Allison B.

Send Message

Block

Add Friend

I had my official post op apointment with my doctor today.  Everything looks good.  I weighed two pounds heavier at the office, so I decided to stick to my scale here at home which still reads 233.  So that is still only 25 pounds down.  But I am happy that my clothes are feeling loser, and my uniform shirt for work now fits comfortably.   He said that in a week I can start working out more vigorusly and I should start taking my birth control pill again.  He dosent want to risk me getting pregnant.  Other than that, he said everything looks good.  I go back in 3 months to see him again.

Well today I am officially three weeks post op and I am feeling good.  I am still sore in my abdomen area, but nothing I can't deal with and move through.  I just called work to see if I could come in for half a day this week to start building back up to full time.  Yesterday was supposed to be my post op appointment with my surgeon, but I got the times mixed up, so I had to reschedule.  I did get to talk to one of the nutritionists who agreed that I was ready to start advancing my diet to phase two.  So last night for dinner I was able to have a small cheese omelet.   It tasted good and I kept it down.  I just think I ate too much cause once I finished I had that sleepy heavy feeling you get when you over eat.  Also, I got a Wii fit for Christmas, so my family and I have been doing that almost every night.  I am proud to say that I am THE hula-hoop champ in this house!  Haha, I got those hips that don't lie...lol...anyways!  

This morning I weighed at 233 which means I am 25 pounds down.  I can really see it too.  My gut doesn't stick out quite as far and my face is starting to look a little more defined.  I am able to sleep on my right side pretty comfortably, but my left side still hurts when I lie on it.   The day that I can roll in my sleep from side to side will be the day I celebrate!  Hopefully things just continue to get better.  Its funny, cause I think my mother just about told everyone at church who would listen about my surgery, so now when I go to church, I get a million "how are you feeling" and "you look good for just having surgery" glances.  Its nice to know people care, but for some reason I still get embarrassed when people single me out or comment on my surgery.  Hopefully that will pass.

I guess that's all for now, gotta run some errands!

Allison

Well today is my birthday.  I am thankful to have lived to see another year, but I am more thankful for the year ahead of me.  I know things are going to be great and this is going to be the start to my new life!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Well it is now December 27th, also known as 4 days post-op.  Let me preface by saying that I did not by any means expect this part to be easy.  I have seen two people go through this journey first hand, so I knew what I was getting myself into. 

But can I just say DAMN IM IN PAIN!  These past couple of days have felt like weeks.  Time drags on as I drift in and out of sleep trying to recover from my surgery.  I guess you could say that I had two surgeries in one because my doctor decided to remove my gallbladder as well, due to my recent attack.  And can I say, Thank God for that because the report was that once removed, my gallbladder was pretty red and inflammed and he had to work really hard to get the sucker out of me.  I spent two nights in the hospital and on Christmas day I was reported to stay one more night due to a bad reaction to the hydrocodine they gave me the night before, but my mom was determined to get me home on Christmas day, so she talked me out of the hospital.  I was glad to go home, but still felt pretty weak and in pain.  I have been having to walk hunched over because the one incision on my upper left side is killing me.  I am praying that it hasnt developed a hernia or something!!  Also, when people say the gas pain is the worst, they were not lying!  My back is so sore and tense from all the gas and although I am trying to walk the gas out, nothing seems to help really.  Oh, and I know this may be gross to some, so I will try to keep it PG, but this is a forum for people considering GB, so I will keep it real.  The night I came home from the hospital I had my first Bowl Movement and let me tell you I was not at all prepared for what came!!!  Some one really should have warned me.  According to my mother, the particular shade that was produced was due to the blood in my intestines or something.  I dunno, each day it gets better, but it was really scary that first time....ok enough poo talk.

I have my post op appointment on Jan 5th, and I am really hoping that I am cleared to go back to normal life again.  I hope by then I am walking straight with little or no pain and can start to see the light of the tunnel, but as my friend told me, these first couple of days are pretty dark and depressing.  And that is no lie.  My mother is constantly reminding me to drink something because it is so easy to just let a couple of hours go by without sipping a drop because I am simply not in the mood.  Oh and on a side note...I dont know how many of you drink the Isopure protein drink, but let me tell you the Mango/Peach flavor is NASTY!  If anyone can suggest a better flavor I would be so thankful.  I can hardly stand to drink that stuff.. 

I know things get better every day, I just pray that nothing bad is happening because I really do not want to go back into the hospital again!!

