Today I met with Dr. G to go over my EGD results from late January.
Nothing bad showed up but he said he did see my (small) hiatal hernia and said he'd fix it for me while he's doing my sleeve. It should help cut down on my acid reflux in addition to eating better foods.
Before I got to Dr. G, Jennifer the Nurse took my blood pressure (normal) and weight. I said, "you're going to weigh me while I'm here?" and she replied, "I have to weigh you every time you're here." I had just drunk a coffee (yes, coffee -- my friend Michelle got me liking the white chocolate mochas at Starbucks and they have one in the hospital). So I felt fat and full and bloated and of course that weighed me down. Literally. Since my Nutritionist #3 appointment on February 10th, I gained another three pounds. Geez!
But what do I expect. I've been eating whatever I want and not walking. My next appointment with Ashton the Nutritionist is on March 12th, so I have about two weeks to try and lose a few pounds (which would make me feel less guilty).
I know I don't have to, but I want to. And to start in the right direction, I skipped my evening snack tonight. There.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Psych!
Today was my psychological evaluation. I had some butterflies beforehand, but enjoyed it more than I'd imagined! My dumb ass forgot all the paperwork I had filled out in advance, so I had to do it all over again Oh well, good thing I was early.
Once I got back with the doctor, she set me up on a computer to answer about 170 true or false questions. I love filling shit out, so I was all over this! Some of the questions were interesting, all were only a sentence long, and some were thrown in to make sure you were paying attention. I answered truthfully and for the most part, swiftly, however, there were a few that I had to think hard about which way I leaned more on the answer.
Once I was done with the computer test, there were a couple other tests that asked me how I had been feeling for the last one or two weeks, respectively.
After I completed all of the testing, which took approximately 20-30 minutes, I met with the doctor in her office. She asked me a bunch of questions. We talked about why I chose the vertical sleeve gastrectomy over gastric bypass. She asked me about my support system, about what changes I was making in advance of the surgery and checked my understanding of the life changes that will occur after surgery.
So that was that. Not as intimidating as I thought!
Once I got back with the doctor, she set me up on a computer to answer about 170 true or false questions. I love filling shit out, so I was all over this! Some of the questions were interesting, all were only a sentence long, and some were thrown in to make sure you were paying attention. I answered truthfully and for the most part, swiftly, however, there were a few that I had to think hard about which way I leaned more on the answer.
Once I was done with the computer test, there were a couple other tests that asked me how I had been feeling for the last one or two weeks, respectively.
After I completed all of the testing, which took approximately 20-30 minutes, I met with the doctor in her office. She asked me a bunch of questions. We talked about why I chose the vertical sleeve gastrectomy over gastric bypass. She asked me about my support system, about what changes I was making in advance of the surgery and checked my understanding of the life changes that will occur after surgery.
So that was that. Not as intimidating as I thought!
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Upper GI & Chest Images
Yesterday I got to check off two more items from my long to do list.
I started with the chest x-rays. I just had to lift my shirt up and she put some warm jelly on my abdomen. She made me hold my breath a few times for 10-20 seconds at a time and move on my sides so she could get images captured of my kidney, spleen, gall bladder, liver etc.
Then I had the upper GI series. For this I had to get into a gown and do shots of powder alka seltzer with a chaser of water. :) Once I did that to avoid upset stomach, I had to drink about 5 large sips/gulps of a barium sulfate compound which didn't taste as bad as I thought it would. It was a bit chalky. The two men that did the pictures made me turn over a couple times on the bed -- a full 360 degrees, so that the barium fully coated all sides of my stomach.
When I left I was advised to drink 6 to 8 glasses of water to flush out the barium and that my poop would be white/chalky for the next few days.
Later on in the afternoon around 3 PM I thought I had to pee really bad, so bad it hurt, but after I relieved myself, the pain still subsided for much of the evening. I think it was just mild cramps related to the barium, but apparently cramps are a rare side effect.
I was fine this morning.
