03/06/10: Day 1

Wow.  Just wow.  I drink a smoothie for breakfast.  Already used to that.  I am not used to drinking a shake for lunch.  I don't like it.  :)  I'll get over it.  I will just keep reminding myself that this is only temporary.

What's hard, though, is not actually having a date for surgery.  Might I be having this in two weeks?  Might I be having this in four weeks?  If it's four weeks...I don't want to do this dagged diet for that long.

Thurs I sent an email to my advocate asking her to notify me via email, instead of calling my home phone, when she submitted my paperwork.  When I left that appt Thurs morning it was stated that they would try to get my paperwork submitted that day.  I still have an incredible window of opportunity at work right now for doing this.  If this can happen in the next two weeks, that's awesome.  If it can't happen in the next two weeks, my training will be interfered with as well as potential opportunities.  And, ultimately, this means this is screwing with a promotion that could happen this year if I can keep my ducks in a row.  All in all, this might start screwing with my career.  At the moment, it's still a gamble I'm willing to take, but talking to my sweet hubby last night, at some point I'm going to have to take control to preserve my career.  And that may mean putting this off until later in the year as opportunities are not a daily occurence.

So back to the story - the advocate finally emails me back yesterday and says that won't be a problem, she's working on it right now.  Hmmm...I guess the paperwork didn't get submitted on Thurs.  (I'm on the ball, aren't I?)  So then...half an hour later, I get another email.  As I see it sitting in my inbox I'm thinking - this is it!  Please let this be it!

The email says:

I am trying to get you submitted to insurance but your letter of medical necessity from your Dr. is not really a letter of medical necessity. A letter of medical necessity needs to include your BMI of 42.7 and any conditions that are exacerbated by your weight. It should also say that the doctor deems the surgery to be medically necessary.

I am going to try to submit with this letter but I am afraid it will get kicked back to me as needing a letter of medical necessity.

I just wanted to let you know.


Seriously?  I turned that letter in on Nov 5th.  She's had months to look at this stuff and from what I've been told, she has been verifying things all along the way.  Apparently not.  I could have had months to get this addressed.  I called my dr's office yesterday and she's out of town.  It will be Monday before I hear anything back.  I want to get that letter fixed in case it does get kicked back.  And here's why it's just a in case.

About twenty minutes later I get another email saying "nevermind.  I also have one from Dr. X"

Yeah, so maybe that other letter is fine.  But I was told back in the beginning that all dr's that provide following care must give me a letter of medical necessity.  That's why I got two.  So the one she says she also has is from my ob/gyn.  The one that isn't good enough is from my PCP.  My insurance company knows who is who.

I was so irritated.  It's one thing if I didn't get the letter to them in a manner that would have allowed them to make sure it was ok.  But I got it to them within the first month of starting the "unweightloss" program. 

We shall see.  But this all has me a little unmotivated to be drinking meals and starving myself.  I'm happy with the weightloss - since yesteerday I am down 3 pounds.  And I don't have to do anything to gain it back!  YAY!  Doing the happy dance!!!  But I don't know that I'm excited about this diet for longer than two weeks.  Odd thing there.  I could do this long term - and I know I will have a sucky diet until I am healed from surgery - but I need to know that there is an end.  And that's the part I don't know right now.

However, I'm not throwing in the towel.  If I get to two weeks have past and I'm still in the position of not knowing how much longer this will last, then I will re-examine how much longer I'll do such stark eating.  But for now, I'll keep going.

So with that said, my extraordinary dinner last night was shrimp scampi and cauli-rice.  They gave me a packet of recipes for the two week pre-op diet and there are some interesting things in there.  Have you ever had cauli-rice?  I think it's more like cauli-cous cous.  But I like it.  There are a ton of potential things to do with this.  However, the cauliflower should be sauteed, not steamed or boiled.  I did a pilaf with onions and a splash of chicken stock.  Once the onions were translucent I added the cauliflower and let them sit on the stove until the scampi was ready.  The nice thing is that you can't overcook it.  Since you aren't adding water or anything liquid, the cauliflower has nothing to absorb.  We all liked it.

So here's a pic.  The scampi had an amazing sauce and that sauce was also fantastic on the cauli-rice.  We will definitely be making it again!

If it weren't for having to drink lunch, I really wouldn't have a problem going with this diet for who-knows-how-long.  It's the drinking lunch thing that sucks.  And that will be the part I re-examine in two weeks if I still don't know where this is going.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's pic.  We did a beer-butt chicken with grilled zucchini and onions.
Here's the scampi recipe:
 
1 lb raw shelled deveined shrimp
2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tbsp lemon juice (I just used all the juice from one small lemon)
2 tbsp dry white wine or vermouth (I used vermouth)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
salt and pepper
2 tbsp minced shallots
zest from lemon
 
1) Add oil to skillet and heat the skillet until hot.  While it's heating, salt and pepper the shrimp. Add the shrimp and cook 1-2 minutes stirring or turning it until it just turns pink.  You'll be cooking it a little longer at the end, so don't worry if you're not sure it's done in the middle.  Remove shrimp from heat.
2) Turn the heat down and using the same skillet, add the butter to the pan.  When the butter is melted, add the shallots and about a minute later, add the garlic.  Cook until fragrant.  Add the vermouth (or wine), lemon zest and lemon juice.  Stir to combine.
3) Add the shrimp back to the pan, stir and heat through. 
 
Serve over cauli-rice.
 
Nutritional Information:
makes three servings with 4g carbohydrates, 31 g protein, and 254 calories 
 
The Cauli-rice recipe:
 
1 head cauliflower
1 small onion, diced
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 tbsp olive oil
 
Get a head of cauliflower and run it through the food processor. You can use the metal blade or you can use a shredder option.  Add olive oil to a large saute pan (if using all the cauliflower) and allow it to heat.  Add the onions and saute until translucent.  Add the cauliflower and a smidge more olive oil, if desired.  Heat through.  Stir occasionally and season with salt pepper and chicken stock just prior to serving.