3rd Anniversary

I cannot believe how fast time flies. Today marks three years since I underwent life-altering gastric bypass surgery! I have nearly made my weight loss goal, falling shy by just 10 pounds, and that is completely my own fault. I am too lazy to exercise, and thus, I still have the "spare tire" to take care of.
I am so thankful that I have had very few complications. I did end up having a 2nd surgery 16 months after the bypass to have my gall bladder removed, but it was a known complication that was a matter of WHEN and not IF. The only other complication has been a nagging pain in my left lower quadrant that still has not ceased, but several medical exams including MRI, CT and ultrasound can find nothing wrong with me. I do have times when the "dumping syndrome" occurs, but more or less, its my fault for eating something I shouldn't have eaten or eating too much of something that is supposed to be smaller portioned.
All in all, I am blessed!
Here's to hoping life is only more blessed in the future!

Emergency Surgery

***WARNING: Some content may be too graphic as I discuss sickness and medical stuff.

Well, I posted last Saturday about my disappointment in my doctor to figure me out. Well, let's just say, this Saturday, things are different. No thanks to him however!

After seeing him Friday afternoon(10th) and leaving upset, Friday night I thought I was gonna die. I was cramping and I had both the puking and diarrhea thing activated. I thought I had gotten food poisoning somewhere, but wasn't quite sure what I had ate do it. I tried to recall my last 48 hours of food intake, and nothing seemed to really jive, so I couldn't figure it out. For about three hours I was just miserable and then the last time I puked, I immediately felt better. I went to bed that night feeling fine and woke up Saturday just fine as well.
Laurie and I went to Lolo's in late morning to do some scrapbooking and we then went to Rochester to do a little shopping. While in Rochester, I began to feel like something might be stuck in my stoma area(what is left of my stomach), but it had been awhile since eating, so I was a little confused about it, so I just drank some water, hoping to flush whatever it was out. By evening, we were back at the Peaslee's and I was making homemade pizza for everyone and just didn't feel myself. I did eat and did fine, but that fullness feeling still lingered. I went to bed taking some leftover Tramadol from my broken toe days and slept really well. I woke up and felt normal. During breakfast however, that fullness feeling came back.
We left for church and I did my nursery duties and should have gone up to service, but I didn't feel good, so I just relaxed in a chair and watched the babies play. After church we went home and I decided I was going to skip lunch and take a nap. A nap I took, I woke up around 3:30 and it felt worse. I went to the bathroom and my urine was an amber color. Now, I was beginning to worry about myself.
So I got online and googled my symptoms and there was a few possabilities. One was a urinary tract infection(and there are three different kinds) or the other was my gall bladder. Now, many of you know I had gastric bypass surgery in October of 2007 and having had this surgery meant that eventually, my gall bladder would become a problem. I was worried. I called the Ask Mayo Nurse and she told me to go to the ER. I really dreaded the ER, not because they aren't good doctors and nurses, but because it takes so long and it costs extra.
Well, I decided to go to the ER. I was at the Peaslee's, so it was going to be about a 45 minute drive. I parked in the long term ramp fully expecting to get admitted, but I wasn't sure. I had called both Sara and Susan to tell them about my going to the ER and Sara responded immediately by meeting me there and staying for the duration.
They check me in and a few minutes later I am sent to a room. Not too much time passes before a nurse comes in, and a doctor follows after that. I needed to give a blood sample and a urine sample and they wanted to start an IV of fluids. I gave them my good pumper vein for the IV, so it was up to the rest of my veins to stand the test. Urine, not so much. I had gone prior to coming into the ER and with the amount that I eat or drink, there is no on demand system in place. The IV got things moving eventually and I did get that done. The doctor felt my abdomen looking for the obvious to him I suppose, they wanted to tule out appendix in addition to my two theories and the best way to do that was a CT scan. So I had to drink two glasses of contrast in the next 1.5 hours and while the taste has improved over the years, it is still not my favorite beverage. By the time my CT appointment time rolled around, I had drank one and one-third glasses, which for me is good since I don't have the ability to drink as fast as I used to and with the IV, well, I was very full of fluid. So they roll me off to CT and if you have never had one, not only do you drink contrast, but they inject it too. The injection kind makes you have a warm rush from your head to your toes and I swear, it makes you feel like you are peeing your pants!
I go back to my room after the CT and the doctor is not far behind. He says that my pancreas and liver enzymes are very elevated, to the point they figure my pancreas is the problem, but the CT results didn't show anything wrong with my pancreas, liver or appendix. It was my gall bladder, and it was very distended. He ordered a surgical consult and an ultrasound to see if I still had stones floating around or blocking anything. The surgeon turns out to be someone who has been assissting Sara with her whole leg trauma the past few months, so she is super excited to "know" he will be my surgeon and that I'll be in good hands.
So after a bunch of phone calls, they wheel me off to ultrasound and yep, I have stones, they need to do surgery immediately. And, as it turns out, on Friday when I thought I had food poisoning, it was me passing a stone! Nice!
So a few more phone calls and off to surgery. I remember being wheeled in and them doing a bunch of prep work. I was calm and relaxed. I did cry before leaving for surgery, not because I was scared, but because sometimes, you just need your mommy and this was a time I wished she didn't live so far away.
The next thing I remember is waking up and being wheeled to my room. Sara was still hanging around, such a trouper she is! She stayed with me the rest of the night and went into work a bit late so she could be there when the surgeon did rounds and told us all the details of how things went. No complications, but my gall bladder was much larger than it should have been and they had to make a bigger incision to remove it, but aside from that, all went as planned.
I have four new scars for a total of ten on my abdomen. One is in my belly button, not sure if you'll be able to see that after it heals, it is still swollen at the moment, so can't really tell what you'll see. The big scar is in a fat crease that exists currently, so it should be hidden mostly and hopefully someday when I get to have plastic surgery, it and the others can mostly go away. I didn't have to have a drainage tube this time, so all the scars are relatively flat aside from the fact that they are healing right now, so I expect them to be minimal. The big scar is where my pain is. They cut through my chest muscle there and thus I have bruising and I can't use it very well.
I have six weeks to recover, I got an extension due to the fibromyalgia making it take me longer to heal. I just don't pop back like regular people.
I spent this first week at my grandparents, the Gardner side. They live about three hours from me and graciously came and picked me up and will return me home on Monday. I plan to spend one day with the Peaslee's and then am heading to my Mom's house, but in two segments instead of the whole trip. I'll have a stopover at my Uncle Bryan's or Aunt Karen's house and continue the following day. My Grama Booth is jealous of my time and thus, I will also spend two weeks out in California. She said its her turn to take care of me.

So that is my saga for the week..........I'll keep you posted on my recovery. Everyone has computers, but some are slower than others, so I can't promise to be faithful daily, but I'd like to get back to my previous level and have my "Not Me Monday", "Tuesday Funnies" and "Favorite Foto Friday" come back. I will do my best to keep you entertained.

