So today is day 3 of the pre-op diet for real.
Did I tell you that when I went to the pre-op last week, turns out, what I had in hand as their rules for the pre-op is no longer true. They gave me a copy of the pre-op back in Oct when I started the "unweightloss" program.
They gave me a copy of the now pre-op last Weds.
Mostly the same. Save...there are a few more can'ts. Can't have potatoes, carrots and bananas. Knew that.
Add to that...can't have any sort of beans. Can't have corn. Can't have most fruits. Shouldn't have anything other than "green leafy vegetables.
So it's really limited what I can have.
Yesterday, like I said, I was soo not hungry. I had some beef jerky I brought for a snack and I wanted the beef jerky but I did not want the food. I didn't eat it.
For dinner we grilled pork tenderloin medallions marinated in "Mojo de Ajo".
Here's a recipe for Mojo de Ajo:
Ingredients
3/4 cup olive oil
3 whole guajillo chiles*
3/4 cup bottled minced garlic
5 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Preparation
1. Heat oil in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium heat to 350°. Using tongs, submerge 1 chile into oil, and cook 5 seconds; remove and drain on paper towels. Let cool 5 minutes or until completely cool. Repeat with remaining 2 chiles. Remove and discard stems. Process remaining portion of chiles in food processor 30 seconds to 1 minute or until crumbled into small flakes.
2. Cook garlic in hot oil in same saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 3 to 4 minutes or until golden. Let stand 5 minutes.
3. Stir in chile flakes, lime juice, and salt. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 5 days. Allow mixture to come to room temperature before using.
*2 Tbsp. sweet paprika may be substituted. Omit Step 1; proceed with recipe as directed, stirring in paprika with lime juice and salt in Step 3.
Just so you know - it is sooo not spicy. It's very light and has a little tang. All four of us at the table were oo-ing and aw-ing our way through the meal.
We have a vacuum marinator that marinates things in about 15 minutes. We love that thing and we got it out last night to get the pork ready. Threw the pork medallions on skewers with onions and zucchini and grilled it all after the marinating was done. It was such amazing flavor.
Now the interesting thing was, when dinner was ready I got my handy dandy scale out and put my plate on it. I measured out 4oz of pork medallions and then 8 oz of zucchini and onions. OMG - I can't eat that much anyway! And I certainly couldn't yesterday! I ended up putting about half the veggies back to have my normal sized serving. Who knew!
And then desert was a cup of hot vanilla bean tea. Yummy stuff.
Today the hunger is a little more normal. But...the desire to eat is disappearing more and more each day. Interesting.
Last thing I'll share...
Yesterday = 248
Today = 246
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
03/08/10: Day 3
So, in case you haven't noticed, my days of this diet are lagging reality. Today is actually day 4 - but whatever. I'm not one for blogging at 9pm...so you get this the next day. :)
I want to thank everyone that commented on yesterday's blog. I will say that remembering her birthday is not nearly as painful as it was immediately following her death. It's amazing what six years does to grief. I remember hearing early on after my mom died "you'll get used to it". And I remembering thinking adamantly "no I will not!" The idea of getting used to my mom's death, her life being cut short, all our plans being wiped out - that's just not something I can ever be ok with - and "used to it" equates to "ok with it" in my little pea brain.
But they are right. You do get used to it. No, I'm not ok with it. But I am used to it. There's a distinction there that only time can illustrate. The first few years after her death, the anniversary of her death and her birthday were particularly hard days. Those days would stop me in my tracks. I have always been fortunate in that I had friends who would stop in their tracks with me. We'd celebrate her life - even though they might not have ever met her. That's still the case. But I no longer get stopped in my tracks. I get to celebrate the 55 years that she did have instead of mourning the X-amount of years she didn't get. It's a nice change of pace. It feels better, honestly. Not missing my mom, but the grief changing gears.
All the while that my grief has been evolving as it has done, it has been doing the same for my aunts and uncles and even my grandmother. So that helps, too, to know I'm not so off-base.
Anyway, I bring this all up again today because I want to comment on some of the comments from yesterday. So here is...
