Jewelsstevens

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I am normally not a whiner, but today was slightly tough. I drank my liqiuds and had my "clump and lump-free" soups. I traeted myself to some nonfat sugarfree frozen yogurt. This treat was really key to helping me not feel so deprived. I had a work lunch and I was very proud of  myself that I was not tempted to cheat and eat any of the YUMMY mexican food that was set before me. I feel so drained, though. I have no idea if this feeling is normal but I lterally felt like I could have fallen asleep standing up. Very odd, that. Definitely not normal for me. 

What I disliked most of all was the fact that each time I ate, my stomach was growling 2 hours later. I guess the fluids do not "stay" with you.

Breakfast: Protein Shake
Mid morning: Cream of mushroom soup
Lunch: Broth
Afternoon: Protein shake
Dinner: Cream of brocolli soup
Snack: Non Fat frozen yogurt
 
Everyone that I work with has been extra supportive.

I went friday for my pre-op blood work. It was a breeze. I went to a Lab Corp facility - no appointment - and was out in less than 15 minutes. They took 4 -5 vials of my blood. I felt a little bit of a burning sensation as the blood was drawn, but overall, it was no big deal. Well, that was my last "medical" requirement for my surgery. So now, I am just waiting for my day to come. Today is the 8th....surgery on the 18th. I start my liquid pre-op diet on Tuesday, September the 11th. I am totally dreading the pre-op liquid diet.

Where am I at now? I am 6 days away from my pre op liquid diet...


To be very honest, the pre op liquid diet scares me WAY more than the actual surgical procedure itself. I am afraid of feeling like I am starving. I don't want to watch TV and see 50 pizza delivery commercials while I am only allowed liquids. I know I am being whiney. I know it is all psychological. I watch 50 pizza commercials a day and they do not affect me unless 1) I can't afford to buy any even if I wanted to or 2) I KNOW I can't have it. But, there you have it. Since solid foods will be my forbidden fruit, I will feel haunted by every Dominoes, Papa Johns, Pizza Hut, Pizza Inn, Chili's, Outback Steak House, and Red Lobster commercial there is. I thank God that insurance commercials seem to outnumber food commercials 4 to 1.

I do not fear the post op liquid diet because I believe that the surgery itself will help with the intense hunger at that point. I think I will miss the texture of food more than the food itself post-op.

But, who knows? Maybe as the surgery gets closer, the liquid diet will not seem so evil and my fear will be transferred to the surgery. The next 2 weeks will tell.

Doing the hap HAP HAPPY dance! My surgery is scheduled for September 18th. I received this date back in July so it seemed like it was so very very far away. But WOW. Time has flown and not drug. It is almost here now.

So, after my insurance was approved, my surgeon's office set up a group consultation. There were about 20-25 of us in the room. The nutritionist spoke for a few minutes, the surgeons, the post op care doctor, and a rep from Bariatric Advantage passed out samples and talked to us about a vitamin/supplement schedule. Dr. Hodges talked to us extensively about what to expect the day of surgery, our pre-op diet and what to expect for a few weeks after surgery. VERY informative. The post op care doctor was extremely informative not to mention HILARIOUS! I look totally forward to my follow up visits now.

It is also a very small world. I live in the country, about 30 minutes southeast of Dallas. After the meeting was over, a guy came up to me and said hi. He was one of my kids baseball coaches several years ago. We are having RNY with the same surgeon on the same day. What are the odds with so many bariatric surgeons in Dallas?

This was both really easy and a really big frustration. The frustration came because my surgeon left my network at some point between the time I had my consultation and the time I finished my supervised diet requirement. The frustration: It took a while for them to be able to submit my file for insurance approval because of this. The REALLY easy part: I had a verbal approval from Cigna within 5 days after they received the file. I called the 2nd day that they had the file to just verify that they had received it. Then I called each day after that to check the status of my file. I OOZED with sweetness each time I called and the people were so helpful! A few people I spoke with told me that they were in the approval process themsleves, so they really understood my "need to know". They were great!

A man I work with had RNY 2 months before my approval came. He was very excited for me to have this surgery. I emailed him when my file was sent over and I emailed him when I was approved. He laughed saying, "Man! You must speak their language or something for you to get approved so fast! It took me 2 YEARS!!!!!" I laughed and told him that I do have a Risk Management and Insurance degree.

But, I cannot take credit for the quick approval. My surgeon's office has it together! They did everything that they were supposed to right and did it the first time.

This step was super DUPER simple. I had already discussed this with my PCP before setting up my initial consult with the bariatric surgeon. All I had to do was contact her office and make the request. She had it back to me within a couple of days. I LOVE the support that I have gotten from Dr. Relda Setliff. She has constantly proven herself to be an amazing physician in all ways. She is very professional, thorough, and caring.

My insurance company, Cigna, required a 6 month medically supervised diet. So, I was required to attend a nutritional class and be weighed in once a month for 6 months. For 3 months I attended a nutritional class where I was taught how to eat healthy, read food labels, etc. and my weight was measured. A few days before my 4th month's visit, I received a call from the nutritionist office telling me that I did not have to come to any more classes. Cigna had changed their 6 month requirement to a 3 month requirement. YIPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was doing the happpy dance! Surgery will be 3 months closer if approved!!

This was definitely an interesting experience. Not so much my interaction with the psychiatrist, but the "tests" I was given. The psychiatrist was a very nice woman. She introduced herself and spent a few minutes telling me about herself. The main question that she asked me was, "What is the ONE thing that you expect from this surgery?" If I had to pick only ONE expectation that I had of my perceived experience with this surgery, what would I pick as the most important one? My answer: HUNGER CONTROL. I told her that I overeat mainly because I am ALWAYS hungry. I was tired of the constant hunger and felt that if I could just greatly reduce my hunger, then I could lose weight. Her reply: That is a very reasonable expectation.

So, she proceded to ask me questions so that she could determine if I understood what I should resonably expect my results to be post surgery and to make sure that I understood all of the surgical and non surgical options available to me. She also talked to me about my surgery choice and made sure that I felt like I had picked the right one for me.

Then, on to the exams! I had to complete 3 "tests". They were all made up of statements that I had to choose a reply for. the replies were pretty standard, such as: Never, almost never, occasionally, always. Most of the questions were pretty straight forward. A few were odd and a few were pretty creepy. An odd one was something like: I want to work in construction. Well, I DO work for a construction company LOL. Or, I want to be a teacher. No clue what these were guaging. The creepy ones included: I do what the voices in my head tell me to". CREEPY!!! I could not help but wonder how many people have ever answered always or occasionally to that one. There were others similar to that one.

Overall, a great experience. I walked in thinking that I was sure that I wanted this surgery. I walked out knowing this is what I need to do.

I have never had one of these done, but from what I understand, it was a very basic and typical experience. I was hooked up to wires (more wires! YAY YAY!). The experience basically included a breath test, pedaling an exercise bike, stopping to take a breath test, more pedaling, another breath test, more pedaling and ending in a breath test. My thighs were burning by the time I was done. But hey, I am not exactly in any kind of good shape so what should I expect? I was just infinitely grateful that the test was done on a bike and not a teadmill. Oh, how I despise treadmills!

They lady administering the test was very nice and about 6 feet tall. I would love to be as tall as her...

Overall good experience. I am in no rush to do it again until I am in better physical shape well after surgery. Then, I will conquer that bike! LOL