MDwife
My journey of hope
Apr 07, 2008
Hi there,
I am just now at the beginning of my "journey of hope".
I have a consultation booked with the surgeon that I am pretty sure I am going to go with this coming Thursday, April 10, 2008. I have a list of questions a mile long to ask!
So, I will keep you posted......
April 11, 2008
I had my consultation with Dr. Klein yesterday. What a nice man he is (and nice looking too!)
We made some small talk then got down to business.
He told me the differences between the 2 types of surgeries (RNY and LAP) and I told him that I had already decided on the RNY for some various reasons. He told me that for me the RNY would be very helpful for typeII diabetes which I have. He told me that the diabetes will be gone by the next day.
We discussed surgery risks and side effects.
He told me that I would need to meet with: a social worker, a dietician, an internist, have a sleep study, a stress test (for anyone over the age of 50) and go to a nutrition class at the hospital.
I was also given a packet for my PATT.
Then came the best part....I got my surgery date of June 13, 2008....hooray for me!!!
April 15, 2008
Well, not too much to add today. So far I have an appointment booked with the social worker Shelley Aranov on April 24th and HRRH contacted me yesterday that I am to attend a nutrition class on May 22nd. I am still waiting to hear from Dr. Glazer's office and I am getting concerned because I need to meet with him and have a sleep study and stress test done all in enough time for the results to get to Dr. Klein before my surgery on June 13th (I hope!) I will update again when I have more info.
April 17, 2008
OK, the ball is really rolling fast now. I have all my appointments arranged except for the stress test and sleep study, but apparently these appointments can be set up quickly. I see Dr. Glazer on May 1st, attend the nutrition class at HRRH on May 8th (I made a boo-boo on my last post and said it was on May 22nd), meet with Doreen Klar (nutritionist) on May 15th and have my PATT on May 22nd. Do these people all only work on Thursdays??
Will update again soon
May 31, 2008
I know that I haven't updated for awhile now but here we go....
On April 24th I met with the social worker Shelley Aranov. She is the private SW. She was really nice to talk to...she reminded me of an old friend of mine from high school. We discussed things like emotional eating, how would I handle certain situations post-op, do/did I have a support system at home, do I think I will be able to manage an entirely new eating lifestyle, etc, etc. She said that I was an excellent candidate for surgery and she will send an approval letter to Dr. Klein. Yay...another hurdle out of the way!
On May 1st I met with Dr. Glazer (the internist) and his nurse/recptionist Lily. When I got there Lily took down all the pertinent info and then did a ECG on me. Then I was sent back to the waiting room until Dr. Glazer was ready for me. Dr. Glazer finally called me in and he went over my ECG with me, took my BP, asked me more questions and then said that he wants me to have some tests...a sleep study for sleep apnea, an echocardiogram and a nuclear stress test. The last 2 tests were set up for May 7th and the sleep study clinic would call me when they have a cancellation.
May 7th....the above 2 test were done and I was at the diagnostic clinic for almost 3 hours. Needless to say I was tired from basically doing nothing!! Just as I was leaving to go home I got a call from Lily (Dr. Glazer's office) who told me that there was a cancellation for the sleep study that night and do I want it. As much as I was tired and wanted to say no, I took it since I didn't know when there would be a cancellation again.
May 7th at night. so, I go for the sleep study. To put it bluntly, it was a night of hell. I was attached to an unbelievable number of wires. It is hard to explain but those of you who have had a sleep study will certainly understand! We were awoken at 5:30 am and I was out by 6am
May 8th This was the day of my nutrition class at HRRH. It took everything I had to muster up enough energy to go to that class. The class was just OK...that is my opinion!
May 15th...met with Doreen Klar the private dietician at her office at Eglinton and Yonge. This meeting went well also but she didn't tell me anything that I didn't already know. She also said that a letter would go to Dr. Klein approving me for surgery.
May 16th..finally got a call from Dr. Glazer's office that I was "cleared for surgery!" Finally....it's a go!!!!
May 22nd. This was the day of my PATT (pre admission testing and teaching) at HRRH when my surgery is taking place. Had bloodwork done, had a chest X-ray, and met with the nurse and with the anaesthologist. Best news was that we didn't have to do a bowel prep
!
So that brings me to now.....I began my 2 weeks of Optifast yesterday as I have to be finished it by June 12th. It isn't as bad as I had thought it would be. The chocolate is decend but the vanilla is NASTY!!! I find that I am really tired by 4pm but it will probably get better as the days go on. I guess my body is shocked as I am suddenly almost starving it. We have to shrink our livers and the docs want us in what they call ketosis. That is when you are really burning fat. I am hoping for at least a 16 lb weight loss pro-op. I hope I am successful!!!
