"Well I finally met Dr. Ian Sanderson after waiting over a year for my first consultation on November 19, 2001. I figured I'd be in for a long wait so I got to his office early and low and behold I was the only one there. I figured since I had to wait over a year the place would be packed.
What I found very amusing was that all the chairs were narrow with arms on them, lol. Well first off, he told me how addictive my personality was (like I didn't know) I smoke, I'm a binger, etc. He gave me heck. I told him I would quit smoking and he told me he didn't believe me. In the end he said quit at least a month ahead of the operation it will be easier on you. I haven't quit as yet but I've got my prescription filled for Zyban which helps you quit smoking and I ended up having an allergic reaction. I quit smoking for awhile (3-4 weeks) then started again due to stress at work. So I guess I'll quit the month before by using the nicotine patch if I can tolerate it. When I had approximately 8 major surguries I know how much it hurts when you cough (and I didn't even smoke then). Dr. Sanderson definitely scared me and mostly gave me negative vibes, whether it was to weed me out it's hard to say. He told it like it was. I didn't get to ask any of my questions he told me his secretary would schedule my appointments for bone density, social worker, doctor and dietician and that appointment is January 17, 2002. He told me we'd be looking at surgery in March 2002 which I was happy about. That info changed when I talked to his secretary she said I probably wouldn't be scheduled until June 2002. So down I went again.
I heard that Dr. Sanderson was the best surgeon so I thought I'd wait out the time. Lets just say Dr. Sanderson tells it like he sees it. Reality first!
Our second meeting on January 17th, 2002 I though I'd met a completely different doctor. Dr. Sanderson was fantastic with me, so I then knew he was screening the serious people from the frivolous. I signed all my papers and my post-op test for hospital is on May 7th. My date for surgery has been set for May 28th, 2002 but just recently was changed to May 21st. Whoppee! I can't wait to get to the other side like everyone else.
"
"Denise said that the next time that we would meet would be when I was in the hospital about 4 days after surgery. She went into detail about everything I asked or didn't ask and spent about
1-1/2 hours with me. She even had a yogurt container which held approximately 4 ounces which would be all I could eat or drink at one time after the operation, just to give me an idea how small my stomach would be after."
