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October 28, 2013 - My BIG Day!!  I received my letter of approval from the insurance company last week (it was actually dated the same day the surgeon's office submitted it)!! 

So now I'm making lists, re-reading all the preparation notes/tips I can find, starting to shop to stock the pantry - so freaking excited!!  I go for my preop appointment on October 15 and will get my shakes that day and then start the 5 shakes a day until the day of surgery.  I go for hospital registration on October 16 to finalize the paperwork and then I'm just coasting until the 28th.

As someone who has never had surgery and really has never felt real severe pain, I'm nervous about the recovery, but I also realize that this should be temporary whereas the pain of being obese has been day in and day out for 15+ years and continuing to live with that pain is not an option.

I'm in a great place emotionally, have a peaceful and drama-free life and am very content overall - love my home, my job, my life and the only thing in my way is MORBID OBESITY!  I can't wait to feel better, have more energy, be able to blend in instead of standing out and all the other NSVs that will come along the way. 

Well I went to the nutrition class a couple of weeks ago, kept my food logs for 2 weeks and then had my individual appointment with the dietitian yesterday.  She said I was doing most things right and she would sign off on my surgery and send my "packet" back to the surgeon's office to be submitted to insurance.  This morning I got a call from the scheduler to set my surgery date for ...October 28!! Good Googly Moogly - that happened much faster than I expected!! 

I can't believe this is really going to happen!! Now, I'm feeling thrilled, scared, hopeful, nervous - so many emotions at once, I think my personality just split!!  One of us will be back to update!!

Well, I've been busy over the past couple of months getting things done prior to the last leg of the pre-surgery hurdles. I have seen my PCP, got all my routine labs with an "All Clear" status!  I have seen my endocrinologist and finally got my thyroid stabilized.  I have seen the GYN and am going in on 09/23/2013 for a D&C (instead of a hysterectomy); I am doing this in an effort to try to minimize the effects of my perimenopausal symptoms on my recovery from WLS. 

I had my initial WLS surgery consult on 09/03/2013 with Dr. Ryland Scott in Rome, Georgia.  He has excellent stats with regard to complications, technique, etc., and I have complete confidence in him; together we are going to change my life!!  He did tell me that because of my large hiatal hernia and severe reflux, I would not be a candidate for a sleeve, but he will perform a gastric bypass and that is fine with me.  I had all my initial preoperative labs drawn when I left his office (8 tubes - good googly moogly)

I went to the first nutritional group/class on 09/04/2013 and am now keeping food/exercise journals for the next 2 weeks to take back to my first individual meeting with the dietitian.  Once that's done, I'm probably 4-6 weeks out from surgery - WOO WOO! 

So while I've been taking care of all this "housekeeping," I have continued to eat better, exercise more (still not a lot) and have managed to lose approximately 30 pounds since starting this WLS discussion with myself in May 2013, so not losing fast, but losing and eating so much better and have learned so much during these few months about food and nutrition.  It's no wonder I was almost 300 pounds; I've been doing it wrong for 50 years!!  Of course I realize some of the standard rules of nutrition will change post gastric bypass, but at least I "get it" now and have no fears about being able to eat responsibly & well from here out.

So now I'm back to waiting (but I know it's just over the next hill)!  Start warming up my spot on the bench - I'm on my way (by the way, I have pretty wide hips, so some of ya'll are going to have to slide down a little farther to make room)!!

Well since the night I went to the information seminar, I have been a woman on a mission, crossing t's and dotting i's!  I have submitted my PCP referral, completed the psychological evaluation.  I also began taking all the recommended daily vitamins as instructed at the seminar.  The big downer was when the surgeon's office called to schedule my initial surgery consultation for September 3 - ugh, so far away!!  Anyway, I called the surgeon's assistant (as she told me to do when I saw him for my hernia a couple of months ago) to see if she can get me in earlier; so far no news.  It's so funny how after 20 years of morbid obesity, I'm all of a sudden in a hurry - wish I had this drive 20 years ago, or at least 10!!  Oh well, no going back, just looking forward!!

I've been logging all my food, making small changes like weaning my sugar from my coffee (I drink a lot of coffee), drinking lots of water and eating much healthier; I have lost almost 16 pounds in 2 months - so happy about that!!

So now I wait...