Songbrd99

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I can't believe that I have literally 12 hours before I go under the knife! This has flown by sooooo fast!

To give a quick update...

I attended my nutrition class at Shady Grove and met the guy that is going before me. What a sweet guy! His name is George and he is having bypass and getting his hernia fixed and gall bladder removed. I plan on visiting him in the hospital when I am done too. :)

I also went for my final follow up for pre-op stuff with my surgeon and therapist. Johnny (my brother) and Mom came with me to meet the office and see where I have been spending my time over the past couple of months. They seemed really impressed with everyone they met and they got to see a bunch of before and after pictures.
We met with Dr. P and we just had a quick check to make sure I didn't have any questions. Then, we met with the therapist to discuss the next phase in my diet and to discuss my expectations.
After that meeting, I was told it was time for my body scan. I wasn't sure what to expect with this...so she takes me into this room and tells me that I need to put my hair up, take off all of my clothes and step into this booth. Once I was in there, she came back in and turned on the machine.
::in the booth, a voice comes on::
"Welcome to the most up-to-date technology in body scan technology today..." "...when ready, please place your feet on the footprints and grab the handle bars to the side. Raise your neck slightly. When ready, please push the button on the right handle and remain still..."
I'm not going to lie...it kind of freaked me out and I almost felt like I was on a ride.
I got into position and pushed the button and one by one, these lights started flashing all over the booth. They were very sporatic and began to pick up speed until they were basically all on. Then the machine went dark.
::voice comes on::
"Thank you for experiencing the most up to date technology in body scanning."

Very odd experience to say the least. I was told to get dressed and then when I went out, she brought be to the computer screen, where she showed me my scan. I can't tell you how cool it was! It literally took my measurements all over my body and gave percentages on each body part. I was stunned, but pleased! :)
The coolest part about it is that I will get 3 more over the next year or two so I can see the changes.

On Thursday of last week, I had to go back to Shady Grove for pre-surgical testing - they had to get me a EKG and schedule me to come back for blood taking for pregnancy test and for the drugging stuff.

Sunday, my friend, Val came over. She had a lot of great advice to give me and also brought me presents! The support I have is just wonderful! We are setting a goal for me to do a triathlon in the Spring. I can't wait!

Monday, I went in for the blood draw...she poked me 3 times after I told her that I had tiny veins. She didn't want to poke me anymore, so they called in a vein specialist. She walked in, poked me once and had my blood within 5 minutes.

Now it is Tuesday night/Wednesday morning and I am about to go to sleep for the last time with a whole stomach. That is SO weird.
Amber just got here. Good times. I'm glad that she and Mom will be there with me for the next couple of days. I hate having to rely on people to help me, but I am glad that it will be them.

Anyways, guess I'll post on the flip side... :-p

Woot!

Not really hungry or thinking of food that much...I just miss chewing. It is weird how you can miss that physical act so much...I chewed gum twice now, but it doesn't really help. I just wish the pre-op diet included something with a different texture...even if it was some sort of soy crisp or cracker...or even beef jerky or something.

I've had 3 shakes so far and I'm about to have some broth and an evening shake. :)


Also! I just got my blood results back from the doctor. Apparently, everything is perfect, except that I am slightly anemic and he said that my Vitamin D levels were REALLY low. I wasn't too surprised because with my Irish skin, I rarely go outside.
He has upped my D levels to 3000 units a day, even though that still isn't enough to get up to a normal level.

Now everything is done!

Tomorrow, I have a nutrition class at the hospital...Wednesday, I have my final meetings with my surgeon and nutritionist...and then Thursday is my meeting with the anesthesiologist. Then that is it. Woah! I can't believe it is so close! 

Since I haven't been updating each day like I should, I am lumping the first 5 days and am going to try and do it day by day starting tomorrow...

Last Wed, I started my 14 day pre-op liquid diet. I stocked up on protein drinks and powder and started drinking my meals.
This is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life.

The first 2 days weren't actually that hard, but day 3 was when I started craving cheese curls, cheez its, wheat thins and pimento cheese. It has been so hard to not just go and buy food and eat it.

The hardest part has been when I am around food or people eating food. It isn't that I necessarily am hungry and want to eat, but that I want some other flavor than what I have day in and day out. It is horrible.

They say that the toughest days are now behind me, but I guess time will tell...

