LaurieKM
I first began researching bariatric surgery about 3 years ago. I wasn't 100% sure it was the right path for me but I started reading everything I could about it and educating myself. At that time, there was a weight loss surgery program in Hartford, which is fairly close to my home, so I went to the informational meeting, saw the nutritionist and starting heading down the path towards surgery. However, I guess it just wasn't the right time for me because I was still hesitant, had doubts and eventually decided I wasn't going to pursue it at that time. I think somewhere deep down inside me I felt that having the surgery was admitting defeat -- my inability to "just control my weight" on my own. After all, in the past I had been able to lose fairly significant amounts of weight "on my own" with the help of Weight Watchers and exercise. When I was 22 (more than 20 years ago now) I had lost 75 lbs in about 5 months and then, before I got pregnant with my twins about 9 years ago, I had lost about 65 lbs on Weight Watchers again. Both times, even with the significant weight losses that I had, I was still considered obese. Fact is, I have been overweight since I started school at the age of 5. I would venture to say I was even obese at that time, although I'm fairly sure nobody would have labeled a 5 year-old as such back then.
I'm not sure what finally made me decide this time that I needed surgical intervention -- that I was never going to be able to do it "on my own". However, about a year ago, I bought my own home and, since then, I have found that being the size I am is preventing me from maintaining my home the way I would like to. Moreover, I am not able to do the activities with my children that I would like to (bike riding, hiking, etc.). My knees (and all my joints, actually) have begun to hurt so much that I have a difficult time descending stairs. This makes maintaining my home even more difficult, since I have 2 flights of stairs in my home. I am a professional and work full time and I have found that my weight holds me back at work as well because I often don't have the stamina to take in stride the long stressful days. By the end of the day I am moving slower and just not able to keep up the pace.
So, several months ago I started researching again, only to find the program I had begun participating in previously no longer existed. So, at my next physical with my primary doctor, I mentioned being interested in the surgery. She thought it was a great idea (she has been my doctor for more than 20 years and had seen my repeated struggles with dieting and regaining weight). I asked her to recommend a bariatric surgeon. She indicated that she had 2 patients who had undergone the surgery and gave me the names of both of their surgeons (whom they had both been very happy with). I researched both and found that only one was participating in my medical plan's network. So, I researched his website and called his office. They signed me up for the next scheduled informational session, which was in March of this year.
This has been my timeline so far:
March 2007 --
Informational meeting
April 2007 --
Dietary and Psychological information meeting
May 2007 --
Consultation with Dr. Aranow
June 2007 --
Attend first of 3 support group meetings; First visit with psychologist
July 2007 --
Attend second and third support group meetings; Second and final visit with psychologist (I'm NOT crazy! I should tell my family...); Visit with Dietician (Weighed me and I had lost over 17 lbs since my visit w/Dr. Aranow.) She checked my food log and all went very well. I have given up caffeine, carbonation and sweets and cut down on carbs. She advised me to continue with the food log, to continue walking for exercise and to keep losing until the surgery is scheduled!
August 2007 --
Second visit with dietician. Weighed again and had lost 4 more lbs. She was very pleased. We discussed my food log and exercise. She said to keep up the good work and at my next (and final) visit, we will hopefully be able to set a tentative surgery date.
Attended two more pre/post-op support group meetings. I not only find the information at these meetings helpful but the level of caring that people have for each other, as well as the fact that so many of us have shared the same feelings and issues relating to being overweight, to be truly inspirational. I can see myself continuing to attend these meetings for a long time post-op as well.
September 17 --
I met with Liz, the nutritionist, for my third and final pre-op appointment. Everything is in line and ready to go so we have set a tentative surgery date of October 1!!!!! I'm so excited. Of course, if we don't receive pre-approval from the insurer prior to that date, it will be pushed back. Oh, and I lost a few more pounds, so I'm up to a total of 25!
September 24 --
Had a bit of a setback today. The surgeon's office called to say that Aetna had contacted them asking for additional documentation. Providing the documentation is no problem. I was able to get it from my doctor and to Dr. Aranow's office within 24 hours. However, there is no way I will make the 10/1 surgery date now.
September 28 --
Good news! Lois from Dr. Aranow's office called at the end of the day to say Aetna had approved my surgery and that she was able to schedule me for October 5! That only pushed my date back 4 days. I am so relieved and happy to have an actual date scheduled. Now, though, I have a bunch of additional things I need to do ASAP. Lois informed me that I need to get an EKG and some blood work at Middlesex this week. I'm not taking any chances. I'm going Monday afternoon. Then I have to use this antiseptic on my body for 3 days. I have to pick that up from Dr. A's office.
Oh, and I have a whopping $11 balance that I have to pay before I can have the surgery. And, finally, I need yet another (this will be the 3rd) letter from my doctor saying I am a good candidate for the surgery, which I will call for on Monday. The ony problem I have now is that I can't seem to stop eating since Lois called me. Has anyone else had this problem?