Bonnie - I'm so sorry to read of the mis-diagnosis in your mom's care. I will never fully comprehend this, I don't think, but my mom was never mad at her PCP for dodging the expense for so long. I was furious! In one of the many appts my mom had where she tried to get the PCP to order the correct procedures, the PCP actually told her "I know you think you know as much as I do, but you are only a Nurse Practitioner and I am a Physician. I will decide what is appropriate." I was pissed just at that! On another token, my mom worked with one of the best Dr's she could have, I think. That Dr. understood that RNP's approach care from the person perspective. Dr's, on the other hand, approach care from the science perspective. Neither is wrong, neither is more correct - and when put together hand in hand, they are an unstoppable pair. She and the Dr. she worked with were a great team! But her PCP - man, she was a piece of work! My step-dad and I later heard that she was suspended for not ordering procedures correctly or in a timely manner for her patients. No justice there, though, as I'm sure you can imagine. I love seeing RNP's. They listen. I highly recommend them. :)
Drazil - I get to start being screened early, too. My PCP wants me screened now, actually. She says it's never too early to start when there is a history. I've said I'll wait until 35. Eeks - that's this summer! But the insurance companies will pay before 40...40 is actually, from what my PCP says, a little late to start when there is history.
Kim - oh, ouch. On Christmas? My grandfather (mom's dad) died when my mom was 11 on Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve was never the same for anyone in my mom's family. I never knew him, obviously, but the Christmas Eve thing makes me pause and reflect, too - since I was raised with that. There are just some days we should have a moratorium from death. If only, eh? Obesity is a major risk factor for colon cancer, as well. So yeah, that is a lot of my motivation, as well. That and my dad died from complications of diabetes and heart disease. I've got a well-rounded book of risk factors going on. BLECK!!!
Fat Bastard - Yes, my mom was a great lady. I was so lucky to have her for a mom! I could go on and on about how awesome she was and will always be to me...but I'll save that for a future blog. What I will say here, though, is yes, like you, I get reminders all over the place, too. I have one in particular that is something she gave me. My mom loved to do stained glass and she made me a three-dimensional tulip statue of glass. I love love love tulips and she loved loved loved to make me tulips. This three-dimensional thing is pretty impressive - I'll take a pic of it and post it later. But that object is absolutely priceless to me. I have never seen anything like it and she didn't buy it - she made it. She had to have a shape made so that the shape of the statue could be supported while she was soldering the glass together. I mean, she went all out! When our area is hit by hurricanes, I could care less if any other "thing" gets out of the house - but that must go with me. That, my doggies, my kitties, and my husband (not necessarily in any order of importance, there). I can look at that "thing" and know that she is with me always.
And to everyone else that commented, thank you for taking the time to reach out and give hugs or just to acknowledge me yesterday. It really means a lot to me!
So, back to the issue at hand, day 3!
I got on the scale this morning. I am down a whole whopping 0.2 lbs. My sweet hubby is doing this diet with me. He is down 2 pounds today. For him, he's down 8 lbs since starting on Friday. For me - 3.2. Sheesh! I am so happy for him! But what about me? :)
I made one of my new favorite recipes for dinner. It's a chicken broccoli casserole.Here's the recipe: (you can change the broccoli to any veggie you want and you can change the cheeses around, too. Whatever you do with the cheese, I do highly recommend keeping the provolone with the whatever-you-choose for it's great melting properties.) And I will also say - people that hate casseroles love this dish.
3 tablespoons butter
1 yellow onion, chopped1/4 cup all-purpose flour (you can use whole-wheat flour here if desired)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup nonfat milk
salt and pepper to taste
5 cups cooked, shredded chicken breast meat
1 head of broccoli, steamed
1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded provolone cheese
1 cup shredded swiss cheese
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C.) Grease a 9x13 inch casserole dish. (I have never actually greased the casserole dish and it's always been fine - but if you feel the need, go for it.
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion until tender, about 3 minutes. Mix in flour. Gradually stir in chicken broth. When the chicken broth is completely combined with the roux, slowly stir in milk, and cook, stirring, until sauce begins to thicken. Season with salt and pepper.
Place cooked chicken in an even layer over bottom of the casserole dish. Place broccoli over the chicken. Combine provolone and swiss cheese and sprinkle over the top of the broccoli. Pour sauce evenly over the cheese. Sprinkle cheddar over top of the casserole.
Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until the cheese melts. Remove from oven and serve immediately.
Believe it or not, this has 390 calories, 8 g of carbs and 61 g of protein, per serving. Serves 6.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
03/07/10: Day 2
I'd love to say this is day 2 of the pre-op diet...because it is. But it feels almost like a lie to be saying that because I don't even know if I'm really pre-op. So it's just day 2.
It is what it is.
Today is my mom's birthday. My mom passed away on May 8th, 2004. I can't believe she's been gone this long. She would be 61 today if she were still here. So young! To everyone that is 50 or older you'd better be getting your colonoscopy's done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Colon cancer is no joke.
