dahoodman

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Getting closer and I can feel myself getting ramped up!!!!! I'm off my ibuprofen for the next couple of days prepping for my upper endoscopy. My doctor did give me some Vicodin for this and for the 2 weeks before surgery that I cannot take ibuprofen. I'm hoping that the weight loss will eliminate the need for anything more than a couple of Tylenol a day or perhaps nothing at all. So far the pain is tolerable but I am supplementing the Vicodin with a couple of extra Tylenol. Before you freak out, Vicodin is nothing more than Tylenol with Codine and the one I have is only 300mg of Tylenol/acetaminophine. They have apparently changed the amount of acetaminophine you can take from 4000mg/day to 3000. 

Well that's it for today. Nothing really to report since there's nothing going on. I'm still considering a small diet for the next couple of weeks instead of being on free-for-all mode.

I had my medical consult yesterday with my PCP. He's about as excited as I am. He's been my doc for quite a while now. It's funny that when I first approached him about it I was pretty nervous about what he would think. I respect him a lot and I pretty much always do what he tells me. When he gives me a referral to another doctor I have learned that his referrals are spot on. When I asked him about WLS he said, "Go for it. You should see Dr. Anez, he's the best!" So I did. All throughout my consults and tests I have mentioned Dr. Anez's name and his name is very well recognized in this area as a leader in WLS and that makes me feel great. Anyway, everything appeared to be good with that consult and I only have one more left: upper endoscopy. That one is Tuesday and I'm really not thrilled about it to tell you the truth, but it's part of what I have to do I guess. 

I'm still feeling pretty excited though!!

Well, I'm getting all giddy now that I am in the month of my surgery. I have a few more appointments left and then it's on. Today I have my PCP medical approval and blood work so I've been fasting and I'm hungry. I hate when I can't find an early morning appointment for blood work.

I'm ready to be one of those people that can post a journal of pictures and I can look back in amazement and say, "Yep, it was worth it!!"

Well I had my abdominal ultrasound today. That was pleasant enough. The [beautiful] technician scared me a bit because after she was done she wanted to go get a doctor and told me to wait. That was not a pleasant wait although in the back of my mind I kind of knew what the probable reason was.

The tech and the doc came back and I had to lift my shirt again. I watched as they found the same black hole on the screen as before that I noticed she was going around and around on. Anyway, the doctor looked at me and said okay, well everything checks out and you should be good to go and the doctor will have my report in a couple days. So I asked him, what were you guys looking at? At which point he then tells me, you have gall stones. So why didn't he just tell me that rather than say I'm good to go and the doctor would have his report in a couple days? That's pretty much what I had anticipated, but when you are left alone for enough time you begin to wonder and think about the worst.

It's all good though. Another consult/test bites the dust baby!! March 26 is still looking good.

I got my date (3/26) about a week ago and I have pretty much been doing nothing to maintain my current weight. I am not having any (what I saw someone else say) "Food Funerals" for things, I've just stopped doing anything. And since then, I am feeling SOOOO FAT. Yes, I always felt fat and I know that maybe it sounds weird, but really I feel really fat. I'm bloated, my pants are tight, my ankles are swollen and my joints hurt worse than normal. I've probably gained 10 pounds too. My doctor doesn't require a 2 week liquid diet;, but I'm seriously considering it right now. His only instruction for a diet was to make sure that I ate a normal smaller meal the night before surgery. The paperwork does say that I should be trying to eat smaller meals, chew more, drink more but not during meals, and try to drink no sooner than 30 minutes before or after a meal. I've got to do something though. Since he has not said anything about a liquid diet I have no idea how to do one so that I don't make myself sick. I guess I'll research that. Google should have plenty of info on it.

I go today for my pulmonary function test clearance today. I'm a little apprehensive about this as I've never done one that I remember. I don't think they do much other than have you breathe in a tube and check a few things out. The reason the doctor ordered this (for me anyway) is because I have sleep apnea and [allergy related] asthma. Apparently the "allergy related" part doesn't seem to matter too much when you say "asthma".

I have an abdominal ultrasound on Thursday to make sure my guts are all okay and to see if I have any gall stones or any starting to form. Apparently they will take out my gallbladder at the same time if this is the case. I'm kind of hoping I have some forming.....I think.

Friday I have blood work to do so I'm not too nervous about that. I just had some done in November but apparently it can only be 30 days old now. They have to know my "clot factor" or something like that and I guess that changes all the time.

