We are Making Progress

Okay, the missing money from my 401K account finally showed up. Apparently HR forgot to put a stamp on the envelope when they mailed it so it was returned to them by the post office. Someone then had the good sense to just send it to me via our inter-office mail courier.

Chris finally got a call back from the surgeons office, I think it was on Monday of this week. He has an appointment set for August 14th. We will first meet with the dietitian to review the pre-surgery diet. Then it is on to the financial office to review the contract and hand over our money. They did confirm that the doctor's notes indicate he does not need the filter so that saves us $4,800 and keeps us just under $14,000 for the cost of the surgery. After the monies are settled, he will be given his surgery date. Yay! I am guessing mid-September at this point.

Hopefully from now until his appointment on August 14th it will be smooth sailing so I might not have anything to post until then! By then, I will be the big 4o!!!! WOW. What happened to 18?!?!?! LOL

Thank you to everyone for all of your support through this process. We have a long road ahead but I am predicting it to be VERY worth while!

Where's the Beef?

Where's the Beef?...Beef being my 401K loan money. We fully expected to have that check by the first of the week and here it is Saturday and still no check. I called HR Friday and they confirmed that the check would have been mailed out on Monday...hopefully it is not in someone else's mailbox! In the meantime, more good news. We sold the old pick-up this week! A lady that I work with mentioned it to her husband and within a couple of days it was a done deal...yay! That's another $3,800 towards "the cause." This was good timing because Chris also went and got his CPAC machine for this sleep apnea...that was $1,200 out of pocket since he has a $3,000 deductible...and he had to get new glasses to the tune of about $500...money in one side and out the other. But I am not complaining...I continue to be reminded through this process that God provides!

I think Chris actually tried to call the surgeons office a couple of times this week and has not had a call back. Hopefully this coming week will bring news of a surgery date. Keep your fingers crossed!

And on a sad note I want to mention that my best bud, Robin, lost her daddy this past Friday morning. His death was very unexpected and is really taking a toll on Robin and her mom. Robin was so distraught over how in the world she was going to tell her son (Walker, age 5) because he and Pop-Pop were best friends (they live across the street form one antoher). It was heartbreaking to hear that Walker asked her when God was going to let Pop-Pop come back home. :( Please keep Robin and her family in your thoughts and prayers. Anyone who has experienced the loss of a parent understands the heart wrenching, soul aching pain that they are going through right now.

We have our money in order!

Okay, the money "gathering" process went a little better than I anticipated. After the frustration of realizing that in the end, the surgeon's office really doesn't offer quite the "financial assistance" that we were led to believe, I regrouped mentally and did some creative financing. I have taken out a loan on my 401K Plan and a loan on my Universal Life Insurance Policy. My repayment on those will be around $200/month combined so that's not too bad. That amounted to about $11,000 and we have the remaining $7,500ish in cash on hand without having to completely wipe out our "emergency savings." Whew...first big hurdle crossed.

I have to thank the BB&T Human Resources and my State Farm Agent, Frank Manning, for their help in making this "loan" process so easy. Both loans were done over the phone and we should have the money from each of them by the middle of next week. Awesome.

Chris had his Eco-cardiogram performed this afternoon. He said it didn't take long at all. As usual, you walk away not knowing anything. They told him that he'll have his results in 7-10 days. And, funny, he got a call today from Columbia Heart Center wanting to schedule his one-month follow-up appointment for being on the C-PAC machine. He had to inform them that he does not even have the machine because we never heard from the "equipment company" that was supposed to be calling us. I swear it seems nothing is ever a smooth process any more.

So...am taking a deep breath and will hopefully have more information on the surgery process next week. Okay...so much for the deep breath...Chris just came in and said that the transmission just went out on the riding lawnmower...great...guess that will have to wait a while and we'll have to get off our fat butts and push mow the yard for a while! Oh well...good excercise, right? Might not be such a bad idea if it were not mid-July in the heart of SC...welcome to hell!!! :)

Official Decline Received from Insurance

Well, Chris finally heard back from the surgeon's office today. They have received the official letter from the insurance carrier (Blue Cross/Blue Shield of SC) stating that the surgery is excluded on the insurance policy. No surprise to us! So...now the quest for financing begins. They confirmed the cost of surgery as $13,920, if a filter is not required. Okay...I do not know what the filter is...but we did hear a couple of people talking about it in the support group meeting that we went to a couple of weeks ago. So, if he needs the filter, that is an additional $4,800. I don't know at what point it will be determined if the filter is needed...I am going to have to do some research on that issue. So it could be around $18,000-$19,000. (They did say that the $420 consultation fee will be applied towards the surgery.) This amount is to include: payment to the surgeons for the surgery; any/all pre-op appts; 90 day post op visit; visit to the dietitian 4 weeks post surgery; and, the hospital bill. Pray for no complications!

