Patience My Dear Child

I thought I was having my final nutritional visit, but I was in and out of the office in 30 minutes. It was sort of disappointing but the nutritionist wasn’t happy that I had stopped exercising and I gained 3 pounds. She was also a little concerned that I hadn’t completely decided on if I want sleeve gastrectomy or roux-en y (gastric bypass) so she scheduled me for what she directly told me was my final review on Monday, February 18th. At this appointment she would like me to have decided the surgery that I would like and we will review the patient handbook that outlines my  pre-op diet and then we will also go through the other post-op phases. After that my understanding is that I’ll have my papers submitted to the insurance for approval.

I also had confirmed a few months ago that I have what is known as a chiari malformation type I , this is a birth defect where my brain in low in my skull and it crowds my spinal cord and blocks spinal cord fluid. This was discovered because I was having horrible headaches and then I started having tingling in my arms and fingers , also dropping things. The headaches were horrible and I always thought they were migraines or high blood pressure which is scary because I have a huge family history of strokes. Turns out I was wrong…so the plot thickens. 🙂

So on Thursday I say a neurosurgeon that my neurologist referred and he recommended that I have surgery over the summer to make room for the fluid and for everything to fit because as I age my symptoms will progress.(guys this is the cliff notes version)

I feel that currently because I’m so far in this process I’m going to continue with my weightloss surgery and also seek a second opinion regarding my Chiari, because thought my symptoms may worsen, they may not, and I’m not crazy about the idea of having brain surgery.  So who knows…… Uh, I’m frustrated and overwhelmed by all of this. So that’s that AND please let me know where you are in your process, I’d love to hear about it! 

One Love!

-J.

Support Groups and Telling Co-Workers

Not even an hour ago, something in my brain prompted me to share with one of my co-workers that I was considering or 99.8 % sure that I was going to have weight loss surgery. Let me tell you, I was so afraid of her reaction but to my surprise she was totally supportive! My job can be a “mean girl” environment from time to time so this is one of the main places that I don’t plan on shouting my news from the rooftops.

As for the support groups, I posted on http://www.rnytalk.com that I went to a support meeting regarding nutritional deficiencies and I was the ONLY person there. While it was nice to have all of my personal questions answered, it was really unnerving that something that is supposed to be such a vital step in my future was a bit of a flat line due to a lack of attendance. I asked them about how many surgeries they have performed and I was told that they are nearing 100. Then why is it that I haven’t met a single person that’s been through the process with them? I think it would be awesome to have some sort of patient advocate.

In case you’re wondering who I’m with I’m having my surgery with Dr. Chand at the Loyola Center for Metabolic Surgery.

So that’s my rant. The staff is all very accommodating and knowledgeable, so I definitely like the center a lot.  Next week is my 2nd appointment with the dietitian  I was told if she clears me. They will be sending my information to insurance and I’ll be receiving my tentative surgery date. I’m so excited and I’m just really ready for this to be here. For another chapter of my life to begin, let me be clear not for my life to begin, because I haven’t spent the last thirty years doing nothing. My life has been and is meaningful, who I am now is a lot. But like one of my favorite bloggers on ProofWLSWorks on Youtube said. I’m ready to be me, but the super concentrated version…

Watch out world!

P.s. I’ll also share in the upcoming days, a few running post from my other blog: http://www.plussizerunner.wordpress.com