The Evaluation Process

I started the evaluation process to see if I would be a good candidate for a surgical weightloss procedure... either gastric bypass or the gastric band. My initial visit with the surgeon was November 16, 2010. The surgeon seemed nice enough... young, but nice enough. He seemed knowledgeable and very confident that I would be a good candidate for the surgery. He encouraged me to complete the evaluation process, so I did. I would meet with him again in 8 weeks to follow up on my progress through the evaluations. I was weighed... and my weight had gone up to 248 lbs. since I stopped going to Weight Watchers... an additional 10 pounds since July.

I made an appointment for December 16, with Heart & Wellness, for a cardiac nursing evaluation and nutrition evaluation. I was weighed again... still 248. Good that I didn't gain anymore weight... bad that I didn't lose any. The funny thing was I had to keep a food journal for 3 days anytime before my appointment. As usual, I put it off until the final 3 days before my appointment... over a weekend, where I attended holiday parties up the ying-yang. My food journal was not pretty -- pigs in blankets, chips, finger sandwiches, cakes, cookies, brownies, punch... the nutritionist made no comment, though. Hopefully, she understood.

Next, I saw the cardiac nurse who measured my waist, arms, legs, neck, and chest. Did I smoke? No. Quit 10 years ago. My neck, at 16", was at the threshold for a sleep study, which she ordered, even though I assured her I do not snore. I do not stop breathing. I do not have headaches when I wake up and I am not generally tired during the day, unless I go to bed late and get up too early. She also ordered a stress test.

That same day, I was scheduled for a psych evaluation, which I was sure I'd fail. :) I chatted with the psychologist for a short while, then was handed a stack of papers containing a multitude of questions to answer. These took over two hours to complete and I was to call the psychologist after the holidays to discuss the results. After a very short discussion, it was determined that I was a good candidate for the surgery, but he suggested I have a couple of sessions of therapy for surgery anxiety.

I called my PCP for a referral for a psychologist and made an appointment. After two sessions, I was cured. LOL My surgery anxiety stemmed from my last surgery I had in June 1978, when I had my appendix out. The surgery went swimmingly well, but I was 3 months pregnant with my youngest son at the time of the surgery and I was terrified that my baby wouldn't be normal. That terror is what stuck with me... my son was fine, with the exception of two extra fingers. Not whole fingers... they looked more like little pearls dangling from his pinkie fingers. Each little pearl was complete with a fingernail, even. The pediatrition just tied them off and they fell off. At 32 years old, he still has tiny red bumps on his pinkies where those little pearls were attached. Once I figured out my terror of surgery was due to being pregnant when I had my last surgery, I was fine (which I figured out on my own, by the way).

My stress test was scheduled for January 4. I completed that with no problems. I had two support group meetings to attend and completed that requirement in January and February. My next hurdle was the sleep study. So, at 8:15PM, with overnight bag in tow, I head off to the hospital for a sleep study. I arrive at the appointed time, 8:45PM, and am greeted by a pleasant young sleep study studier named Maria, who directed me to my room with no TV, about 30 yards away from the bathroom. I generally get up at least once, during the night, to pee, but with the bathroom so far away, I have decided I will not be getting up to pee tonight. She told me to change into my pajamas and she would be back in awhile to hook me up. So, I changed into my pajamas and got out my crossword puzzle that I'd started earlier in the day. Maria came back and asked if I was ready to go to sleep. Well, no... I don't generally go to sleep until 11PM or later. It was 9PM and I was getting annoyed with the process already. Maria decided that I could stay up a bit and I was to call her, with my call button, when I was ready to sleep. Fifteen minutes pass and Maria called me to see if I was ready. No, I'm not ready. I'm not tired at all! But I can't work on my crossword puzzle because I'm too wound up over this stupid sleep study, so I decide to try to read my book. Yeah, that was wasn't happening either. So, I decided I'd try to sleep! Hah! What was I thinking?!! I called Maria and she came in and started hooking up hundreds of wires to my legs, arms, head, neck, face and, when she was done, she told me to try to get some sleep and to call her if I had to go to the bathroom. She left and shut the door. Now, here I am, with hundreds of wires hooked up to me and, worst of all, I have two tubes stuck up my nose! Ah, yes... slumber will come easy tonight, I'm sure. So, I try to get comfortable and... POP... I popped a few of the wires on my legs. In runs Maria to hook me back up. I settle in again and decide I can't sleep with tubes in my nose, so I moved them, probably an 1/8 of an inch down. In comes Maria to fix the nose probes. So, I settle in again for probably 10 more minutes and, once again, I tried to move the nose probes... in she comes again to fix them. After one more try to sleep, I decided this was an effort in futility and started disconnecting myself from the wires. I was going home! In she comes... but this time, I told her I was going home. She helped me get the wires off and I was left with disgusting huge clumps of what felt like really thick vaseline in about five areas on my head to hold the wires in place. That was the most disgusting stuff to try to get out of my hair! So, no sleep study. On my drive back home, I was very upset, worrying that I had just screwed up any chance I'd had of having the surgery. The sleep study was the last hoop I had to jump through and I couldn't do it. I was beginning to feel like a guinea pig and was just getting tired of jumping through all the hoops. I wasn't even sure I wanted the stupid surgery. I was so upset that I almost made another appointment with the psych therapist, but held off. As usual, my anxiety subsided after a couple of days.

I emailed the surgeon's assistant, Annie, to see what my next move should be and if I would still be able to have the surgery if I hadn't completed a sleep study. She forwarded my concerns to the surgeon and he answered himself. He would still be willing to perform the surgery, but encouraged me to complete the sleep study. If I couldn't, that wouldn't throw me out of the program.

So, I was still in the program. Annie left voice mail for me to call to schedule a surgery date. We chose June 6 for the surgery and she would send me a packet of information and forms I would need to complete. I decided I really did want to do this. The support group meetings were full of information from others who already had the procedure and no one... not one... was unhappy with their decision to go through with the surgery. The vast majority had had the gastric bypass surgery, while a few had the gastric band. I would have the gastric bypass surgery... surgically bypassing the stomach, left with a small, 2 ounce pouch, that would serve as my new stomach.

I met with my surgeon last Tuesday for a pre-op visit. I am scheduled for a gastroscopy on June 1. That's kind of like a colonoscopy, but the little camera goes in the mouth, to the stomach, under sedation. My surgeon likes to see what he's getting into before he starts the surgery.

I am on day five of a two-week liquid diet and am doing well with it. That's to get the liver as small as possible, before surgery, to lessen the risk of complications from nicking the liver during surgery.

And that's it to date!