Appointments and tests galore - oh my!

May 16, 2012

It's been a busy month plus for me. I started attending a BSCI Back On Track Program through my new Bariatric practice. Been pretty good about completing the "homework," but not perfect. Have attended 4 of the 6 sessions (Monday nights at a hospital) so far. In the middle of things, my mother-in-law passed away. I think it affected me more than I would have expected, but I'm dealing.

I saw my new Bariatric Doctor/Surgeon. He's better looking in person than in his pictures.  LOL He seems very competent, although I find most doctors in major bariatric practices seem to be very "practiced" in what they say. His focus seemed to be on my having a Band Over Bypass revision. I left with papers that included various specialists I needed to make appointments with. Well, before I left the office I made appointments with the nutritionist and the social worker (for the psych eval - who, btw, runs the BOT program), and for an endoscopy and a colonoscopy! Having all 4 on one day (next Tuesday)! The day after thatI will see my cardiologist.

After mulling over what transpired during my visit with the doctor, I decided to email him and tell him that I really felt I should have my sleep apnea checked out and treated whether or not I have the revision. Got a call today from Advanced Sleep. I am now scheduled for a sleep study for the Friday night following the other tests and appointments! 

Although I am going through these things, I am considering the possibility that I may NOT have the revision. I doubt that my regain has as much to do with my pouch and/or stoma stretching as does my failure to follow the "rules." I know that I have not kept up with exercising, nor have I eaten properly. My old doctor had told me that it would be okay for me to eat things like chocolate candy as long as I did so in moderation. Well, if I could eat in moderation, then I wouldn't have needed the WLS!
 I am hoping that, by not only checking out the medical possible medical aspects but by also getting help for the emotional and intellectual aspects, I may be able to take charge of the problems I'm having and not need to take the drastic action of having more surgery. In any case, my mental status needs to change if I'm going to lose and maintain the weight loss no matter what I do! The only specialist I haven't made an appointment with is a Pulmonologist, who I won't need to see unless I want the BOB.

Oh - another thing I've done is joined and attended some real-time support groups in addition to online ones. From attending both my doctor's practice's group and a local group (Long Island Post Ops... LIPO), I have a feeling the LIPO one will be the most beneficial to me. Lots of inspiring people! Good info and they even run various events, both social and exercise-related. I'm looking forward to participating as much as possible! I hope that I can be helpful to someone, too. I think one of the most important things we can do to aid in becoming successes is to get support - and be supportive, too! And making new friends is a side benefit! 

So, now that I've got all that off my chest, I should get myself to bed! My sleep apnea's really been driving me crazy! Hope I've made sense in what I've written.

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