Surgical Consult Update

So my doctor is a complete idiot. Why do people spend money on degrees?
I walk in there and he thinks my pain is not scar tissue. He thinks I am irregular in my bowel habits and that if I went daily, the pain would go away.
UHHHHHH, news flash. I wasn't regular prior to surgery, and now that I eat less food, do you really think I will be now??
That was the best he could come up with. I cried.

I have been living with this pain for nearly 15 months now. I have done an MRI, a CT scan and an ultrasound. If I were obstructed, don't you think one of them would have showed something?
So what good is the degree?
I mean, yeah, who WANTS to have surgery, but seriously, we have exhausted all the options and now he comes up with this crap? Excuse the pun.

So, I am going to give it two weeks. Two weeks is my limit. If it isn't better, am going for a second opinion. I really think it won't change anything. However, this is the hoop I have to jump through for now.

Surgery?

Has anyone ever had a laparotomy or laparoscopy?

I will be having one or the other, won't know until my consult on Friday.

I am just curious about what to expect and recovery time, etc.



Post a comment if you have an experience you can relate to me.


THANKS!

My One Year Surgical Followup

So today I met with my Endocrinology doctor for my one year gastric bypass followup.
He is very pleased with my weight loss, my bloodwork was good too. He is super excited for me and is very encouraging.
We talked about things that have been going on the past year including my PRC stint. He asked me if I was having pain today and I said yes. While the PRC was effective, I am finding it hard to work in the tenets of the program into such a short time that I have available when not working. He mentioned that there is a rare condition called blind loop syndrome that could potentially be causing me pain. It is a type of infection that makes your joints achy and painful. So, he gave me some antibiotics, I'll take them as prescribed and if I feel better after taking them, we'll know if I have it or not. If I do have it, he'll put me on prophylactic antiobiotics for eight months.
Aside from that potential problem, he is very pleased with my progress and counts me as a successful patient. If I could have this guy as my everyday doctor, life would be good. He treats me like a person that matter, unlike the current physician I am assigned to for general care.

People often ask me "was it worth it?" or "would you do it again?"
I always tell them yes. I am healthier, I have more energy, though it is still not as much as I'd prefer. I can do more things now that as an obese person hindered me. I really haven't had many side effects related to the surgery, I am very blessed to have done well. I still want to meet my original goal and hope to have that under wraps by Christmas. He said I only need to do half that, so I figure if I get to the half, the rest is bonus, right?

One Year Anniversary

Of my life changing surgery!
Can you believe it? I can't! It was one year ago, I was sitting in the hospital lobby waiting for them to take me up to my room. Wish I had known then it would be six more hours before surgery. I was so hungry and thirsty and I couldn't have anything. =)

BUT, all in all, the last year has been good. I didn't lose all the weight I had intended, but there were circumstances beyond my control that prevented that. So with little to no exercise, I have lost over 70 pounds since that day and with my new found fibromyalgia knowledge and Pain Rehab lessons, my goal is to be all the way done losing weight by the holidays. This is of course so I can put a few on during them! HA!

I can pretty much eat anything these days, obviously just in smaller portions. I have had very few side effects. I occasionally come across something that doesn't agree with me, but for the most part, its been a breeze from that perspective. I am blessed and thankful for that.

So keep praying for me, so that I can reach my weight loss goal. And that I continue to have no complications.
I have appreciated everyone's support.

Surgery Posting, Part 7 ~ Finale

Surgery Posting, Part 1
Surgery Posting, Part 2
Surgery Posting, Part 3
Surgery Posting, Part 4
Surgery Posting, Part 5
Surgery Posting, Part 6
******************************

By the end of my first week since surgery, I was doing pretty good at keeping to my schedule and taking my vitamins and medicine as directed. However, by Saturday, I began to have horrible cramping and diarrhea. The cramping was similar to my experience with food poisoning, so I thought I had eaten something wrong, but I was barely eating anything in the first place, so I couldn’t quite wrap my head around it. The diarrhea was the worst, every hour on the hour. This kept up into Sunday, so I decided not to go to church with my grandparents, but they did stop by to take me with them to lunch. I thought I was better, so I had a cup of soup and some mashed potatoes and seemed to be doing good until we got home and it resumed. The cramping was so intense that I was crying and just praying to God to make it go away. It continues into Monday. This was the day I was going home to my own house, so it’d be my first time back in Rochester, so I called the doctor when I got to my house to see what I should do. I could not understand what would be going on as I was sticking to the plan. The resident called me back and asked a bunch of questions and wanted me to go in and get a bucket to do a stool sample. I guess the thought was I could have an infection or something and that would tell them what. Well, by the time I returned the bucket with my sample and got back home, I had my diagnosis without even hearing from the doctor. My period had arrived. It wasn’t time, so it didn’t even dawn on me that it could be the reason, and I think because of all the trauma in my abdomen, it just made the cramping worse than normal and of course, diarrhea is a symptom frequently, I think again, due to the trauma, I had a worse case than normal.
So, Tuesday I rested with a heating pad and pain pills. I then made a few calls because the contractor was scheduled to start working on the house, but I told him I was leaving town. I had made up my mind to go to my Mom’s for two weeks. I had my ten day followup appointment on Wednesday morning, so I left Wednesday afternoon to head in that direction. I stopped at my Uncle Bryan’s to break up the trip, he lives just outside of Chicago, and it is about six hours from my house to his. I did really well on the trip and my Grama and Grampa were down there again and she had homemade mashed potatoes waiting for me upon my arrival(along with meatloaf, which I couldn’t have). YUM! So Thursday morning, I left to go the rest of the way; it is about four hours to Princeton. I got to the house and noone was home because the kids had Co-Op that day and Mom and Mike were working, but, they had left the house unlocked for me, so I got all my things dragged in and settled in for a nap until everyone came home. I spent the next two weeks hanging out with the kids during the day and doing church stuff and just spending time with my family. Got to see Grama & Grampa Wood one day too.
I returned home on the 22nd of October, construction was due to start the next day. So much for that! They didn’t get started until the week I was due to return to work, November 7th was to be my first day back, they started the prior Monday, so very little was done while I was around. The whole point of scheduling things to happen during my surgical leave was so I could be present for questions and conflicts and what not. But that is another story.
At any rate, my remaining surgical leave was spent at my home, resting and progressing through my food/drink schedule. At three weeks(while I was still at my mom’s), I was able to progress from pureed to mechanical soft diet. This meant I could have hamburger, tuna, cheese, cereal, rice, pasta, and toast. Foods had to be soft and tender and moist. Chewing very thoroughly and eating over a period of 30 minutes. This lasted four weeks when I then moved on to the soft diet, meaning I could have small pieces of tender food like fruit and crackers and eggs. I was also progressing in how much I could eat at a time. I was now up to four ounces per meal 4-5 times a day. This lasted an additional four weeks and then I moved back to a regular diet, meaning anything and everything is game again, but I do need to be mindful of my fat and sugar intake as that can and will cause dumping if you eat too much. I am also slowly progressing to eating up to a cup of food at a time 3-4 times a day. What I missed the most, oddly enough, was salad and raw veggies! Not being able to have crunchy foods for eleven weeks was pure torture!

