Katey
Surgery postponed
Nov 13, 2009
OK, I'm going to try this again. I am totally inept when it comes to figuring out how to add to my post or blog or whatever it is called. I hope this goes to my oh. I've read many profiles over the past month or so and have been greatly encouraged by them. It is very comforting to know I am not alone. As with most of you I have been heavy most of my adult life. I've tried every diet in every supermarket tabloid. I've bought many, many diet books. In fact after deciding to have surgery, I held a garage sale and sold over 25 current diet books! People asked me if they worked. I said look at me. And for the first time since making my decision to have the "sleeve" I told people. I even had several friends from church show up and I told them.Why the decision to have most of my stomach removed? I'm 58 years old and I want to be healthy for the rest of my life. I still want to ski down a mountain with my husband and kids. I want to keep up with my wonderful 3 and 1/2 year old grandson. I want to shop in the misses section not the plus/woman's section of clothing stores. I want to take a walk and not worry that I won't have enough energy to walk back home. I don't want to die like my father - obese and sedentary with major heart problems. I don't want to live the rest of my life obsessing about food. I could go on and on but you know all about that because whoever is reading this has gone or is going through this too.
Why the sleeve? I did a lot of searching through the internet to find what would be best for me. I attended a seminar by the leading gastric surgeon in my area. When I heard that his son had had this procedure I made an appointment to talk to him about it. I liked the idea that my food choices would not be limited except by size. To be truthful, there were several restaurants I did not want to give up. After to listening to what he had to say and doing my own research on the internet (especially Obesity Help and You-tube). I scheduled my surgery for last Wednesday, Nov. 11. I did all the prep including the two weeks on high protein - low carb and the day of clear liquids on Tuesday. The week before I had suffered through the terrible prep for a colonoscopy (not required but I thought I'd get it out of the way while I still had a large stomach). I thought I had pinched a nerve last Friday so I was having treatments at my chiropractors only to be diagnosed with SHINGLES!!!! on Tuesday! which means no surgery for at least 6 weeks. So I am rescheduled for Jan. 4, 2010. I'm discouraged but still determined.
Maybe this is God's way of saying slow down and get a hold on my life. I have a lot on my plate (no pun intended) between now and Christmas with church activities, family activities, a trip to DC, Florida Gator football games, and our ski trip to Colorado. I've decided to treat my surgery and recovery time as "my" time. This is something just for me and I'm going to take it easy, learn to say no to other people and projects for awhile, and work on myself so that I'm around in the future.
My future is bright and my new journey is just beginning. Please continue updating your profiles, especially the VSG patients. There are many of us out here who need your encouragement.
Now if I can only figure out how to get this on my profile!
