Uniform / Legacy / Seminar / Questions

On Wednesday night I went to the Informational Seminar sponsored by the Oregon Weight Loss Surgery, LLC , which is who will be doing my surgery should I choose to have it. I left work in plenty of time to get there AND eat dinner that I'd brought with me, but the directions they sent me were totally HOSED! I was in the not-so-great part of town and pulled into an Econo-Lodge to ask directions and the desk guy could barely speak English and got me lost even worse...

So I'm sitting on the side of a freeway on-ramp (I'd been going in circles for a half hour! during rush hour!) calling my husband to have him google for the center phone number (which was NOT included on the directions!), yelling at him because he is NOT very computer literate and couldn't figure out how to do it, sobbing hysterically, telling him to let my son get on the puter and google for me...told him I'm just going to forget about it and come home (after a 2-hour drive!)...THEN in the midst of mid-sob/scream my phone dies!   (My emotions have been crazy for the 6-7 months or so...I think it's perimenopausal-related and I do have an appt on Monday to hopefully get some relief ).  Anyway, the phone's been acting really funky and I've already gotten a replacement for it in the mail, but of course, I hadn't switched it out yet. *sigh*   That REALLY almost did me in...I very nearly pitched it out the window to the middle of Hwy-14. 

So I get back on the freeway and find the exit with the main street that I KNOW the center is on and find a 7-11...then asked a really nice woman if she knew where the medical center is...God BLESS her! She gave me directions and I made it, only 5 minutes late (but totally frazzled, and not having eaten).   The first thing I said to the person checking us in was "I have been hopelessly lost for over 40 minutes!  These directions do NOT give me a high confidence rating in your center!"  

In the meantime, my husband and kids are freaking out because they couldn't get hold of me and they didn't realize my phone was dead. It didn't just die, it was fried....actually HOT to the touch.

Anyway...the seminar was done by Dr. Valerie Halpin, who is one of the surgeons that performs the lap RNY procedure I would be having. Good grief, she looks so young! Probably mid-to-late 30's. She explained all the different surgeries they perform, the risks, who is and is not a good candidate, etc. etc. She said that she does bariatric surgery because it is the most rewarding thing in the world...when people come back to her after surgery, no longer morbidly obese, healthier, thanking her for giving them back their lives, able to bend over and tie their shoes for the first time in 20 years....she said that is why she goes to work every day.

She also said that unless we are committed to changing our lives completely...eating differently, exercising consistently, then we are in the wrong place because surgery will not fix our problem...it is just a tool, WE will still have to do all the work.   I can deal with that.  I know how to eat, and how to exercise...I just get so FRUSTRATED when I get no results after busting my butt.

So I got the application...the woman said I can fill it out now and get things rolling, even before my insurance referral. So I'll fill that out and get things going...and get an appointment with the nutritionist that my case manager was telling me about. 

I'm on SB Phase 1...I am not making much progress at all towards my 5% loss requirement.  I was hoping to have been there weeks ago.   I'm going to make an appt with a nutritionist on Monday...right after I see about getting the damn hormonal issues taken care of.

Anyway, Dr. Halpin says that they require a sleep study for everyone.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?   Everyone who goes through OWLS is required to have the sleep study thing done?   I don't have sleep apnea!  

That is such a total waste of time and money to me!   The only time I snore is if I have a cold, allergies kicking in, or too much alcohol.  

You may have already done this but have you contacted the Bariatric Surgery Center with Southwest Washington Medical Center in Vancouver? Drs Dally and Cagle both do bariatric surgery and would be much closer than Portland. They are a really awesome group, even give you their pager number when you are discharged from the hospital in case you have any questions after hours! They also have great support groups for both RNY and lapbands. Just a thought, cause I love them!

According to OWLS 75% of their patients have sleep apnea (I was diagnosed in late 2007).  It's a precaution and it's important for the surgeon and anes. to know if you have it or not.  They need to be able to moniter you effectively. 

Since you just went to the seminar you have about 3 months before you will have surgery so go to your PCP and get referred for a sleep study ASAP.  You don't have to wait until you see the nurse practitioner or the surgeon to do it.

Good luck

Alicia

I didnt think I had sleep apnea either and thought "oh-boy, this is a big fat waste of my time."  But guess what...I have it, I stop breathing on average of 20 times an hour.  WOW, I was surprised, I rarely snore!  It is a precaution they take, from what I have overheard (mind you I do not know for a fact) people were dying because they had not been diagnosed and treated.

~Kara