It has now been six months and I have had no real complications from surgery. My scars are healing quite nicely, I put Mederma on them twice a day in the hopes that they’ll fade and not be so red and raised. Only one scar is raised, the one where my drainage port was, which I find very odd since it was one of the smallest! I have only run into a few things I can’t have, Pizza Hut pizza is one. I can eat any other pizza, but not from there. And Triscuits and raw carrots get stuck. Not a pleasant feeling. I eat 8-12 ounces of food 3 times a day now, it really depends on the food and if I space it out over the 30 minutes like I am supposed to. It is sometimes hard to remember I can’t eat like everyone else, I have to pace my self and chew thoroughly. Probably my biggest complaint is not being able to eat and drink at the same time. Prior to surgery, I’d drink a couple of glasses of water, tea, soda, milk whenever I ate, can’t now. I do have about an ounce or two with meals to sip as it drives me nuts not to.
I had my six month checkup last week and they are pleased with my progress this far. I don’t go back again until one year postop. These next six months are crucial to getting the rest of the weight off as their evidence shows that after a year past surgery, success dwindles. I am pleased with my weight loss as well, but it is definitely not just falling off anymore. From this point on, I have to work for those pounds by going to the gym and being more active. I still have quite a bit of fatigue that the doctors can’t explain, but I am trying to be proactive anyway.
Thanks for following my story, I warned you it was long. I typed it all out in Word and posted separate stories to break it up, but I am half way through page 11 already, so you can get the general idea that it was a lot to type! Thank goodness I am good at that!
I hope to post a picture of my current self soon. For those of you closest to me, you have seen my transformation as I have so far lost 58 pounds. I went from a 26/28 sized shirt/dress to a 14 so far. My ultimate goal is an 8-10 in woman’s clothing. I don’t need to be a size 2 to be happy, in fact, I think I’d look funny at a size 2 since I am just not built small. I might be short, but I am built like a linebacker, big hips, broad shoulders. Not going to look good in a size 2. Everybody can see it in my face and other areas too, but I still have my double chin and until that is gone, I won’t be satisfied! I hope not to have to have plastic surgery, am trying to tone as I lose, but there may be a few areas of need as I get closer to my goal, we’ll see how it goes. I haven’t bought much in the way of new clothing, everything is really loose and baggy. I have to wear a belt with my pants/skirts/shorts or there would definitely be a serious problem with them falling off. It feels good to know I am making progress even though I don’t “see” it like everyone else does. I think it is that seeing yourself every day vs. someone who sees you once a month or whatever. Change is more subtle to them because of the length of time between visits.
At any rate, I am thankful that God has really blessed me throughout my recovery and hopefully, I’ll be saying goodbye to all my fat clothes soon!

Surgery Posting, Part 6

Surgery Posting, Part 1
Surgery Posting, Part 2
Surgery Posting, Part 3
Surgery Posting, Part 4
Surgery Posting, Part 5
****************************
Monday
I woke up in the morning and began to pack my things. My grandparents were supposed to come by around noon to pick me up and take me to their house for a week. We figured it would be best to have someone at my disposal that first week since I had no real idea of what to expect from a recovery standpoint. I have never been in a hospital, well, except when I was born, so I really have no idea how things will be. Now I had heard of people who had this surgery vomiting for days or experiencing nausea and the dumping right away and being just miserable. Up until this point, I hadn’t any problems. While I was packing, I had my first wave of nausea, followed by a hotflash and the urge to puke. I never really did puke, I had dry heaves, so it is about the same thing, just nothing comes out. That lasted about ten minutes or so and then I was fine. I started to drink some liquids and began to feel better, so I resumed packing. I realize at this point, that while dry heaving sucks as much as puking as far as the feeling goes since you go through the motions, I am not connected to my full stomach anymore and thus, the acid factor is gone! No taste, no smell! This is a good side effect of surgery, let me tell you!! =)
I still had to see the dietician before leaving and the resident was supposed to come by one last time. I got all my discharge instructions for caring for my incisions and who to call if any complications arise. I was told ahead of time I would need vitamins after surgery, however, noone mentioned they needed to be chewable those first 12 weeks, so I still needed to pick those up along with some prescriptions for pain medicine and acid reflux. After my dry heaves experience that morning, I decided I had better ask for a puke bucket to have in the car just in case, so the nurse had to go find one for me. Also had to get a stash of the little one ounce cuppies that I was to measure my food in. Was not supposed to use a scale or anything else to measure, only the cuppies. So, Grama and Grampa Gardner arrive and we loaded me into a wheelchair(dang hospital policy) and they carried my stuff and we went out to the car to get the heck out of dodge! FREEDOM!!
First place we head is to my house. I needed to drop off all the hospital paraphernalia and then repack the things I was going to need for the week of staying with my grandparents, we sort of made that decision in the hospital, so was not prepared ahead of time. So we dropped off a bunch of stuff and went out with some more! =) Us girls, you know how we pack!
After that, we went to Walmart to pick up the vitamins and meds that I needed, and then we were on our way. It is about a three hour drive to my grandparents home in Wisconsin, and I slept part of the way.
By the time we got home, I was pretty tired, but glad to not be in the hospital. I napped for awhile before resuming my eating and drinking 2.5 hour rotation. For the rest of the week, this cycle continued. It turns out I was mostly able to care for myself, I was tired all the time and took frequent naps, but I had to be careful of my schedule. At this point I was eating every 2.5 hours and drinking in-between meals since I can’t eat and drink at the same time. I had pre-purchased a stash of baby food consisting of fruits and veggies, definitely not the meat, although I did buy a few “dinners” like mac ‘n cheese and chicken and rice thinking those couldn’t be that bad. Well, needless to say, baby food is baby food for a reason. Babies don’t know any better, so of course it tastes good to them. ME on the other hand, I am a salt-a-holic, self-confessed, it runs in my family. I tried to add salt or sugar, depending on the item, there was no amount that could make it edible. So I ditch the baby food plan(suggested by the diet booklet) and decide to give it all to Jess, he just started on baby food, he’ll enjoy it. So my next task was to find food I could tolerate. Not so easy when you can’t have Splenda(sucralose). Splenda has pretty much replaced aspartame as the main sugar additive for sugar free or lite products of almost all companies. So, I am at Walmart scouring labels trying to find food that I can have that doesn’t contain Splenda. I was there for nearly two hours! I ended up buying yogurt that had sugar in it, I just found the one kind that had less than the others. I bought applesauce without sugar, I am okay with this flavor, so that was alright. I bought Malt O Meal, which I have a childhood aversion too, but since it was something I could semi-tolerate, I did it. I bought a box of Sweet ‘n Low. I bought tea bags, decaf, as directed. I bought frozen fruit to puree into a smoothie. And I bought a box of instant potatoes, so I could make those in bigger batches and eat as needed. I bought chicken broth. I bought split peas, I like pea soup, so we made a batch, it has a protein content, so yay! I bought cottage cheese, which once blended, tastes similar to sour cream, so by adding a little Lawry’s seasoning salt, tasted good. It also had a protein content, so since I wasn’t eating meat, it was a good way to try and get it. My Grama made pot roast one night and it had potatoes and carrots in it, so I mashed them up and enjoyed that for a few meals. The taste of the meat in the veggies made me hungry for the roast, but the flavoring of it at least helped. I bought orange sherbert. I bought sugar free jello and pudding, oddly enough, the grocery store version has aspartame and not Splenda, so I have no idea if the hospital had it wrong or what. I rotated my diet amongst these foods over the week. I did wake up nauseated every morning that first week, I had to eat something immediately upon waking or I’d have the dry heaves problem. Most of the time it worked. I had a few sessions in the afternoon too, no apparent reason, just the trauma of what happened I think.

