Jodie R.
Finally.. my appointments with the surgeon and behaviorist!
Mar 18, 2008
Lots of news to report!
I had my appointment with Dr. Kemmeter. He seems like he knows what he is talking about (thankfully) and really wants his patients to succeed. When I asked him what he thought my target weight should be, he said that he is less concerned about weight and numbers and more concerned about how I feel and if I am satisfied with the results I get from the surgery. I liked that answer. I had my very long list of questions, and he answered them all… and most of them before I asked them! He, of course, said all the things I would expect to hear… the risks of surgery, the strict followup needed afterward, the supplements needed, and the fact that it could possibly be split into 2 procedures. (Let’s hope not.) That would only be for my safety, so if that has to happen, so be it. I feel comfortable with him… and he thought the duodenal switch would be a good choice for me! He also said that he could tell I had done research… yay.
So, next was my visit with the behaviorist, Scott. He seemed nice at first… a little aloof but nice. By the time I was done with him, I was crying like a baby. Haha. At first, he asked all the expected questions about my childhood (briefly), my life now, my marriage, my job, and my overall satisfaction with life. I was a little worried prior to the appointment because I was recently placed on Celexa for anxiety, so I was hoping that would not be an issue. It wasn’t; and, in fact, since I have responded so well to it, he was happy to hear that. About 35-40 minutes into the appointment, he said that I would be approved for surgery by him. YAY!! He then said that anything I said from that point on wouldn’t not affect my approval for surgery. I think he does that to get you to relax and be more honest. If that was his goal, it worked! He asked what had stopped me from pursuing weight loss prior to now… or at least being successful with weight loss. I surprised myself with a very honest answer that had me instantly tearing up. My husband was in the appointment with me too, and he even got a little teary. I said things out loud for the first time that I had only really ever thought to myself and would never have shared before. He only has an hour, but he gets you to open up. I was surprised by that. By the end of the appointment, I was impressed by him. I think he is really good at what he does.
My labs weren’t back yet… the ones I went to have done a WEEK ago. AUGH. I went to a private lab to have them done this time… I should have just gone to a Spectrum lab as I have always done in the past. They usually have them done in 24 hours unless it is something that needs to sit longer or something. Oh well.. I won’t make that mistake again in the future.
Today, I am going to call the preop coordinator to see what else I have to do. I think the only thing left may be to see my sleep doctor and be released by her after using my CPAP for a month.
CPAP update.
Mar 15, 2008
With the CPAP.. I sort of feel drugged when I wake up, I think. The only thing I can think of is that since my sleep is much deeper, I am feeling it more. I am just not used to such a thing, I guess.
I have my visit with my surgeon, Dr. Kemmeter, and with the behaviorist on Monday, March 17th. I will have to make sure to wear GREEN for St. Patrick's day! I can't wait for these visits. It seems like things are crawwlliinnnggg along. I know some people wait a lot longer than me though, so I am grateful.. deep down.
First.. and only.. visit with the nutritionist!
Mar 10, 2008
First, the fasting for my lab work didn't happen. I was not feeling all that great, and my blood sugar being low was giving me a raging headache.. so breakfast was in order. No big deal.. I am going first thing tomorrow morning.
I had the appointment to get my CPAP machine from the medical supply place. That was fairly uneventful.. the lady showed me how to use it and fitted the mask on me. After I took it off after about 5 minutes.. there were marks on my nose from the mask. She was going to give me a different type of mask, but they were all out of that type. I have to go back tomorrow to get the different one, but she did send me home with the first one to try for the night. I got my distilled water for the humidifer in the machine, and I have cleared my bedside table for the machine. The tubing and mask kind of looks like the contraption jet pilots wear on their faces. I will take a picture. It's actually pretty hilarious looking. The rep at the medical supply place had gotten the results of my sleep study.. and wow. In the 3 hours they did the diagnostic part where I was just sleeping from 11:15-2:15... I had 171 apneic/hypoxic events. It's no wonder I never feel like I get great sleep.. I woke up 171 times in 3 hours! I don't remember any of them. In the 4 hours that I was wearing the CPAP machine the night of the sleep study, I woke up 89 times. That is definitely an improvement.. but I would like to make it less! Ha.