I started with the chest x-rays. I just had to lift my shirt up and she put some warm jelly on my abdomen. She made me hold my breath a few times for 10-20 seconds at a time and move on my sides so she could get images captured of my kidney, spleen, gall bladder, liver etc.
Then I had the upper GI series. For this I had to get into a gown and do shots of powder alka seltzer with a chaser of water. :) Once I did that to avoid upset stomach, I had to drink about 5 large sips/gulps of a barium sulfate compound which didn't taste as bad as I thought it would. It was a bit chalky. The two men that did the pictures made me turn over a couple times on the bed -- a full 360 degrees, so that the barium fully coated all sides of my stomach.
When I left I was advised to drink 6 to 8 glasses of water to flush out the barium and that my poop would be white/chalky for the next few days.
Later on in the afternoon around 3 PM I thought I had to pee really bad, so bad it hurt, but after I relieved myself, the pain still subsided for much of the evening. I think it was just mild cramps related to the barium, but apparently cramps are a rare side effect.
I was fine this morning.
Monday, February 17, 2014
Blood Panel + EKG and PAP!
So today I got a few things accomplished and "checked" off my list of things to do before I can have surgery.
This morning I went down to Baptist and got my blood drawn plus had an EKG which took all of 10 seconds or so. I loved the guy that drew my blood, Teddy G. I asked him if his last name was Graham. Hehe. He got it on the first try and the EKG took longer to set up than the test took once it was ready to go.
After I was done I went over to see Hope in the Bariatric office to get my next three appointments changed. I counted the days between my February and March appointments and it was only 27 days in between. From what I have read online and even Hope had mentioned before that the insurance likes to see 30 days in between appointment dates.
Later this afternoon I went over to West Florida to Dr. Mehta for my annual PAP. I really like him so much. He makes me feel at ease and doesn't mind dumb/weird questions. He is awesome. Although they took me back in a reasonable amount of time after my 1:45 appointment time, I waited in the room for almost 30 minutes. Kind of annoying, but oh well. I was on my own time.
I can't keep thinking about all the changes to my life, my health, my WARDROBE. :D I have certain shirts that are going to fit me for a while as I lose, and then I expect them to look ridiculous on me. Once I get to my "goal weight" (whatever that is), I'm going to buy some expensive Miss Me jeans because I love the back pocket designs and want to draw attention to my rear! Just kidding. Psych! Anyhow, every time I go out shopping -- we went to the outlet stores in Foley this weekend -- I have to tell myself NOT to buy any clothes because it will be a waste of money. I really want to start visiting thrift stores to start building my wardrobe up at smaller sizes, but it makes more sense to do that when I can actually try things on instead of assuming a certain size of ANYTHING is going to look perfect on me. I am having trouble holding back.
I did recently order a sample pack of protein shake mixes from Unjury, which is the sample I got from my nutritionist. I liked the vanilla flavor, so now I'll be able to try a few others. I am also going to order a 64 oz container that will hold the water I need to drink everyday and I'm going to start using it pre-op to get used to that quantity. It's an expensive container that I found on Amazon that keeps the contents cold for days (if ice is added)....but since it doesn't have a handle, I'll probably just pour the cold water into a Tervis tumbler. Seems silly, but at least I will be able to tell how much I have left to drink and not have to guess on how many ounces I really got in.
So that is all! My next appointment is on Friday for an upper GI and chest ultrasound at Baptist on University and Nine Mile. Then comes the very scary psych appointment a week from tomorrow. Will report on those next!
This morning I went down to Baptist and got my blood drawn plus had an EKG which took all of 10 seconds or so. I loved the guy that drew my blood, Teddy G. I asked him if his last name was Graham. Hehe. He got it on the first try and the EKG took longer to set up than the test took once it was ready to go.
After I was done I went over to see Hope in the Bariatric office to get my next three appointments changed. I counted the days between my February and March appointments and it was only 27 days in between. From what I have read online and even Hope had mentioned before that the insurance likes to see 30 days in between appointment dates.
