Mac & Cheese

Macaroni & cheese is the great comfort food. I made this last week for AR and my daughter to eat as a side dish. As the macs were boiling, I tasted one to see if it was done, and it was so I finished up the dish by straining the noodles and adding butter and cheese. As I was stirring it, I decided to take a bite. After all, I had already eaten one macaroni and I felt fine. I quickly swallowed the cheesy mixture. I had a second bite as well. It was hot so I drank some water.

Two no-nos right there. I'm not supposed to be eating solid food yet and I had two forkfuls. In addition, I am not supposed to drink while I am eating. It fills you up too quickly and pushed the food through my system too soon. Uh, oh. My stomach did not like this. No, it was rebelling because I ate something I should not have eaten.

I sat there and watched while the rest of my family ate. I sipped my iced tea and ate nothing. Immediately after dinner, I felt like I had better lie down. I wasn't on the bed for more than two minutes when I felt the water forming in my mouth. I just knew that I was going to throw up. Would I make it to the bathroom in time? I dashed down the hall and made it just as my stomach heaved up the mac & cheese. It did it again and again. I swear that I threw up way more than I had eaten.

I felt instantly better after it was over. Why did I do it? I wasn't hungry. It just looked so good and creamy and yummy. Now that it is done, I could see that part of the problem is that I really didn't chew the macaroni properly. That, coupled with eating too fast and drinking just was a bad combination. I learned my lesson. I will not be doing this again.

Moist & Mushy Food

I have just completed my second day of eating moist & mushy food. Yesterday I ate fate free ricotta cheese with some tomato sauce for breakfast. Lunch was 1/2 an egg salad sandwich. We were at the mall and AR wanted to eat at Johhny Rockets, that s style diner. I ordered the egg salad sandwich. I took two bites of the sandwich and then just ate the rest of the egg from the 1/2 I started eating. I wrapped up the other half and took it home. Dinner was egg drop soup.

Today I ate 2 ounces of plain fat free yogurt....not the most tasty. I added a packet of stevia and pumpkin pie spice to get it down, and then it tasted okay. I also ate 2 ounces of pureed peaches. I bought some baby food, which I don't think I really need now, but its good to have on hand. I made chicken salad for lunch and ate a few ounces of that. I ate once slice of mini pumpernickel bread too. The bread was hard to eat. I think I will stay away from that for a while. For dinner I had Progresso Chicken Gumbo soup with 2 ounces of ricotta cheese. It was tasty.

So far so good on the moist and mushy. I think I will try cream of wheat tomorrow morning.

Offical Weigh In

Saw Dr. Bypass this morning. It has been 19 days since my surgery. I lost 14 official pounds. I say "official" because when I came home from the hospital, I had gained SIX pounds, so I lost those too, but my weight loss goes according to Dr. Bypass' scale and last official weigh-in, so he doesn't count those 6 pounds. Fair enough, but I will keep the tally in my head anyway :)

I can exercise only as far as walking right now. After 4 weeks I can start a more vigorous work out. The hospital offers an exercise program specifically for people who have had weight loss surgery. I will check them out some time this week to see what they are all about. In the meantime, I shall be walking.

Monday I can start adding moist and mushy foods to my diet. I am looking forward to it. This clear liquid diet is kind of boring, but I can't say that I'm hungry, so its definitely working. I asked the doctor why I'm not hungry and he basically said that they don't know why! It has something to do with hormones, but it is a great side effecft of the surgery. Yee Hah! It sure is.

Diabetes Gone in Five Days

I've been recording my blood sugar levels since I've been home from the hospital. Other than the first day, my readings have been normal. Fasting overnight it has been 86. After "eating" it has been 95-101 consistently. I have not been taking any oral diabetes medication since I've been released from the hospital, as per doctor instructions.

