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Oh my goodness, so much has happened over the past few days!  I got a call last Thursday, letting me know that my surgery would be on June 24th.  I was so excited to finally have my date.  I started arranging things for that time, letting people know that I would not be available, telling friends & family, etc.  Well, I got another call this Monday.  It was Megan, Dr. Sudan's Admin. Assistant.  She was calling to let me know that there had been a cancellation and was giving me the opportunity to have my surgery sooner.  Awesome!  When?  NEXT WEEK!!!  AHHHHH!  I asked her to give me a little while to make sure we could work everything out to make that happen.  The next day, I called her back and I accepted the date!  May 12th, next Thursday.  That's when I'll be getting my switch!

I've been extremely busy since I got that call.  I had to let a few people know that things had changed and had to work out which dates my husband would have to take off from work and see if his time off would be approved.  Thankfully, there's FMLA so there wasn't an issue.  He has 2 weeks of vacation he can take after my surgery and, if necessary, he can take time off unpaid after that because of FMLA.  His parents will be coming down on the 3rd week after surgery to help me with the kids and cooking, etc.  That's the week that my husband plans on going back to work.  I also had to book a hotel for my husband and kids to stay at while I am in the hospital.  That was a bit more difficult that I expected.  Did you know that you can ask for a medical rate at many hotels?  I didn't so I'm glad I asked Megan (at Dr. Sudan's office) about it.  Courtyard Marriott offers a rate of $79/night!  That's where I tried to book but they couldn't offer me that rate for as many nights as I needed.  That's when I started calling around to other hotels in the area.  They offered medical rates but were either full or couldn't offer me the discount for the nights I needed.  Come to find out, Duke graduation is going on that weekend!  I finally found a room about 25 minutes south of the hospital.  That's not ideal but it's the best I could find. 

I don't know why, but I have had the urge to purge and get my house in order.  Yesterday I went through the kids' clothes.  I had a stack of outgrown clothes on the extra bed in my daughter's room, 2 bins of outgrown clothes (both my son's and my daughter's) in her room, a bin of my son's clothes and shoes downstairs and a bin full of toys that we want to get rid of.  Well, Monday evening, a charity that we like to donate to called us and said they would have a truck in the area next Monday.  They asked if we had any items to donate and I said, "Heck yeah!"  So I spent all day yesterday bagging stuff up for friends and for charity.  That was a big job but I got it all done and out of the way.  It will all be out of my house by Monday morning!  I'm so excited to get rid of it all!  Today, I ran to Target to pick up a few things.  I had been meaning to get a new kitchen trash can so I did that, I finally got some banker's boxes for some old files I had been meaning to purge and I spent the evening doing that.  I now have a clean desk but a pile of stuff to shred.  I'm not too worried about the shredding right now.  I can have my son help me with that another time.  He likes to shred. ;) 

I purchased my pill organizer and protein samples online earlier this week and I received the pill organizer and one box of protein samples today.  I bought snacks for the kids to have during our "trip," some sugar free drink mixes so I can be sure to get my water in and a personal fan to keep me cool in the hospital.  I'm hot natured and the last thing I want is to be hot while I'm already uncomfortable.  I guess this is the equivalent to nesting before a birth.  I really feel like I'm nesting. 

I have to go for pre-op appointments on both Friday and Monday.  That really sucks because I live 2.5 hours away from the doctor's office so that's 10 hours of driving, total, over those 2 days.  Friday will be my appointment w/Dr. Sudan and my hospital pre-op stuff (anesthesia interview, etc.)  Monday will be "group."  I have no idea what to expect on that day.  I've never been to a support group of any kind.  Oh well, there's a first for everything!

I've got lots more to do over the next few days but I plan on taking it very easy this weekend.  Can't wait to relax a little!

OK, I had my initial appointment at Duke Metabolic & Weight Loss Surgery Program.  (That's the full, long name for the practice where Dr. Sudan is.)  My appointment was last Monday, April 18th.  I saw Dr. Friedman, one of the Psychologists, first.  I told myself that I wasn't going to cry but I did a little bit.  I think it was partially because of my nerves.  I was excited and nervous about this appointment.  The psych consult went well.  No strange or prying questions.  Then I went in w/the nurse where she checked my BP, weight/body composition and temperature.  Then went back and waited for a long time in a hot room for Dr. Sudan.  I guess they were having problems cooling the exam rooms properly.  It was a warm day (near 80 degrees) and the rooms were pretty toasty.  Thankfully, I brought something to read and a Bible study to work on so I had stuff to do while I waited.  I ran out of water, though, and went out to ask the nurse if there was any water.  She graciously gave me a bottled water, which I guess they have available all the time - you just have to ask, I guess.  My best estimate is that they block out an hour for each appointment (psych, nut & dr) because I was there for about 3 hours that day. 