So far, I am down 8 pounds, which is crazy in 5 days...it gives me encouragement to keep at it even though it is tough. At least I know that there is an end in sight and that in 2 weeks, I will be able to eat other flavors and start incorporating food back into my diet.  

Going to make my night time shake now and go to bed.

So I would be past dating these things, but here are a few posts to come back up to speed with where I am at the moment in my process...

October 13th came and it was my Day-O-Fun...

I headed to my first appointment of the day to get my Barium swallow. At the appointment time, I was stuck in rush hour, still trying to get to the office...luckily, they said they would try to fit me in. When I finally made it there, they took me right back and I changed into the gown and was led to the room with the big machine and told what I was going to have to do.

We start the process and the barium has the consistency of marshmallow fluff and tastes like full vacuum cleaner bag. About halfway through the cup, the machine locks up and they end up having to reboot it and start the whole test over. Yuck! I suffered through the first half again. Then, I had to take the Pop Rocks-like crystals and water and was told not to burp...More pictures...Then, they laid the machine back so I was laying down and I had to turn on one side, then the other, then back and forth...on my stomach, then my back, again and again...all the while, drinking watered down barium. By the last turn, I felt like I was going to throw up (because this is all on an empty stomach as well...). He quickly looked through the pictures and said that he got what he needed, so I got the okay to go.

After I left the office, I headed to get some lunch at Chipotle before my next appointment for my sleep test follow up. I met with my sleep doctor and he went over the charts with me and determined that I DON'T have sleep apnea. Woohoo!! I was so worried about that part, that it was a BIG sigh of relief.

I went right from that appointment to my nutrition class. I got the guidelines for my liquid diet and the different phases I will be going through and other tips and tricks that I should know about and be able to use to be successful. Armed with my notebook, I headed with my NUT to my therapy session to go over my psych test results. It was weird having her for both. She is a bit more forceful than I am used to and I don't think we would get along in real life...I got annoyed quite a bit at what she said, but I know that it is to help me.

First, we went over my psych test results. She said that I answered the test not truthfully, but with answers that society considers "the norm"...I guess this is something that they say is typical, but I was a little offended. Then, she told me the strongest traits I have for my personality. Some of them were a little conflicted, like me having a loner trait, but also wanting to be where the action is and the center of attention. I am also a drama queen and slightly narcissistic with a high obsessive trait. Not to the OCD point, but I like things where they are.
It was very interesting because, overall, I agreed with most of what was said about me. 

Anyways, I was cleared, so the only thing left was for me to get my blood work done and get the clearance from my PCP.

On Friday, the 15th, I went before work and got my blood taken. Apparently, I have tiny veins and so she had some issues finding a good vein. She found one at the top of my elbow, but about halfway through, it decided it was done. So, she looked elsewhere and finally found another one in between my left middle and ring finger knuckles. It hurt like a mo-fo. My hand ended up throbbing all day and there was a HUGE bruise (and I never bruise).

Yesterday, while out, I got a call saying that he wanted to talk to me about something he found in my blood test results. It is going to be over the phone, but I don't know what it is. I am hoping it isn't anything serious...  If it was, I am sure I would need to actually go in...

All in all, this has been a pretty seamless process for me. I am really grateful for that. 

More later...

So last Monday, I was taking the week off from work to move and whatnot. Monday night was my sleep test. I had to show up at the clinic at 9:45pm...luckily, it was in the same place as Dr. P's office. When I showed up, the technician told me to get ready and then she would start hooking me up to all of the stuff, which would take about 45 minutes. Yikes!
So she had me sit in a chair and hooked up the EKG (one on my right upper chest and then one on the left ribcage)...then she started attaching the electrode cable thingies...Those who have gone through the sleep study know the Medusa cords that I speak of...She started glueing them all over my face and scalp and then taping them on top of that. After that, came the pusle/ox monitor on my finger tip and then the wires on my legs and then the breathing tube. I actually didn't have a single problem with the stuff except that the pulse/ox was glowing orange and the breathing tube was ridiculous...
I was so afraid of pulling something off and my mind wouldn't stop racing that I spent 4 hours trying to coax myself to go to sleep. I guess I eventually passed out because a second later, it was 6am and she was waking me up to run through the tests before taking everything off.
The first thing I said was "I think I failed." LOL - She also said that I got a good REM cycle in there, so I am hoping that I passed enough that I won't have to do it every again.

