Great Update!

Well I had a super day....busy but super!  I had my pre-op appointments today.  I'm having my surgery at OHSU and they are involved in a number of studies.  I've signed up for four of them if you can believe it.   We arrived at the first appointment at 8am and we didn't leave until 1pm after the pre-op class they offered.  Whew!  Then, since we weren't wrung out enough, we (my husband and I) when to see our counselor.  We started seeing her once I started thinking seriously about surgery and she has been a great help.  We have a really great relationship and we thought being proactive about therapy would help us to sustain it.  It's really been great to have her to bounce ideas off of and to help us stay focused on what is important. Anyway, sorry for the longwinded post.  Things are going great and I just can't wait until July 3rd. Tammy

Congratulations Tammy!  I was going to sign up for the studies, but I can't manage to stay in Portland for 18 days at a time 3 times.  I think it would be really cool to participate in that study, I just can't do it.  The counseling sounds like a really good idea.  The changes that come with the surgery can cause some challenges! Linda

Good news for you Tammy!  I really enjoyed every part of my experience at OHSU and with Dr. Deveney and the other doctors.  At one point in time I had to call their emergency number, and the attending doc called me right back.  He answered my question, and then checked up on me the next day!  I am so impressed with the quality of care given by Dr. Deveny & Dr. O Rourke's staff. I also signed up for some of the research.  I am in two or three studies.  It was very fun doing the POD study - it was also very interesting doing the step study.  I wore the ankle bracelet to bed at night, so I wouldn't forget to put it on in the morning.  Neither of these were over night studies for me, and so it was cool to be able to participate, and one of them has a two year follow up, which I think is neat! My husband and I are also going to counseling.  Also, we have a great marriage, but know that there are going to be some challenges in me learning this new way of eating, and trying to get in some exercise.  It was very helpful for us to go to the few sessions we went to.  We learned a lot about his wanting to enable me!  Wow, I was surprised at his admissions to wanting to bring goodies home to me!  Even now!  It's his way of showing me love.  He's working on new and improved ways of showing me love now....like working in the garden with me, and helping me by washing the car for me.  That's so much more rewarding than food!  LOL Good luck with your surgery -

Hey Tammy, that's just great! Tom and I have been seeing a couples therapist together ever since I made the decision to have WLS, and it's been a huge help. Getting through all of these major changes without examining the underlying issues would be tough to do on our own, I think. Congratulations on your success and positive attitude. I'm so excited for you!

Thanks everyone for your support!   This is such a long and tiring journey sometimes, every success or step forward along the way needs to be celebrated.  Thank you for helping me do that. It's funny, a few days ago, surgery seemed like this distant thing.  Like was going to be FOREVER before I made it.  Now it seems like I hardly have enough time to get everything done....and it's still a month away.  It's exhilerating and exhausting at the same time.

Hey, at least you didn't get caught up there from an accident!  I've managed to be *lucky* twice.  Once some lovely person decided to get all tangled up in a couple of cars in the parking garage and it took about an hour and a half before I could even see daylight in the parking garage and another time it was 2.5 hours (fortunately AFTER my appointment) before I could make it down the back way after a really messy accident on Sam Jackson...  Crazy! Anyway, you're definitely one step closer! Good luck! Lori