I saw Dr. Fink today and he was elated with my results. He only wants to test randomly periodically, but that these results were likely to stay. I am pleased, but once I start eating more solids I will test regularly for a while to satisfy myself. Blood pressure is still high so I am staying on the Atenolol for now. I am hoping that with a significant weight loss that I will not have to take this medication for long.

As for weight loss...I am going to wait until Wednesday to reveal that because that is the day I meet with Dr. Bypass. I want to use his scale as the true barometer. However, I will say that the day after I came home I hoped on the scale just to see and there was a 6 pound gain! After three days of no eating, I gained weight. I know it was because of all the fluids I was getting, but It was disappointing. I will share that the extra weight plus more is already gone, but the official count will be later this week.

Wendy's

Kind if a weird experience today. Went out with my family for a ride to a new WalMart. We bought some Christmas decorations. As we were walking to the car, my daughter was crying because she was hungry. It was past lunch time, about 2 pm. AR suggested we go to Wendy's because there was one nearby. I said, "Sure, no problem. I'll just sip on my pomegranate Crystal Lite." Which only made AR feel bad, so I told him to go ahead, because it wouldn't bother me.

We went to the drive through. Wendy's doesn't have soup, so there really wasn't anything for me there. Besides, I had my pomegranate Crystal Lite. My daughter had the ham and cheese sandwich and AR ordered the taco salad. We pulled over to eat. I removed the bread from her sandwich and rolled up the ham slices and she happily ate. I held the salad bowl while AR added in the tortilla pieces, taco meat and sour cream. It smelled wonderful.

Seriously, it smelled better than anything I had ever smelled in my life. The thing is, I wasn't hungry. I just sipped a little and watched them eat. It didn't bother me that they were eating and I wasn't. So even though it smelled great, I wasn't hungry. It is strange to sit and watch your family eat though. I keep telling AR that he wolfs down his food. I don't know why he eats so fast. I never noticed that before, but then, I have never been so focused on them during dinner either.

ONE Christmas present was purchased today. Ugh! I am not in the mood for holiday shopping this year either.

Poo Day

I am happy to announce that poo has commenced. That was a relief because I was stressing a little about it, and now I don't have to worry. Another hurdle achieved.

I have removed two of my bandages. Dr. Bypass said I could start removing them in 4 days. He told me this on Wednesday so I wasn't clear on whether he meant 4 days from surgery or 4 days from Wednesday. It doesn't matter because after my shower one of the bandages started coming off on its own, so i helped it. The incision is about 3/4 of an inch wide. The area is very bruised and yellow/purple coloring, but the incision itself is healing fine. I showed AR and he nearly fainted. Chicken! Yeah, he'll be doing the lap band surgery for sure.

Went out for another ride, this time to the supermarket. We just had to pick up some cards, so I tagged along for the ride. I waited in the car with my daughter while AR did the shopping. I have to take my very own sippy cup with me wherever I go. I always need to be sipping on liquid, so I have to take it to go. No soda either! Well, I could drink soda if its flat, which I actually do not mind, but I've been sticking to tea, water and crystal lite.

AR is amazed that I am not hungry. He was afraid to eat in front of me for the first few days, and I told him that was ridiculous. For 1, I'm not hungry anyway and for 2. I can't eat solid foods yet anyway or I will get sick, so I cannot be tempted. I am craving hot chocolate. I bought some diet hot chocolate, but I'm not sure it qualifies as clear liquids. I may try some later tonight to see how I make out with it.

Post-Op Day 3 & 4

I keep waking up at 3:30 in the morning. Its really hot. The weather is unseasonably warm so that hasn't helped. I get up and pee, but then the dogs wanna go out to so I let them out and then try to go back to bed. I'm able to sleep a bit more on my side so that is good.

I'm not supposed to lift anything over 5 pounds, which means that Pinky isn't sleeping with me. She cannot jump on the bed. Its too high for her and I can't lift her up so it is driving her mad. I can hear her pacing around the bed with her tags a jingling.

