Anytime! You are most welcome.

Hi Kim,

I'm glad that the blog helped and I encourage you to start one just so you have a record to reflect on later. It seems like you would never forget all of the trails, tribulations and celebrations that you'll encounter on your journey, but just like moms forget exactly how old their kids were when they started crawling or saying something cute, we also forget some of these things and the blog helps. It's a great help when you reach maintenance. If you haven't done so already, I suggest that you take all of your measurements and get photos of yourself in front of a doorway: front, back and profile. It will be helpful as you make your way down the road. 

Re: the psych eval. The actual eval is generally a single visit and it is done so that they can evaluate your readiness for undertaking such significant and stressful life event. Don't be 'afraid' of the psych eval. It is done to make sure you have all the tools you need to support you in this journey. Once the eval is done, you will be seeing the psychologist in group settings, but that may or may not be the same one you saw for your evaluation. At Duke, they had us see them in the group setting once before surgery, once 3 weeks post op and then at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months post op.  

I hope that helps. 

Thanks Barbara! Reading your blog was very helpful! I am thinking about starting my own even:)
I have another question though regarding the pysch evual, is that an ongoing thing or do you meet once and thats it?

Thanks

As our body shapes change it can be a challenge to dress our 'new' bodies so that we emphasize our new assets and minimize our new challenges. I certainly don't want to tell anyone what their personal 'style' should be, but I found a fabulous resource that helps define what your new body shape is with a Body Shape Calculator and then provides tips to dress each shape to maximize the shape we have. 

Here is the url for the Body Shape Calculator:http://www.shopyourshape.com/calculate-your-body-shape.html. It's like having your own Gok Wan or Stacy and Clinton to help you with which shapes will work best to show off your new 'Shape.' 

Have fun! 

While I originally had my surgery at Duke Durham, since I live in Raleigh about 5 minutes from I Duke Raleigh, I use them now and I LOVE them! They are really very patient focused. While the programs are associated with one another, they seem to run them somewhat differently. I have found the Duke Raleigh office to be very warm and accessible. I really like the format of their support groups which have 30 mins of information presentation and then 30 minutes of Q&A and peer to peer discussion.