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!

The Start

Most of you know I struggle with my weight. I have dieted on several different varieties of diets, all to no avail. I can lose a little, but I always plateau at a certain point. I am sick and tired of never getting beyond that point. I don't want to look like this anymore.
Well, I went on Friday to see the Endocrinologist. I have seen one before, but since it has been awhile, they made me start all over with someone new. The new someone is AWESOME! He is funny, he listens and he really seems to want to help me. I am at the beginning of the process for bypass surgery. Yes, you heard correctly, I am going to try and have the surgery! I wanted to do it the last time I went there, but they kept telling me that other than my being overweight, I was perfectly healthy. Well, this new doctor says that even though I am still mostly healthy, that because of my asthma and my joint problems, I may qualify now! YEAH! I am happy and scared at the same time!
It is a long road to get there, it can be a three to six month process. I have to do some testing, both on blood and urine. I have to go to a bunch of educational sessions and be seen by a psychologist. I also have to have a dietician follow with me regularly. Once I do all of that, I meet with the surgeon who makes the final call. Then its the paperwork run around with the insurance company. Then I can have the surgery.
I figure if all goes well and we hit no bumps in the road, I should have surgery in June or July. Hopefully sooner rather than later. It cannot be before Mark's wedding due to the tight scheduling we are working with. We are looking at doing the Roux-en-Y version of the surgery vs. the two other methods(lap band and duodenal switch). It is the most successful version as far as good results. No matter which version you do, there is a learning curve. I basically will have to learn how to eat all over again. I start out on a strict schedule of foods starting with a liquid diet and gradually working back to solid foods. I'll only be able to eat about a 1/4 cup(2 ounces) to begin with, but I can gradually work up to about 1 cup at a time. I have to chew foods very well and wait a few minutes between bites to give my stomach time to register the fact that food is there. I have to stay away from most fatty or sweet foods or I'll get sick from them. I can only drink water based beverages. In order to help my skin keep keep its elasticity, I will be working out quite a bit too once I recover. The doctor says because I am younger, my skin should not have too much trouble returning to its original shape. I will still follow up with a dietician and I'll have to have monthly Vitamin B12 shots in addition to taking a multivitamin regimen. Due to decreased absorption of foods, vitamins will be very important.
The surgery will not be easy, the first couple of weeks will be pretty miserable as the body tries to cope with what happened. And I have to be careful not to overdo or it will make me sick too. They won't be cutting my abdominal wall, they go in through my belly button and make a few other small incisions. So the recovery from that part shouldn't be too bad. It is the adjustment my stomach has to make that will be the toughest. Any surgery has risk, but I believe I will do just fine.
My doctor has faith in me and is working to make this happen. That is the best part. I really hope things transition smoothly. I can hardly wait!
I'll keep you posted as things progress.
Thanks for checking on me!