Every day is getting a little easier. I'm getting my 4 ounces of liquids in every hour and I am taking all my vitamins. My daughter understands that she can't pounce on me and is very concerned about "mommy's belly." She has been taking out her doctor's kit to take care of me. Its cute.

Day 4 I am not napping as much during the day. AR took me for a ride in the car and for a trip to WalMart. It was good to get out into the fresh air, but as I mentioned, its like spring. You don't really need a jacket. Walking around WalMart tired me out pretty quickly. We bought a few things and came home. I had some broth and napped for about 45 minutes.

I would have napped longer, but I had a visitor. My first one! My uncle came and brought me two dozen roses. I couldn't believe how heavy they were! I put them in water and we visited for a while. Of course, the house was a complete disaster. The slipcovers were half on and off the couch & love seat, there were toys all over and leave particles were all on the carpet, and there were goldfish crumbs on the coffee table and a sock was on the floor. It was my husband's!

Well, what can you do? I'm not able to vacuum and such and AR has had his hands full with taking care of our daughter & dogs 24/7. By the time he left, it was time for Dr. Phil so the nap portion if my day was over. I made some peach jello. Not bad at all. I measured it out into two ounce portions and poured into little Solo cups.

I have only been taking the Percoset at night, but it seems to have no effect on me. I am still waking up at 3:30 in the morning, so maybe I will stop taking it. I definitely do not need it during the day. I am not in pain. I am just a little uncomfortable.

Tomorrow is Poo day. Dr. Bypass said I should have a bowel movement 4-5 days after the surgery and tomorrow is day 5. I thought I was gonna poo today a few times, but it was only gas. Yeah, I have a lot of that, but more burping than flatulence.

Day 2 Post-Op

I was up at 6 am and started on trying to get down 4 ounces of liquids an hour. I was able to tolerate the juice if I watered it down. The tea was okay too and the jello, well, maybe I just don't like jello that much. I took a few more walks and then lay down on the bed at 7:30.

Dr Bypass and his assistant came by to check on me again. My incisions all looked good. He asked if I wanted to go home today or if I wanted to stay another day in the hospital.. Are you kidding me? I wanna go home! He prescribed Percocet for me for the pain, but the pills are too big for me to take, so he suggested quartering them or crushing them to get them down. I could shower and I could remove the patches over my incisions in 4 days and then I needed to see him in one week.

The nurse came in and asked what time I wanted to leave. I knew AR was taking our daughter for her flu shot at 9:30 so I said noon. I washed my hair and put on underwear and a bra. I still left the hospital gown on because I was still getting shots and stuff.

Dr. Fink saw me again today as well. My blood sugar was still high, 160 vs the 190 it was yesterday. This is normal to have lousy sugar levels after the surgery, but with not eating anything, my levels are expected to go pretty low. He doesn't want me to take any pills, but he wanted me to monitor my sugar levels which I haven't been doing so he wrote a script for the monitor. He wants me to write down my sugar levels after testing and he wants to see me on Monday.

AR came to get me at noon and it was pouring rain. I just wanted to go home. The ride home was so bumpy and every bump hurt. He dropped me off at home and went out to get my prescriptions. The dogs were overjoyed to see me. They wanted to jump on me, which isn't something that you want after surgery. I took a nap on the bed and put a pill low on my belly to prevent doggy attacks. It worked pretty well.

I am going to have broth for dinner tonight.

Day 1 Post-op

In the morning, a nurse came to remove the catheter. As soon as that was done, I wanted to pee, so they had to get me up, which was tough. I have 7 incisions in my stomach so just pulling myself up was a major feat. Hardly any pee came out though. My mouth was severely dry. I Brushed my teeth and it felt wonderful.

