nlstone0406

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Doing very well! Starting to eat a little more normally, feeling okay and doing a better job of getting protein and liquid in.  Checked Hgb at work the other day which was a little high, so up'ed the water.  So far, so good...

14 days til surgery & started preop diet this morning ... so far, so good.
Hopefully, these two weeks go quickly.

I got my insurance approval in the mail on Friday.  That's the golden ticket to go ahead and schedule surgery so I called and my RNY is scheduled for June 23!!!!!!!!!!  Can't believe it.  A year's worth of testing and classes and general hoopla went really quickly.
The only problem now?  I came down with pneumonia last Sunday!!  Say whaaat? I'm never sick.  So please cross your fingers for me that I'm over this quickly and it doesn't delay surgery. AAAGGHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had my first visit w/ the nutritionist and nurse practitioner the other day.  They were both very positive and felt I'd do well w/ the surgery.  Need to loose another 2 pounds (total of fifteen) before they'll allow me to schedule the surgery.  I have a cruise to the Caribbean scheduled between now and then so hopefully I can get there before my next appt on the 27th!
I was a little overwhealmed w/ the amount of vitamins they started me on - MVI, Iron, Vit C, B12 SL, a mega dose of Vit D (my Vit D is apparently in the toilet, but whose isn't living in New England...).  I knew there would be a lot of supplements but looking at all those pills, I had a moment of clarity that this isn't happening to someone else.  All this reading is not studying for a test about a procedure.  "I'm doing this - to myself - no, wait... FOR myself."  I did not flip out, I took my pills and moved on like I'll have to for the rest of my life.

In other good news, I found a lump under my left breast a few weeks ago and had a quick CT scan which showed a lipoma (fatty tumor) THANK GOD!  I've never been so relieved in my life.  I am truly blessed!!
 

The program coordinator at Dartmouth received my registration packet w/ all my info, so now I wait on them to review it and let me know what the next step is.  Hopefully will have more info soon!  Things are moving along!!

I had my second psych eval today which actually went well.  My shrink uses this technique called EMDR which supposedly uses rapid eye motion to retrain your brain to process certain events and feelings in new ways.  Has anyone else used this?  I, of course, being a skeptical person thought this sounded like horses**t, but I actually feel like it was pretty helpful.  
Just need to get together w/ my PCP and discuss my hundreds of lab results and the results of my abdominal ultrasound and then I can submit my request to the bariatric program to be considered as a candidate.  Things are moving along!!

11/13/07  So I'm making progress!  I've done a lot of my pre op stuff in the last few weeks (labs drawn, ultrasound, another PCP appointment, psych eval #2 on Thursday) so that's nice. 
     Also been revealing my "master plan" to more of my friends and such.  For scheduling reasons, it became apparent I should probably let my boss in on it too ... He's a wonderful person, but he's also a physician type and I wasn't sure how excited he was going to be with my asking for 3 (or more) weeks off.  However, as usual, I was nervous about nothing and he was really supportive and nice about it.  I thought his initial remark was funny though.  I said "I'm thinking about having a gastric bypass in the near future".  He said "well...that seems a bit excessive."  Um, excuse me, but I think being more than a hundred pounds overweight is a bit excessive!  So I had to give him the old Chris Farley "I have what doctors refer to as a bit of a "weight problem."  He laughed and said he just meant that everyone there liked me just fine the way I am, which I appreciated.  
     It is nice to have it out in the open.  I haven't been working here for all that long so these folks, whom I really do enjoy working with, don't know me all that well yet and haven't been witness to my many ups and downs, crazy diets, absolutely retarded exercise programs, etc.  The few I've told have been supportive, but also make sure to give me their diet suggestions.  One lady, brought me a copy of Kevin Troudeau's book (that slimy guy you always see at about 3am on cable tv).  "This book is a miracle"  she told me.  "I really had to lose 7 or 8 pounds, and I just couldn't do it, until I read this book.  You really should try it, before you resort to something drastic."  Seven or eight pounds, please God, don't make me hurt this woman...!!

My husband and I went to an info meeting today which was helpful.  Basically, I'm on the right track and actually have a good amount of the prep work done or at least in the works.  I felt very comfortable with the staff and how organized the program seems.  So this was good day, not only because of the meeting but had to drive from central Vermont to New Hampshire and the colors are unbelievable right now.  Nothing reminds you more of how good you've got it than autumn in New England...

So tomorrow I'm going to an informational session at Dartmouth Hitchcock.  I've already seen it online, but they require you to go in person.  That's fine because I think it will help this start to feel more real and that things are actually in motion.  I've been thinking about this for a while and taking steps to put the plan into motion, but I occasionally find myself having one of those "what the hell am I thinking?!" moments.  My husband, Bob, is going with me so I'm thankful for his support.  Here we go...........