Last Visit with the Surgeon!!!

So I met with my surgeon for the last time before surgery on Tuesday.  I was not happy to weigh in higher than I had before....BUT I know I have been eating horribly.  Food funerals - one after the other.  It stops today.  I am lucky enough that I am not required to do a 2-week liquid diet.  But I am supposed to be eating well.  And I'm not.  It's not so hard during the school day - I'm busy.  But once I get home at 4pm - it all goes to hell.  I'm starving, feels like I've never eaten before.  I tear into anything and everything before dinner.  I can't stop myself.  And after dinner - that's my bad snack time.  Tonight I think I might have to go to bed early to avoid that.  I can't even put a pic of food on this post.  It hurts to look at it.  I'm so stinking hungry! So tonight I will do it - I will not snack.  I will not eat extra food.  I have had my 2 protein shakes for the day already.  I will eat dinner with my family.  And if I need something more, sugar-free jello and/or chicken broth for me.  11 more days and I will be a new me!!

Less than 3 weeks!!

I think it just totally hit me!  I have less than 3 weeks to get my sh*t together.  Easter is only 20 days after my surgery!  We usually have a lot of people over and a huge egg hunt.  Not to mention a big brunch.  I will be on mashed/pureed foods - so no partaking of the "fun" stuff for me.

I need to get my entire house organized and cleaned before surgery in case I feel too crummy afterwards.  I also need to get all the eggs (to be stuffed) upstairs from the basement because I know my husband won't be able to find them afterwards.

Plus I am the Organizer/Mom in charge of my oldest son's Spring Break Party at school.  I need to figure out what I am going to do for that - something that doesn't involve me lifting more than 10 lbs and is easy to accomplish will be great!

I have started on my lesson plans for my students for the days I will be out - but I still have a lot to go there too!

My home sleep study

So last night was my home sleep study.  I was a bit nervous about this because I didn’t know what to expect.  Some surgeons don’t require a sleep study at all, and those that do usually require a sleep study in the clinic.  Therefore, information was not available when I searched.  I had no idea what to expect!

I met a technician at the clinic who showed me how to use the equipment so that I can set it up myself at night.  I was given the Nox T3 kit.  I basically looked like this at night:

         

        Except not as bald and not as old and not as manly.  It was 2 straps (1 around my chest and 1 around my belly, a device that went around my finger to check oxygen levels connected to a wrist monitor, and the thing that goes in your nose (what the heck is that called?).  The machine turned itself on at 10pm and off at 6am.  I didn’t have to press any buttons.  In my research today I learned that there is a microphone in the device to record your snoring – wish I had known that beforehand.  Apparently I was not looking hot enough in my sleep attire for hubby, but that would have been a bit embarrassing. 

            So now I wait.  My husband brought it back to the clinic for me today and they told him the doctor would receive the results in 5-10 business days.  If I fail the test, I will have to sleep in the clinic for a night to see how I do there.  If I still fail, I will be getting a CPAP I guess.  Hopefully this all gets done before my surgery date – which is in just over 3 weeks now.  Time is getting crunched.

Why Did It Take me Forever to Find This?

I mean – seriously.  Like most people contemplating WLS, I think I researched every website out there.  But the one thing that I was looking for – was the one thing that I didn’t find on my own.  Someone was kind enough to paste this link on an FB forum – and it was exactly what I was looking for!

   How Much Will I Lose?

Are you curious about how much you should expect to weigh after surgery?  This calculator will tell you how much you should expect to weigh 2 years after gastric bypass or the gastric sleeve.  I like that it compares weight loss from the 2 separate procedures.  I was also surprised to find that (in my case at least) by choosing the less-invasive sleeve, I should weigh 188 in 2 years.  Had I chosen the more-invasive bypass, I should expect to weight 172 in 2 years.  Not that big of a difference.  I would rather work my tail off to lose that last 15 lbs than have my insides rerouted – again, just my personal opinion.  No judgement here if anyone chooses otherwise.  

Hospital Checklist (specific for diabetics on a pump but that section can be ignored)

OK - so I'm not a neat freak or anything (my husband will attest to this!) but I do have OCD when it comes to things like this.  I love to make lists - even lists that include the things I know I will remember - but there's something just so awesome about checking them off!

When I have my surgery I will only be in the hospital for one night so I am not planning on bringing much; and I know I can call my husband to bring anything else I need.

I couldn't find any lists online; especially Hospital Lists for those on an insulin pump.  So here is my best attempt.  Please feel free to leave a comment if you have any suggestions.

You can download my list here.

APPROVAL!!!!!!

I received an official letter from the insurance company on Saturday that I have been APPROVED for surgery!!!!!  

Now it feels real!!!

Of course, they had to dampen my excitement by adding a line about not covering skin removal (blah, blah, blah).  I am still hoping and praying that the skin isn't too bad, but if it is I will cross that bridge when I get to it.

Endocrinologist

My endocrinologist is so excited that I am getting a sleeve!  I absolutely adore her - first endo I've ever had that listens to me, helps me, and feels for me.  I am truly lucky to have found her.

She told me that she does not want me to remove my pump - AT ALL - even for surgery.  She wants that basal dose going in on time - at all times.  I am hoping my surgeon doesn't have a problem with that.  I have never put my pump through anywhere but my tummy, but I guess I will have to find an alternate spot since my stomach will be where they are operating.

She also does not think they will give me a hard time in the hospital wearing the pump.  Apparently there was an issue last week where they did not let a bariatric patient put their pump on.  She works with a partner and the partner got so aggravated that she wrote them up for not allowing the pump to be used.  So she is pretty sure they won't want to go through that again.

She also plans on re-testing me to determine once and for all which type of diabetes I have.  It is a mystery for many reasons.

1)  I was diagnosed at age 26 and was only about 20 lbs overweight at the time.  I had never been truly overweight at that point.

2)  At 2 points in my life before diagnosis, my blood sugars dropped low enough to cause me to pass out.  I didn't know that at the time, but now that I know what this feels like, I am 100% sure this is what happened those times.  This shows that my blood sugars were off when I was as young at 17 and at a perfect BMI.

3)  I was diagnosed initially as a Type 2 diabetic and placed on metformin.  I only went on insulin to bring my A1C down to 7 in order to get pregnant.

4)  I am not insulin resistant - my endo thinks I should be taking 4x as much insulin as I am taking at my weight.  This points towards type 1...

5)  When I first started seeing her she sent me in for the testing to determine if I had the antibodies that will prove Latent Type 1 diabetes of adulthood - but LabCorp messed up the test.  Another test showed that my body was not making very much insulin, and that was enough for my insurance company to cover the pump so she didn't worry about repeating the test.

She truly thinks I am a type 1, but on the off chance that I am a type 2, there is a possibility that I can get off insulin after the surgery.  Wouldn't that be a kicker?