A new beginning

My Bipolar is under control now, and I feel I'm on a pretty even keel, all told. I'm having trouble sleeping, but there may be a physical reason for that. I'll be finding out next month.

I'm taking this blog in a new direction. I made a decision during the Summer, and I'm making changes in my life. I got a referral from my Primary care Physician (PCP) for bariatric surgery. I was scheduled to see the surgeon in September, but was told that my HMO didn't cover the surgery, so I had to change HMOs. That took effect at the beginning of the month, and I saw Dr. Akkary at Preston Memorial Hospital last week.

My HMO, apparently, doesn't know their ass from their elbow. Their website says one thing, and their reps say completely different things. It seems the surgery I wanted to have - the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (VSG) - isn't covered by them anymore. They may or may not require a supervised diet, as well. I'm seeing my PCP for the supervised diet, just in case, because if it is required, it's required for a year. I want it over as fast as possible. Dr. Akkary's office is treating my case as if a supervised diet isn't necessary, and is getting me in for all manner of testing. I had my cardiac evaluation today, and was told that in spite of it being broken several times, my heart is working just fine. I also had my prelimonary pulmonary eval. I got to blow into a big machine with a clip on my nose. It wasn't what I would consider fun.

I have a sleep study the night of 6th November. My doctor is pretty sure I have sleep apnea. We'll see. I had a sleep study done about 5-6 years ago, and nothing was found then. However, comorbidities are good, because they are what get you approved for surgery. and boy, do I have one. I was just diagnosed with diabetes.

I had to attend a diabetes education class last week. It went on for-fucking-ever. On the plus side, I got a free blood glucose monitor, so that's one less expense. And it's a pretty good one. It's a Freestyle Freedom Lite. It takes a tiny drop of blood to get a result, and it's virtually painless. So far, I haven't found testing onerous, and my blood sugar levels haven't been too bad. The diabetes isn't far advanced, and diet alone should be enough to handle it. Plus, the Roux en Y gastric bypass (RNY) can 'cure' diabetes, or at least put it into remission for a very long time.

I've only told three friends about this. This is my first time talking about it in public, but it's been a year since I last updated this blog, so I doubt anyone is following it anymore, anyway. Eh, we'll see.