My mom was a nurse practitioner. She made all her patients get their colonoscopies like clockwork. When she turned 50, she went to her PCP amd said "it's time". And her PCP said no, it was not indicated. There was no history whatsoever of any type of cancer in my family. So they said it wasn't worth the risk or expense as she was going to be fine. There are seven things you can do to help decrease your risk of colon cancer and she did all seven things naturally. There was no risk they said.
Two years later, her BM's changed drastically. As a nurse practitioner she knew that was not good. She made an appt and took herself to Russia on a dream vacation. When she returned and went to that appt her PCP said, well, lets not jump to colon cancer...so try this diet. My mom dutifully did so. It didn't change anything besides allow the tumor to grow more. So she went back in for a follow up and the PCP said, well, lets start with an X-Ray. It took a month to get in for that X-Ray as it was not ordered "stat". X-Ray's aren't the first course of discovery anyway, so no surprise when it didn't show much. Meanwhile, the tumor is still growing. My mom finally convinced her PCP to at least order a barium enema. And it could not be done because the tumor was closing off her colon. So then the PCP finally ordered a colonoscopy "stat" and my mom was in there for the colonoscopy the next day. They discovered "an apple core" tumor which is the worst kind to have. She went in for surgery at the end of that week and when they did the biopsy it was determined her cancer was an advanced stage 3.
Because she was relatively healthy and had no other risk factors, they did the surgery and then attacked with chemo only. Six months later, she was cancer free. She had to do follow-up colonoscopies every six months. We all went on living and traveling and celebrating life.
At her second colonscopy check-up, the tumor was back. They did an MRI as well and determined the cancer was still located only in her colon. They did surgery again.
Since her lymph nodes showed no metasticizing, they did not do chemo or radiation that time. After surgery, she was doing great. Her cancer markers in blood tests went to non-existent. Everyone thought it was all in the bag.
Six months later, she developed pain in the right side - where the liver sits. She knew what that meant. She didn't tell anyone what was going on except for my step-dad and myself. She went back to the PCP and an MRI was ordered. The cancer had metasticized to her liver, to her lungs and to her brain. She met with her oncologist who wanted to put her on a trial treatment course but her PCP poo-poo'ed that as she already had a liver spot that was questionable. So with that, they could try the normal chemo to give her a better quality of life, but other than that, she was going to die from this.
She was told on Christmas Eve 2003 that her cancer was terminal.
Merry F'ing Christmas.
She was told she would have anywhere from 2-5 years before it killed her and the chemo could help make it quality time - and push the 5 year window.
She died the following May.
I miss my mom like no words can ever describe. It is a deep sort of missing - a piece of me is gone. Here was this person who knew me from the start, knew how I came to be the way I got, and liked me and loved me anyway. She was my best friend in so many ways. She was my greatest ally in so many ways and knew what I was capable of. She could push me like no one has ever been able to do and she could say one word to let me know I had all the support I needed. We loved to travel together and we did so all of my life until I was 28. Life has not been the same without her. It is so sad to think my kids won't get to know their grandmother. She would have been the most amazing grandmother. I also wish my husband could have known her. He would have loved her - and vice versa!
So that's what I've got.
In other news...last night we did our beer butt chicken with grilled zucchini and onions. It was so yummy! The grilled zuchhini did not turn out to be photo friendly, but here's a pic of the chicken.
If you haven't done a beer butt chicken, try it. Grab a whole chicken and rinse. Pat dry with a paper towel and then get your favorite rub and rub the chicken. Sometimes we do this the day before and sometimes we do this just before putting it on the grill. If you rub in advance, of course, you get more flavor into the chicken. But, as was the case for yesterday, we did it just before putting it on the grill and certain flavors in our rub played up better. It's good either way. Make sure to get some rub into the inner cavity of the chicken, too.
Once you've got the chicken rubbed, grab a can of beer. Pop the can open and pour off (or drink) about 1/5 of the can. Move your rubbed chicken and beer out to the grill. Place the beer can in the butt of the chicken and stand the chicken up like a tri-pod on the grill. You do not want this on direct heat so work wtih your grill to have the heat not be directly under the chicken. We have a four-burner grill so we turn on the two outside burners while putting the chicken directly in the center. This allows the chicken to slow roast which makes it super juicy. Add the extra steam from the beer and it's just a super juicy flavorful chicken!
It takes between two and three hours for it to cook - but make sure you get the chicken to 160 F.
So have a fantastic Sunday, y'all! And where ever you (in heaven), Mom, have a happy birthday!
It is what it is.