So I got to see Dr. Sudan.  He was not all "warm and fuzzy" but he had a very calm, gentle demeanor.  I like that; it makes me feel more at ease with him.  I don't like when docs are hurried and high strung.  He had to read some info off of the computer b/c the staff hadn't printed off my application info for him.  He seemed concerned about that b/c he wouldn't be able to look at me while he asked me questions.  I thought that was caring.  :)   He asked me lots of medical "screening" questions and there wasn't much to discuss.  Then he asked me if I had any questions for him.  That's when I asked him about my large diastasis (separation of the muscles/thinning of my abdominal wall) due to 2 pregnancies with very large babies.  He felt for a hernia and didn't feel one and advised me that it would be best to wait until I had lost weight then have an abdominoplasty to correct that.  I figured that's what he would say but I just wanted to make sure.  I told him that I didn't have any other questions because I had talked to some of his other patients (thanks OH!) and had researched him pretty well.  He said that he was just fine with that... and that was that for the most part.

After that, I met with Elizabeth, the nutritionist.  She was nice, friendly and somewhat informative, although I'm sure it's what she goes over with all pre-ops.  There was some info that she stressed to me that I know is for RNYers, not DSers - chewing food very, very, very well and not drinking while eating.  Strange.  I just smiled and nodded. 

I got to see the phlebotomist next.  She was awesome!  I can't remember her name right now and I hate that!  I think it might have been Crystal but I'm not sure.  She was so friendly and sweet.  She drew my blood while we chatted and chatted.  She gave me a big hug afterward and told me that she had a good feeling about me.  Isn't that sweet?  I can't wait to go back just to see her again! :)  Then I checked out.  They sent me over to the hospital (Durham Regional) right next door for a chest x-ray and EKG.  That all took about an hour then I headed home.  

I left my house at 8:30 that morning and got home at 6:30 that evening.  Whew!  It was a full, full day.  (It's a 2.5 hour drive from my house to Durham.  That's what added the extra time.) 

Fast forward to today.  I got my lab results.  Talk about confused!  I know what some of them are but there are some that I have no idea about!  I'm asking questions on the DS forum and hoping to find a good spreadsheet where I can track all of my data.  I want to be able to track and compare all of my labs so I know what the heck is going on next time I have them drawn.

Meanwile, I have been meeting up with some local DSers - some pre-op, some post-op.  It has been wonderful forming new relationships with folks who know what I'm going through.  Since most support groups are filled with banders & RNYers, I thought it was important to get together with DSers.  There were no DS groups in my area as far as I knew and I think it's important for us to get together, so another gal on OH & I came up w/the idea to start a local DS group.  Already, after 2 meetings, I'm so glad we did!

I received a notice in the mail this week from my insurance company.  They have pre-approved my Psych stuff (eval. and 9 group therapies) as in-network until the end of this year.  That's awesome news!  I hope the DS approval will be as simple.

I'm getting excited about our DS meet up this Saturday.  Another OH member and I really wanted to get together with other DSers in our area so we decided to make it happen.  We should have a pretty good turn out for our first meeting ever.  I'm so excited to meet others who have had or will have the DS. :)

I heard back from Duke on Monday.  That was 3 weeks to the day.  Not as long as I expected! :)  My initial consult, psych eval, etc. is on April 18th.  That's 4 weeks away (well, more like 3 & 1/2 now.)  I just recieved my packet in the mail today so I get to go through all of that and fill out all of the forms.  Whee!  Hey, whatever I have to do to get this process moving. ;)

Forgot to update - I submitted my application to Dr. Sudan's office on Monday, 2/21.  A friend who is currently in the pre-surgical process w/Dr. Sudan said that it took about a month to hear from them then 3-4 weeks before her initial appointment.  So now I wait.

Hi!  I've been lurking and actively posting on this site for quite a while so it's time I start blogging a little.  I'm ready to get this journey started!

