wear XXL sized shirt

I went in for surgery bright and early March 11.  I had to have a filter put in due to risk of a blood clot and that was done around 11 am.  The procedure was relatively quick, lasting roughly 30 mins.  The techs and nurses in the radiology were great.  My surgery was scheduled for noon, however, the surgeon had some complications in the surgeries earlier, so I was pushed back.  Finally, around 3:30 or so, I was taken back and everything from then was pretty much a whirlwind.  I remember chatting with the doctor and them starting the anesthsia and then the next thing I remember was recovery nurses waking me up around 9 that evening.  I remember having a difficult time taking deep breaths, however, they needed me to cough to break up the fluid that had settled.  I got to leave there and was taken to my room where all my friends were waiting on me.  It wasn't long before I was sleeping again.

Around 4 in the morning, I was told I need to walk and I felt up to the challenge.  My mom had the surgery done 6 months prior and her hospital had her up and walking every 2 hours, so I knew that would be part of the recovery.  However, I wasn't required to get up as often as she did, but I did make a point of trying to walk 3-4 times for about 10 mins a session.

The second day wasn't bad as far as pain.  I had used my pain pump a few times through the night and pretty sparingly throughout the day.  My stomach felt like I had been punched in it really hard and that I had tried to do too many situps.  The biggest pain was behind my left shoulder.  I was told the pain medications wouldn't do much for that and walking was the only real solution.  Dr. Menachery visited and said things went really well and that if I continue doing well, I would go home the third day.

The morning of the third day, Dr. Menachery came in and looked at my urine.  He said it was too dark to be discharged right then, but he would order some more fluids in my IV and I should be ready to go home by the mid-afternoon.  Indeed that's what happened and on Thursday March 13th, I was home.

Home recovery has been a little difficult getting adjusted to.  I'm on a liquid diet for 3 weeks and required to get 133 g of protein in a day.  With the addition of 64 oz of water, it's been a challenge.  Last night, I believe I had my first dumping or mild dumping.  I still had 20 g of protein to go, so I decided to add a little bit more milk and another scoop of protein powder to my 1/2cup of milk I already had.  Came out to a little more than 3/4c.  Well, I got it down with little problem, but I became very cold and clammy and had diarrhea for the rest of the night.  Thankfully, I didn't throwup.  The clamminess lasted for about 20 mins.  It's not something I would look forward to experiencing again.

I've had a wonderful support network of friends and my mother who have made this process go quite smoothly.  Some of the things I wasn't expecting was how intense "head hunger" is.  In the hospital and while at home, it seems every second or third commercial is for a food product.  Instantly, I feel like I'm hungry and I have to have something to eat.  It's wild and (among other things) I'm wondering if that's what helped attribute my weight gain in the first place.  Hopefully with a little retraining of my brain, I won't be affected by that anymore.

I finally got my date for March 6.  I'm very excited but there were some conditions placed on that.  Back in 2005, I had a blood clot in my lower left leg that had broken off to my lungs giving me two small pulmonary emboli.  The doctors were worried that I had some form of genetic disorder (as my Dad had had the same thing) and I was sent over to a Hemotologist/oncologist to get to the bottom of everything.  Well, all my tests came back normal and no genetic abnormality was found.

My WLS doctor is very cautious with this news and sent me to have an ultrasound of my leg to see if there were any clots (none active, but a chronic one was discovered).  He decided that I needed to have a filter placed and that he needed to consult with the hemotologist.  But, he said since the surgery is in March, we had plenty of time.  Here's to hoping that everything will work out ok!

I called United today.  I have been approved.  I was having nightmares that this process would be extremely difficult (not that it was easy).  So, far everything has fallen into place.  The tragedy of everything now is that my doctor suggested I lose 5-10 lbs before the surgery in order to shink my liver, but over the holiday, I gained almost 7 lbs.  Time to go a diet, hopefully for the last time!

Finally, after about a month and a half of getting the insurance changed, it has been done.  I'm now part of the United Healthcare.  When I first found out, I called my doctor's office and they have sent out (or are sending out today--haven't checked in with them yet) my request for RNY.  Shawna, who has been very patient through this all, said we would hear something hopefully within 15 days.  Fingers crossed there will be no problems!

Hello, all.  I grew up obese.  Too much McDonalds and not enough exercise.  Then I went to college and the weight shed right off of me.  I was about 340 in high school, by the time I graduated from college I was down to 215.  I didn't have access to a car and had to walk everywhere.  I didn't realize what a benefit that was until I started grad school.  Grad school was a far more sedintary life style; and, I got a car.  My walking decreased my weight crept slowly back on.  By the time I left grad school, I was back to 325.  Eight years out, I've tried to get my weight back under control.  Atkins, cabbiage soup diet, low fat diet, prepackaged meals to limit caloric intake, all failed.  I would do well (low carbing was what I succeeded at the most, but one weekend "off" meant failure)but my cravings for food were so strong that I would put the diet on hold and then never come back to it.  A friend of mine had bypass done back in 2004 with much success.  Then after gaining 40 lbs over the course of a year, I decided to start looking at my options.  At first, I considered the lap band.  After some research, I decided that wasn't for me for a couple of reasons.  1) I wanted something permanent.  2)  The cost of fillings were prohibitive for me.  3)  I wanted something that would change my habits moreso than I thought the band would.  So, I am currently in the process of getting my clearances for the surgery.

Pre-op clearances
I've decided on Dr. Menachery for surgery.  He's a very likable person, talkitive and very excited about what he does.  I did like the thoroughness that he examined me and the explanation that gave for the follow up testing he wants me to complete.

I have completed my pulomnary clearance, however, I do need to do a sleep study to determine if I have sleep apnea (one of the leading approvals for WLS, so I was told by the pulomnologist).  I meet with my PCP on Friday to draft a letter for his clearance.  Also, on Friday, I will have obtained all my previous medical records for the past five years.  My psych evaluation is scheduled for 11/20.  With all of this done, I hope to be well on my way

Insurance
Currently, I have Coventry.  I am a small business owner with 2 employees.  So, none of the insurances out there will cover WLS for a small group.  I did find a United policy that contains an Obesity Rider that I should be able to get on. Premiums will jump through the roof however.  It does boggle my mind how insurances won't cover this surgery.  In my previous doctor visits, I'm borderline HTN, elevated blood sugar, diagnosed with fatty liver, more than likely have sleep apnea (which in turn increases the risks further for all of the above).  This surgery will lower the risk factors if not eliminate them and save an insurance company from having to pay for these down the road.

Well, that's my reader's digest story so far.  I will be happy to post more once more happens!