Good morning :)

So I've been watching the new tidying up show on Netflix which inspired me to start clearing out some of the stuff from our storage room. I've already had two pickups and I have more going today. We had talked about renting a storage unit to declutter our house, especially if we were considering moving, but I want to wait and see if I can get rid of stuff and save the money.

Today I have an appointment with a counsellor to talk about some of the stuff that has been going on lately. I find sometimes it is helpful to talk about what is going on and review some strategies for dealing with issues that come up. This is my first time meeting this person because my regular counsellor is on maternity leave.

QOTD: do you like to hoard stuff or would you consider yourself to be more of a minimalist? I'm definitely on the hoarding end of the spectrum. One of the main reasons for this is that my family owns a self storage company and I had a unit since I was a teen. I never had to throw anything away. When we moved into our current house I went through a big transition and was able to purge a ton of stuff and get rid of my storage space. I want to get it down even further now :)

Post-op three years and ten months.

Breakfast - protein bar

Snack - Greek yogurt and blueberries

Lunch - cheese and pepperettes

Snack - homemade applesauce with something...

Dinner - chili and quinoa

Snack - pudding

All water and vits.

Thank you! Will do! Is that how you got your first appointment so quickly? (Just looking at your timeline!)

I definitely plan on bringing my journal with me to show them the changes I've made so far.

Woohoo how exciting for you! I remember being over the moon when I finally had my orientation back in April and now here I am so close to surgery. It does feel like it takes forever but when I look back at it, it feels like it just flew by.

It's awesome that you are making changes at this point as it shows you are really committed and ready to jump in with both feet. Keep reading and watching videos and researching and learn as much as you can as it will help get you in a good place when the time comes. I am so happy for you!

You remind me of myself when I was waiting for the orientation letter! haha Things start to speed up but keep calling for cancellations to get your dates moved up after orientation.

Your healthier lifestyle goals are great! Keep doing them and talk about your changes with the social worker and nurse. They will appreciate the effort you're making.

I finally received an orientation date! January 29th! I'm literally counting down the days!

I have been chasing this surgery for 4 years. I asked my family doctor twice to refer me to the network and he refused both times. The first time he referred me to Dr. Poon, but when I researched what he was about, it sounded like another diet program to fail at. I live quite far from their offices as well, so I never ended up attending. The second time, my doctor talked to me about depression and thought maybe I should try antidepressants to see if it would help me gain control of my habits and supress my appetite. I took Prozac for a few months before stopping because I didn't like the way they made me feel.

I had had my family doctor since birth and he retired in April 2018. I eventually decided to try the walk in clinic to see if I could get a referral from them in September 2018. Again, I got the whole Dr. Poon talk and the talk about nutrients and what I should be eating. At the end of the visit, he did agree to refer me to Bariatric Network, but a few weeks later when I followed up with his office, they informed me that he had actually referred me to Dr. Poon instead. I once again denied the referral. I'm sick of diets and it seems like a short term solution for a long term problem.

I FINALLY got an awesome new family doctor in October 2018 who agreed that the Bariatric Network sounded like a great opportunity for me based on my history. He agreed to refer me and did so November 9th. I was originally referred to TWH, but I called them to be redirected to Humber River because I liked the thought of just getting on and off the 401 for the journey to Toronto because it is about an hour away (with traffic).

I had called Humber to check on my file at the beginning of December just to make sure it had been successfully transferred, and it was. I waited anxiously for my package in the mail, but nothing. Two days ago, I decided to call the hospital again just to see if I had been assigned a date and the woman I spoke to was very friendly and offered to book me in for January 29th! She sent me my paperwork through email a few hours later.

I am so EXCITED! I know its a small step in the big picture of it all, but it's a step forward!! I have started keeping a journal to track some goals I'm working towards because I know I have some emotional eating issues and just eating out of habit when I'm not hungry. So far I haven't had any pop for 5 days, I've been working on getting 8 glasses of water a day, cutting back to one coffee a day (from 2-3), and upping my protein. I meal prepped on Sunday, which has been super helpful since I do have a 9 month old at home and that has been one of my excuses for a while. I've been talking to other post surgery patients and asking lots of questions, I've read books, I've read websites... I'm informed and super confident that this surgery will help me change my life!

Woo! That was long, sorry! But I'm too happy right now! Only 20 days to go!