Surgery Posting, Part 5

Surgery Posting, Part 1
Surgery Posting, Part 2
Surgery Posting, Part 3
Surgery Posting, Part 4
*******************************************

That evening, the resident comes by and says, okay, I think you are ready to move on to pureed foods. Orders go out. In comes the bland food with no flavor whatsoever! =) I got pureed chicken, mashed potatoes and mashed carrots. Almost all of it looked gross! I am still on two ounces at a time over an hour. I had to salt the carrots and potatoes to death in order to tolerate them, but I have one ounce of each, eating very slowly. I did not touch the chicken. It looked nastier than baby food and didn’t smell much better. Of course the diet booklet they give you encourages protein as a major part of your diet, ummmm, not eating pureed meat, you can’t make me!!!
The nurses on this floor were highly competent and willing to oblige my needs. By this time, I am walking unassisted and had started to take walks periodically as recommended to prevent clotting issues from happening. Usually I’d walk around the ward once or twice and then hit the room that had the ice machine, coffee, tea, jello and ice cream. They had some other snacks in there, but I of course was on pureed foods at this point, so I was pretty limited in what I could have. That evening, I was still exhausted from my breakdown earlier in the day, I fell asleep pretty early and didn’t wake up except when the nurses would come in to take my vitals or change out a medication.

SUNDAY
Sunday dawned and I was feeling a little bit better in regards to my pain levels. It is breakfast time. Prior to checking into the hospital, I made sure my record stated that I was allergic to Splenda(aka sucralose). Do you think dieticians can read? For the love of God! My tray arrives with a small bowl of malt-o-meal, a packet of Splenda, a four ounce tub of juice, a 4 ounce carton of skim milk, and a bowl of jello. SERIOUSLY? I question the poor delivery lady, she doesn’t know what happened, she takes the tray back and I assume, goes to fix it. Nope, she brings it back in, the Splenda was replaced with Sweet ‘n Low, that was the only difference. So, I proceed to ask her if the jello has Splenda in it? My how to booklet given to me prior to surgery detailing my food schedule strictly state sugar free or no sugar in all foods, so you have to know it has artificial sweetner in it, right? Guess which one???? $5 million dollars to the winner, yep, it is Splenda. She takes it away. I proceed to eat my malt-o-meal with Sweet n’ Low for flavoring. I set the skim milk aside, the nurse comes in to check on me at this point, she asks whats up with the milk. There has been a nurse switch since this morning, so she doesn’t know about my skim problem. I told her I needed 1%. She leaves, comes back two minutes later with a carton of 1%. Wow! She is amazing! She gets it! So, you’d think that every tray I got the rest of my hospital stay would be corrected to not have Splenda in or on any of my food and to give me 1% milk. The delivery lady made a phone call, my nurses are aware, you would assume the dietician ordering my food had gotten the message. Are you sensing my sarcasm at all? You got it, EVERY blasted tray had to be corrected in some way. You know what they say about people who assume?? Well, yeah, you get it. I still can’t believe I paid for this service!
The resident came by to check on me again and said my catheter could come out. I was ELATED!!! He also said I should be going home in the morning, YEAH! So, the nurse finally came in and took that out and then the only tube left on me was my drainage tube and my IV. My nurse asked me about a shower and I agreed to it for two reasons: a)I smelled like the hospital and b)thought it would make me feel “brand new” so to speak. So, the nurse unplugged my IV and we taped up my hand so it’d stay dry. It didn’t matter if water got on my drainage tube, so that just dangled. I was able to wash everything but my hair and my back on my own, the nurse helped me with that. It is rather embarrassing and almost demeaning to have someone else do that to you or for you, but she handled it with extreme professionalism and I didn’t feel as embarrassed as I thought I would. It felt good to just stand there under the hot water. I finally emerged from the bathroom in my own clothes(hate those darn hospital gowns) and felt like a new person. There is nothing like wearing your own clothes! Bet you’ll never guess what happened once I got back into my bed??? Can you figure it out??? Yep, my IV failed again! We had taped my hand to keep it dry during the shower, but apparently, that didn’t work too well. For about an hour after my shower, I watched my hand swell to double its size and finally decided I should go talk to a nurse. So I walk out to the desk and one look at it, they knew. I had blown another IV. I knew I was going to be released the next day and I told them they were not sticking me with any more needles, I would take any medication orally. My pain level was okay at this point; it was mostly muscle ache, so I was just taking Tramadol and was still on the Benadryl. The nurses said both could be oral, and agreed to leave the IV out after talking to the resident. Thank God. I swear I was their pin cushion! I pretty much spent the rest of the day vegging in front of the TV, napping, reading and walking or getting drinks or snacks. I had no visitors, but lots of phone calls.
For my entire hospital stay, my cell phone had what appeared to be one bar of signal, but it did absolutely nothing for reception, so while my phone would ring, I couldn’t answer anyone OR call anyone. Getting my hospital phone number out to people was quite the chore, but finally everyone who wanted to check in on me figured out how to do it. My Grama in California and my Dad in California called daily, as did my Mom. My brother Mark called, and my Aunt Lynn & Uncle Matt called. Grama Gardner called every day too. Laurie, Ang and Sara all checked in via phone as well. I even got a call from my roomie’s parents and sister. I am so glad for all the friends and family I have!
I fell asleep late that night and had an uneventful night for a change.

