ADNK

Send Message

Block

Add Friend

Odd that I didn't want to blog the whole thing.  I did have  a bit of a bump in the road though.  My "leak test" immediately post-op showed a shadow and Dr. D decided to go back in. (Apparently the first time he had ever felt the need.  Of course my surgery was scheduled for the day that his Father passed away. He really really didn't want to cancel.)
 
There had been no problem, on further inspection, but it did delay my discharge by a day or so..

I then developed a blood clot in by left leg that required some serious treatment.

All this made me more conscious of other things than any "scale progress".  When I DID get around to really paying attention to that I discovered that 20 lbs was already gone...

A little tweaking of my post-op diet (much more protein) I began to really feel like myself again.

Now, 8 months out, I am a new woman. 100 lbs down, able to leap tall staircases like a grown-up, and reveling in my newfound foot-fastedness. (My balance has improved dramatically).  I want to get down to 155... If I'm good, I might just make it by Christmas.

Today I go to my PCP for Surgical Clearance.  I have "pre-approval" from my insurance company, I've done the pretesting and I have my date.

I'm alternately nervous & excited. August 26th is my day.

Yesterday I went into Manhattan to NY Presbyterian Hosp to talk to Dr. Dakin. (I also, for the first time, got on a scale that was "big enough" for me and found out that I weigh less than I feared - - Imagine being relieved that you *only* weigh 359 pounds) 

Then I actually met Dr. Dakin.  I reallly like him, and he said that a verticle sleeve (the procedure I'm interested in) is the only one he would have recommended for me at this time.  

*~ so we're already on the same page~*

He seemed to think that the c-section that I had in 1989 would be no impediment to a laprascopic operation, and he had his secretary give me a big folder of things I need to do. I'll be making an appointment with my PCP (who is, unfortunately, clueless about WLS) and go over what kind of referrals I will need.

I would love any input about dealing with generally supportive, but undereducated PCPs!

10/29/07
Today I made a phone call.  I have been reading about WLS for over 10 years, and today, for the first time, I talked to someone besides my husband about it. My DH ("Dear Husband") is the epitome of the long suffering darling. He loves me as I am. He'll support whatever I feel I need to do. And I can count on him to stand beside me no matter what the road ahead may throw at me.

I found out through a Yahoo Group that there was a Conference in NYC last week about Sleeve Gastrectory as a stand alone procedure.  I've done a great deal of reading about all the different kinds of WLS, and this seems , to me at least, to be the best bet for me. 
I am just under 5'5", and enough OVER 350 lbs that I don't even wiggle the biggest scale available at my health care office.  I'm 99% sure that my BMI is over 60.

One of the Docs contributing to this Summit, Dr. Gregory Dakin is listed as accepting my HMO!.  The youn man who answered his phone was as nice as you could imagine. He was ready to make an appointment for me on the spot.  lol.. I wasn't expecting that, and I hadn't really considered actually DOING anything EXCEPT making a phone call before the holidays.  But this fellow was so encouraging that I will not hesitate to call again and actually MAKE an appointment.

You might not think this is as much of an accomplishment as I do.  It's taken me a long long time to come to this point.