I went for a walk around the floor, which felt pretty good. When I came back to my room, a nutritionist was there telling me what I was going to be eating, or rather what I'd be drinking for the next two weeks. Clear liquids, so I could have water, diet tea like crystal light, diet jello, caffeine free tea and coffee, broth and sugar free ice pops. Day one I had to try to drink one ounce every 30 minutes by sipping slowly. The jello and juice did not agree with me. Not even the tea could I get down, so I stuck with water.

The more I drank, the more I peed, so that was pretty much the rest of the day for me. I tried the broth, but it made me naseous, so I would have to try that again tomorrow. I walked some more, but I was so tired from lack of sleep last night that I catnapped during the day.

At night I received a new roommate. She was having surgery on her arm tomorrow. Again, there was a lot of activity at night. Because I had been drinking so much, I was up ever hour to pee and then I decided to take a walk. This is how I got through the night.

Surgery Day November 6, 2006

We dropped our daughter off at the babysitter's house at 8:30. She was so upset at my decision to have the surgery. She had been crying too. "Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked. I answered that I was sure. She hugged me and wished me well and said, "I think you look great just the way you are." I kissed my daughter goodbye and we got back into the car. By this time, I was crying. I just wasn't expecting that sort of reaction from the babysitter. She rattled me, but I quickly calmed down. As I mentioned before, I had total faith in this surgeon. I know that I would be fine.

We got to the hospital and checked in at the surgery floor. I got changed into a hospital gown while AR sat looking very nervous. The nurse could not get an IV into me. She tried twice and then said they would have to get it in the OR. Hope this isn't a sign of things to come. I went to the bathroom about 7 times. Nervous pee I guess.

The anesthesiologist came in and said not to worry about the IV. Dr. Bypass and his assistant came by to see me. Wanted to know if I had any last minute questions. Briefly, the thought crossed my mind to ask if it was too late to change my mind and get the lap band. I knew it was too late, and I also didn't want that surgery, so the fleeting thought passed by quickly. He said it should take about 2.5 hours and then another 1.5 hours in the recovery room.

AR kissed me goodbye and they wheeled me to the OR. Dr. Bypass and his assistant were sitting in the hallway. He said, "They usually make the bariatric patients walk to the OR. You must have some pull because you're getting the royal treatment." It made me laugh. He probably tells all of his patients this joke, but I still thought it was funny.

Once inside the OR, I noticed how cold and white everything was. I slid onto the operating table, which was pretty narrow. The OR nurse instantly got an IV into my wrist. Not the most convenient of places, but it was in. Another nurse was hooking me up to a blood pressure machine, and I started giggling because I'm ticklish, which in turn made the OR nurses laugh.

They put a mask over my face and told me to take a few deep breaths. I had to take more than a few, but the next thing I was aware of was waking up in the OR recovery room. I was cold and asked for a blanket, which they gave me. Before I knew it, I was in my hospital room. I was still kind of drowsy.

AR stayed a few hours and I finally told him to go home. I was in no mood for company. All I wanted to do was sleep, but did I get any sleep??? NO. I was inundated with nurses taking my blood pressure, my temperature, my oxygen levels and my blood sugar all night. No rest for the weary.

Informational Meeting

Every bariatric doctor requires that you attend an informational seminar before you can make an appointment with him/her. About 4 years ago AR and I attended one, well sort of. We went to the meeting. We filled out a TON of information and then we went into this room filled with a hundred people. It was so crowded that we could not even sit together. Before the meeting even began, AR signaled to me that he wanted to leave. We left.

He said he was looking around the room and just did not want to be there with all of those people. That night we went online and ordered food from Nutri-system. We did pretty well with that plan too, but it was very expensive to buy the food. It wouldn't have been so bad if we were just buying the Nutri-system food, but we still had to buy all the fruits and veggies that were needed to supplement the NS food. We stopped buying the food. We got fat again.

Fast forward to July 2006. AR wanted to look into weight loss surgery again. He did all of this research to find the best place and the best doctor. He scheduled an informational meeting for August, and he wanted me to go with him. Okay, I figured I would go to support him and to listen to the info that they would tell us about the surgery. I've been thinking about this anyway for the past year. In my mind, I had figured that I would do the lap band surgery. My recollection was that the death rate & complications were less.