I also had my appointment with the nutritionist at MMPC today. The internist had told me she was going to schedule me for 2 appointments at the very least, and they could possibly require 4. I found out when I got there that I was in the system for 4 appointments. I don't have anything against seeing the nutritionist, but the appointments are not covered by insurance.. so it's $50 out of pocket each time. I was on a mission even before I got there to impress the nutritionist with my research beforehand and knowledge of protein requirements, etc. I also brought my meal plan with me from my diabetic teaching that I had about 5 months ago. Once the nutritionist saw this.. she was impressed (yes! mission accomplished!). She asked me if the internist had known that I was on such a plan.. I told her yes, indeed she did. She seemed a little irked and surprised by that. She did some explaining of the protein requirements and also some of the protein supplements and shakes. (Side note, did you know that protein ISOLATE is better than protein CONCENTRATE? There is more bioavailability with the isolate than there is with the concentrate.. so get whey protein isolate. This was something I did not know before today.) She was also pretty knowledgeable about the DS requirements as far as vitamins and things.. which I was happy about. So, after speaking with me and my husband, she determined that one appointment with her was enough pre-op.. and I didn't need to come to see her again until after surgery! Awesome. I was excited about that. She was so friendly and really encouraging.. I liked her a lot. (Her name is Christine, if you want to request her!)
I also had some wows today while we were out taking care of shopping and things, but that will have to wait until another post.
Sleep apnea.. confirmed.
Mar 06, 2008
I will admit, once I finally did fall asleep with the mask on during my sleep study.. I slept like a baby. I don't really feel like I have problems with not getting enough sleep. I do wake up maybe once or twice a night to use the restroom.. but that is a major improvement from before my diabetes was diagnosed when I was getting up every 90 minutes. (Side note.. if you're peeing a lot, you might be diabetic!) Other than that, I feel like I get some okay sleep. Maybe with the CPAP it will be so amazing, and I just have no idea what I am missing out on? We will see.
I called BCBSM to see what they cover for durable medical equipment.. and I hung up knowing less than I did at the beginning of the call. Sometimes when I call, I get an amazing person who knows the answer to all of my questions and really knows their stuff. Other times (today), I get someone who is nice.. but constantly putting me on hold to look things up and really just muddling through. Oh well, even if I have to pay for the entire machine myself, it will be worth it if that is what I have to do to get my DS surgery!
A wow for me!
Mar 04, 2008
In the early afternoon yesterday, I had an appointment with the dermatologist. (Side note, good news.. the couple of moles I have been worried about are benign! WOOT.) There was horrible traffic getting there, and we were running late to get to the office. Thankfully, it is a small office building with a regular parking lot and not one of the typical huge medical buildings around here with parking ramps and a 2-hour hike to find your destination.. or we would have been REALLY late.
So, we get to the building and rush in.. it's a 3 story building, and the office is on the 2nd floor. I looked toward the elevators once.. then turned toward the door to the stairs.. and we RAN up the stairs. I was a tad out of breath at the top as there were like 30 stairs or something.. but still. I passed up the elevator willingly. My husband was ecstatic because he hates elevators.. he usually just deals with it, but in some buildings he would take the stairs while I wait for and take the elevator. NO LONGER. I am going to make an effort to take the stairs all the time everywhere. I might not RUN every time.. but I will use the stairs.
If I can get this excited about using the stairs.. I can't wait to see what else changes when I can finally have surgery.
Sleep study completed!
Mar 04, 2008
The tech was named Amy, and she was awesome. She was so nice, patient, and seemed really interested in the fact that I was pursuing weight loss surgery. She was skinny as a rail, but she was still interested and supportive. Haha.
So, first I had to change into my jammies.. t-shirt and my ELVIS pajama pants. WOOWOO. She commented that I was sleeping with Elvis. Ha. Anyway, then I got hooked up to all the wires and belts. I had wires glued to my face, head/hair, a mic on my neck, and wires taped to my legs. The belts go around your waist and chest.. plus EKG leads too. I watched TV for a few minutes, but I had purposely done a lot yesterday and deprived myself of sleep the night before so I would be sure to get some real sleep there. Amy helped me get situated in the bed with all the wires, and I was ready to sleep (with my own pillow.. glad I brought it, theirs were FLAT).