I'm Kathy, a 37 year old SAHM to 2 kids (6yo son & 2yo daughter) and I currently homeschool.  They keep me very busy. ;) 

My past weight issues...  I have been "heavier" since the 4th grade.  No, I wasn't obese then but that's when my weight issues started.  That's when my peers started noticing and comments started coming in from my little kid friends.  I was probably around a size 16/18 when I was in the 7th grade then thinned out to about a size 12/14 in the 9th grade.  I was at my smallest ever, at a size 10/12 in the 10th & 11th grades.  I was still bigger than a lot of girls that I went to school with.  I felt good about myself then but I still thought I was a little heavy and I was definitely self-conscious in a bathing suit.  I wish I could go back and smack some sense into my teenage self.    My senior year of high school, I started putting on weight.  I think I was a size 16/18 when I graduated and I just kept going up & up; not a whole lot at a time but gradually.  I was a size 18/20 in college, a size 22/24 when I was 23, a size 24 when I got married (at 27,) a size 26/28 when I got pregnant w/my first child (at 29) and a size 30/32 when I got pregnant with my second child (at 34.)  I am a 30/32 now and my weight stays steady between 350 & 360.  I am 5'8" so that makes my BMI a 54 or so.  That's Super Morbidly Obese...as if obese wasn't bad enough, or morbidly obese for that matter. 

I hate my body after getting this big and having babies.  It's all stretched out, bulging in areas and floppy in other areas.  I feel like a mess!  The biggest reason that I want to have WLS, though, is the fact that I have so little energy.  I feel so horrible for my kids because I can't get up and play with them like I want to and like they want me to.  It's hard for me to get up and down from a seated position without my knees getting sore and it's tough for me to stand for very long.  I can walk but at a slower pace than most and I tire more easily.  It's not so much that I'm really tired, it's that my back hurts or my feet hurt from carrying all this weight.  I am pretty "healthy" as far as not having any serious co-morbidities but my stamina sucks.  I pretty much NEED a nap most days and it's hard for me to get out of bed at a reasonable time in the morning.  Thank God my daughter sleeps until 8 or 9 every day!  Another problem for me is my temper & stress levels.  I do well most of the time but my temper flares easily because I'm too tired to deal with stress most of the time.  I am sooo ready to have some energy again!

Let's see...diets.  Sure, I have tried to lose weight multiple times like most obese people have.  A few years ago, though, I reached a point where I thought to myself, "Why do I keep torturing myself like this?"  Every time I lose weight, no matter the method, I end up falling off the wagon, gaining it all back plus some.  Sound familiar?  Yeah, it's all too familiar to most of us.  So I just gave up on diets.  Guess what?  Ever since then, I have stayed around the same weight.  Hmm...   

Weight loss surgery...  I started looking into Lap Band a few years back.  It seemed like the least invasive procedure out there and it was reversable...or so I thought.  I have since found out that it is not considered a surgery that is super easily reversible, sooo many people have problems with food getting stuck, horrid heartburn and reflux, not being able to find that "sweet spot" and not being able to eat the foods that you most need to eat in order for it to really help you lose weight.  There were also stories of band slippage, erosion, port problems, etc.  Once I started researching it, it sounded like a nightmare!  Totally NOT what I wanted to do to myself.  Failure rates were too high and complications were terribly numerous.  That's the point when I started looking into the RNY.  I have a relative who had a RNY a few years back.  She lost a lot of weight but never got to goal and gained at least 75% of it back.  Through my research, I learned that it happens a lot.  I also learned that dumping was possible.  Ugh!  That sounds horrible!  There have also been too many reports of food getting stuck, vommiting, and, once again, not being able to eat the foods you really need to stay healthy (protein, meats, etc.)  Then there's tha fact that RNYers have a "blind stomach" sitting out there making hunger hormones.  Also, that stomach can't be scoped if the need arises.  How horrible!  Why would I put myself through such an invasive, altering surgery for that?  Then I found out about the DS.  I had heard of it but the info I heard (from a doctor who doesn't do the DS) was scary.  He said, "There *is* one other surgery out there that I don't do and it's called the DS.  I don't do that surgery because people die from it."  That was all that was said about the DS so naturally I said to myself, "Well, I don't want that!"  Then I came to OH and saw a whole forum for DSers and started reading out of curiosity.  I wondered why anyone would have *that* surgery if the risks of dying from it were so high.  Ha-ha!  I found out that this doctor was either trying to scare people out of the DS because he wouldn't make any money off of them if that's the surgery they wanted or he was just grossly misinformed.  Hmm...