The meeting was held in the waiting room of the doctor. You know, it really isn't a good idea to squeeze 30 fat people needing weight loss surgery into a tiny room. There was barely room to breathe. We were packed in pretty tightly. I wanted to sit in the front row so I could get a good look at whatever it was that we were going to see.

This was the first time I saw Dr. Bypass. He is tall and has blondish/gray hair. He wore a crazy pinstripe suit. The lapels were pretty wide and so was the pinstripe. He looked, I don't know, eccentric. He also had an assistant with him. I have seen the assistant on three separate occasions and this kid has never said a word. He just follows Dr. Bypass around holding a cup of coffee, but says nothing. I am not sure of what he actually does. Anyway, his assistant was there.

Dr. Bypass is very passionate about his work. He started explained how both surgeries worked. He explained that the death rate is the same for both. Both are done laproscopically. They both have risk of complications. People who have the lap band do not lose as much weight as those who have the bypass. It is possible to achieve similar weight loss with the lap band, but that requires a deep determination by the patient to work out vigorously.

While Dr. Bypass was drawing how he re-routes the intestines for the bypass, AR leaned over and said he would be back, and left. I figured he had to go to the bathroom. When he came back, his face was pale. I asked if he was okay, and he said yes.

He went on to describe the benefits of the surgery too. Most diabetics leave the hospital no longer needing any medication. You reduce risk factors for contracting various cancers, as well as reducing chance of heart attacks and strokes.

How well you will fare in your weight loss has been tied to how well you follow doctor's instructions and how often you see him for follow up visits. He does not charge a fee for follow up visits. His studies have shown that patients who do not follow through with office visits, gain weight back. A patient has to commit to seeing him One week after surgery, two weeks, after surgery, three weeks, four weeks, once a month for the first year, every three months for the second year and twice a year for the third year. He will tell you at every visit how well you are doing, if you need to change the path you are on to meet your goals, if you need the lap band adjusted etc...People who do not follow up, do not fare well.

Dr. Bypass requires that you have all of this bloodwork done to see what you pre-surgery levels are of everything that you can imagine. The list of things the lab had to test for was so long, it filled two prescription pad pages. Patients also need to see a nutritionist, have a psychological evaluation by a psychiatrist, get an EKG and a chest x-ray, all before you can make an appointment to see him. After the meeting, the receptionist handed out booklets that had all the information for what we needed to do.

While waiting for the elevator to take us down to the garage, AR asked me what I thought. I was pretty excited by everything I heard. I said I wanted to do it. He said that he didn't want to do it! Two completely different reactions to the same information. When AR left the meeting, he went to throw up. He said he was disturbed by the graphic illustration of the surgery. I said not only did I want to do it, but that I wanted the bypass and not the lap band.

It was ironic. I was really only going to this meeting to support AR and then he decided he wasn't going to do it and I decided that I was. AR is frightened at the thought of surgery. He doesn't handle pain too well. He sees how determined I am now and fully supports me. Now he is talking about maybe doing the lap band surgery. As long as I don't croak, I'm pretty sure he'll do it.

It's On!

Saw Dr. Bypass yesterday morning. He was NOT wearing that pinstriped suit. Nice to know that he has others. I noticed that the bowl of candy corn was gone from the office too. I thought he was trying to drum up business...I lost 4 pounds from my last weigh in. Woo Hoo!

They actually received all the information that they needed so I am scheduled for surgery on 11/6/2006 at 11 am. I have to be at the hospital at 9 am that morning and no food after midnight on 11/5. I don't know how long I shall be in the hospital. I could be released 11/8 or 11/9 depending upon how well I bounce back. I will be out of work 8 weeks, so my return to work date is January 1st, unless I feel tremendously better and then I can go back sooner/ Don't forget, I'm only getting like $150 a week or something for disability.

