Bumped up - a time crunch

The time for my surgery was quickly approaching. It was going to be very shortly after I started my new job. I was nervous about how that would go; the whole thing was very stressful. Thankfully, I had the greatest boss ever, and he was completely understanding and supportive, even though I never told him what kind of surgery I was getting.

I got a call from my doctor one day saying that there was some kind of mix up with the operating room schedule and they had to move my surgery up a week. I almost lost it; I didn’t have a choice unless I wanted to move it back again. It was in the mists of other things that were going on, like my new job, and court dates, and I simply didn’t have time. I didn’t have a choice. My boss was even more understanding, and since I had postponed my surgery once already, I had to revisit some of my doctors, and ended up missing much more work than I planned.

Even the day before my surgery, I had a doctor call me and ask me if I had ever been to there office, and I most certainly had, and I needed them to give me the okay for surgery the next day. The whole situation was very frustrating, but somehow everything got done, just in time.

The other downside to this whole situation, my dad was planning a trip around my original surgery date, and when they moved it up a week, that screwed up everything. He could no longer take me to the hospital, and I could exactly take myself. I was hiding the whole thing from my family, because when I brought it up the first time, they made their opinions very clear. Now I had to find someone to take me to the hospital, and honestly, I did need my mom there, I just didn’t want to ask her.

My dad took it upon himself to tell my sister, and to tell her that I needed to tell my mom. This turned into quite the mess.

Pushed Back - A change of Heart

The hardest part of getting this surgery for many people is getting insurance to cover the price of the surgery. I didn’t have any problem in this regard; the hardest part for me was getting the tests done, just because there were so many, and getting to the hospital for the surgery. I had my surgery scheduled for during my school semester, but had a change of heart when I learned that my husband was cheating on me. I lost some weight during that process because I was so depressed, and therefore thought that maybe I didn’t need to get the surgery, I was doing so well on my own. The weight loss didn’t last very long, that didn’t help anything. I could barely function in school as it was and realized that I simply had to change my surgery date. I wasn’t able to focus, I was distracted, and knew that if I missed school because of my surgery that would only make things worse.

After a lot of crying and stress, I finally came to terms with the fact that I couldn’t do it. I postponed the surgery, lost a little more weight, and then slowly gained it all back as I started to feel better about myself in regards to pending divorce. There were a lot of different people who all felt differently about my decision, to postpone, cancel and reschedule my surgery. My dad didn’t see why I was postponing, my mom, as well as a few friends and other family members didn’t see why I was doing it at all. Thankfully there was one person who I felt was truly looking out for me, her voice was the voice of reason.

Tammy, my mother-in-law, called me one day, and was asking me about the surgery. I told her how I couldn’t deal with it, and that I postponed it because of everything that was going on, and that I was seriously considering not getting it at all. She, as always, was only worried about me, and what would make me happy. She had no other motivation behind her opinion, like many other people. She said that she understood why I postponed it, and that she was happy that I was losing weight on my own. She said that she also lost a ton of weight during her divorce. She knew how much I wanted the surgery, and that I thought it would make me happier, and she encouraged me to continue with my plans, and that all that matter was that it was what I wanted and that it made me happy. She said she would love me no matter what I did, if I got the surgery, if I didn’t, if I divorced her son, if I didn’t. I knew she was the one opinion that mattered the most to me, because she is a large woman, who has had a cheating husband, and knew everything that I was going through, and still after all the shit I’ve put her son through since I found out that he was cheating, still tells me very often that she loves me and supports me in all that I do.

My decision was made, and my surgery date scheduled.

“I was just calling to see how you’re doing. I hope you’re doing amazing and everything is great, because that would be the perfect revenge” ~Tammy (in regards to my husband)

Specialists (Part 4): A Sleep Study

My sleep study was probably the easiest of all my tests. I sat in a chair and a guy strapped and glued things to various parts of my body and my head. I didn’t get there until later in the evening. After getting all set up, I was so tired that I actually just turned the tv off and went to sleep. I was rather impressed that I slept so easily, I usually toss and turn a lot and have a really hard time sleeping. I don’t really remember waking up in the night even with all of that stuff strapped to my head. I only remember when it was time to leave and being woken up to go home and have everything pulled off. I definitely went home and went back to sleep.

The guy was very nice; it was a little weird knowing that there was a man watching me on camera from a small room nearby. It turned out that I only had mild sleep apnea, I didn’t need a mask or anything crazy like that, I just snore. I’ve talked to some other people who also said that they have had a really hard time sleeping in other places but didn’t seem to have any problems with the sleep study. It was almost like a little preview of staying in the hospital, because at least for me, I’d never spent the night in the hospital before.

My Specialists (Part 2 and 3)

My favorite appointment thus far, has been the nutritionist. First let me just say, who the fuck wastes their life getting a degree in nutritionist, I mean really, you’re going to spend your life explaining the food pyramid to people, that's a joke, her life is a joke. Anyway, upwards and onwards. I arrive after being sick for several weeks, I had taken the day off of work because I felt like death, but managed to roll out of bed for this appointment. I sit there and she asks me if I ever tried dieting and all that (even though I've explained them to everyone else already). I find she has a bad attitude from the jump off, she doesn't think that I've tried other alternatives enough. She tells me that what I eat isn't good for me, she doesn't think that I'm ready to make changes in my life and that I'm not ready for the surgery. I look at her and kindly tell her that I have been to more doctor's appointments over the last 3 months than most people go to in years, I've been sick as a dog, and I'm sorry if I'm not super excited about the food pyramid.

