I Have a Surgery Date!

Hooray! The doctor's office and I have had some conversations back and forth. First they said possibly February 7, then February 28 (that's Marina's 18th birthday), and now we have agreed on February 22. I am so, so excited! There's just something great about knowing when the next step begins.

I have finished all the requirements except the EGD (scope/biopsies), which is next Thursday. I attended the exercise class, which was very helpful. The instructor was the director of PT at the hospital and we learned about the different types of exercise, why we need to do it for the rest of our lives, and how much we need to do. It's a litle daunting. There have been times when I worked out regularly and enjoyed it, but I'm not there currently.

Dr. Oz had an episode on Monday about the "One Surgery People SHOULD Be Getting," which was about gastric bypass. It was nice to see it recommended and learn a little more about the surgery.

I have started freezing a few meals for my family to eat while I'm recovering and only allowed clear liquids. I should be set by February 22. I need to get more done around the house since I won't feel like doing it for a while. I'm still losing weight but I haven't done much exercising due to my knee surgery. I'm still hoping to start using the eliptical again very soon. I would say that things are going very well and I'm feeling optimistic about what lies ahead. :)

Moving Forward!

I'm definitely getting closer to surgery! Last week was full of medical appointments and classes, or at least it felt that way. I went to the mandatory support meeting. The guest speaker was a rep for a leading bariatric vitamin suppliment company. I picked up lots of samples. Part of gastric bypass is malabsorption of food and nutrients. Eventually the body compensates for the food part, but not for the vitamins. For that reason a bariatic patient must take nutritional suppliments for the rest of their life. The second class was the first part of the dietitian's class (I already completed the second half). It was about what I will need to eat for the first six months after surgery (not much). Friday I had meniscectomy on my left knee. It went very well and I am walking around a little stiffly, but doing my exercises in hopes that I won't need to go to official physical therapy. I'll find out for sure this Friday. Today I went to see a very good looking cardiologist. I had an echocardiogram and a good conversation. Boy, the echo was so much quicker and easier than the one I had 17 years ago! He said everything looked good. That I probably do have some plaque in my arteries due to my lifestyle, but there is nothing to prevent me from having gastric bypass. Hooray! Later this week I meet with the counselor for her clearance. She said it is going to take two to two and a half hours. Yikes. So, things are progressing at a good speed. I still get scared sometimes. I was worried about the pain, but that has pretty much passed. I guess now it's mostly about regain. Apparently some regain is almost par for the course as your body adjusts and compensates. Most of the time I feel prepared. I can do this! If I gain a little, well, I can lose it again! I am doing this for my health. I want to live a long time! I want to babysit my grandchildren! I want to sit on the floor and read to them AND be able to get up again! I CAN DO THIS! Yay me? Yeah, YAY ME!
I'm sorry if this gets repetitive, and thank you, thank you, thank you for all the support!!!

Getting Closer!

We are back from our cruise! I loved spending New Year's Eve on a ship filled with party-goers. The best news is that I had no noticable weight gain. That's great news! I ate a lot but tried to walk and take the stairs even more. My knee was killing me, especially the first 3 days, and one or two days the ankle of that foot swelled up a fair amount. But it's back to normal now and I'm having surgery this Friday to clean up my knee. Then soon after that I will be cleared to really exercise. I didn't gain weight while on vacation and I managed to lose a couple more last week, so I am down (at my absolute lowest of the day) to 186 pounds. Today I had an appointment with Dr. Basa, to check in and see how I'm doing. According to their scale I have lost the 10 required pounds. Hooray! I need to keep losing because they will postpone surgery if I'm not still 10 pounds down, plus it reduces the size of the liver and makes surgery easier and safer. This week I will attend the support meeting and the first part of the nutrition class and get my lab work finished. I have an appointment with a cardiologist on January 17 (I think), and I need to make an appointment with the psychologist. All that's left after that is an exercise class that I will attend the last week in January and an endoscopy that will probably be scheduled around the same time. I think they are going to call and give me a surgery date soon--probably early to mid-February! I can't believe it's coming up so soon! I've been scared lately. Should I have surgery? Is this the right surgery? What if I fail? What is weight loss surgery failure? It's just normal nervousness--this is a lifetime commitment. I believe surgery is right for me because, besides the weightloss, I want to not worry about diabetes (and high blood pressure and high cholesterol) and it's complications. I also believe gastric bypass is the right surgery for me. The other surgery that I've been thinking considering is the duodenal switch. But I don't want to increase my chances of bathroom problems, I have enough of them. Plus, it doesn't help with reflux, which I would like. I'm sure it's more expensive, and I'm self-pay. And the malabsorbtion is greater and doesn't decrease with time, so you have to commit to taking A LOT of vitamins and increased chances of problems with that. Failure would be to not lose weight (not going to happen) or regain (frequently happens a few years out due to a return to old habits, less malabsorbtion, and the body readjusting), which can be lost again. I will praying that I can deal with the changes and be vigilant in maintaining good habits. See, chilly feet. It's all good!