I'm going out today to buy some liquids that I will be eating for the next two weeks. More on that later.

Why am I doing this?

I've been fat my whole life, well, at least what I can remember of it. I wasn't fat when I was a baby, but I don't remember that. Food has always been my drug of choice. I used it to celebrate the good things that happen and I used it to medicate when I was unhappy. Like many overweight people I have dieted most of my adult life. Weight Watchers, Slim Fast, Nutri-System, Medifast, Atkins, Cabbage Soup ad nasuem. My weight has been up and down like the proverbial yo-yo.

Two years ago I walked into my doctor's office and told him I didn't want to have that fat surgery, so what could we do? We talked about following a low carb diet and he gave me Meridia, a prescription weight loss pill. After 2 weeks, I lost 5 pounds and my blood pressure was way up, a side effect of the pill. After another two weeks I lost a total of 7 pounds, which didn't seem like a drop in the bucket and not worth (in my opinion) taking the pills, so I stopped.

My health has been going downhill in the past two years too. High blood sugar medicine I am taking caused me to gain 60 pounds in 18 months, which wasn't exactly the sort of response I was looking for, especially since I was eating less than I ever ate before and was watching the carbs! The added weight just lessened my desire and ability to exercise, which has further compounded the problem.

I have a soon-to-be three-year-old and I want to be able to run around the yard and play with her. I want to be her mother forever if I could, but certainly, I want to see her graduate from college at the very least. I want to be healthy for her. I want to set a good example for her and how can I do that now?

The biggest risk of gastric bypass is death. I am fully aware that some people have died while having this surgery. I had a stress test done to ensure that my heart was healthy and that there were no blockages. Could I still drop dead in the OR? Yes, but I am reasonably sure that I won't. My surgeon has quite a reputation and he wouldn't let that happen, even if only to make himself look good. He is very full of himself, but I think most surgeons are like that.

There could be complications such as infection, hernia and leakage in my future. Here is an explanation of leakage: An anastamosis is a surgical connection, between the stomach and bowel, or between two parts of the bowel. The surgeon attempts to create a water-tight connection, by connecting the two organs with either staples or sutures, either of which actually makes a hole in the bowel wall. The surgeon will rely on the healing power of the body, and its ability to create a seal like a self-sealing tire, to succeed with the surgery. If that seal fails to form, for any reason, fluid from within the gastrointestinal tract can leak into the sterile abdominal cavity, and give rise to infection and abscess formation. Leakage of an anastamosis can occur in about 2% of gastric bypass procedures, usually at the stomach-bowel connection. Sometimes leakage can be treated with antibiotics, and sometimes it will require immediate re-operation.

Are you still reading??? Good for you. That last paragraph nearly put me to sleep. I have had two previous knee surgeries on my left knee and lately it is hurting a lot when I take a short walk. My feet and heels hurt too. I just want to be healthy and this surgery will give me the boost that I need to get there.

Stress Test Part 1

I had to have the test in two parts. Part one was just the injection of radioactive dye and then x-rays of my heart with the dye pumping through it. Part two was the stress part where I walk on the treadmill, and then more x-rays.

So after all of that crazy back and forth shit with my PCP, don't you think that there was a problem with the paperwork when I got to the hospital? Of course there was. The paper that I was assured was a prescription and a referral, was indeed not. First, they didn't like the wording of the prescription and hopped on the phone to speak with someone at the doctor's office. It was 12:30, so of course, everyone is out to lunch. The hospital decided that the wording was correct after all.

I was called in to give more paperwork and that was when they decided that the paperwork from the PCP was not a referral. They called the doctor's office again and it was going to take them time to get the referral paperwork together. Meanwhile, I was sitting there waiting...The hospital decided to let them start the test even though they didn't have the referral, confident that the PCP would come through. Great because this was my lunch hour and now I was going to have to use more time to cover my absence from work.

