April 7, 2000 - Ok.. Here is the newest update.. First, my brother was supposed to come
out of the hospital last thursday.. My mom went to pick him up to take him home
and the entire time he wouldn't stop throwing up except when he had the hiccups
for 10 minutes... So, she finally called the surgeon and he told her to get him back
there immediately because he was not supposed to be released.. Well, after meds and
close monitoring, he is much better now... Still in the hospital though... Please keep
the prayers coming. Second, I went to my midwife yesterday <thursday> because i was
having problems with my asthma and she is referring me to a respiratory specialist.. I
can't remember what the heck they are called.. hehe... Just so you don't sit there
wondering why I went to my midwife instead of a regular Dr, she is my PCP... :)
Well, I told her about the letter she needs to write to Dr and she told me that it
would look better coming from the other Dr in the office.. He's the one that delivered
my son and he's also the one that is head of the office.. So, my fiancé and I go see
him.. I give him the patient manual and show him the little paragraph in it
that tells what Dr R needs from the physician... He tells me flat out that he does
not know anything about this surgery and that this type of surgery is in debate
with the medical world.. He said that if he were to write a letter to Dr R stating
that he supported this, that it would be malpractice and that he could not do it..
He also wants to cover his butt because if God forbid something went wrong and
my fiancé decided to sue Dr R, that they would also call this Dr and when the judge
found out he didn't know anything about this surgery that the case would be closed...
Soooo.... NO WHERE did I find anything that said the Dr needed to support the
SURGERY!!! I told this Dr that I have done all of the research on it, I have been
researching this for over a year and I have made the choice to have it done.. He
should at least support me in my decision.. That's all I want him to put in the letter..
That he supports me and my decision and that he is willing to follow me throughout
my life to make sure I stay healthy, etc., etc., etc... He told me he would at least
do that and if there was problem, he would refer me to a Dr that would support
the surgery... This whole time, all I kept thinking was that this guy is not going
to write this freaking letter, he was going to send me to another Dr, someone that
I would not be comfortable with, someone who don't know me, my family, or
my history except what was written on a chart.. And that this was going to
back my plans up by about 3 months or so because Dr R says in the manual that
we need to know the physician for at least a few months...
AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!! So, I faxed the letter from Dr R over and when
he writes the letter he will fax it to me and then we will go from there.. Hopefully
it will be all Dr R needs... When we left the Dr's office, my fiancé wanted to go check
out some of the trucks that Dodge has... Well, ok... we go over there and we look
around.. Didn't really have anything that we could financially buy at the moment...
Especially when we were looking for a truck... So, after looking around for a few
minutes, we left only to go over to the Ford dealer... So, we look at the explorers
and the excursions.. WAYYYY too much money.. At least for this point in our lives...
So, we start looking at the contours.. We asked the guy to show us some of the used
contours.. there was a white one, gray one, and burgundy one... So, we started talking
to the guy about getting financed.. Now, you must realize that we were not out to car
shop.. we were just looking.. And, we didn't think we could get approved but, my
fiancé went ahead and put an application in.. Worst they can do is say, "no", right??
So, he fills out all the paperwork and the guy takes it, does the figures, gives it to
the credit manager, and we wait.. and we wait... and we wait.. and we wait some
more... We have been at this place for about 2 hours by this time.. So, they have not
heard back from the credit company yet so, they send us home.. but, not before trying
to get us to bring this car home.. I picked the gray one, BTW... Well, we had too much
stuff in the truck so, we declined.. So, I waited for them to call last night.. Then i got
up and stayed off the computer cuz I knew they would be calling sometime today..
Well, of course, about 1 pm, I finally jump in the shower.. no sooner did I get all soaped
up, the phone rings.. So, I jump out of the shower to answer the phone and find out
that we did it!! we were approved!!!!!! I couldn't believe it!!! So, now we are the proud
owners of a 1999 Ford Contour.. FULLY LOADED!!!!! Now that we have another
payment we need to make, I will no longer be able to stay home with my son.. I
will most definitely need to get a job.. of course, We have talked about this and
I am the one who wants to do this most of all.. We have a good friend that will take
care of him when i am working and she is considered his adopted grandma...
I will no longer be spending day after day after day on my fat butt sitting at the
computer.. This will be a good thing because I am starting to get cabin fever.. Since
we don't really know that many people around here I don't interact with many
people and it drives me nuts.. So, this will be a good thing.. And I will only be
working a few hours a day <enough to make the payments> so, I won't have to
worry about not being able to watch my son grow up..
 

April 13, 2000 - Debbie FINALLY got ALL of my medical records.. Unfortunately, I
thought for sure there was a thyroid panel in there but lo and behold, there wasn't..
So, now i get to play the waiting game a little bit longer... I have an appointment
tomorrow with my midwife and they will go ahead and do the test there.. Then
Debbie can send everything over to medicaid... I figure it will be sometime in july or
august before I will have the surgery but, I have been waiting so long now that it
really don't seem like that big of a deal to wait.. This has definitely taught me
patience.. Another reason for the wait is that my fiancé and I will be going up
north to see my parents in NJ the second week of may and then when we get back
i need to look for a job to cover our new expense.. So, it will probably take me some
time before I will be able to take a week off... But, everything in it's own time.. I'm not
worried.. God has a plan for me and I need to follow the path he has laid out.. If I
stray, it may cause problems.. So, this is where I am right now.. I look forward
to having the weight loss but if it takes a few more months to get there, so be it..
 

April 15, 2000 - Well, I saw Dr Hall yesterday again for a check-up and asked him for
a thyroid panel and physical. He had no problem with the panel and ordered it to be
done before I walked out the door. He was less than thrilled about the physical and
told me that Dr R as a surgeon should NOT be asking another Dr to give his patient
a physical. He said that DR R should be the one to do a history and physical and that
asking his to do this was inappropriate! He told me that he would do the physical but
it would need to be scheduled because basically all I am asking is to take up 30
minutes of his time answering the numerous questions on the physical form. He also
stated that I would need to pay for this out of pocket and that Medicaid would not pay
for it. I got the impression that he thought there were just too many things on the
physical sheet to be bothered with.

April 21, 2000 - Well, a lot has happened since last week... On Saturday night a very
dear friend to all of us (on the MGB list) died while in the hospital recovering from
her surgery. This is the story as we were told.. She went in to have her surgery on
April 10 and was having a lot of pain. She left the hospital on April 12 and was back
in surgery sue to a leak on April 13.. She past away Saturday April 15th, 2000 around
11pm.. Her name is Kristin and she leaves behind a loving husband and 4 beautiful
daughters. As well as sisters, 1 brother (that I know of) and friends.. Her Sister
Fanney, dear friend Maria and Dr Rutledge were all by her side. May God bless
all who love her and take away their pain. She died fighting for what she believed
in.. LIFE! She will always be our "Viking Warrior!"
On Monday April 17th, I went to the Gastroenterologist.. I now have an appointment
with a GALLON of yucky stuff on June 19th and a colonoscopy on the 20th.. Not my
idea of a day in the park but due to recent events, it's well worth it..
And last but not least, I just spoke with my brother and he says he is feeling better
than he was even before surgery.. He has put a lot of my fears at ease.. I hope to see him
in a few weeks so I will keep y'all informed.. :)