I have been so good eating wise that I have lost 25 lbs since I started this process and now I'm afriad I'm going to gain it all back in the next few days! I have to rein myself in because I want to be in the best possible shape I can be in when I actually go into the hospital. Anyway, I guess this post was longer than it needed to be. I'll try to stay on top of updating my story post-op as well.
Week of October 1 --
My surgery is scheduled at Middlesex and they have been wonderful from a communication perspective. In the days before the surgery, I received several calls from the hospital, first from patient pre-registration, to get all the information from me that you usually have to sit in the hospital and give when you are "registering." Then about 2 days before the surgery I received a call from the pre-op office and they informed me what time my surgery would be, what time I should get to the hospital, when to stop eating before the surgery and any other information I needed. Everyone I spoke with from Middlesex was professional and caring. It was very impressive.
Friday, October 5 (SURGERY DAY) --
I got to the hospital around 9:30 a.m., which is what I had been told to do. I went to the front desk and said I was scheduled for surgery and the nice woman at the desk directed me where I needed to go. I went to the pre-op area and they first did a urine test to make sure I was not pregnant (standard for every woman who undergoes the surgery). Then they brought me into a small room, had me remove my clothes and put on the hospital gown. Then a woman came in and asked me a lot of questions, inputting my answers into a portable computer terminal. She then started an IV for me and took some blood (also standard -- they blood type everyone who comes in for surgery, even though your blood type is in your medical records). Then they let my ex bf, who had brought me there, come in and stay with me. Over the course of the next hour or two, I mainly waited and answered some additional questions for some nurses. Then the anesthesiologist came in and introduced himself, and told me exactly what he would be doing and what I would experience. Now I started to get a little nervous. Luckily, my ex bf kept joking with me the whole time, so I didn't have much opportunity to focus on being scared. Then Dr. Aranow came in and explained the risks of the surgery so that I could give my informed consent to the procedure. He gave me one last chance to "back out" and leave if I wanted to. Of course, there was NO WAY that was going to happen -- I had been preparing for this day since February! Dr. A was very positive and I felt good after talking to him and just wanted to get in there and get it done!
After a little while, they came and wheeled me towards the operating room. They let my ex bf walk with me until we got to the waiting room, where he went and sat down. They gave me one of those caps that OR personnel wear to put on. Once in the OR, they had me get on the operating table and they put both of my arms out to my side on boards. That was pretty much the last thing I remember, despite the fact that the anesthesiologist had warned me that I might experience a couple more things in the OR. The next thing I remember was waking up in the recovery room. It is a vague memory but it seems there were several people in there coming out of anesthesia (one of whom was retching the entire time). I recall waiting there quite a while for someone to come over and check on me. They seemed to be busy with others who were waking up and having a difficult time. I was very fortunate. I recall awaking with no problem, no nausea or vomiting.
The next thing I recall was being in my hospital room. Then my ex bf came in with his kids, which was surprising because I couldn't figure out how they got there but I guess it was because it was several hours later than I realized. Once he spoke with Dr. A after the surgery, he left to go and get his kids and then came back. At that point, I felt completely out of it. I recall being very sleepy and that the ng tube (the drainage tube in my nose) was very uncomfortable and my throat was very dry. Unfortunately, all I could have that day was a moist swab to wet my lips and throat.
Saturday, October 6 --
I was very happy when, at 4 a.m. the nurse came in to remove the ng tube. It was extremely unpleasant coming out and it left some blood in my nostril but in a little while I was feeling much better. Overall, I felt so much better this day. I was able to take little sips of water, which made my dry throat feel SO MUCH better. I also had some visitors -- my dad and my brother, as well as my ex bf and the kids. I was really happy they were there but I was SO tired. I did walk my 16 laps over the course of the day. (Actually I walked a few laps shortly after they removed the NG tube but they told me later they couldn't count those laps. Not sure why...)
Sunday, October 7 --
This was the best day yet. First thing in the morning, again about 4 a.m., the nurse removed the catheter and disconnected me from the IV. I had stopped using the morphine pump anyway and they transitioned me over to oral pain meds instead. I felt about a million times better being more mobile, with no more catheter and no more IV (although the port for the IV was still in my hand).
By the way, I want to put in a plug for the nurses and other staff at Middlesex, especially Darla who was a darling. She took great care of me, as did Ken and Amy and the patient care technicians -- Erica, Delite, Remi, Jen and Bobbie. They were all wonderful, caring kind people. They made the entire experience so much better.
October 9 --
I'm BAAAAAACK! Actually, I got back from the hospital on Sunday evening, a day earlier than I had originally been told.
October 10 (2:00 a.m.) --
Newsflash: I felt hungry tonight. It's the first time since the surgery that I have had any sense of hunger at all in my new stomach. It passed rather quickly but it was interesting to feel that after not having felt anything even resembling hunger since the surgery on Friday. I will keep you all posted on whether it comes back! (lol)