A balding middle-aged man came to bring me into the room. He wasn't much of a talker and had zippo personality. Oh, this was going to be fun. I sat down and he went off to get the radioactive dye. It was the color of yellow/green Gatorade. He started looking for a vein to shoot the dye into. Since he was such a cold fish, I wasn't exactly forthcoming with how difficult it is to find my veins...I don't know why because the only person I was really hurting was myself.

He attempted to stick me in the arm. After digging around for a vein and not getting one, I suggested that he just go for the hand. Yeah, it hurts more, but at least they always find a vein. He tried the arm a second time and then went for the hand. He pushed the dye in and I said, "well, you got it, right?" and he said, "I hope so." That didn't make me feel too warm and fuzzy.

Anyway, I lay down on this narrow table with my arms over my head for 15 minutes while the machine slowly snapped x-rays. I wasn't supposed to move, but you know how that goes, right? Someone tells you not to do something, so of course, you have to do it. It wasn't too bad and then it was over. He said he'd see me tomorrow for part two of the test. I took that to mean that I was stuck with Mr. personality again. See what joys befall me?

I had no time to eat anything for lunch and had to head back to work. I used 1.5 hours of sick time in addition to my lunch. I heated a can of Soup to Go in the microwave and went back to my office to eat it. Just then, my boss walked in and sat down. She was in the mood to talk, so I couldn't really have my soup. The soup was too hot anyway, but by the time she left, it was cold. So much for lunch.

Blood Pressure

So last week I met with this new doctor. Dr. Bypass told me that I needed a new PCP to see me with my post surgery issues. When I walked into the building where the office was located, I was impressed. It was well-lit and had marble floors. The security guard let you into the lobby and then I had to be buzzed into the doctor's office.

As I stepped into the office, it looked like circa 1952. The hallway was dimly lit. The rugs were thin and dark and thread-bare. I was suddenly concerned. I figured that this Dr. Fink was going to be old and decrepit. Then I saw his diplomas handing on the wall. Columbia University 1999! I started to feel better about him.

What I liked is that the receptionist was very nice. Not like the ones at Dr. Bypass's office! I had to fill out some paperwork and then was whisked into a room. Dr. Fink came in right away. He was actually very nice. We went through my entire medical history in a flash. All their records were computerized too. No more paper files for this office. I explained why I was there, at least as far as I understood it.

He explained that he was the director of bariatric at the hospital, and did most of the follow up visits with gastric bypass patients so he is very familiar with the issues we face post surgery. He asked me if I knew what sort of complications can be the result of the surgery. Um, Death is a possibility, so is leakage, hernia, blod clot and infections. He was happy that I just reeled them off to him.

He asked why I thought I overate. I said I was an emotional eater. He said that of all the times he has asked this question, only once did someone say that they were hungry all of the time. He pointed out that whatever issues I had would still be there post surgery and so I had to work through them, which I acknowledged. I'd have 12-18 months of a honeymoon period of weight loss and then after that, I'd know how to beat the system so to speak and while the surgery would make my stomach full, it wouldn't change what was in my head. Yes, there is going to be a shrink in my future and not just in pants size.

The nurse took my blood pressure when I came inand it was crazy high. 150 over 100. WHAT! Yeah, so he took it again and it was still high like 145 over 100. As I gain weight, my BP goes up. If I lose weight it goes down to normal. He said I was hypertensive and wanted to see me next Monday. If my BP was still high, he would prescribe a BP medication to get me through the surgery.

All and all, I liked Dr. Fink. He seemed nice, not jerky like some docs are. He also had a sense of humor, which I happen to like in a doctor. I told him I was having the stress test. He said that as long as the test was okay, he'd approve me to have surgery.

Stress Test Part 2

Part two of the test was scheduled for 8:30 am on October 31. Yes, that meant Halloween. It is also my wedding anniversary. Silly me, but I thought that if I arrived early, they might take me early and that would mean less time away from work. I was there at 7:45. No, they didn't take me early.

