hrford
First NUT Appointment
Sep 20, 2011
Okay so I'm just starting my journey towards WLS. Some background: I will be going to Walter Reed at Bethesda Naval. They do it a bit different there than most people who have to go through their insurance carrier. Basically I was pre-screened to see if I meet the criteria and I do. Once pre-screened you are invited to an informational seminar (I attended last week). The surgeon tells you what to expect and what you have to do to get the surgery and as long as you do those things and everything is okay, you get the surgery. There is no 6 months diet then we'll see. My must do appts are as follows:*See Nutritionist 3x and lose 10lbs
*See PCM(PCP) and get all labs done
*See An Exercise Therapist for a body make-up study
*See Behavioral Health (they make sure you are both ready for the surgery and also may require future visits)
*Have an Endoscopy done
*Have a Sleep Study done
*Go to two WLS Support group meetings.
I have my meeting with my PCM to discuss my labs tomorrow, tonight I go to my first WLS Support Group. I just returned from my first NUT appointment. I brought my last two days food report and we discussed the issues. It isn't my meals. I really do okay on those as long as I eat at home. The problem is snacks. I have like 5-8 a day and they are ALWAYS high, high, high in sugar. Nutella is my weakness. So after today, no more Nutella in the house. My children will be sad, but in the long run it is the best thing. We discovered I was going way to long between meals and that may be causing me to have make poor decisions. So I'm going to work on having two planned snacks a day between breakfast and lunch and then again between lunch and dinner. I see her again in two weeks and we'll see how this all works out!
We did discuss that I wanted the Sleeve. She sees two possible issues with the Sleeve. One, is the fact that sugar is my main issue and the RNY may help with that because of the dumping. Also, my insurance doesn't cover the sleeve. I don't have to worry about it because I'm being seen at the MTF, but there is the possibility that if there are complications and I'm unable to see a military provider, of whether TriCare will cover it. . . I may need to talk to someone about that. I still think I'm on for the sleeve but if I have to switch gears to the RNY I will deal with that as it happens.
So far I'm pleased with how quickly I'm getting appointments. My behavioral health will be done next Monday and then all I need is my sleep study (waiting for outside the MTF (military treatment facility) referral), my endoscopy and my exercise therapist. There is only one exercise therapist in the Entire DC area, his Octber schedule opens on Friday and I'm calling at 8am to make the appointment. I'm hoping to get all my appointments done by the end of October and see the surgeon again in November. Right now there is about an 8 week weight for the surgery so that would put me to late January, early February. I'll be happy with that as we are leaving the area again in May/June and I'd like to get a few months post-op here with the same people before we move again.
Well that's it. Hope you stuck with me!
