Baby Shower Invites

Here are some baby shower invitations I made for a friend's daughter. The patterned paper isn't SU, but I think they turned out cute. They are pocket cards. Cut paper to 4.25 by 10. Score at 5.5 then 1 inch from shorter end. Use Sticky Strip to form the pocket. Be careful to put the tape as close to the edge as possible to leave room for the insert. Insert is 5.25 by 3.25. The bows are done punching two holes with the Crop-o-dile and threading the ribbon through the front, across the back, and back through the opposite hole. (Criss cross the ribbon in the back and put the ends through the opposite hole.)

Cardstock:
Soft Suede (New In Color!!)
Baja Breeze (Outgoing In Color)
Certainly Celery
Whisper White

Ribbon is all Stampin' Up:
Apricot
Bashful Blue
Certainly Celery

Stamp set:
Introducing...

Hope you like them!

Sticker shock!

So I check the mail today, and there is a bill from the first visit with my nutritionist...

$256!!

OMG I feel like crying... When I first started this process, I was given a financial responsibility sheet that listed the "approximate" charges for the services required to have WLS. Well, the "Nutritional Assessment" was listed as $136, with 3 additional nutritional councelling sessions totalling $204. My insurance will cover the psych stuff, but not the nutritionist.

When I had the initial assessment, I asked the counter people how much the charge was, and the girl said it was "$34 per 15 minutes." but they'd have to bill me.

I am so angry! I was in the waiting room from 2:15 to 3:15 (appointment was supposed to be 2:30) and I was out of her office before 4 pm. So I was expecting a charge of $108 for the 45 minutes I was actually IN her office. Or at least the $136 that I was quoted TWICE, once in writing, and once verbally by the office staff. ($34x4=$136).

I called the financial office at the health center and they're "looking into it" and don't know why I was quoted $34 for each 15 minutes or $136 for the initial. The girl at the billing office said their charge is $64/15 minutes and there is a service charge for self pay. What I think happened is that they billed me for the entire time I was at the center, including the time in the waiting room! In the mean time, I have another half hour consult from last week I haven't even been billed for yet, and I'm already fast going over the "approximate" charges for ONE visit let alone all 4 together. My husband and I sat and worked out the financial aspect of this and were ok with the out of pocket based on the quoted info, but this puts us WAY out of budget!

I know what's going to happen... they've covered their butts by wording it as "approximate" and I'm going to have to pay the entire bill.

Really sucks considering I don't have a full time job in the summer! They better be happy with $20 a week!

Saw the nutritionist today...

And I'm excited!

Not only have I already met my 5% weight loss requirement, but she's SIGNING OFF ON THE SURGERY!! That means she's approving me to move to the next step, which is the surgical consult with Dr. Tvetenstrand!

I can't believe it! She was really impressed with my food logs and the choices I've been making. She did flag a few items, but we discussed the reasons I chose them, and she was very supportive and helpful this time. Things like the bowtie pasta with alfredo sauce I chose during our mini-shoebox stamping swap yesterday. I thought since the sauce was cheese based that it was a better choice than either the pizza or the ziti. She said the ziti was actually a better choice since the cheese/alfredo sauce is mostly fat. She did say that she understood why I would choose it based on what I've learned so far, and was actually impressed by the logic I used in making that decision.

She also said she hasn't seen anyone come through the program yet who has made the changes I've made in such a short time. She said she could tell that I am very motivated to do what I have to do to become healthier.

Unfortunately I still have to wait 4 months until I can submit to insurance. So the nutritionist is having me come back in a month just to satisfy the supervised diet component of my insurance coverage. She also wants me to start decreasing the volume of food I'm eating at every meal to train myself for life after gastric bypass. I'm now only allowed to eat 1 cup of food for each meal/snack. I still have to get in the protein first, then veggies/fruit, and lastly the starch. She was very impressed with the high protein bread I found, and wants me to share that with my support group.

I did ask her if she wanted me to eat a cup by volume or weight. A cup of chicken weighs a lot more than a cup of broccoli. She told me to try both ways and see how I make out... so I think I'm going to start with 8oz by weight and then see if it fits into a 1 cup measure.

