!! It is weird to sit here with NO Glasses on...I am dying for a pair of Ray-Bans!!

[Violet30]

Anonymouse: Big hug! I would drop that doctor and run as fast as you can. If they can't envision anyone other than Ms. Aerobics USA as being physcially fit, you don't want to let them near you with a knife. Who's to know what other ways that kind of bias will come out as they try to care for your condition? Frightening people.

I've always toyed with the idea of a letter campaign to doctors about how to treat overweight people. Just to say, hey look, not all of us eat fast food morning, noon, or night so stop acting like we'd get an IV with lard if it could be done.

Noodles--congrats on the eyes! I'm so happy for you!

Hi Jennifer! Hi Vanessa!

Hugs to all

Violet

[Noodles913]

HI VIOLET!!

Nice to see you here again!!