Surgery Posting, Part 4

Surgery Posting, Part 1
Surgery Posting, Part 2
Surgery Posting, Part 3
************************************************
Saturday
Morning came a little too early, but, that is just the way things go sometimes. I am still on clear liquids at this point, so I continue drinking, or rather sipping. I get my next heparin shot and then the resident comes by to check on me and rates me good enough to move to other liquids. Orders go out, and my first glass of milk appears along with thinned cream of chicken soup. Guess what kind of milk it is? Skim(aka colored water). I don’t drink skim and according to the handbook, we can have skim or 1%. 1% is what I drink at home, so hurray! Well, try getting that order to be fixed! The nurse was able to find me some 1% milk finally. I was still on a two ounce per hour intake, so I had two ounces of soup and put the milk on ice and drank it during the following hour.
So the day progresses, my grandparents come by one last time on their way to their house, which by this time, its been over two weeks since they have been home as they came to my house directly from one of their monthly Indiana treks. They promise to come back Monday or Tuesday to pick me up, depending on when I got discharged.
So, later that day, the nurse asks me if I want to shower? Now, I showered the night BEFORE surgery, knowing I probably wouldn’t be up for or get one for a day or two. At this point, I still have my catheter in, am still on continuous oxygen and I have a drainage tube hanging out of my abdomen in addition to my IV. I looked at her and said, “seriously?”. I said, you get the tubes out of me, I’ll take a shower. Well, needless to say, the tubes did not come out that day. They had to make sure I was peeing enough before they could pull my catheter. Let’s think about this for a moment. If you drink two ounces of fluid an hour for 12 hours, how much do you suppose comes back out? Well, in a normal person, probably most of it, but in a dehydrated person, very little. Remember, the only fluids I had in me was saline up until 7pm the night before. The catheter remained the rest of that day and into the next.
********************************

By the afternoon, my IV had failed. Go figure! So, they call in a vampire tech to put in a new one. At this point, I am running out of places to stick, so this girl decides in the bend of my wrist(bend towards you) is a good spot. I told her right away that it wasn’t a good idea, it is my wiping hand, my dominant hand, and it’ll come out. Did she listen? NOPE! Three sticks later, it is in my wrist. So I am sitting up in my chair watching TV when I feel the urge to go to the bathroom. Can you guess where this is heading? Yep, my IV failed! So, again, I need a vampire to come by and place another one. I was thinking at this point that if it’s that same lady, I am going to punch her. Nope, different girl. First thing I tell her is, if she doesn’t think she can get it on the first try, she better turn around. I have just about had it with being poked to death. I am just like all the rest of the women in my family that I know and if my veins even get a whiff of a needle coming, they run for their lives! So, she is like, I think I can. Well, she thought wrong! Three sticks later and I still don’t have an IV in my arm. I have now been without my IV for over an hour, thus meaning no pain medication on board. I am in tears at this point because the first stick she tried felt like she was stripping my veins, not just trying to place a needle in it. I am basically having a breakdown because I am so tired of the incompetence. I mean seriously, this is what they do for a living! I asked for a flight nurse and they looked at my like I was out of my mind. I said the flight nurses know how to put in an IV while flying in a vibrating machine; I am pretty sure they can handle a patient in a bed and get it THE FIRST TIME. They can’t do that they say. So I am balling my eyes out, sick to death of being a human pin cushion. A different vampire tech walks in and tries to calm me down. I asked for a warm blanket to be placed on my arm. This is supposed to help the veins pop up and do their thing. They bring one for each arm. So I sat there for about five minutes, soaking up the warmth, hoping to God this would do the trick. The vampire comes by again and feels my veins and she is pretty sure she has one. Well, two sticks later, she did, but it must have been the smallest vein in my arm, it hurt like mad having the needle shoved in there. Finally, the drugs start flowing back into my system. I drift off into a two hour nap from the trauma of the whole afternoon. Rebekah was still with me when I woke up and left around dinner. She was awesome about everything the whole time she was there. She wore my pajamas because it wasn’t planned for her to stay with me, her kind soul volunteered when I was having such a bad day on Friday. She slept on a combination of a chair and ottoman pushed together with a couple of pillows and think hospital blankets. Not sure how well she slept, but I appreciated her being there very much. So because I was feeling a little more “normal”, Rebekah left that afternoon and I was on my own.

Surgery Posting, Part 3

Surgery Posting, Part 1
Surgery Posting, Part 2
************************************************
So, the tech goes to look at the films, comes back in the room and pronounces that I can go back to my room. Let’s start the transferring. Needless to say, it is still painful, and I cried again from the tilt table to the transfer table. When I got back to my room, Laurie, Kersten and Jess were waiting to visit, but they had to leave for a minute while I got resituated. Upon getting in my room, I noticed that two of my work buddies had swung by to visit me(they left a note on my whiteboard) while I was down for my swallow study and this caused me to be even more tearful because all I wanted at that point was someone who cared about me to be with me and I had missed them. I was already in tears from the transfer down in x-ray and of course cried again when I realized the disappointment of missing my friends, and from the transfer to my bed, so Kersten was concerned. I tried to put on my brave face, but she is too smart for her own good and new that her “Mamie” wasn’t herself(red, puffy eyes couldn’t have had anything to do with it!). Jess on the other hand, loved all the hoses, tubes and wires sticking out of me! He had a blast checking me out. Kersten finally did give me a hug to make me feel better. Unfortunately, they had come while I was gone and had been there awhile already, so couldn’t stay very long, so once they left, I cried some more.
The witch of a nurse still wouldn’t let me drink anything because the doctor hadn’t seen the report yet, so I continued to swab my mouth with ice water. Not too long after Laurie and the kids left, my friend Angela and her two littlest girls came to visit. PEOPLE! People who like me! Oh it was so good to see them! They stayed for awhile until my friend Rebekah showed up. Rebekah will forever be my hero. She made what was a miserable experience in the ICU, be somewhat tolerable. I went for my first walk around the ICU nurse station at this point. I asked to do it. Getting out of bed this time, wasn’t quite as bad as those morning transfers, still painful, but not enough to make me cry at least!
So I figured the results from my swallow study should be ready by now, its about 2pm, but I continued to wait. Patients are supposed to get transferred to the regular surgical floor that first day. Little did I know, they had cancelled my transfer order. It was 6pm before the resident came back to tell me the results of the swallow study, I was fine and could start on clear liquids. HALLELUJAH! Well, so then I asked when I was going to be moved and they said they cancelled it, it was too late. It is now 6pm. At this point, I have had one of the worse days of my life and now they are telling me I am stuck up here ANOTHER night!!! I begged. I won’t lie. So, the resident, bless him, called in a transfer order and within the hour I would be moved. Meanwhile, my first “meal” arrives. At this point, its time for me to get moved to my new floor. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? I haven’t eaten or drank in two freaking days and now its time to move!? Seriously people. So, all my stuff gets packed up and down to the new floor I go. Rebekah is still with me, thankfully, so I was able to cope a little better than if I had been on my own.
So we get in my new room, we get me situated, I meet my new nurses. Right away, I know I am going to like them. They have a sense of humor and are willing to please! Thank you Jesus!
I finally get to have my first taste of liquid, I had one ounce of chicken broth and one ounce of cranberry juice. It took me an hour, which is the way they wanted it. Take small sips, see how it goes. Take my time. So right now, every hour I can have two ounces of liquid. I was up late! And Rebekah, being the sweetheart that she is, offered to stay with me. I am forever indebted to her because my horrific day in the ICU left me very traumatized, and while I was pretty sure things would be better on this floor, I was still not quite ready to let “my people” leave me. My grandparents did come to visit again that afternoon and stayed one more night at my house. Susan also came to visit.
The rest of the evening was mostly uneventful, I drank my liquids, I watched TV, I chatted with Rebekah. I also did two more walks up and down the hall. Gotta keep the blood in my veins moving, we do not want clotting. The nurses did vitals checks and of course had to give me the dreaded twice daily heparin shot. I also still have to wear the TED stocking and the dreaded air pumps. I think it was close to midnight when I finally felt tired enough to doze off for good. Little did I know, hospitals are LOUD. I had read something about this and thought how bad could it be, I mean, they know we are all trying to sleep, right? They don’t care. They do whatever it is they do with no concern for how loud they might be. Mayo supposedly did a study about this in order to address it, but I guess they missed the floor I was on. And for the life of me, can you figure out why they need to draw blood at 3:30AM?? They wake a blissfully sleeping patient to draw blood. For heaven’s sake!
It is at this point that I realize I am awfully itchy. My whole body was itchy, but my nose was the worst. I couldn’t stop touching it. Literally! The nurse comes in to check on me and notices my constant itching and wiggling. She is not sure, but she thinks I might be experiencing a reaction to the morphine. Having never had morphine before, how could I know that it’ll make you itch until you peel your skin off? So, she gets the doctor to switch me to Fetanyl and adds Benadryl to make the itching better. So I try to go to sleep, but am still itching and wiggling………..was not very successful.

