Bkritty

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As surgery gets closer and closer my lips are getting looser and looser about sharing my plans for weight loss surgery. I started out this journey pretty tight lipped. I really didn't feel it was anyones business any more than any other surgery needs an announcement. I also felt like until it was a definite and I was all approved and scheduled I wasn't going to even entertain opinions of others. I obviously shared my plans with my husband, my mother (who had RNY in 2005) and my therapist...along with a couple of close friends. Other than that its been on the down low. When my surgery was approved last month I decided to let my grandmother in on the plans....knowing full well that within 24 hours everyone within the continental US would know. I figured this was a way to let it out without me going around announcing it...I really didn't want to make it into such a big deal. 99% of my family and friends are supportive of whatever I choose to do whether they agree or not. It feels great to have so much support since I wasn't really sure what people would think. One of my aunts did sent me a facebook message saying she "had heard I was planning to have surgery. It is a major decision and one that you can't undo so be sure you really want to go down this road". Today I shared very casually with my stepdaughter's grandmother that I was having weight loss surgery. We share custody with her as a way to keep my stepdaughter connected to that side of her family since her mom is absent. I told her the date just as though I was giving her a heads up to a scheduling need for visitation. She says "oh which one are you having" I say RNY...she says "oh it is not going to be anything like you think its going to be" You are going to need a major recovery time and it is no picnic. You are going to be so surprised how different it is" SERIOUSLY PEOPLE? Come on! First of all I am a Nursing student!!! I have cared for gastric bypass patients and lap band patients before! I have studied far more about weight loss surgery than the average joe and even if I hadn't...why do either of these woman assume I am so ignorant that I wouldn't have looked into it thoroughly? UGH! I really didn't give them much room for their opinions and that seemed to have shut each of them up. Honestly I am quite pleased with the majority of reactions I have had so I am not getting down about it but geez!  

I am soooo excited! My surgery is scheduled for June 27th! I can't believe how quickly this process went. I could have had surgery May 2nd if I didn't have to finish the semester out first! I need to get serious about my preop eating and exercising behaviors, but June 27th here I come! :)

I was supposed to have my surgeon appointment with Dr. Dayhim on Monday and this morning I got a call saying that Dr. Dayhim was actually going to be on vacation and couldn't see me until April 25th I was really disappointed! To make a very long story short a little while later I got a call from Lynn saying Dr. Toder had some cancellations due to the storm if I could make the journey to Bangor! It took me two and a half hours to get from Waterville to Bangor but it was soooo worth it! I had originally wanted Dr. Toder to do my surgery and only recently had switched due to Dr. Toder being booked out too far for me and my school calendar. I am sooo happy! Things went really well! I could have set a tentative surgery date today but the scheduler had gone home early due to the storm so I am going to check in on Monday! Next stop....surgery! I am over the moon! :)

Kristie

I had my dietician appointment today! It was really great to finally sit down one on one with someone from the program. Up until now every appointment has been in a group so today we talked about my specific goals and needs. I had to take a quiz about my knowledge of the different surgeries and I got them all right! I lost 5.? pounds since the nut class which was only two weeks ago so the dietician was happy. She said that I don't have to come back to see her again before meeting with the surgeon! I was also happy to learn that I don't have to lose a specific amount of weight between now and surgery...I just can't gain. She said it was great if I can lose more but as long as i either maintain or lose I am fine from here on out and that definitely takes the pressure off even though I want to lose as much as I can preop. It really feels like its really happening now! I have my psych appointment on the 16th of March and then its on to meeting the surgeon...assuming the psych doesn't say I'm nuts! lol I am so happy that things are moving along and at the same time the reality of what I am embarking on is setting in more and more. I know this is what I want but its so huge! Is that normal?

Well apparently I don't have sleep apnea. I was kind of hoping that I had it and that it would be the explanation for my sleep deprivation, anxiety and maybe ease some of my asthma issues, but I guess not. I suppose three kids in the house  and going to school full time explains the sleep deprivation and anxiety....now I just hope that WLS will alleviate some of the asthma. What an awful experience the sleep study was! I was thinking it was going to be great...no sharing a bed with DH or kids calling for me in the night. I figured I could sleep through anything even if I had wires all over my body....HA. No one told me that they would scrape your skin and it would sting where they were attaching the wires and that it would sting like hell. No one mentioned that every time you move little laser beams would dance around the room. The bed was hard and the tech was obnoxious. There was no sound barrier between the "bedroom" they had me in and the hallway and every time I changed positions something would disconnect and the tech would have to come back in and mess with it. The tech said wake up was at 5am unless thats when I was in REM and then she would wait a little while. After a night of tossing and turning and finding it impossible to sleep I hit REM at 5am and when she woke me up at 615 she was all annoyed! Well thats enough crabbing for now...I suppose that puts me that much closer to surgery! Its over and I guess the very HUGE plus sign in all of this is that we have ruled out a complication that can make surgery riskier so thank god for that!

I go for my sleep study tonight. Boy I don't know if this is strange or not but I am kind of excited! I am always tired so I doubt I will have an trouble falling asleep despite what I've heard from others. I'm excited because I have been reading about the links between sleep apnea and asthma and since my asthma is about as bad as it gets....Im hoping that maybe I will have sleep apnea and get a cpap and my asthma will improve. Its probably wishful thinking but I won't be surprised at all to find out I have sleep apnea. The hubby has recently decided to tell me that I snore and have always snored. We've been sleeping in the same bed for a decade or more and he left that one out until last week! I can't sleep on my back at all and have to take a few puffs on my rescue inhaler before I even get in bed at night. I'm up a lot in the night, but that could be my anxiety too. So if I have sleep apnea its just one more lovely embarassing part of being overweight. The good news is hopefully I will have RNY soon and it will be a whole new world....