debbie13
I've always been a big girl. Not huge, just big. My family used to tell a story that when I was about four, I got on the scale and put my hands on my hips and said "I've got to loose some weight". Sad for a four year old to come up with that. But it tells you something about what was going on around me. Larger women always on a 'diet'. My Grandfather (bless his heart) thought that little story was sooooo cute, he submitted it to Reader's Digest and it got printed. So I had my 15 minutes of fame 44 years ago.
Fast forward to now -- I am 48 1/2 years old and have been fighting morbid obesity since the birth of my children 25 and 23 years ago. Never lost the baby weight. Luckily I am not in horrible bad health and can still be fairly active. I had a major scare -- not mine -- that made me wake up and realize where I was headed. My best friend lost her toes on one foot and the lower portion of her other leg due to complications of diabetes. She is 50. I was diagnosed with diabetes two years ago. I don't plan on loosing any body parts just pounds.
Early last year (2008) I went to a Diabetes Fair sponsored by Albany Medical Center. One of the speakers was a nutritionist that was part of the Bariatric Center at this hospital. Up until I heard her speak I would never have considered a lap band much less gastric bypass. After hearing her speak about the results of bypass I started my research. I quickly realized I had based my previous opinions of this surgery without a good knowledge base. After doing tons of research I decided that I wanted to talk to my GP to see what she thought. She felt it was a good idea and helped me get an appointment with a surgeon.
Most people see the PA first at this surgery office, but because she made the arrangements, my first appointment was with Dr. Ward Dunnican in July 2008. After meeting with him for two hours I decided that this was definitely for me. I got scheduled to see a dietitian and pulmonologist so I could start the process.
There are so many requirements, both for the hospital and the insurance. They want all sorts of consults -- psychiatrist, pulmonologist, cardiologist, dietitian, and nutritionist. They also want a minimum of two support group sessions before they schedule your surgery and two after it. That had me a little nervous at first because I don't always do well in large groups, but this has been a God-send. I don't see myself not going after I meet the requirement. I would recommend regular attendance at a support group for any one going through this.
All my consults went very well except one. The cardiology visits turned into a nightmare. What should have been a simple stress test, turned into an echocardiogram, then a nuclear stress test and a cardiac catheterization (not a nice thing at all). All that to tell me what I already knew --- I'M FAT AND ALMOST 50!!! There was no damage to my heart, my big boobs got in the way of the when they did the first two tests. Then my ever loving cardiologist doesn't believe in this kind of surgery, hands me a pedometer and tells me I need to walk more. This from the rail thin doctor that could fit into one leg of my pants and still have room to move. He even had the nerve to write on his progress note that he would hold off on clearance with no explanation as to why. My surgeon would not schedule me til that got cleared up. Thank heavens the cardiologist finally listened to ME and gave clearance. That was Jan 12.
The next big hurdle for me was the 10% weight loss prior to scheduling surgery that my program requires. I know that there are alot of programs that put you on a liquid diet for two -six weeks prior to surgery, but not mine. They really want you to relearn how to eat and they start this process before surgery. It was tough but I did it. I researched how I was going to need to eat after the surgery and applied that. Low carb, lean protein, low fat, etc. It really worked and the weight flew off. Ofcourse, there were alot of people that said if you can do it now why bother with the surgery. Because I know me -- it would be so easy for me to get off track and start overeating. I need this tool to help prevent that.
I got my date on March 2nd. I was so excited. And very surprised that I was able to have it four weeks later. Most of the people in my program end up waiting six to eight weeks from scheduling to actual surgery. I think mine was quicker because I was going to one of the least senior surgeons. I wasn't picky, I trusted my program enough to know they would only hire very good surgeons.
My story doesn't end there. Just not enough time to finish right now.
