Pre-op and sleep study...

Yesterday I went for my pre-op and internists appointment and found out that they needed me to do a sleep study. I looked at them and said that’s nice, but I leave for my vacation on Saturday and when I get back, I’ll be having my surgery. That left them two nights to squeeze me into an appointment and guess what…they did…last night. It was the single worst experience of my life and I hope I never have to do one again. It felt like torture. I was soooo tired, yet I couldn’t get comfortable and fall asleep because of all the crap attached to me and when I finally did fall asleep they work me up 3 hours later, because it was time to go home…at 5:30 in the morning. Needless to say, with my lack of sleep, pending vacation, followed by my surgery I have not been too productive at work today. If I had been given advance warning regarding the sleep study I probably would have taken the day off, but less then 12 hours notice, didn’t give me much time to plan and research what I was in for.

On another note, the rest of my day yesterday, getting poked and prodded went well. It confirmed my suspension that I am in fact healthy and just over-weight. I’m glad I’ve made this decision though, because as I was giving my family history of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol, I realized that it’s only a matter of time before I fall into those categorize too, if I don’t do something now.

7 days in, 7 pounds down…

That’s right I am currently losing at a rate of a pound a day and let me tell you it certainly helps keep me going. Being on a liquid diet is hard, there is no doubt about it, but seeing the scale go down helps motivate me to keep going.

I have 2 weeks left and then it is my surgery. I can’t believe how fast it is approaching. I’m trying not to think about it and just focusing on getting through this liquid diet phase. Next week I’m on vacation and I fear it’s going to make it harder. At least at work I have a distraction, but on weekends, it’s easy to obsess and think of food constantly. I would imagine the week off would be the same, but hopefully because I will be up at the cottage I will be to busy having fun, swimming and hiking...fingers crossed!

Day 4 of Shakes...

Well I am near the end of my 4th day of my liquid diet. I feel like I am doing better then the first few days. I was a bit bitchy, tired and over all irritable, but now I can say that currently that is behind me. Other then that I seem to have waves of emotional turmoil, I feel like I'm on the verge of a ball. Although I haven't cried yet, I feel like its right there and can happen at anytime. I guess we’ll see what happens…

Balls to the wall...

This past week was my last week before going on a 3 week liquid diet, followed by my surgery. My feeling is, my life as I know it is going to change forever (for the better, I agree), but still I enjoy food and I won’t be able to enjoy it like I do now, so….I went all out. Ate everything I wanted to, as much as I wanted and just over all enjoyed my last week as my life is now. I’m excited to be starting this journey, but I’m happy I went balls to the wall this past week and especially this weekend.

I was in Montreal for a wedding and was with my brother and sister-in-law, who helped me indulge my every whim. We had sinfully delicious crapes, ice cream, big breakfasts, baked good…you name it. I’m sure I gained 10 pounds this weekend alone (I’m exaggerating). Anyway, I’m ready….I had my first shake this morning. They don’t taste very great and I’m sure by week 3 I’ll be choking them down, but I’m looking forward to it. I did want I wanted to do, indulged and now I say let the games begin…BRING IT ON WORLD :)

Its official…I have a DATE…

My wish has been granted, as I received a call last week from the surgeon’s office with a surgery date. Drum roll please…..August 3.

That is less then a month away. I am happy, nervous, excited and anxious all at the same time. Every now and then, I think I am going to throw up it is so close. I start my 3-week liquid diet next week, after a weekend in Montreal for a wedding. It will be a good last weekend before this all gets started. I will be on vacation the last week of July, at the cottage, which will be hard and good all at the same time. Who knows how spacey I will be by the 3rd week of only liquid. Probably not to productive at work, so it will be good I will be on vacation.

I almost forgot to mention that I will be having the sleeve done and not bypass. I'm very happy about this. Although it was a difficult decisions as the doctor was recommending Bypass. I held my ground and went with my gut and choose the have the sleeve. Fingers crossed all goes well.

So Friday was…”The Day”.

The day I met my surgeon for the first time. Earlier in the week the office called me to change my appointment from 3:00 to 2:00 and also moved it to a further location. I was okay with that, but when we got there on Friday for 2:00 on the nose, we waited until 4:10 before we got in to see him. I was a little annoyed by that, but I guess it is to be expected in the medical field. What got me even more annoyed was the fact they ask you to bring a loved one or family member for support. I wanted to bring my mom, but unfortunately, she was scheduled for a last minute meeting that she absolutely could not get out of, so I ask my brother if he could come. He of course said yes, because I have a wonderful brother, but after asking him to leave work so early, just to sit in a waiting room for over 2 hours and then only seeing the surgeon for 20 minutes…I was disappointed I dragged him out. Oh…and let us not forget about the traffic on the way there and back.

As I mentioned the appointment, itself was only 20 minutes give or take. Because I was already so well versed on the different procedures, we flew by that part of the appointment and really, after that, there was nothing left to talk about. I gave him a brief history and told him which procedure I was interested in most. I was happy to find out that the do perform the sleeve however; do not recommend it due to the lack of data. He advised me I will come back to see him in a few weeks and we will decide then on which procedure is best. Really…the whole appointment felt like a big formality, so it was disappointing to say the least.

This whole thing has proven to be quite the process so far. At this point I'm looking to get all this over with and put it behind me, so that i can move on with my new life.

Introduction to my new life...

Yesterday was my introduction to weight loss surgery. I was surprised that I was the youngest one there. I don’t even think there were people in there 30’s. Everyone seem to be women in there 40’ and 50’ with grown kids. I was a little disappointed about this. I was hoping I could bond with someone, who is in the same stage of life as I am. Oh well…I digress.

The class was a great learning experience. There wasn’t a lot that I didn’t already know, but it was nice to discuss weight loss surgery, face to face and be able to ask questions with professionals. The funny part was all the fake food, portioned off that, the dietician had spread all over the table. We all took turns trying to figure out what they were supposed to be, for example, the “hamburger” looking like a piece of shit...LOL

I walked out feeling a little indifferent. I would like to think I can lose the weight on my own and that I don’t need something as drastic as weight loss surgery, but then the practical and logical side tells me if I could, I would. However, is that the truth or am I just lazy and don’t want to put forth the effort it would take to lose weight on my own and keep it off? I don’t know. I do know that I have been over weight all of my life…so something must be telling my body to be fat instead of thin.