So...Why the DS?  Boy did I get an education!  I learned that the risks of the DS surgery are only very slightly higher than the RNY.  We're talking only a fraction of a percent!  The DS takes a little longer to perform because it *is* more involved, surgically, than the RNY or lap band.   BUT...  DSers have a normal (albeit smaller) stomach which functions exactly like a regular stomach (no dumping,) and it's not a tiny pouch or stoma where food can get stuck.  There *is* more of a malabsorptive aspect with the DS than the RNY but that is where the success comes in.  I found out that the DS's success rate is better for losing more excess body weight and it is so much higher for maintainging weight loss.  WHAT?!!!  I couldn't believe what I was reading!  After researching, I knew that THIS was the right surgery for me.  With more weight loss, a more enjoyable eating experience for the rest of my life and better chances of keeping it off, this was it! 

**DISCLAIMER - Don't get mad at me for posting my findings and opinions of them here.  This is my page and this is about me, not you....so please don't take anything personally.**

Searching for a surgeon...  Well, the surgeon I mentioned above was out.  He "doesn't do the DS because people die from it."   So where was I supposed to find a surgeon who does the DS?  I found a list on dsfacts.com.  Yay!  There's a surgeon in Charlotte!  Um...not so fast...Once I started asking questions about him, I got some not-so-great responses.  He's not very popular around here.  I still went to his informational seminar but I was so turned off by the whole thing.  After the doctor was finished talking, they made everyone go out into a hallway, line up and get a certificate, proving that you were there and that you attended the seminar.  Oh yeah, at the same time, you could pay $100 to make an appointment with the doc.  Um...$100 just to make an appointment?  I don't think so!  It seemed more like a hard sell than an info session.  With that, the opinions of others and my finding out that this doc hasn't done very many DSs, I was off looking for another, more experienced surgeon with a much better reputation.  I asked around and consulted dsfacts.com again and found a surgeon in Atlanta.  After researching a bit about him, finding out that he has done lots of DS surgeries, has lots of happy patients and he teaches certain aspects of this procedure, I was set!  That was my man!  Uh oh - setback.  I have a high deductable insurance plan and I knew that I would have to come up with at least a few thousand dollars just to meet my out of poscket maximum for the year but I just didn't see how that was going to happen.  Where was that money going to come from?  We were already overextended as it was.  So, I put the whole thing on hold.  Well, last year, my DH ended up with an unexpected raise and we were able to refinance the house so all of that put us in a better position - not great but better.  So...I started thinking it over again.  How am I going to travel to Atlanta to have surgery?  I have 2 kids who need someone to care for them 24/7, I would have to be in Atl for at least 2 weeks, DH has a limited number of vacation days, my mom would probably be unwilling to stay with the kids 24/7 for 2 weeks, my ILs are aging and I'm not sure they would be able to do the job.  Who would travel with me?  Do they have a car?  Would they be able to make the drive?  Would they be able to care for me after surgery?  It was all making my head spin!  So I put the idea on hold for a little while longer, thinking it just wasn't going to work out.  Then I began hearing more and more about this doctor at Duke...good things. :)  A-ha!  I started researching him and asking questions about him.  All opinions were favorable, I found out that he teaches this surgery and he has very good success rates.  He is very experienced with the DS and his patients have very good things to say about him.  On top of all that, he is only 2.5 hours away from me.  That means that I would be able to go in for surgery, recover for a few days in teh hospital and have DH drave me straight home after getting out of the hospital...so I wouldn't have to pay for a hotel and spend my time recovering away from home.  2.5 hours is a much easier drive than 4+ hours!  Score!  OK, this is my man!

Okay, I found a surgeon.  Now what?  I'm in the process of filling out the application for an appointment to see Dr. Sudan.  I don't really have a primary doctor and I need to have one listed on the application.  I asked around on OH and I got a couple of suggestions but neither one of them are going to work out.  One is way too far from me (2 hours) and the other is not in network for my insurance.  Oh well, I'm just going to go with the doc I saw last year.  I gave her some info on the DS and, hopefully, she has looked it over. If not, I will teach her about it.   I would prefer to have a primary who knows about the DS but most docs don't know anything about it and I'm having no luck finding someone who does, who is in network and is close to me.  You just don't want to have to drive across town to your primary when you're sick.  You know?  So...I'm going with her.  So I went back to fill out my form and I don't have the stinkin' fax number for the office.  Urgh!  A hang-up.  Oh well, I'll call in the morning.  Then I can finally get this ball rolling.  I AM going to have this surgery done this year!  I have waited long enough and I am so ready to get on with my life, get healthy again and give back to my family and others!

Allright, that's where I am right now.  I will call and get my doctor's fax number in the morning so I can finally submit this application.  I'll update more later. :)