Thursday, May 13, 2010

A bad weekend and 1st surgeon meeting

Wow, so what an eventful 5 or so days. Where do I begin...... well I'll start with the weekend. This weekend was HORRIBLE!!! I haven't been as sick as I was on Sunday in a a LOOOONG time. I was dizzy, nauseous, throwing up, freezing, burning up, headache, & couldn't swallow or hardly talk because my throat was hurting so bad. It was BRUTAL! I vomited until there was nothing left in me to vomit. It was violent.

All this could not come at a worse time, because Monday was my appt with the surgeon. I had planned on taking a 1/2 day at work then going to see him, but given my condition and how weak I was, I decided to forgo the whole day. At 12 I decided to go to the walk in clinic to get some antibiotics in me. I thought I was planning good because my appt with the surgeon was at 3:30, about 30 mins away. We were at the doctors office until 3, so I called to let them know I would be a few mins late. I didn't figure it would matter anyway right? Doctors are late for their appointments all the time. Well Miss Receptionist tells me if I'm not there by 3:45 then I need to call and reschedule. I was pissed off. Here I am sick as a DOG, trying to hurry and rush around, not having ate (and kept down) a complete meal since Saturday, and she's telling me I need to reschedule. Aw Hell No. I told her I would be there, and we took off. Thank God my husband is a seasoned Dirt Track race car driver or else we probably wouldn't have made it.

We get to the office at 3:35. Take that Miss Receptionist!!! Guess what? We end up waiting in the lobby until 4:30. I told you. Doctors are always late. I shouldn't have even called down there. I've learned my lesson for next time. When we are finally called back, I am nervous. Or maybe its the illness. IDK, but I'm not feeling good either way. I just want this to be over. He drops a bomb on me, that he thinks I should go with the Bypass, because of my BMI being 57. WTF, it was 54.9 a month ago. I have actually lost weight since I hadn't been eating. Whatever.

So he goes on to tell me about RNY. I never wanted the bypass, and I wasn't too hot about him suggesting it either. It was almost like he was trying to change my mind. When he saw that I wasn't changing my mind he told me about the Sleeve. Turns out he has done about 80 sleeves, and 800 RNYs. His leak rate is 1% and he has never had a death as a result of surgery. Those numbers made me feel a bit better, but I am concerned about the 80 sleeves. I know 1 of his sleeves, and she said she had "trouble," but wouldn't elaborate. I wouldn't put it past her to be jealous about sharing her WLS spotlight and trying to thwart me, so I'm taking her opinion with a grain of salt.


I left the office with a list of things to do and places to visit. I was told that I need to lose at least 20lbs by surgery date (which is TBA). He said he didn't care how I did it, he just needed some room in there to move around. He suggested a White Trash diet, which is basically if it is white and not a meat, throw it away. Pretty simple and easy to remember. Once I get feeling better I plan on starting it. The nurse is going to contact UHC and see what all my requirements are. She said I have to do a pre-op diet, as designated from UHC, but when I contacted them they told me I didn't. If I do end up having to, I believe my 6-8 month long appts with a dietitian will qualify me. The surgeon said that he isn't available until mid-June for a surgery date, so I know I wont be having anything done until probably around July. Which is fine. I can live with that.

I know that May is going to be very busy, as I have a lot of things to get done and a lot of doctors to see.

3 comments:

Libby said...

AMY!! I hope you are feeling better! So are you switching to bypass over sleeve? I get the same pressure from the people at the surgeons office and other patients about switching to Lap Band. I do not want Lap Band it is jut not something I am interested in and they are all very critical about my decision.
I have UHC and didn't have to do the diet it really just depends on where you work and what policy your company has.
Keep us posted!

.:Amy:. said...

I believe I am going to stick with the Sleeve. The hubby and I talked about it and came to the conclusion that it is what is best for me, and what all I want to accomplish after surgery. People (non-surgeons) keep trying to convert me to the Band side too, but IDK, it just doesn't feel right either. To each his own!

Libby said...

Amy my DR. wants me to switch to sleeve and I don't know what to do!?!?!?

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