Now I got back on the 13th, among other appointments, to get results...

13th schedule is barium swallow, follow-up on sleep test - follow-up on psych test, nutrition class.

I can't believe how fast things are going...it is less than a month until I am sleeved! I am totally ready for it. 

So much has happened in the past couple of days, it is ridiculous... :-)

In addition to getting ready to move next week into my new apartment, I went in for my sleep consultation yesterday. After a check, he thinks I have some form of apnea...I guess the sleep test next Monday will determine that...
I wasn't sure how I felt about him as a doctor though...he has a handshake like a floppy fish. I find that I can tell a lot about a person by the way they shake hands...and when he went in on his life story like he was listing a resume, I was even more put off...but it doesn't matter...this is an important thing to have done before my sleeve and it will be over before I know it...I will not be please if I have to have some sort of CPAP machine. Blech.

So on my way out, I wanted to ask about setting a date. I was pointed to the benefits manager to see what else I needed to provide as proof of my 6 month weight loss plan and she said that I could go ahead and make the deposit and set a date before she filed through my insurance. We had such a wonderful talk. One of the best things about this office is that every woman there has had some form of WLS, so there are people who can sympathize and know what you are going through. It is such a supportive environment. 
Anyways, I was told I would get a call the next day with my date because she needed to speak to Dr. P.

At work today, I got the call! My date is now set for November 3!! I can't believe that in one month, I will officially bee sleeved! I know I should be scared or nervous or something, but I'm not. I am so calm and excited. I am just ready for this chapter. 

Things I am looking forward to:
-getting outdoors and hiking, swimming, biking and even learning to run!
-sitting comfortably in an airplane seat
-riding roller coasters
-wearing shorts
-wearing a bathing suit...in public!
-clothes shopping in any store I want
-auditioning for theater shows with confidence

Can you tell the list goes on? I can't wait to start checking off things!

This whole experience has been very new for me. It's funny because I didn't realize how "not adult" I was. LOL
Having to reach out of my comfort zone to go to appointments by myself and figure the insurance stuff out has been really different for me...I think it has been good for me even though a lot of the time, I have be perpetually nervous or scared. I look at it as growing and starting the first steps of the new chapter that will start with my life.

Tomorrow is one of the biggest steps of all...telling my mother...

Sure, I know she is going to be supportive since she has been trying to get me to get some sort of WLS, but I have been doing everything so far under the cloak of darkness from her because to me, it was something I needed to start for myself so that I feel like I am doing it for me and no one else.
I just hope she doesn't make a huge deal out of it. I just want it to be an explanation and time for me to answer any questions and then for me to be on my way...I just don't want this to become the center of anything for anyone else except for me.

Maybe I am crazy to have started all of this right when I am moving and right before my brother ships off to Afghanistan, but you can't keep planning around everything or it will never get done. I am just really excited and looking forward to this new step for me. It is a chance for me to become on the outside, the way I feel on the inside. It will be a hard road, but I look forward to the challenge.

Here's crossing my fingers! 

Better late than never, I say! :-)

So a little about myself...

I was born under-weight and spent the first 6 years of my life with people consistently feeding my so that I could get to a decent weight. Then, when I was about 6, all of that eating caught up with me. I have always been the taller/bigger girl in my age group. Throughout elementary and middle school, it was partially under control since I was active more of the time.
When I was 12, I went to my first Weight Watcher meeting. Through WW, I have lost and gained hundreds of pounds (probably)...

After being on a diet for so long and not being truly successful, I realized that I needed another tool to add to what I already know. I am, overall, a fairly healthy eater...I just have a problem with portion size.

I have decided to get the VSG surgery. Being sleeved is going to be the tool I need to (FINALLY) truly be successful in my weight loss.  

About a month ago, I went to my first seminar to learn about the sleeve surgery. While there, something just clicked and I knew that it was the time for me to start this journey. I went to the consultation and everyone was so nice and supportive and every time I go there, I just feel more and more like this has been the best decision of my life.
After meeting with my surgeon today and taking my psych test, I have begun to get more excited about completing all of the prelim work and setting a date for surgery. 

For the first time in a long time, I am really excited about something and really looking forward to everything I will be able to do once I lose some weight. This is only the beginning.