Jerrysgirl

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Jerry (of Jerrysgirl)   Words cannot express my gratitude to all of you that have provided me comfort, brought food to my family and just sat with me when I cried.  A special thanks to Charlene for being there for me the night of the 24th of Sep.  I can also never tell you what your messages, lit candles, cards and phone calls has meant to me.  I sit here writing this stunned and shocked that I don't have the love of my life with me anymore.  She was someones Soulmate, daughter, niece, sister, aunt and considered you all dear friends.   I want you all to know how much she LOVED her OH family.  The deep level of understanding you have with one another is truly remarkable.  I know it was always comforting for her to be "in this" with you all.  The decision to have VSG was not something she took lightly.  She read everything she could get her hands on, attended meetings, seminars and read threads on this board with every spare minute of her time.  Because of you all, she never felt like she was alone in this journey.  I thank you for this.   I am hoping I will be allowed to keep her profile up as a memorial to her.  I still read some of the threads I think will better help me understand...what happened to my precious wife.  I don't want ANYBODY to ever go through this.  Please "listen" to your body especially post surgery and do not be dismissed until your concern is satisfied.  If anyone would ever like to speak to me privately, please message me and I will be happy to give you my phone number.  Thanks to all of you again  

Well, I did it!!  I have my sleeve!  I am at home 4 days out and doing very well.  The experience was not that bad at all.  I did have some horrible gas pains after surgery but nothing that a shot of demerol couldn't take care of!  I am sore but moving around pretty well without having to have Jerry pull me up out of a chair or the bed - ha!  He took 3 days off to be at home with me and today was his first day back at work - Yikes!  I wish he was still here with me just because I love having him home and got used to it. 

I did decide to take another week off - everyone seems to think that one week off is just not enough and who am I to disagree with that??

So now I am concentrating on getting my fluids & protein in and getting energy levels back up. 

Okay!  I did all my preop testing this morning at the hospital and it was a breeze, only having to do bloodwork and an EKG and that's it!  So now I just go Monday morning at 10:30 and surgery is at noon.  Jerry will take me and I think my mom will come as well.  A couple of weeks ago we took her to a support group meeting of all sleeve patients. I wanted her to learn more about it and I think she really did.  

This past weekend we went to Hobbs, NM to see DH's family and they were really interested in it too. One of them said they saw something about it on TV and was impressed the way people are able to get off their medications and be healthier.

So, okay, only 6 more days of work and I'm off for a week!

Well, everything went well with all my consultations.  I saw the exercise physiologist last week and she did my measurements and had me walk on the treadmill for 1/4 mile.  She said I did it in half the time that most people do - so that's good!  She gave me a 12 week program to start and then I guess I see her quarterly.  Next time she will get me started on some hand weights I think.

One week until I go for my preop tests.  I don't know what they'll do but probably chest x-ray, blood, ekg and maybe a barium swallow - since I have the hiatal hernia that they will repair.

I'm still having these thoughts that "will this really happen for me?" I'm having a hard time picturing myself weighing less!  But I'm ready, no doubt. I just want to get the surgery and first couple of weeks under my belt. 

I got on the Wii Fit yesterday and I was down 7.7 pounds from the last time I stepped on it - umm, 23 days ago.  So, I'm going to go get on it right now!  No more excuses!!

Good News!  I have my dates for my psych evaluation and nutritionist. Both on the same day - August 4th - yeah!  I don't go to the exercise physiologist until August 21st.  It's possible that I may end up with an early September surgery date.  I'll have to talk to my doctor about it because we're supposed to go on vacation the last week of September.  I think I'll be fine by then and getting used to my new way of eating. 

I did a little more digging on the insurance thing and found out that the surgeon that I want is not covered but the hospital and anesthesiologist is!  This is good news because I can pay the doctor and it's a lot cheaper than having to fork out the whole thing!  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I haven't forgotten anything and will make my appointment with the nutritionist and psychologist (same day hopefully since I'm driving almost an hour!) and then the exercise physiologist and then hopefully get it scheduled.

I have been putting off telling my uncle about this surgery (he and I are close - my dad died in May) because he is a physician and of the "old school" and I'm afraid he's going to tell me not to do it.  I know that people say that because they just don't realize the benefits, they just think about the fact that they cut out most of your stomach. Like one of my mom's friends said "oh, Alison don't do it, just walk 4 times a week!" Whatever..

Even if I get disapproval from him I'm not going to let that hinder me because I am so excited for some real help to get to my new life - the real me that I know is in there somewhere.

I had my appointment with the doctor this morning and everything went well until I was getting ready to leave and they told me that my insurance doesn't pay for WLS (mine or my husband's).  I was disappointed but not entirely surprised.  I knew my insurance wouldn't pay and wasn't sure about his but now I know. 

We had decided that I still wanted to have it done regardless so now we're deciding exactly how we will go about it!

Well tomorrow is my one on one consult with my surgeon.  I had gone to his seminar last week with the idea that I was going to get a lapband!  Two of the ladies there had already had surgery and both had had the vertical sleeve which surprised me because I had read a little bit about it but didn't think it was done that much yet.  Boy was I wrong.  I mentioned to the doctor that I had a hiatal hernia and he told me that the sleeve was the way for me to go!  Whoa!  I hadn't given any thought to that so it took me back a little bit. 

I went home and starting reading everything I could find about it and my husband and I decided that we couldn't find anything negative to speak of about it so I'm thinking that's what I'll do. It kinda freaks me out to think that the majority of my stomach will be removed but I think I'm ready.

Until tomorrow..