Surgery Posting, Part 2

Surgery Posting, Part 1
*********************************
I am told that I was wheeled into recovery around 5:30. I don’t know exactly what time I started to become aware, but the first thing I can remember is being in pain. I remember repeating “Pain” over and over. They must have given me some more pain meds, because once that wasn’t bothering me, I then realized I was thirsty. Now you have to remember, I haven’t eaten or drank all day. The nurse tries to explain to me in my sedated state that she can’t give me anything to drink. I kept repeating the word “THIRSTY”. I was going to get a drink!! Finally, she runs a swab in my mouth of cold water, felt wonderful, it was SO parched. I don’t know how long it was after that, but the next thing I remember saying was “I want my Grama!” So, I hear them say, okay, she is ready for transfer to ICU.
I guess it was around 7pm that I was finally situated and got to see my grandparents. Susan, my roommate, was there as well. I don’t remember much about the evening, I know I babbled a lot, but have no recollection of what I talked about. Not one word! I know at some point my grandparents went back to my house, and it was just Susan in the room, and I must have dozed again, the next time I woke up, she had gone home too. I believe it was around 11pm at this point. My bed that first night was in the ICU, doctor’s preference that all patients go there after surgery, it was not because I had complications or anything fun like that. I was however on oxygen initially because I wasn’t satting quite as well as they would have liked. I also still had
The rest of that night and into the morning, I was up off and on. I wasn’t on continuous pain medication, I had to push a button to get it, so as you can imagine, you get pretty uncomfortable if you went too long between pushes. You had to wait 15 minutes between pushes. I still to this day do not understand why for at least the first day or two, they can’t make it continuous, but that is a whole different tale. My nurse that was with me all night, was very nice, except that she had to give me a shot of heparin(twice a day so I don’t have blood clots). She also got me extra pillows and a blanket, and assisted helping me move around(couldn’t get comfy) since I was still a little woozy from all the drugs. She also had to take vitals several times, and of course, they had to do bloodwork to make sure all my counts were ok. I also had these air pump things attached to my legs, they would blow up and release every ten second or so. Was rather annoying feeling, so sleep wasn’t really on the agenda.
*******************************

Friday
By morning, a new nurse had taken over and most of the rest of my day was hellacious. The resident came in around 6:30 to tell me I’d be going for my swallow study(this is to make sure there aren’t any holes or gaps in my newly rerouted intestines) this morning and after he reviewed the results, if all was well, we could start me on the clear liquids. Little did I know, that their idea of morning and mine, differed by about 4 hours! I am still very thirsty as we are now into day two of no food or drink. I practically had to bribe the nurse to get a swabber to swab my mouth with ice water. I couldn’t drink it mind you and I was to use it sparingly because they don’t know if I can have liquids yet. I guess she assumed I was two years old and couldn’t follow directions because she was downright rude about it. It was 11:30 before they finally came to wheel me down for the test. I was NOT amused. I was trying to use the swab sparingly, but my mouth was DRY, it needed moisture. I am pretty sure the drugs they gave me have a side effect of dry mouth on top of not being able to eat or drink for nearly two days. My grandparents had come back that morning to visit and were with me up until I went for my swallow study.
So, going to do the swallow study required me being transferred from my bed to a transfer bed. This was not pretty, let me tell you. I was in a lot of pain at this point and they were asking me to do the impossible. Roll. Sounds simple enough, but when someone has been poking around in your insides, NOT SO MUCH! I was in tears by the time I finally got on the transfer bed. I was in a lot of pain, and noone seemed to really care! I get down to the x-ray room and again, I have to transfer. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? So, over I have to roll and slide to what I am now aware of is a tilt table. Again, in tears. They begin to take pictures and then I have to drink some contrast. They tell me it tastes bad, I actually didn’t mind it. Not sure if it was the drugs or if it really tasted ok, might of just been tasty because I hadn’t eaten or drank in two days. So after drinking a little bit of it, I had to sit for a few and then they tilted the table to get pictures of the liquid moving through my system. I have to keep sipping repeatedly while tilted so they get adequate pictures of it moving through to make sure there are no holes or cracks or leaks. So, you’d think being on a tilt table they could strap you in or something. Not at Mayo! I had to bear weight and hold myself upright on that table. At this point, I haven’t been out of bed except to transfer, certainly not any weight bearing exercises. My legs were like Jello and I was forced to stand for what seemed like forever and hold myself up all the while swallowing contrast. I was nearly in tears again when I finally told them if they didn’t put me back down, I was going to collapse. The tech looks at me and says, “oh come on, don’t be a baby!” OH REALLY! Should we change positions and see how you like it???? I proceeded to convince him that my legs lacked the strength to hold me when he realized I wasn’t joking and managed to “catch” me and put me back into a lying down position.

Surgery Posting, Part 1

WARNING: This story is very long, it will come to you in pieces.