It didn't take me long to fall asleep. Amy had told me that if I had a lot of episodes of apnea/waking up that she would bring in a CPAP for me at 2am to test for the rest of the night. She had let me test it before going to sleep. I really was not confident I could sleep with that contraption on my face.. but other people do it, so I guess it just takes some getting used to, right? She came in to adjust a couple things over the course of the time between 11pm and 2am.. but I was so tired, I barely woke up.
Shocker.. at 2am, I was ready to try the CPAP. It has straps that fit around your head, and it has a mask that makes a seal to your face. It took a second to get it adjusted, and it was such a pain with my long hair. They had suggested washing and drying the hair before the test so the leads would stick.. but then my hair was SO squeaky clean and shiny that the mask kept slipping up. One thing.. it was REALLY hard to control the urge to just rip the thing off. It is very big and covers your face.. my anxiety was trying to get the best of me.. but I just breathed deeply and got through it. I was proud of myself for doing that. Once I got that under control and found a comfortable position, I was OUT. I didn't wake up again until Amy was saying my name over the intercom at 6:30am. I had a few papers to fill out after she removed the wires and things.. and I was out of there!
I am pretty sure I will be prescribed the CPAP.. but I have to wait for a call from the sleep center in the next couple of weeks to confirm all of the results.
I have to wash my hair for the THIRD time since getting home because it still has that glue in it.
All in all, it was worth it to get the test out of the way. Prior to a few months ago, I would have been FREAKING OUT at the thought of spending the night away from home and having medical professionals dealing with me. Now, it is a piece of cake.
My next appointment is with the nutritionist next week. Slowly but surely, I am getting through the process.
Something not really related to weight loss..
Feb 29, 2008
It's actually not someone I knew very well at all.. but he was gone very unexpectedly. He took his own life.
He was an acquaintance that I would say hello to, talk about the weather, nothing too spectacular. It makes me wonder now what sort of thinking he was dealing with, and what problems he was facing.
He left behind a family, wife, children, house, pets.. I guess some things just get so bad for people they really don't know what to do or who to turn to.
It makes me a little more grateful today for my family and friends, and even the friends I have made on OH who are so supportive.
It just has me thinking today.
Off the caffeine for good!
Feb 27, 2008
I am down to just one shot of insulin a day, Lantus at night. When first diagnosed with diabetes in September, I was doing 4 shots of sliding scale insulin AND the Lantus. Getting away from those needles 4 extra times a day is a good motivator to change your eating habits, and QUICK.
The duodenal switch surgery, in most cases, is almost instantly a cure for diabetes. I can't wait. I just can't wait.
Getting excited.
Feb 26, 2008
MMPC called yesterday. I have two nutritionist appointments scheduled, one for March 10th and one for March 18th. They are not covered by insurance and cost $50 each. A small price to pay to get to my goal of surgery! I have a personal desire to be all done with these appointments and be in the approval process by my 30th birthday on 3/31. I think it can happen. I would love to be scheduled for surgery well before the summer.
I want to thank everyone for the blog comments and well wishes. It is so amazing to have some support while going through all of this from people who have been through it and completely understand. I have a very supportive family, and my husband.. well, he is just the bee's knees. I don't know how I got so lucky to have someone like him in my life, but I am continually grateful.
Interesting change of events..
Feb 22, 2008
Also, I have given up ALL caffeine. I had pretty much gotten away from it already, but I still love my iced tea. At the suggestion of the internist, I am doing away with all of it. Next on my list is getting rid of carbonated beverages totally.. but I need to work up to that one. Ha. I am also making a conscious effort to drink at LEAST 64 ounces of water a day. I want to get in the habit now so it is not such a change later. Water is good for ya anyway, and I happen to LOVE a good glass of COLD water with ice to chew on. Bad habit, I am an ice chewer. I think this is actually able to be passed on from family members.. my dad is a maniac ice chewer and does it ALL the time.. I mean, constantly while watching TV, doing anything really. I digress.
So, here's to my first caffeine-free day.