I was called in at 8:35. Zippo personality was nowhere in sight. I was lead into a different room and the nurse had me sit down so that they could put an IV in me. I started to explain that I was hard to get a needle into, and she said, " Oh, we know all about you." Uh, oh. Sounded rather ominous. She said that they were bringing in their top gun to get the IV in me as Zippo personality cued them in as to how difficult it was to get my veins!

Teeka came in and she slapped my arms and tied two tourniquets on me to find my veins. I told her to go for the hand and she did--twice, with no luck. The vein on my hand was popping, so she was putting a lot of pressure on it to prevent bruising. She did not want to try a third time. They called for reinforcements. A former IV nurse came in and did a thorough examination of my arms. Slapping my veins and tying the tourniquets while she yapped on and on. She kept saying that she wouldn't stick me unless she was sure that she could find a vein. I was beginning to think that it was never going to happen and then she did it. Right in my poor hand that had already been jabbed twice. Ouch! It really hurt, but she got it in.

Next, the cardiologist was called. It seemed to take him forever to show up. They couldn't start the test without him. The EKG things were all over my chest and side and back and I was just waiting. He finally showed up sp the test could start. I started walking on the treadmill at a nice pace. Nurse took my BP and it was 144 over 88. After 3 minutes, they speeded me up and took my BP again and it was 160 over 89. He kept asking if I had any pain, if I was tired or if I had trouble breathing - no to all. Then they had me going super fast. I wasn't running, it was more of a fast jog. My BP was 180 over 89.

The treadmill stopped and the dye was injected. The cardiologist said I did fine, but had to wait for the x-rays to give me a passing grade. He said that I was hypertensive, yep, I already knew that and thought I should be prescribed a BP medication temporarily. I explained that I saw his colleague last night and he did prescribe me medication that I was to take right after this test was over. He seemed pleased. I waited in the waiting room for 20 minutes while the dye worked its way into my heart.

Zippo personality came back to get me. He took me into his lair and did the x-rays all over again. When he was done, he removed the IV and the EKG thingies. I decided to stop by Dr. Bypass's office because it was in the same building. As soon as I got there, and told them whom I was, they said they already had the results of the stress test and I was a go for surgery on November 6th.

All I needed now was my medical clearance. I asked which doctor I had to get it from, thinking it would be my new PCP. I was told Dr. R., my former PCP. Great, now I had to get an appt. with him!

Went to work and called my husband. Explained I had to have an appt. with Dr. R tonight! Reason? It is the only late night for Dr. R and Dr. Bypass needed the medical clearance in their office two days before surgery. He called me back in a huff. They told him it wasn't enough time to get the clearance and Dr. R was booked so I couldn't see him. They told him could come in at 1 pm to see a doctor I had never seen before. First off, I didn’t know this dr. and second of all, I just got into work at 11 am. I couldn't very well tell my boss that I had to leave at 12:30 for another dr. appt.

The whole thing was exasperating. I couldn't get the medical clearance until the stress test was done anyway. I didn't make an appt. with Dr. R because I thought my new PCP was going to do the clearance. I decided to call Dr. Bypass's office. Can Dr. Fink do my clearance instead of Dr. R? Sure, they said. Why didn't they tell me this earlier??? Okay great. Fax everything to him. I called Dr. Fink's office to let them know the paperwork was coming. I called my husband and told him to forget Dr. R. He said he made me an appt. with Dr. R at 4:45 on Thursday. Forget it! That was too late anyway and I already have Dr. Fink doing it and I don't have to go back to his office as I just saw him last night.

ARGH!!! Doctors and insurance companies. What a combination!

I see Dr. Bypass tomorrow morning at 8:30 for my pre surgery weigh in. If they tell me that they do not have my medical clearance, you will be able to hear my screaming from the comfort of your own house.