Well, we’ll start from the beginning, gory details not to be spared! The night before surgery, I had to stop eating by 5pm. Due to circumstances beyond my control, last time I ate was about 11:30am. I meant to eat again, time just ran away from me. So it is 5pm, I had to drink two bottles of the nastiest, most foul tasting liquid to clean out my bowels. I could only drink this “stuff” and water the rest of the evening. It was so nasty, and one bottle truly was more than sufficient! I am sure I can spare you those details. So, September 27th dawns, I show up at the hospital as scheduled, at 7am. My grandparents, Wayne & Louise, were there to support me, with my deepest gratitude.
We were escorted to a room upstairs where I changed into one of those “beautiful” hospital gowns. They then weigh me, take my pulse, temperature, blood pressure, etc. They said someone would be in shortly to put in my IV. The first stick, she got in, woohoo! Then a nurse came in and put me in a pair of TED stockings, these help your legs not to clot from too little inactivity. I then was told they’d transfer me to preop as soon as the surgeon was ready, this was about 7:30 am.
At 11:45am, they finally were ready for me to move to preop. I was not very amused, the day was not on a good path. I told my grandparents goodbye and that I loved them and went off into the depths of the surgical floor. I was placed in a big room with other patients waiting to go into their surgeries where they gave me a mild sedative to make me sleepy, only, that doesn’t work very well for me. Never has worked, why start now? I am wide awake, looking around, waiting my turn. Finally around 1:30, they wheel me into the surgical suite. They discover my first IV has now failed and decide they need to redo it. Fortunately for me, they decided they could do this after I was put under anesthesia. Woohoo! So, they put the mask on my face, and out I went. I don’t remember much, I know I was only in there maybe five minutes that I was awake, the rest………..blissful oblivion! I have no recollection of the breathing tube going in/out. I have no recollection of the urinary catheter going in. I have no recollection of the new IV being placed. And most thankfully, no recollection of the surgical procedure itself! This was one of my biggest concerns, that I’d be awake, but paralyzed with no way to communicate. Thank the Lord Jesus, that did not happen to me. Imagine my horror when a few weeks later they release a movie called “AWAKE” which is about that very topic. I refuse to see it. EVER!

Less than ten days......

Well, it seems like I waited forever to get a date for surgery scheduled and now it is a mere ten days away! I am fairly busy at work trying to anticipate everything that I possibly can for while I am away, I am mostly ready, just a few things to train my deskmates on and I'll be set there.

At home, I have a TON to do! Tonight I meet with the contractor to pick out linoleum, countertops and siding. We will also firm up measurements for the new windows in the basement and the new cabinets in the kitchen and place orders. Approximately four weeks from ordering, we should be able to start the remodel. Meanwhile, I need to strip the wallpaper off the walls in the kitchen and pack up most of my dishes and food supply. All the cabinets are being replaced, so basically we are gutting the kitchen, thus its kind of like moving! I bought a new gas stove over the range microwave and undercounter dishwasher that will also be installed with the new cabinets. The only appliance staying is the fridge. It isn't very old, so it will do for the time being. Eventually I'd like one with the ice/water dispensor on it. Grampa Gardner needs to install the gas line hookup for the stove, but he'll be here next week and am hoping he can tackle that then.

I already bought paint for the kitchen, but I need to go pick up the wainscotting and trim yet. I also think I am going to pick up a pint of white paint and touch up the frames around the windows. I need to see what kind of crown molding Home Depot lined up to go with my cabinets so I can use that around the rest of the kitchen ceiling too.

I also need to get the last of the goodies out of my garden and get them canned. That is quite a chore, but it is worth it to have fresh garden goodies that you know where they came from and how they were tended the entire time. The garden was alot more effort than I imagined, but having the organic produce has been a good reward.

Grama and Grampa Gardner are coming to stay with me before the night of surgery and accompany me to the hospital and be there when I come out of surgery. Not sure if they'll stay a few extra days or not yet, but it will be nice to have them around. I have wonderful friends too that will be helping. My temporary roommate Susan is there of course, and Laurie, LoLo, Sara, Rebekah and some people from work have all volunteered to come and/or help out if I need anything. I have awesome friends and I am so grateful!

Well, keep me in your prayers. I have my pre-surgical appointment this Thursday and then the countdown really starts!

Thanks for checking on me.
Aimee

Six Weeks from now.......

I should be sitting in the recovery room coming out of anesthesia. Yes my friends, six weeks from now is my surgical date. I have to be there bright and early for them to hook up IVs and do all the preliminaries.
Five weeks from now I have my pre-op appointment which clears me for anesthesia.
So things are moving right along. I still have alot of things to do both at home and at work. And as it turns out, the construction projects I have planned are going to occur around that time as well, so I'll definitely be busy right up to the date. Not sure how that will effect my plans for going to Indiana, but I may need to be around here for awhile and just spend a shorter time in Indiana.
I started stripping the wallpaper off the kitchen walls, that is quite a messy project, but I can't wait to have it gone. Its ugly. The contractor is installing new floor, new cabinets, and new countertop. The walls are being refinished by me. I plan to do wainscotting on the bottom half and am painting the upper half a darker shade of blue called Star Spangled Blue. Its not quite navy, more the Americana blue look. I bought the paint on Tuesday, so I am committed for sure now! I have some ideas for the border, but haven't purchased anything yet. I helped my mom and my friend Sara put up borders before, so I know I can handle that as a DIY job, the wainscotting too, couple of nails, piece of trim, DONE!
I bought some new appliances for the project too. I am a HUGE fan of cooking with a gas stove, but currently have electric. YUK! So, I bought a new gas range and I also bought the microwave that goes over the stove and has the vent with it. Am also switching from my portable dishwasher to an under the counter version, so I need to go pick that out yet, but I have time, so no hurry! My grampa is going to install the gas line for me, hoping he can hook up the dishwasher too. I am planning to sell the existing dishwasher, stove and microwave through my company classified ads. Hopefully that will recoup some of the money spent on the appliances as the old ones aren't even that old.
I am really excited about both big projects, surgery and construction, so should be an interesting turning point in many ways.
Well, I think I have blogged enough now, so am going to get busy on some work. Thanks for checking in on me and keeping me in your prayers.

Surgery Date

Well, I finally have a surgery date scheduled.
September 27th.
I am on a list for cancellations, so there is a small chance it could be sooner, but really, that date works well for me, just poses a small problem for work, but, what can you do? =)
Melannie's wedding is September 8th, so I really don't want to have surgery prior to that as my recovery would mess up my travel schedule, so I guess if a date comes thru for after September 11th, then that would be fine, but I don't want anything sooner.
I am excited now that its all in stone, but still a little scared. Putting myself through elective surgery was a big decision, but one I know will benefit me in the end.
Please continue to pray for me, I have ALOT to do to prepare both at work and personally. Am trying to figure a way to spend my recovery with my family in case I need assistance after surgery. There are follow-up appointments however that sort of mess that up, so we'll see what we can manage.
I currently have a temporary roommate, so providing different housing hasn't come through for her by then, she could be my go to person, but its alot to ask, so we'll see.
Thanks for checking in!

Surgery is a Go!