My tolerance for shit at this point is pretty low, I've been dealing with these people for quite some time and this wench is the last person I have to get through before they ask my insurance company for the money. She makes me want to kill people. I wanted to jump across the counter and jam trans fats of any kind down her skinny little throat. Regardless, I kept myself calm for the most part and she told me that I should come back in two weeks. You have no idea how excited I am for this. Her other issue with me is that I don't like mushy foods, and after I get my surgery I have to eat mushy foods for a brief period. I think I can handle a week of mush, god forbid, and they have sugar free water ice at Rita's, what more do I need in life?

[Later] I met with my nutritionist again, and this time she sees that I am willing to make changes in my life, and she supports my decision. I'm working hard, I changed my eating habits, I'm eating more fruits and veggies, and I have cut back dramatically on my smoking. The meeting went very smoothly. The doctor is now submitting to my insurance to see if they are actually going to pay for it, now that I went through everything else.

Specialists

My cardiologist, took a fun filled background of me, involving where I went to high school, how many siblings I have, and where I go to school now. He did another EKG, and after struggling around my boobs for sometime, though never actually touching them, thankfully, he managed to hear my heart. He decided that the root of my problems is that my boobs are too big, but made me get an echo of my heart anyway. An incredibly nice woman performed my echo. She came in joking and smiling. Considering that I was pretty exposed, I like that she kept the door shut and the lights very dim. When it all was done, I felt less violated than I expected, and wiped off all the goo off of my stomach, chest, and boobs.

My pulmonologist seemed to me like a waste of time. I came in, the listened to my heart, asked a few questions, and said I was good to go, and sent me on my way with a prescription for nicotine patches and gum. Unfortunately I did not get off that easily. He also set me up with another list of tests.

First Doctor, and Second Doctors

My first doctor appointment consisted of me finding out that I was two inches taller than I thought I was, and therefore, I fell just under the minimum weight requirement. I cried and balled hysterically, I'm not sure for how long. My dad's response was much more relaxed. He felt that it was the greatest thing that could ever happen to me, because I should eat milkshakes for days until I got my weight up those few pounds I was short. I quickly learned that that particular doctor would not see me again for another 6 months, so I gained the weight, and found a new doctor.

You sit through a long, long drawn out presentation on all of your surgery options; you mentally decide which of the surgeries you’re interested in, and make an appointment to meet with one of the nurses. At that meeting, you chat a little bit, she gets some history from you, and then hands you a lovely stack of prescriptions for a day of tests.

This is another fun part of the process. You arrive at the hospital and are poked and prodded. You show up with your stool sample, they take blood, multiple times from different parts of your body; you get an EKG, probably the easiest of the tests. The chest x-ray isn't too bad, followed by an ultrasound of your stomach. So after you feel kind of violated you head back to your doctor with the results. This is actually the first time you meet the man whole will perform the surgery. My doctor was awesome. He came in and told me I was going to have to see a specialist for a variety of the test results that came back abnormal. Then he told me that I was a perfect candidate for any other surgeries, so I was excited to hear that I was getting the Roux en Y, just like I wanted.

Unfortunately, it was not over yet, I had a rectal exam coming. Of course they tell me this about an hour before it happens so I get to sit there and think about for that whole hour, not cool.

A Hard Truth

I started this process when it was still warm outside, I don't remember the exact date, but I remember the beautiful weather. I had finally decided that it needed to happen, I'm so unhappy with my body that I have spent a lot of time crying about it.

So for starters...The mental process of getting to a point where you know, in your heart of hearts, that you have put forth a good effort to loose weight. You have done everything in your control to lose all those extra pounds. I've tried diets, weight watchers, Alli, and I even got a personal trainer. Some of us just weren't meant to be thin. My dad weighted over 300 lbs when he got his surgery around the age of 30, which was in the 1960's, so his gastric bypass was much different than what mine will be. My mom's idea of losing weight is a strict diet of running, grilled chicken and vodka. She went from a very large woman to a zero, until she busted her ankle, and now she's fat like me.

Either way, that first step, is the hardest, when you know that it is all out of your control, and you have no other choice. It's a hard truth to come to.

My Introduction

All of the following are directly from http://www.bariatric-surgery.info/statistics.htm

According to current statistical surveys, United States obesity rates continue to maintain very high levels, with 11-15 million Americans estimated to be morbidly obese. According to a March report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity may become the leading cause of mortality in the United States by 2005, with a death toll of 500,000 per year. As a result, statistics on bariatric weight reduction operations like gastric banding, gastric bypass and variants of these stomach surgeries show that demand for weight loss surgery is soaring. In 2002, the number of bariatric procedures jumped 40%, to 80,000. In 2003 statistics from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) show that the number of surgeries exceeded 120,000 in 2003.

Statistics on Weight Loss Surgery
In the United States, 20,000 weight-loss operations were performed in 1995
In 2003, 103,000 were performed
In 2004, 144,00 are predicted to be performed
The number of gastric bypass surgeries climbed more than 600% from 1993 to 2003.
The average bariatric surgery patient is a woman in her late 30s who weighs approximately 300 pounds.
The average cost of the surgery is $30,000

Statistics on Weight Loss Surgery for Teenagers and Adolescents
There are no precise statistical figures for the number of bariatric procedures performed on teenage or adolescent patients, although cases of this type of stomach surgery are on the increase. Statistics on under-18 patients will demonstrate how serious the incidence of morbid obesity is among young people.

Statistics on Hospital Stays for Bariatrics
The average post-operative hospital stay was significantly longer for operations performed in 1986-1989 when compared to those in 1998-2001: 5.0 days compared to 3.9 days. One factor which may be reducing hospitalization is the increasing use of laparoscopic surgical techniques that reduce recovery times.

Statistics on Weight Loss Surgeons
The number of active surgeons in the American Society for Bariatric Surgery jumped nearly 500 percent, from 168 in 1993 to 860 in 2003.