So, the quest now begins for financing. They gave him two local banks that they often refer people to, Bank of America on St Andrews Road and SC Bank & Trust on Gervais Street. I think we will start with SC Bank & Trust...unless I find a personal banker at BB&T to work with (seeing how BB&T is my employer). So...as always when it comes to finances, I am a bit nervous. Having been through some major credit issues a few years ago when we "shut down" our trucking company, my nerves are always on end when you start talking about credit approval. This is another issue for which we will gladly accept all prayers! We can come up with part of the money, which hopefully will be looked on favorably by the banks, but we certainly do not have near the needed amount in cash.

I can't remember if I mentioned this before but Chris has a eco-cardiogram (spelling?) scheduled for Friday. This is something that his family doctor scheduled due to the swelling in his legs that will not go away despite a couple of months on a very potent water pill...it is better but not completely clear. The surgeon actually had mentioned possibly asking for an eco-cardiogram so it is probably a good thing that his doctor has already ordered one...at least insurance will pay for it this way! We'll take all the small blessings we can get!

And...to finish for the day...I'll ask that everyone please keep my friend/co-worker, Janice Starnes, in their thoughts and prayers. Janice had a double mastectomy last week. I visited her this evening when I delivered dinner to her....our office is pitching in to provide 3 meals per week to her while she is recovering. Her spirits are remarkably high but she of course is having her "moments" of emotion. She is such a strong and beautiful person that I have no doubt she will come through all of this with flying colors.

Still no progress...

Still waiting...I hate to be impatient but just can't help myself! I am ready to move forward with this!

We had a call last week from one of Chris' doctor concerning high potassium levels from his last visit. It was apparently pretty bad because the doctor himself called and the usually slack office actually called again to tell him to come back for another blood screen. They are thinking it might have been an error which tells me that it must be pretty bad...I hope it was an error. It has me very worried. The only thing I can find concerning high potassium is that it is a kidney issue. With Chris having diabetes, anything to do with the kidneys scares me.

I really wish they would move a little faster with the surgery...I have a fear of damage that is being done to his body while we wait...most of all my fear is the damage that is not reversible no matter how successful he is with the Lap Band. I think I will encourage him to f/u with the surgeons office again on Monday and advise them that his health continues to deteriorate while we wait!

We went Blueberry picking this morning. That was fun...but very hot! We need to use the blueberries as a snack, they are really good for you. We are going to try them in a vanilla protein shake too. We talked about starting the protein shakes next week...bad thing is, if the Potassium is a sign of a kidney problem, high protein is bad for the kidneys too...you can't win for losing in this life!

...Still Waiting...

Yep...still waiting. Chris checked with the surgeon's office earlier this week and we are in a "holding pattern" waiting for the declination letter to come back from the insurance company. Chris advised them that we are intending to proceed as self-pay but they said that they are required to have the insurance information in their file. So...we wait...

We attended a support group meeting on Wednesday night. It seemed like a slow start but in the end it was well worth our time. The success stories of everyone there was just really wonderful. The amount of weight loss and the improvement in every one's health is just wonderful. Not a single person there had any regrets for having had the surgery....there were people there who had the surgery very recently and there were people there who had it several years ago. We met one guy in particular that we were very happy to get the chance to speak with. His "pre surgery" story sounds very similar to Chris with his weight and health issues. He is the ideal "buddy" for this I think...he looks wonderful, he is very excited about what the Lap Band surgery has done for him, and he is very down to earth. He told us that one of the best things he has discovered to fight his cravings (physical not mental) is Fiber One cereal. We will make sure we try that...he said the mental cravings is something that you will just have to learn to conquer over time. I assume we will go to the next group meeting in August.

We traveled this weekend for the 4th of July. We had a good time...but it is always good to get back home. While killing time today before we could pick the dogs up from the kennel, we went by GNC. We bought a protein powder to try. The flavor is Orange Creme and smells wonderful...we'll see what we think when we try the first one. Keep your fingers crossed! I plan to go Blueberry picking in a week or two so we are thinking about getting the vanilla flavored protein powder so that we can try to make a smoothie of sorts with the blueberries. Once Chris gets his appointment with the nutritionist, we'll have to start drinking two "shakes" a day and one sensible meal. I already have Chris' permission to call him Mother Fu*&%r when he starts acting like a jerk...which we both know he will. This is NOT going to be easy! :)