Monday, April 30, 2012

A step in the right direction

I had my dr appt today with my primary care dr to get a letter of approval and support as well as blood work done.  I had a mini freak out this morning because everything that could go wrong was running through my head.  What if she doesn't think it's a good idea?  What if she won't write the letter?  What if she did but the insurance still doesn't think it's enough?  How can I get my brain to look at food differently?  What am I thinking?!?!
But part of those worries were calmed when I went to see the dr.  Turns out, she had GB 6yrs ago herself.  She has experienced everything that I am now.  Yoyo dieting.  Loosing weight only to gain it back.  Being heavy her whole life.  And she was 100% behind my decision.  We went over my dieting history so she'll know what to write in the letter. She understood the importance of this letter.  We talked about what I'll need to prepare myself for.  The difficulty at first.  The complete life change.  But she said despite it all, she wouldn't change a thing.  After talking with her, I had like 8 viles of blood taken and I left feeling more at peace with my decision. 
I decided however that I will continue to see a therapist after the procedure.  I'm the type of person who wants what I can't have- especially when it comes to food.  I love food.  And my relationship with food is why I'm here.  So I need to train my mind to view it differently. To see it as fuel- and not as my reason for getting up in the morning.  Obviously I haven't been able to do this on my own so I hope someone will be able to help me.
I also bought the workout set "Insanity" today.  Jons out of town right now but when he gets back, we're going to start it together.  I want to be in the workout mode again.  My biggest concern right now with that is loosing weight.  I'm barely eligible for the surgery right now so I can't afford to loose weight.  Unless it turns out that I have sleep apnea.  Then I'll be okay  We'll see.  But I'm looking forward to doing these crazy workouts with Jon.

Until next time.....

Saturday, April 21, 2012

The jist of what happens

This is a quick animation of how the gastric bypass works.



Quick summary:
Gastric bypass surgery makes the stomach smaller and causes food to bypass part of the small intestine. You will feel full more quickly than when your stomach was its original size. This reduces the amount of food you can eat at one time. Bypassing part of the intestine reduces how much food and nutrients are absorbed. This leads to weight loss.

I just need to remember:

Friday, April 20, 2012

PCP appt is scheduled

Called and got my PCP appt scheduled. That will be a week from Monday. I have a feeling I'll run into a little bit of discouragement then but that's to be expected. However I'm firm on my decision and I think that'll make it easy for me to face the adversity.
I also was able to move my sleep specialist appt for a month earlier so that's scheduled for May 23rd.
I've been looking for support groups and just stories of the realities of gastric bypass. I think it'll help me to see it from personal perspective. My dear friend K.P. had it done just before school started and let me tell you- she looks and feels amazing! She's always been a beautiful person but she just glows. I want to glow!
Good news tho- I went to see Dr Huffnagle yesterday and I'm down 11lbs from January. Okay it isn't that great but hey- it's something. Plus it's good for my insurance to see the attempts are being made.


Source: bit.ly via Simone on Pinterest

Monday, April 16, 2012

Life changing decision....


Phatty is back. Phatter than ever! Literally. I fell off the bandwagon. Hell- I was thrown off and ran over. BIG TIME!
I don't run.
I don't walk.
I rarely exercize.
AND I'm the biggest I've ever been.
To be honest and real here, I weigh 228lbs. And I'm extremely unhealthy. To the point where my quality of life is slowly diminishing each year.
And today I made a big decision. So this is the start of my new journey. And this is the place I will be documenting this journey.
My journey into, through and after weight loss surgery.
Gastric Bypass to be exact.
Today I went to a consult to get an overview, met the surgeon Dr William, met the nutritionist and went over all the insurance paper work. Let me tell you- this isn't an easy process!!!
Where do I go from here?
I need to schedule an appt with my pcp (primary care physician) so get a letter of recommendation and a ton of lab work. Then records have been requested for the drs I've gone to for weight loss pills to prove I have attempted and failed.
In June, I have an appt with a specialist just to schedule a sleep study. I also have an appt with a psychologist in June as well as my 1st of 3 required meetings with a nutritionist. I also need to go to a bariatric support group. This is all BEFORE the info can even be submitted to insurance approval.
With all that said, this hasn't been a decision that is easy for me to make. It's scary. Do I want to have to go through this? No! Do I want to only be able to eat tablespoons of food at a time? NO! I understand the risks. I know it's not a miracle cure. But if I stayed the way I am right now, that cuts 8-9yrs off my life!
Phatty wants to run again!!!