Later this afternoon I went over to West Florida to Dr. Mehta for my annual PAP. I really like him so much. He makes me feel at ease and doesn't mind dumb/weird questions. He is awesome. Although they took me back in a reasonable amount of time after my 1:45 appointment time, I waited in the room for almost 30 minutes. Kind of annoying, but oh well. I was on my own time.
I can't keep thinking about all the changes to my life, my health, my WARDROBE. :D I have certain shirts that are going to fit me for a while as I lose, and then I expect them to look ridiculous on me. Once I get to my "goal weight" (whatever that is), I'm going to buy some expensive Miss Me jeans because I love the back pocket designs and want to draw attention to my rear! Just kidding. Psych! Anyhow, every time I go out shopping -- we went to the outlet stores in Foley this weekend -- I have to tell myself NOT to buy any clothes because it will be a waste of money. I really want to start visiting thrift stores to start building my wardrobe up at smaller sizes, but it makes more sense to do that when I can actually try things on instead of assuming a certain size of ANYTHING is going to look perfect on me. I am having trouble holding back.
I did recently order a sample pack of protein shake mixes from Unjury, which is the sample I got from my nutritionist. I liked the vanilla flavor, so now I'll be able to try a few others. I am also going to order a 64 oz container that will hold the water I need to drink everyday and I'm going to start using it pre-op to get used to that quantity. It's an expensive container that I found on Amazon that keeps the contents cold for days (if ice is added)....but since it doesn't have a handle, I'll probably just pour the cold water into a Tervis tumbler. Seems silly, but at least I will be able to tell how much I have left to drink and not have to guess on how many ounces I really got in.
So that is all! My next appointment is on Friday for an upper GI and chest ultrasound at Baptist on University and Nine Mile. Then comes the very scary psych appointment a week from tomorrow. Will report on those next!
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Nutritionist Consult #3
I weighed in at 245 -- gained 2 lbs since last visit. Ugh.
I am not as worried about the gain(s) as I was before now that Nurse Jennifer said that she's never seen an insurance denial because someone had gained weight. Plus she asked me if Dr. G told me I had to lose weight before surgery (he did not) because sometimes he asks patients to lose a percentage, or in one ladies' specific case, 50 lbs. before surgery.
Ashton and I went over how I did with last month's goals. I admitted (again) that I hadn't walked any. However, I was more aware of my fried food intake and gave up soda completely. Which I am proud of!
This month's goals: Walk 3 times a week for 20 minutes, do not drink with dinner, keep a food journal, and I forget the 4th.
She gave me an Unjury brand sample of vanilla protein shake and I made it for breakfast Tuesday morning. It tasted ok but I needed to have blended it a lot better -- didn't like the chunks of powder even though I shook the shit out my Tervis.
Oh I just remembered my 4th goal: to only have high calorie sweets ONCE a week. I already screwed that one up and it's only Wednesday.
Tomorrow I go see a psychic I've been wanting to see. We have a one hour one on one session and I am looking forward to hearing what she has to tell me.
Before I left the bariatric office, Hope made my last three NUT appointments and then she also made my one hour appointment with Ashton (the NUT) where she will do a "writeup" for the insurance company submission for surgery approval.
Hope said that as long as I get everything checked off the list and insurance comes back in about a week, I should be scheduled for surgery as early as late May to early June. Just in time for my 37th birthday.
I am too excited!
I am not as worried about the gain(s) as I was before now that Nurse Jennifer said that she's never seen an insurance denial because someone had gained weight. Plus she asked me if Dr. G told me I had to lose weight before surgery (he did not) because sometimes he asks patients to lose a percentage, or in one ladies' specific case, 50 lbs. before surgery.
Ashton and I went over how I did with last month's goals. I admitted (again) that I hadn't walked any. However, I was more aware of my fried food intake and gave up soda completely. Which I am proud of!
This month's goals: Walk 3 times a week for 20 minutes, do not drink with dinner, keep a food journal, and I forget the 4th.