Thank goodness I paid attention in Mrs. Klim's science class at work and was able to ask that question!

So here's to a great day, and the next step on the journey! I feel like dancing!

What a nightmare... literally!

I had the worst nightmare EVER!

Backstory:
Our local hospital is the pits. TRULY. I worked there as a nursing assistant for only 3 months and had to quit due to the lack of professionalism of some of the staff.

I REFUSE to take my son there for more than lab work. He needed IV antibiotics once, and I refused to admit him. Instead I drove him 2 hours away and had Geisinger take care of him. That is how bad this place is.

Now, having said that, my doctor (PCP) is awesome. Unfortunately he is affiliated with this hospital. So my chart and medical info is also affiliated with this place. Fortunately the medical center where he practices is no longer affiliated directly, but is now a separate entity.

Now for the nightmare:
I was at the hospital for something. I went into medical records, and one of the nurses was SHREDDING CHARTS! I walk in just as ALL of my medical history for my entire life is going in the shredder! She said that one of the doctors that I had seen on an emergency basis 25 years ago was being investigated for misconduct with a female patient (which is true btw) and that the administration ordered all his patient charts shredded!

I was screaming at the nurse as I'm trying to pull my chart out of the shredder saying "But my insurance won't approve my surgery without my chart!"

She looked at me and grinned and said "why don't you just go on a diet???"

I woke up crying...

Finally a stamping related post!

I promised to post these the other day, but just now got around to loading the images on my computer!

The Real Red card is embossed in Whisper White embossing powder using the Classic Stars wheel and the Varsity Numbers stamp set. The year element is popped up, and the corners are punched using the ticket corner punch.

The Riding Hood Red card is made with Shimmery White cardstock run through the printer. The font is the retired SU Journaling fonts SU Passing Notes. The Shimmery White was then run through the Big Shot using the Manhattan Flower Textured Impressions folder.

Hope you like them!

On a WLS journey note, I attended a support group meeting last night and got to meet a few people I'd been talking to on www.obesityhelp.com. They were so sweet! It was nice to go talk to both pre-op and post-op people and get first hand information about the different surgeries. I am still "undecided" on whether I want the Realize Band or the gastric bypass (Roux en Y). There are some scary things about both of them. I have 4 more months to make up my mind, and it will all boil down to whether I feel the lifestyle changes I've made and will make will be permanent.

Down 12 lbs!

I can't believe it! I had my first appointment with the nutritionist on Thursday, and I'm already down 12lbs! That means I only have to lose 3 more to meet the surgeons required weight loss before surgery.

We went through my food logs from May 8,9, and 10. I have to tell ya, they were horrible. I had been on a "diet" prior to that weekend, but felt I should show her exactly what my real eating habits were. Not only that, it was Brandon's 12th birthday AND Mother's Day that weekend... So, you can probably imagine what the logs looked like.

She gave me an exchange book to teach me how to choose the proper foods. Some of it is confusing, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it after a while. It took me a lifetime of eating the wrong things, I'm not going to "unlearn" those habits in a day. I just have to keep reminding myself of that.

There was one thing that happened during the visit that really made me angry. As part of the intake process, I had to list what my activities are.... so, of course, I listed stamping, scrapbooking, reading, and computer. She said I needed to change my activities, which isn't a surprise. I know they are sedentary activities, and have contributed to my weight gain over the past 5 years. However I HAVE made some changes. I've been walking anywhere from 2-3 miles a day with Buddy (our beagle). Sure it's not a fast pace, but most of it is hilly back roads. I was really proud of myself for doing this. Unfortunately it's not "good enough". The nut said I should be walking FOUR miles a day.....

Now seriously, my nut is MAYBE 140lbs if that. I'd like to see her walk 4 miles a day with an extra 150lbs on her! She's lucky I can even tie my sneakers myself let alone walk that far! Many of my friends who are going through this journey with me say they can't even walk from the car to the house without getting winded. So they are all very impressed with the amount of walking I've been doing...

I know I should just let it go like water off a duck's back, but all my life I've felt like I wasn't "good enough", and to have my nutritionist say that only made me want to binge...