Bellami
ON MY WAY TO SURGERY..The Pre-Op Stuff
Jul 12, 2007
08-13-2007
Finally went to see Dr Davis today and as I expected he swayed me to having Gastric Bypass. Dr Davis reminds me of my Dad...very sweet but very strict. He can still speak the SA lingo..which no else understood of course. He ordered a whole bunch of tests. I also got the results from my EGD...I have a hiatus Hernia and a inflammed esophagus and duodenum. They say I also have sleep apnea. I say "they" 'cause I don't belive it. I have always been this way...worry about evrything at night and sleep 5 or 6 hours. I am going for my second study on 08-14-2007 and dragging hubby
with me this time since he keeps me awake all night with his snoring and gasping for air.One thing Dr Davis did say...I am spending too much time on the internet reading all the horror stories.
DH was so happy to hear this he wanted to call Dr Davis himself to say thank you for siding with him.
Sleep Study and EGD 08-08-2007
THe EGD was not so bad( since I had our pastor's wife Trena) with me. They found my esophagus and duodenum was inflammed and I had a hiatus hernia.
It also seems my healthcare beenfits are kicking in Aug 1,2007 and not next year as I originally thought.So we are back on track. I have been researching a lot and one day I want the RNY, the next the DS,the one I really want which is the gastric sleeve does not seem to be covered by Great West....so ulimately I think I will be doing the Lap-Band....I am too scared of the malnutrition and "dumping" thing.Maybe Dr Davis will sway me into something different.
My visit with Mary Jo and the nutritionist 07-23-2007 My 3rd weight-loss seminar!! With the GB they have discovered that for some reason after surgery the hormone that produces hunger decreases by 70% as well as the absorbtion area reduces so you are going to lose at least 70% of the weight you need to lose with very no effort on yr part and it happens very fast and quick.They say however that after 3 years you can start getting an appetite again.This procedure is riskier though. The lapband other than slowing down yr eating considerably and a slight decrease in appetetite takes longer to lose weight and you only lose about 40-50% of what you need to lose.With this one you need to put in the same amount of effort as a normal diet which means a whole lot of exercise too....which is something Ijust don't enjoy and also very limited because of my arthritis....The advantage to this method it is minor surgery.
I walked in there and they had puzzles to build.How could they do this to me?I cannot resist a jigsaw puzzle and it would mean I would have to go home without finishing a puzzle. In anycase I went to see Mary Jo and we hardly spoke 5 minutes and she says "would you consider being on the show Big Medicine.You are perfect for it.We will get the producer to contact you today still"...I wasn't too sure what that meant..did it mean I was fat enough or a big enough nutcase(you know BIG ratings...) ...In any case the producers did contact me and we will see what happens with that.Not the way I was planning on becoming famous.
The outcome from this visit was that I needed to have a sleep study and a GERD study done. I struggle to sleep in my own bed...not sure I can do it in someone elses bed.
Last night I attended my 3rd weight loss seminar.I originally attended Dr Felix Spiegel's but just felt like another slab of meat in the process of things.
I just watched "Big Medicine" I heard Dr Robert Davis's accent and he sounded just like me.Rushed down to the PC and checked to see he was also from South Africa...with an accent like that he has to be a brilliant surgeon ...and decided he is my man !
Found this seminar much more informative and decided to switch from my original choice (which was lapband) to Gastric Bypass.
So now the next step is to see the dietician and pshycologist on the 23rd and await approval from Healthcare.