More later.......
I am just now at the beginning of my "journey of hope".
I have a consultation booked with the surgeon that I am pretty sure I am going to go with this coming Thursday, April 10, 2008. I have a list of questions a mile long to ask!
So, I will keep you posted......
April 11, 2008
I had my consultation with Dr. Klein yesterday. What a nice man he is (and nice looking too!)
We made some small talk then got down to business.
He told me the differences between the 2 types of surgeries (RNY and LAP) and I told him that I had already decided on the RNY for some various reasons. He told me that for me the RNY would be very helpful for typeII diabetes which I have. He told me that the diabetes will be gone by the next day.
We discussed surgery risks and side effects.
He told me that I would need to meet with: a social worker, a dietician, an internist, have a sleep study, a stress test (for anyone over the age of 50) and go to a nutrition class at the hospital.
I was also given a packet for my PATT.
Then came the best part....I got my surgery date of June 13, 2008....hooray for me!!!
April 15, 2008
Well, not too much to add today. So far I have an appointment booked with the social worker Shelley Aranov on April 24th and HRRH contacted me yesterday that I am to attend a nutrition class on May 22nd. I am still waiting to hear from Dr. Glazer's office and I am getting concerned because I need to meet with him and have a sleep study and stress test done all in enough time for the results to get to Dr. Klein before my surgery on June 13th (I hope!) I will update again when I have more info.
April 17, 2008
OK, the ball is really rolling fast now. I have all my appointments arranged except for the stress test and sleep study, but apparently these appointments can be set up quickly. I see Dr. Glazer on May 1st, attend the nutrition class at HRRH on May 8th (I made a boo-boo on my last post and said it was on May 22nd), meet with Doreen Klar (nutritionist) on May 15th and have my PATT on May 22nd. Do these people all only work on Thursdays??
Will update again soon
May 31, 2008
I know that I haven't updated for awhile now but here we go....
On April 24th I met with the social worker Shelley Aranov. She is the private SW. She was really nice to talk to...she reminded me of an old friend of mine from high school. We discussed things like emotional eating, how would I handle certain situations post-op, do/did I have a support system at home, do I think I will be able to manage an entirely new eating lifestyle, etc, etc. She said that I was an excellent candidate for surgery and she will send an approval letter to Dr. Klein. Yay...another hurdle out of the way!
On May 1st I met with Dr. Glazer (the internist) and his nurse/recptionist Lily. When I got there Lily took down all the pertinent info and then did a ECG on me. Then I was sent back to the waiting room until Dr. Glazer was ready for me. Dr. Glazer finally called me in and he went over my ECG with me, took my BP, asked me more questions and then said that he wants me to have some tests...a sleep study for sleep apnea, an echocardiogram and a nuclear stress test. The last 2 tests were set up for May 7th and the sleep study clinic would call me when they have a cancellation.
May 7th....the above 2 test were done and I was at the diagnostic clinic for almost 3 hours. Needless to say I was tired from basically doing nothing!! Just as I was leaving to go home I got a call from Lily (Dr. Glazer's office) who told me that there was a cancellation for the sleep study that night and do I want it. As much as I was tired and wanted to say no, I took it since I didn't know when there would be a cancellation again.
May 7th at night. so, I go for the sleep study. To put it bluntly, it was a night of hell. I was attached to an unbelievable number of wires. It is hard to explain but those of you who have had a sleep study will certainly understand! We were awoken at 5:30 am and I was out by 6am
May 8th This was the day of my nutrition class at HRRH. It took everything I had to muster up enough energy to go to that class. The class was just OK...that is my opinion!
May 15th...met with Doreen Klar the private dietician at her office at Eglinton and Yonge. This meeting went well also but she didn't tell me anything that I didn't already know. She also said that a letter would go to Dr. Klein approving me for surgery.
May 16th..finally got a call from Dr. Glazer's office that I was "cleared for surgery!" Finally....it's a go!!!!
May 22nd. This was the day of my PATT (pre admission testing and teaching) at HRRH when my surgery is taking place. Had bloodwork done, had a chest X-ray, and met with the nurse and with the anaesthologist. Best news was that we didn't have to do a bowel prep
!So that brings me to now.....I began my 2 weeks of Optifast yesterday as I have to be finished it by June 12th. It isn't as bad as I had thought it would be. The chocolate is decend but the vanilla is NASTY!!! I find that I am really tired by 4pm but it will probably get better as the days go on. I guess my body is shocked as I am suddenly almost starving it. We have to shrink our livers and the docs want us in what they call ketosis. That is when you are really burning fat. I am hoping for at least a 16 lb weight loss pro-op. I hope I am successful!!!
More later.......