The one test that I still have to do that I am MOST worried about is the upper endoscopy. I am really not interested in this test at all since I found out that I am not actually asleep for it. Yes, I'm heavily sedated, but I'm nervous that I will do something stupid or fight back or something. Sounds silly right? Hey they're shoving a tube down my throat!! That's just not normal. I had jaw surgery once and they gave me a bunch of Valium before-hand. They had to stick tubes down my nose and put needles in my arm and I can remember all of it, but I can also remember not really giving a crap. I'm hoping this is the way my endoscopy goes. I hate needles and I'm pretty sure I would hate tubes down my nose and my throat. After that appointment though I'm golden unless something comes up in one of these tests. I feel really good and I've never had stomach problems so I'm thinking that all should go well.

I was notified the other day that I was approved for RNY surgery. I have done A LOT of soul searching and researching on WLS. I have friends who have done RNY and Band surgeries. One RNY friend pretty much just about died from it 10 years or so ago and I swore at that time I would NEVER EVER do this to my body. It was unacceptable to me that I could not lose weight on my own with diet and exercise. And you know what, I went on a diet around the same time and lost about 70#. After a year I stopped the diet and started the weight gain all over again. I have struggled ever since then to get it back off the same way and various different ways. One of my co-workers had it done 8 + years ago and he was very successful early on but has now been able to cheat his way to regain a lot of weight back again. He knows it and sometimes when he gets serious he slowly loses the weight again. That's like yo-yo dieting all over and that cannot be good. I have another friend who had the Lap Band surgery done. After the surgery his surgeon decided he was no longer going to do or support weight loss surgery. So my friend was left pretty much on his own and has not been successful with it. I am trying to convince him to get back to a doctor that can help him. I have another friend who had RNY almost 2 years ago and she has been my best support. Our insurance at work changed and started covering bariatric services. She had it done, I did not. I wanted to do it "myself" for at least a year by hiring a personal trainer. That is a year wasted for me. I have come to the realization that I need this to help me lose the weight. With all of the research I have done I am very aware (in theory only) of what I am facing. I have seen the ups and downs that my friend has faced and she has no regrets. My next door neighbor had it done 10+ years ago and she has no regrets. Her RNY was successful and continues to be successful for her. She will also be a huge support for me through this journey. I don't think there's any amount of preparation that will actually provide me with what I will be facing after it is done. The physical pain, the emotional pain, and even some initial regrets. I can only hope that I have no long-term regrets.

The last couple of weeks and the next few weeks will be filled with doctor's visits, probing, and questioning. My insurance required a psychological evaluation which was odd but I guess it's good because there are some out there that really have no need doing this surgery until other "issues" are cleared up. In a few days I go for an upper endoscopy and a pulmonary consult/clearance. I am always nervous with this testing stuff because you never know what they may find and it could cancel surgery. I guess it's better to do that than the alternative death on the table because they didn't do it.

I have been on a bit of a free run of food these last couple of weeks. I know I shouldn't and I have gained a few pounds too. Some of my clothes are getting really tight now. :-(  I am actually considering a bit of a liquid diet or at least something different to lose a little weight quick so my clothes fit for work. My surgeon does not require the pre-op 2-week all liquid diet as some others do. His surgery is a little different. It's not laparoscopic and it's not the traditional "open" RNY but it is his own method of RNY. He calls it the mini-incision RNY. Another difference, which is what really sold me on his, is that he does not actually cut the stomach into two separate pieces like the traditional RNY. He uses a stapler with like 3 or 4 rows to section off the two pieces. According to what I have been reading/asking/etc., the inner stomach will not actually grow together so it is reversible. Why is that important? Well, my friend that almost died 10+ years ago faced complications and sort of had hers reversed but it was very difficult and painful and almost was not possible. I like the fact that if something does go wrong, I still have that option to go back. That's just me though. Plenty of people are good with the traditional and I respect that. My surgeon is Dr. Osvaldo Anez in Herndon, VA.

One of my goals is that in June I will be going to Cedar Point Park in Sandusky, Ohio and there are 2 roller coasters there that I MUST RIDE. If my surgery goes as planned on March 26th my surgeon has said that I should be good to go for roller coasters by the end of June. That is about 11 weeks post-op and he said I should be 30 - 50 pounds down by then. At my current weight/size I cannot fit into the coaster restraints so I am hoping that by then I will fit on at least one of them. If I cannot, it's not the end of the world because I can always go next year. As a side benefit to losing this weight I hope to be able to comfortable walk around the park. I have old knee issues and new hip issues. My hip needs to be replaced, but I am too young (43) to really have that done according to the doctor. He said he would not want to do it because of my age and I would simply damage the hip too soon and need another replacement. This was based on my current weight but he stressed that my age was more of the factor than my weight. He said the longer I can hold off, the better off I will be because new methods and equipment come about all the time.

Until then I will hope that weight loss will ease some of the pain and that I can find a suitable substitute for Ibuprofen since I won't be able to take that any more. Any ideas let me know!!

Well that wraps up my first post. It's a bit disorganized I know, but you can have everything you want.