Well my surgery is around the corner, on Tuesday.  Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers.  I am getting anxious and nervous about everything.  I hope to return home on Christmas Day!!!!  Keep your fingers crossed.

Allison

Well its 5 days until I have the bypass.  Im getting excited and anxious.  I have lost about 8 pounds so far on the liquid diet, so thats good.  My post op appointment was Tuesday and it turned out to be a MESS!  I was at the doctors office ALL DAY trying to get all my pre-testing and pre-op stuff taken care of, along with payment.  We found out that I have one large gallstone  in my gallbladder, so we will see if I get it removed during surgery.  That would be nice so that I dont have to worry about getting it removed later on.  I just started my new job, which I absolutely love.  And I finally graduated from college and moved back home with my parents to help pay for the surgery, so things are going good in my life!  I just cant wait to get the surgery part over so that I can concentrate on getting better and getting back to life and using this fabulous tool to my advantage!

Hope everyone is having a blessed week!

Allison

So today my surgeons office called to inform me that my surgery date has moved from Dec. 22 to Dec. 12!  This is no bueno because I am graduating from college on Dec. 13!  So I called them back and they agreed to move it to Dec 23rd instead?!  WTF!!  So now I will not be leaving the hospital until Christmas Day, which means that my family will probably put off Christmas for a couple of days until I am feeling well enough to participate...oh bother!

I just don't understand.  This is the second time my surgeon has tried to change my date!  Whats up?  Why is this OK?  I have been planning around my original date for 3 months now, and all of a sudden you want me to just go with the flow and change to accommodate you?  I just don't get it, I know your the big shot surgeon but come on, have some understanding about where I am coming from.  Oh..and the worst part is that when the surgeon called the nurse to reschedule for the 12th, the nurse was like," well what about all of her pre op appointments and the nutrition class?"  and my surgeons reply was "don't worry about it"???  So there's no need for me to have time to shrink my liver or prepare myself with a nutrition class?  WHAT?!

So I guess I am just hoping that I chose the right surgeon.  I mean I am at a reputable accredited hospital and I am pretty sure that Dr. Rivas knows what he is doing, this just makes me a bit nervous!  Hopefully this experience does not reflect on his operating skills!

If your reading this and you had your surgery under Dr. Rivas, please help to reassure me!

 December 22, 2008 is the day!  I can't wait.  Now we just need to get the loan and we will be set to go.  Hopefully that will be done by the end of the week!

Merry Christmas to me!

 So today was totally awesome.  For the past couple of weeks my mother and I have been talking back and forth about how to get set up with CareCredit to finance the surgery and stuff.  And we finally decided that once we can sit down and talk with the insurance coordinator at the doctors office, we could set a surgery date.  Well this morning I get a call from my surgeons nurse saying that she just wanted to call and offer Dec 22 to me as a possible surgery date because she just noticed it was now open and she knew I was ready!  I told her that we were trying to get set up with CareCredit, but I would love for her to pencil me in because that is the week I was hoping to get scheduled, so she did!  So basically all we need to do is get set up with CareCredit and then I am ready to go!!!

I cant believe this happening and its like everything is falling into place exactly how I want it to.  I will graduate from college on Dec 13, move back home that next week, and then the next week I will have my surgery!  

Every night I have prayed that if it is God's will to help make it happen, and He did!

Im so blessed!  My life is about to begin!

So its only a day after my consult and I have managed to worry myself to death about how I am going to pay for this surgery.  There are so many factors that I must consider that it is becoming extremely overwhelming and I am starting to doubt if this will ever happen for me.

1.  First off my parents and I were planning on self paying because we seriously doubt that I will get any insurance coverage.  But after talking to the doctors, I am not worried that that is a very dangerous route to choose in case of any complications.

2. The economy is so bad right now!  Let me be clear, my parents are not racking in the dough. So I am really worried that if they sacrifice to do this for me, then I will be pushing them into a financial hardship that they do not deserve.

3. I will graduate from college this December, leaving me no health care coverage.  This worried me because If I do have to try to get insurance to pay because we can not come up with the money, then I have to do that within 3 months or less!!!

4.  If I do wait to have the surgery once I have my own stable job that has benefits, I could be waiting a couple years!  Thats that much longer that I have to live this fat life!

Im just totally stressing myself out over this and I dont know what to do.  I want to hurry up and have the surgery because I want to get it done so I can move on with living my new healthy life, but I just feel like so many odds are stacked against me.  I just wish money grew on trees so that I could just pay in full and be done with it all!!  

Anyone else feeling as hopeless as me???