Well, I saw the surgeon yesterday. He thinks I am a good candidate for the surgery. We are going for the laparoscopic Roux-en-Y version. There is a small chance they'll have to do an open version of the surgery, which would then entail removal of my gall bladder, BUT, that shouldn't be necessary as I am young and mostly healthy.
I am now awaiting insurance approval, which technically I have, but we have to do all the paperwork anyway. Once I get the letter from them, I then schedule a date. At this point, anticipating September/October as his schedule is out that far already. I am hoping for September personally, the week after my cousin's wedding would be perfect! I then have 4-8 weeks off, it really depends on how well my recovery goes. I am hoping for the eight weeks, and am going to push for it. Time to get used to my new eating habits and I want to be eating normal food again by the time I get back to work. If you recall from my previous postings, I'll be on the "baby" food diet for 4-6 weeks.
So, I am excited that I have the good ahead, but a little bit nervous as this will be a HUGE transition point in my life. I know its for the better though.
Thanks for following along. I'll post more when I get a date scheduled!

Update for May

Well, I just was seen by the endocrinologist in follow-up to all the appointments he scheduled for me back in February. He is pleased with my weight loss thus far and I have passed all the tests and appointments. He encouraged me to keep exercising and making diet changes. I have eight classes left in the LEARN program, that is the only thing remaining. He said he is signing off on me and he scheduled a consult with the surgeon, who will make the final determination as to whether I proceed with surgery or not.
So, the process has been smooth thus far, will update again once I see the surgeon. You probably won't see another update until June as I leave for California in three weeks and I doubt I'll be seen before that. Surgeons are busy guys!
Thanks for checking in on me!

Slow, but Steady

Well, I saw both the dietician and psychologist finally!
The dietician appointment was mainly to educate and prepare me for the way things will be once the surgery takes place. The first couple of weeks will be the hardest part for sure. For the first day or two after surgery, clear liquids only, followed by one day of any liquids. The three to four weeks after that is pureed food(they suggest using baby food). This is the one that I think will be the hardest part! I am already a picky person, so could be very interesting! Then for the next four weeks would be a "mechanical" soft diet, meaning foods that are very tender, moist and easily chewed. Foods must be mashed or chopped. At this point, I can try ground meat. Then the next four weeks after that is the soft foods diet where things can be chopped or diced, still must be tender, moist and easily chewed. Finally I move to a regular diet and can resume eating most any foods as long as they aren't high in fat or sugar. All of this is in very small quantities and over a period of 3-6 meals a day depending on the stage I am at. They recommend no drinking at the same time as eating to avoid "dumping" syndrome. I have to drink 30 minutes prior to or after meals and then it can only be small sips. I am also supposed to take approximately 30 minutes to eat my meals. They gave me a book of guidelines that also has suggested menus and times of day to eat.
Right now, she suggested I stick to a 1400-1600 calorie/day diet trying to get 60 grams of protein minimum, 30 grams of fiber per day minimum, a maximum of 130 carbs per day and try to stay in the 30-40g range for fat. With the help of a weight program I have, I can monitor these things very easily. I have pretty much been doing this anyway and I have thus far lost 8lbs, but I believe I gained a little muscle as well, so likely I lost a little more than that, but since muscle weighs more than fat, it looks smaller. She also stressed adequate vitamin/mineral supplements, which I told her the program monitors for me as well, so I know I am in good shape. She was also pleased with the amount of activity I am getting. My buddy and I work out at the gym three mornings a week for about an hour and another buddy and I walk daily at lunch for 30 minutes. I also go to water aerobics for an hour every Saturday. Sunday is typically my day "off", though I don't pig out, I do enjoy some of the things I don't eat all week long.
The psychologist appointment kinda does an in general exam of how you feel, what your motivations are, that sort of thing. They also decide whether or not I needed to pursue the LEARN classes. I had taken them once before, but it has been about six years, so they did recommend my repeating the sessions. SO, 12 weeks of that to work on. They overall thought I had a healthy psyche and had no contraindications to having the surgery.
I return to see the endocrinologist on May 3rd. I have more bloodwork at this time as well. He will check over my blood and urine studies, as well as my chest x-ray to make sure nothing was out of sorts in those areas. I then envision him referring me to the surgeon, who ultimately makes the decision if I qualify and am ready to proceed.
So, thus far, things seem to be moving right along. I was trying to speed things up, but it didn't quite work out that way. That is okay though. I have been doing more research about it and talking to some people who have had the surgery already, one is a little over a year past surgery and the other is four years out. A friend of Mark's from work also volunteered to talk to me if I wanted. I have good first hand experience to draw from and believe that although the surgery is a risk and will most definitely change my way of life, I really think its the only way to ultimately lose all the weight I need to lose and maintain a healthy body. The extra weight contributes to my arthritis pain and plantar fascitis. Both things should see great improvement after weight loss occurs. I also have a semi-high cholesterol level, its not in the level to be treated, but he says I should be more proactive at lowering it. The surgery will also change that. The surgery will not hurt my ability to have children, they just suggest waiting at least a year before trying. Not a problem for me at this point since I don't even have any prospects for a husband!
Well, this got to be quite lengthy, so I think I'll sign off for now. I'll plan to update again once I see the endocrinologist.
Thanks for checking in on me!

Update 3/3/07

Well, so far, not much is happening. I was told it was a long process and looks like it will be!

I did go to the informational session this past week. They explain the procedure in a bit more of detail and then they had a Q&A session with an endocrinologist, a surgeon, a dietician and a psychologist present. The surgeon got the most questions. Go figure! The good news is that at Mayo, 80% of surgies are laparoscopic, and the 20% of those that aren't, are typically on men since they tend to carry more of their weight directly in their abdomen area. The highest risk of the surgery is blood clots, but they put pressure stockings on you prior to surgery and try to get you up and walking soon after waking up to try to prevent that. At Mayo, the risk of death is about 1 in 300 compared to the national average of about 1 in 200. I say that is pretty good sign our docs know what they are doing.

I was supposed to see the dietician already, but have had to reschedule(her fault, not mine) three times already. Scheduled for 3/12, but trying to get in sooner. She will work with me to help me rework my diet now as they like you to start losing weight and exercising prior to surgery to prove that you can do as told after. I already started doing both and have lost 5 pounds as of last Monday, I'll weigh in again this Monday and hopefully will see a few more gone.

Next appointment then is the psychologist, they want to make sure you are mentally fit to proceed. It is going to be a mental battle in addition to the physical. I am scheduled for 3/20 right now, which is an improvement from the 4/12 appointment I had, but I am checking daily to get in sooner if I can. You cannot proceed with the LEARN classes until you see them. The LEARN classes are a group meeting to basically support you and others. Its 12 weeks of meetings.

After all of that, then you see the surgeon. S/he has the final say. They want you to be committed and they want you to be a success, so they can be hard to please. The main thing is they want to see progress in weight loss, diet changes, and activity levels.

So, you can see that no way is this going to be something that happens overnight. At the education session, they said minimum of 6 months, but could be anywhere from 6-12 before things really happen.

I'll update again after I have my appointments.
Thanks for checking in and for your support!