Journey2014
Where I am right now
Jun 04, 2014
On May 8, 2014 I went for my very first consultation at a fairly local hospital. The team members that I met were great, from the appointment schedulers to the nurse to the surgeon. The typical first appointment for this team consists of meeting with the dietician and the PA. A follow up is scheduled 4 weeks later with the nutritionist who orders blood work etc, 4 weeks after that (if the nutritionist is happy with your progress) you meet with the surgeon.
Unfortunately for me, there was a mix up and the PA was not available for my initial appt. HOWEVER.. I did get to meet my surgeon, which is kinda nice! I feel a great level of comfort with him, he has been doing the procedures for a long time and has a fantastic record of successes, I even know a couple of his past patients. 
SO that was nice, BUT now I will still have to get the visit with the PA in AND another visit with the surgeon prior to surgery which potentially puts me a whole month behind. The thing with that is, my son will be a senior in high school this Fall and he is an athlete. I am a mom who has never missed ANYTHING and I have no desire to change that during his last year of high school!!
Not one to be deterred, I got busy meeting all of the requirements my WLS team set forth (my insurance only has a BMI requirement of 40+ which I meet with a 43.5). Since May 8th I have seen and gotten reports from my Primary physician, my cardiologist, saw a Pulmonologist (who deemed a sleep study to be unnecessary), completed my Psychological evaluation and saw my OB-GYN for my annual check up. OH and I have attended 2 WLS support group meetings and a few webinars. When I get to see the Nutritionist on June 13, I am going to be as prepared as possible!!
Here is where it gets tricky..... there is another very reputable WLS group nearby, I had actually tried to get in with them in the beginning but they were booked out so far for new patients, it was ridiculous. Well..... about 2 weeks ago I got a call from them letting me know that they had and opening... ON JUNE 13TH. lol SO next Friday I will be seeing a nutritionist at one office and going for an initial consult with the surgeon (their process is different from the first group) and hopefully getting a surgery date set.
HERE is the thing... group 1 uses a drain tube and group 2 does not. Group 1 offers sedation for endocopy and group 2 does not. I'm not sure how important the drain tube is, but being fully awake for the endoscope does NOT sound like a good time. So, I have some concerns. BUT Group 2 has support groups 10 minutes from my house ( group 1 is a 45 min drive) AND group 2 offers post op care at a location 30 min from my house (Group 1 is nearly an hour away). So I can't decide what I should do!!! AND I have intentionally slowed down my weight loss a bit because it is my understanding that Group 2 will expect 10% loss between the consult and the surgery date. I tend to lose 15lbs or so pretty easily and then fight for every pound after that. I am afraid that if I lose the 10-15lbs NOW, I will be REALLY struggling to lose all 30lbs that group 2 wants me to lose.
Its quite a conundrum really. SO I have lost about 6lbs right now and plan to lose another 2 or 3 before June 13th and hopefully that progress is somewhat satisfactory to my nutritionist and puts me in a fair place with the other group as well, if I decide to go with them for surgery.
One day, I'm sure I will look back at this and laugh at myself for letting this stress me out, but right now.... 