Today is my mom's birthday. My mom passed away on May 8th, 2004. I can't believe she's been gone this long. She would be 61 today if she were still here. So young! To everyone that is 50 or older you'd better be getting your colonoscopy's done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Colon cancer is no joke.
My mom was a nurse practitioner. She made all her patients get their colonoscopies like clockwork. When she turned 50, she went to her PCP amd said "it's time". And her PCP said no, it was not indicated. There was no history whatsoever of any type of cancer in my family. So they said it wasn't worth the risk or expense as she was going to be fine. There are seven things you can do to help decrease your risk of colon cancer and she did all seven things naturally. There was no risk they said.
Two years later, her BM's changed drastically. As a nurse practitioner she knew that was not good. She made an appt and took herself to Russia on a dream vacation. When she returned and went to that appt her PCP said, well, lets not jump to colon cancer...so try this diet. My mom dutifully did so. It didn't change anything besides allow the tumor to grow more. So she went back in for a follow up and the PCP said, well, lets start with an X-Ray. It took a month to get in for that X-Ray as it was not ordered "stat". X-Ray's aren't the first course of discovery anyway, so no surprise when it didn't show much. Meanwhile, the tumor is still growing. My mom finally convinced her PCP to at least order a barium enema. And it could not be done because the tumor was closing off her colon. So then the PCP finally ordered a colonoscopy "stat" and my mom was in there for the colonoscopy the next day. They discovered "an apple core" tumor which is the worst kind to have. She went in for surgery at the end of that week and when they did the biopsy it was determined her cancer was an advanced stage 3.
Because she was relatively healthy and had no other risk factors, they did the surgery and then attacked with chemo only. Six months later, she was cancer free. She had to do follow-up colonoscopies every six months. We all went on living and traveling and celebrating life.
At her second colonscopy check-up, the tumor was back. They did an MRI as well and determined the cancer was still located only in her colon. They did surgery again.
Since her lymph nodes showed no metasticizing, they did not do chemo or radiation that time. After surgery, she was doing great. Her cancer markers in blood tests went to non-existent. Everyone thought it was all in the bag.
Six months later, she developed pain in the right side - where the liver sits. She knew what that meant. She didn't tell anyone what was going on except for my step-dad and myself. She went back to the PCP and an MRI was ordered. The cancer had metasticized to her liver, to her lungs and to her brain. She met with her oncologist who wanted to put her on a trial treatment course but her PCP poo-poo'ed that as she already had a liver spot that was questionable. So with that, they could try the normal chemo to give her a better quality of life, but other than that, she was going to die from this.
She was told on Christmas Eve 2003 that her cancer was terminal.
Merry F'ing Christmas.
She was told she would have anywhere from 2-5 years before it killed her and the chemo could help make it quality time - and push the 5 year window.
She died the following May.
I miss my mom like no words can ever describe. It is a deep sort of missing - a piece of me is gone. Here was this person who knew me from the start, knew how I came to be the way I got, and liked me and loved me anyway. She was my best friend in so many ways. She was my greatest ally in so many ways and knew what I was capable of. She could push me like no one has ever been able to do and she could say one word to let me know I had all the support I needed. We loved to travel together and we did so all of my life until I was 28. Life has not been the same without her. It is so sad to think my kids won't get to know their grandmother. She would have been the most amazing grandmother. I also wish my husband could have known her. He would have loved her - and vice versa!
So that's what I've got.
If you haven't done a beer butt chicken, try it. Grab a whole chicken and rinse. Pat dry with a paper towel and then get your favorite rub and rub the chicken. Sometimes we do this the day before and sometimes we do this just before putting it on the grill. If you rub in advance, of course, you get more flavor into the chicken. But, as was the case for yesterday, we did it just before putting it on the grill and certain flavors in our rub played up better. It's good either way. Make sure to get some rub into the inner cavity of the chicken, too.
Once you've got the chicken rubbed, grab a can of beer. Pop the can open and pour off (or drink) about 1/5 of the can. Move your rubbed chicken and beer out to the grill. Place the beer can in the butt of the chicken and stand the chicken up like a tri-pod on the grill. You do not want this on direct heat so work wtih your grill to have the heat not be directly under the chicken. We have a four-burner grill so we turn on the two outside burners while putting the chicken directly in the center. This allows the chicken to slow roast which makes it super juicy. Add the extra steam from the beer and it's just a super juicy flavorful chicken!
It takes between two and three hours for it to cook - but make sure you get the chicken to 160 F.
So have a fantastic Sunday, y'all! And where ever you (in heaven), Mom, have a happy birthday!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
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.
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.
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.
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