1st Surgeon Visit

Wed. was my "surgeon visit" and I just wanted to let you kind folks know what it was actually like at the Univ. of Penn with Dr. Noel Williams. It really was 4 hours! Of course, I waited 1 !/2 hours before they even took me back! After that it was another 20 min. wait, then the nut came in. Another 20 min wait & the nurse showed up. She did a lot of very fast talking about what tests I needed & did a little tummy poke & listen, checked my ankles & listened to my heart & felt around. Another brief wait and Dr. Williams came in & told me I needed a 6 mo. supervised diet because of my ins, drew me a picture of the procedure & we had a question & answer session. Whew! I'm exhausted! Wish I had time to post more often. I work FT & have 2 90 year old parents, 1 in the hospital with a broken leg. This just means I do a LOT of running around and no me time. Anyways, thanks for listening. I know there are plenty of you out there much worse off than me. No pitty party here!

hi  congrats on surviving your initial appointment!!! the 6 month dr supervised diet will fly by :) you go once a month and get weighed and the dr tells you to cut calories and walk more -- it's basically just making sure the dr writes a note in your folder saying that you are on a dr supervised diet -- you are not expected to gain or lose any weight -- it's all just paperwork :)  i tell everyone -- use this time to educate yourself!! you will be your own best advocate -- this is your health and your body -- read many message boards -- get different opinions from people -- your surgeon and nut should have a plan for you to follow once you are post op -- they are the ones who will tell you when to eat what and for how long -- liquids, puree, real food -- they will tell you how much protein you should take in a day -- basic rule is 60 grams for a female and 72 grams for a male -- this has to be spread out during the day -- they will tell you what vitamins to take and how to take them -- some vitamins, because of how they are absorbed, can not be taken with other vitamins -- you can crush and split and tear apart whatever vitamin you want, none are time released -- since day 1 i took my vitamins by the handful with a sip of water and never had a problem -- nothing got stuck -- nothing tore anything -- i just swallowed all of them and hoped for the best  sorry to hear about your parents --i guess they are just trying to keep you young by having you run all over the place :) they are only looking out for your best interest ;)  any questions or concerns just yell out to us :)  take care roberta

Hey!   Those long journeys begin with the first step!  Congrats on getting started! Mary C

Way to go on getting through your appointment!  Keep everything up and keep doing what you need to do - your date will be here before you know it! Pam