Oh my word, this has been one heck of a journey so far and I'm only just starting. It is required for all bariatric surgery candidates to have a list of clearances before surgery. I needed a psych eval and my psychologist of nearly 16 years could provide far more information than any psychiatrist they would have me talk with for a couple of hours. I needed a sleep study. Well, I already use a C-Pap, so I just had the doc print out a report of recent use. I needed some initial blood work, which I had done from my primary a few weeks prior. I mailed all of that out to them. Finally is my cardiac clearance. He wanted me to have a nuclear stress test (since I can't go running on a treadmill - if I couldn't I likely wouldn't need the surgery in the first place) and an echo. I received calls after each of these to say that the results showed no abnormalities. I see the cardiologist on Monday and assume I will have that clearance then. The surgeon's office also ordered a number of labs, but when I went to have them done, I found out that my insurance wasn't going to cover those tests under the diagnostic code they used, which had added up to well over $500 and they hadn't run all of them through. I called the nurse at the surgeon's office to see if there was another code they could use (of course without committing insurance fraud). She called the lab and there are hoops she needs to jump through.
So, the next step is an endoscopy. The doctor is willing to allow me to do it in the hospital out here in the suburbs (usually all of this is done downtown and I don't drive downtown). He is going to speak with my GI to coordinate something.
I'm drinking protein drinks one meal per day (at this point) and am having high protein yogurt at least once a day. I'm testing things out and figuring out what works. I got a special bariatric surgery cookbook and it is providing a ton of information!
We joined a gym, although my membership is suspended for now. They offer aquatic classes and I plan on doing that. I don't know when I'll be allowed back in the pool and right now, I'm just waiting to see when surgery is. In the meantime I am riding my exercise bike. I'm losing - slowly but surely, I'm losing some pounds.
I am going to see an additional therapist to deal solely with my food and eating issues. I mean, obviously I have some, since I am a hippo. I can't go back to eating the way that caused me to become this.... well.... fat. I am an emotional eater and did find a book which deals with this topic, too. Perhaps it will be a jumping off point for that therapy. We'll see. My OCD has had me create a binder of information, printed from the computer and in page protectors, divided by topic. So yeah, I'm well-versed and ready to tackle this!
When's surgery? Everyone asks and I have to explain the above process to them. Hopefully soon I can give a solid date! Excited and Terrified. That's where I stand. And I think that's normal.
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