She gave me an Unjury brand sample of vanilla protein shake and I made it for breakfast Tuesday morning. It tasted ok but I needed to have blended it a lot better -- didn't like the chunks of powder even though I shook the shit out my Tervis.
Oh I just remembered my 4th goal: to only have high calorie sweets ONCE a week. I already screwed that one up and it's only Wednesday.
Tomorrow I go see a psychic I've been wanting to see. We have a one hour one on one session and I am looking forward to hearing what she has to tell me.
Before I left the bariatric office, Hope made my last three NUT appointments and then she also made my one hour appointment with Ashton (the NUT) where she will do a "writeup" for the insurance company submission for surgery approval.
Hope said that as long as I get everything checked off the list and insurance comes back in about a week, I should be scheduled for surgery as early as late May to early June. Just in time for my 37th birthday.
I am too excited!
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Can't Believe I'm Halfway Done
Tomorrow will be my 3rd of 6 nutritionist appointments! My last one will be in early May. I am hoping that come my 4th appointment they will "pencil in" my surgery date so I can start the countdown!
If I have my surgery in earlyish June, I hope to be 60 pounds down by the end of the year...or approx. 180 lbs. That's probably a size 12, right? I mean....at 205 I was squeezing into a size of 12 jeans I have in my closet. Surely an additional 25 lbs. would get me in them comfortably. Oh, to dream...
Speaking of clothing, I found a brand new sized 14 business suit in my closet today that still has the tags on it. My mom got it for me one Christmas years ago because I was losing weight and that was my next size down. I never have gotten into it. Maybe this fall I will.
Went to Kohl's yesterday to look for something to wear to a wedding but found absolutely no dresses that would cover my legs. So I ended up getting a size large cardigan to wear over a dress I already own. Should've gotten an extra large because I had to push my arms in it and stretch it out.
I did see a few cute things at Kohl's that I was tempted to buy to put in my "future closet" but I am refraining for now. Mainly because I really don't know what size I'll be when I get to my goal weight. And I don't want to spend the money.
Rich and I are planning to book our trip to Ireland soon. We're going at the end of September to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. If my surgery is in June, by the end of September I'll be about 3 months post-op, so I should be eating regular foods, just not much of anything. Dublin sight seeing is going to require LOTS of walking, so I am looking forward to having built in exercise during my vacation! Rich keeps bringing up food and how I won't be eating much but I don't think it is a big deal. I may be able to have a taste of things here and there but I won't be able to have a pint of Guinness (or any alcohol for that matter). Food doesn't make a vacation, right?
If I have my surgery in earlyish June, I hope to be 60 pounds down by the end of the year...or approx. 180 lbs. That's probably a size 12, right? I mean....at 205 I was squeezing into a size of 12 jeans I have in my closet. Surely an additional 25 lbs. would get me in them comfortably. Oh, to dream...
Speaking of clothing, I found a brand new sized 14 business suit in my closet today that still has the tags on it. My mom got it for me one Christmas years ago because I was losing weight and that was my next size down. I never have gotten into it. Maybe this fall I will.
Went to Kohl's yesterday to look for something to wear to a wedding but found absolutely no dresses that would cover my legs. So I ended up getting a size large cardigan to wear over a dress I already own. Should've gotten an extra large because I had to push my arms in it and stretch it out.
I did see a few cute things at Kohl's that I was tempted to buy to put in my "future closet" but I am refraining for now. Mainly because I really don't know what size I'll be when I get to my goal weight. And I don't want to spend the money.
Rich and I are planning to book our trip to Ireland soon. We're going at the end of September to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. If my surgery is in June, by the end of September I'll be about 3 months post-op, so I should be eating regular foods, just not much of anything. Dublin sight seeing is going to require LOTS of walking, so I am looking forward to having built in exercise during my vacation! Rich keeps bringing up food and how I won't be eating much but I don't think it is a big deal. I may be able to have a taste of things here and there but I won't be able to have a pint of Guinness (or any alcohol for that matter). Food doesn't make a vacation, right?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)